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Week 11: Arizona, X's & O's

Lockett & Wilson see failure differently, which explains a lot

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In the wake of a familiar pathetic offensive performance in a 23-13 loss to Arizona, Tyler Lockett and Russell Wilson’s words illustrated exactly why the Seahawks are struggling.

Lockett spoke the truth: The Seahawks rely on big plays and are not good when those fail because they are bad at making in-game adjustments.

Lockett also told FOX 13 Seattle that defenses are playing the Seahawks differently than they play everyone else, based on the film the Hawks watch in preparing for each game. “They’re not giving us the same looks that they’re consistently giving every other team.” Lockett said the Hawks then do not adapt quickly enough.

Wilson, on the contrary, said he didn’t see the Cardinals do anything different, that it was all stuff he had seen before and adjustments were not the problem. “We just didn’t play clean,” he said.

The difference in viewpoints explains a lot about why the Seahawks are failing on offense.

Continue reading Lockett & Wilson see failure differently, which explains a lot →
State of the team, Week 11: Arizona, X's & O's

Last chance for Wilson to prove he has not hit his ceiling

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In the wake of Seattle’s embarrassing shutout loss in Green Bay, the topic of Russell Wilson’s future with the Seahawks came back to light – with numerous national media revisiting the prospect of a split after this season.

While plenty of fans and media still cling to the myth that Wilson has been failed by the franchise and is a victim of mismanagement and poor coaching and personnel, that’s the bass-ackwards way of looking at it. Wilson is a double-edged sword who always has been half the problem, and he needs to adjust his play if the Seahawks are going to flip things around over the final eight games.

We do agree with all of those people on one thing though: This should be the final test of whether Wilson should stay Seattle’s quarterback going forward.

If he can’t adjust – if he and Shane Waldron cannot agree on how to proceed, if he remains a one-dimensional passer, if it becomes clear he has hit his ceiling — it may indeed be time to trade him.

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Week 10: At Green Bay

Wilson’s ego leads to shutout as Waldron continues to struggle

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Russell Wilson’s ego led to the first shutout loss of his career, and Shane Waldron did not do his part to stop it.

Waldron put the game in the hands of Wilson, who was Russ-ty as he came back from a month off and played in frigid weather in Green Bay. The result: 17-0, the first shutout loss of Wilson’s career.

The Hawks were running the ball well and needed to do it a lot more. Alex Collins was over four yards a pop. Lanes were there.

But Waldron let Wilson throw air balls, wobblers and end zone interceptions instead of mixing in the run to keep it manageable for the still-recovering QB.

Continue reading Wilson’s ego leads to shutout as Waldron continues to struggle →
Week 10: At Green Bay

Will Wilson and/or Rodgers make it back for Week 10 meeting?

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Earlier this year, there were huge questions around whether Russell Wilson and Aaron Rodgers would be on their teams – and thus facing each other in Week 10.

Well, they are both still with their clubs, but there are still questions about whether they will face each other. It will be the big drama next week, with Rodgers now in the Covid protocol and Wilson trying to rally from a broken finger in time to face the Packers in Green Bay.

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Franchise history

Holmgren, Hasselbeck started this era of winning

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With the current Seahawks in a big hole and the playoffs looking slim for 2021, it’s good timing that the team is giving fans something to cheer about by honoring the two guys who took Seattle to its first Super Bowl.

Mike Holmgren will join his longtime QB, Matt Hasselbeck, in the Ring of Honor this Sunday. Hasselbeck was honored Monday night (see his speech).

These are the two guys most responsible for bringing the franchise out of its 1990s slump, getting it to its first Super Bowl and establishing a winning culture that has persisted for two decades.

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Week 7: New Orleans

Without Wilson, Hawks are losing the close ones — and the season

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We always knew the Seahawks could not make the playoffs if Russell Wilson missed many games.

They have never had a good enough backup QB, whether it was Tarvaris Jackson or Trevone Boykin or Brett Hundley or Geno Smith.

We did have hope this time, however, that Smith might be able to win a couple to keep the Hawks’ playoff hopes alive until Wilson returned from the first sidelining injury of his career.

Unfortunately, Smith has been what we knew him to be – inaccurate and turnover-prone – and has gone 0 for 3 in comeback opportunities in close games the past three weeks. He got no help from an overmatched offensive line in a 13-10 loss to New Orleans on Monday night, and he looked a lot like Wilson sometimes does as he took game-killing sacks.

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Week 7: New Orleans, X's & O's

Time for pass rush to catch up

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The Seahawks’ pass rush has been largely neutered over the first six games by quick-draw quarterbacks, but Seattle’s rushers might finally have a chance to make more impact the next two games – and hopefully beyond.

It’s not like the Seahawks have been terrible in the pass rush. Yes, they are tied for 22nd with just 11 sacks and are 19th in pressure percentage (23.9). But they are 10th in pass rush win rate, beating blocks within 2.5 seconds 45% of the time, per ESPN’s tracking.

So, the Hawks have been around the QB around half the time; they just have not been able to get sacks or as much pressure as they need to because the ball has been getting out even faster than they can get there.

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Week 6: At Pittsburgh

At 2-4, season is not over, but Hawks have no room for error now

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“Postponing judgment is a powerful tool.” – Pete Carroll

As much as some fans might want to put the nails in Seattle’s coffin after just six games, the simple fact is the Seahawks (2-4) are still breathing – the season is far from over.

But they are going to need to win their next two home games if they want to stay in the playoff hunt.

Continue reading At 2-4, season is not over, but Hawks have no room for error now →
Week 5: L.A. Rams, X's & O's

Irked Carroll should make more changes

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Pete Carroll has a history of fixing his defense on the fly, and he is going to have to do it again — NOW.

In his day-after assessment of his defense’s total meltdown against the Rams, Carroll bemoaned his defense repeating the same mistakes. Carroll is ticked off, which means more changes should be coming to Seattle’s defense during this mini-bye.

“We have to clean stuff up across the board so the same issues don’t show up,” Carroll said on 710 ESPN. “When we’re really not doing well is when you see the same problem continue to show, and that’s something that pisses me off.”

Continue reading Irked Carroll should make more changes →