Geno and DK: Decisions, decisions

December 28, 2024 cc 2 Comments

Thanks to Ryan Grubb’s increasingly listless offense, John Schneider has some difficult decisions regarding Geno Smith and DK Metcalf in the coming offseason.

The 6-point performance in Chicago the day after Christmas was just the latest indicator that Grubb has had a negative effect on the quarterback and receiver.

Both players are still signed for another season, and Schneider needs to decide whether to extend one or both OR move on from one or both OR let them play out their deals — presumably under a new offensive coordinator.

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Contracts, The roster, Week 16: Minnesota

Hawks need help now, so time to look to 2025

December 23, 2024 cc 2 Comments

Whenever we get to the point that the Seahawks need help to make the postseason, we start looking ahead to the offseason – because it typically means the team is not good enough to win in the playoffs even if it gets whatever assistance it needs to sneak in.

Mike Macdonald has done a pretty strong job in his rookie year, creating a strong defense and having the Hawks in position where they could have been 12-3 if they had not given away four games via their own errors.

They blew yet another one Sunday, letting Minnesota get away with a 27-24 win because the defense made some key mistakes that the enigmatic offense could not overcome in the end. So the Hawks sit at 8-7, which is exactly where we figured they would be when we projected out the season back in late August.

The Hawks can still make the playoffs if they beat the Bears and Rams AND (1) the Rams also lose to Arizona this week or (2) a whole bunch of other teams do their part over the final two weeks to give Seattle the strength-of-victory tiebreaker against the Rams.

We’ll let that sort itself out, but it’s time to start looking to the changes that need to be made in the offseason.

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Coaches, Week 15: Green Bay

Debacle vs. Packers shows once and for all Grubb is not cut out for the NFL

December 17, 2024 cc 4 Comments

Apparently, it was too much to ask of Ryan Grubb to build off his first successful game in weeks.

Coming off a dominant 30-point outing against Arizona that featured a season-high 176 yards rushing, the big question was whether Grubb could keep it going. He had four more games to prove he was good enough to remain the Seahawks’ offensive coordinator after this season. But it took only one to answer that question.

The 30-13 debacle in a huge game against the Packers lands mostly on Grubb’s shoulders as the Hawks continued to regress on his side of the ball.

It is really hard to see Mike Macdonald being OK with Grubb as his OC in 2025. With the offense struggling for most of the past two months, we now have the same feeling about Grubb that we had about Pete Carroll in the final two months of last season: It will not get better without a big change.

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Week 15: Green Bay

Are Hawks among top NFC teams? We’re about to find out

December 14, 2024 cc 1 Comment

Mike Macdonald has been saying the Seahawks are in playoff mode since their Week 10 bye. The attitude, embodied by a suddenly dominant defense, has led to four straight wins.

The latest was a big division victory over Arizona that enabled the Hawks to stay in charge of their destiny.

Their next task is to prove they are among the top four teams in the NFC by beating Green Bay in prime time Sunday. The Packers’ only losses are to Detroit (twice), Philadelphia and Minnesota – who are a combined 34-5.

If the Hawks can beat the Pack, next up is Minnesota. If the Hawks can win both of those games, they would all but lock up a playoff spot – with a wild card being viable.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 15: Green Bay

Hawks renew Packers rivalry

December 13, 2024 cc Leave a comment

The 49ers were unable to knock off the Rams, who are hot on Seattle’s heels for the division title – which seems destined to come down to their Week 18 game.

The Seahawks (8-5) face the Packers (9-4) in a big Sunday night matchup, the first of two huge games against NFC North playoff teams. Both Green Bay and Minnesota (11-2) have excellent teams (top seven by EPA), and these games will show just how serious of a postseason contender the Seahawks might be.

The Seahawks and Packers have a rivalry that dates back to 1999, when Mike Holmgren was traded from Green Bay to Seattle. But they have not played for three years, so most of the faces in this rivalry are new.

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Coaches, X's & O's

If Grubb can’t turn offense around, will he be one & done?

December 5, 2024 cc 1 Comment

When Mike Macdonald hired Ryan Grubb to be his offensive coordinator back in February, we looked back through modern NFL history to find success stories from guys who had made the jump from college coordinator to NFL play caller. There were few to find.

In fact, a notable failure involved another former Husky, Steve Sarkisian, who joined Dan Quinn in Atlanta and promptly took that once vaunted offense backward.

We wrote then:

Grubb’s success or failure will come down to whether he can maximize his players. The biggest challenge for most play callers – certainly for Seattle’s last few – has been adjusting within games to what defenses are stopping. Grubb and company faced an NFL-style defense – one put together by Macdonald, in fact – in the title game against Michigan, and they had major trouble against it. Grubb will need to show he can adjust when his script fails. … It won’t be a shock if Grubb ultimately doesn’t have the answers.”

Well, Grubb has not proven to have the answers in his rookie season. And, if his unit continues to fail, it would not be a surprise if Macdonald followed Pete Carroll’s path and fired his OC after his first year as Seattle’s coach.

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