Category Archives: State of the team

State of the team, Week 4: At N.Y. Jets

Cable hopes butt kickings will make his revamped line better

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new-york-logoThe Seahawks are finally going to have their so-called first-team line together, but that doesn’t figure to help them much as they face another stellar defensive line in New York.

Germain Ifedi hasn’t played an NFL game yet and will be slow to get back into the groove, so we can expect Leonard Williams, Muhammad Wilkerson and Sheldon Richardson to dominate the line of scrimmage the same way Miami and Los Angeles did.

In case you forgot, the Seahawks were horrendous on offense in those two games. They scored just 15 points, ran for just 180 yards (3.2 per carry) and gave up five sacks and 18 hits on Russell Wilson, who sprained an ankle trying to get away from Ndamukong Suh.

Usually one of the league’s best rushing teams, the Hawks have been a middling unit so far with their revamped line going against strong defensive fronts. Even in the blowout of San Francisco, they were barely above average — 127 yards on 31 carries (4.1 average).

Led by Williams, the sixth pick in the 2015 draft, the Jets are the third-ranked run defense in the NFL — much better even than the Dolphins and Rams. So the Hawks are going to go nowhere on the ground in this one either.

Tom Cable just hopes these butt kickings will make his unit better down the road.

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State of the team, Week 3: San Francisco

Was that just a false start to season? Wilson’s health will tell

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san-francisco-logoPete Carroll viewed this week as a season reboot and — after his Seahawks blasted the 49ers 37-18 — he reiterated that thought: “It really feels to me like we’ve started.”

It’s easy to feel that way when you more than double your season scoring output, double your season touchdowns in just one quarter and tally a 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard receivers while continuing to play the same shutdown defense.

It’s easy to feel like you’ve started when your offensive line finally didn’t have to face a stellar defensive front and had a fighting chance. Although the offensive line committed three holding penalties, it played easily its best game of the three so far. The players apparently focused on fixing individual flaws on every play, a strategy that helped Seattle rack up 418 yards and convert 64 percent of its third downs.

But was it just a false start? Will the Hawks have to wait until Week 6 for their season to really start?

Continue reading Was that just a false start to season? Wilson’s health will tell →

State of the team, Week 3: San Francisco

Carroll: Season restarts this week

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san-francisco-logoA year ago, the Seahawks got off to a 0-2 start and soon found themselves at 2-4, two games behind Arizona in the NFC West.

They never made up that ground, failing to win the division for the first time since 2012, and ended up going on the road for both playoff games. It ended with a lackluster loss to Carolina in the divisional round.

Pete Carroll would like to avoid all of that this year by getting off to a better start. What’s that, you say? Too late? They are a mere 1-1, coming off a dud 9-3 loss to the division rival Rams?

In his Friday interview with Dori Monson, Carroll pointed out that all four NFC West teams are locked at 1-1 (it’s the only division where every team is tied) and this week is basically a restart for the teams in the division.

“When we started the season, we were all evened up; everybody’s all evened up right now,” he said. “It’s what are you going to do about it now that counts.

Continue reading Carroll: Season restarts this week →

State of the team, The roster, Trades

Joe Thomas? Still a fantasy trade

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san-francisco-logoThe Seahawks’ offensive line has endured a couple of rough games against stellar defensive fronts so far, and Bradley Sowell has been the most consistent problem player.

While we can expect Germain Ifedi’s eventual return to steady the right guard spot and Mark Glowinski and Justin Britt to continue to improve, left tackle is the one spot where there seems to be no help on the horizon. The Hawks are basically playing without a true left tackle this season.

Granted, Sowell will not have to go against great defensive lines like Miami’s or the Rams’ every week. And the coaches probably are counting on him holding his own against less stellar players than Robert Quinn.

But, in the wake of the slow-footed Sowell’s horrendous start to the season — three flags, one sack, one blocked field goal allowed, numerous pressures and hits surrendered — a lot of Seahawks fans are wondering once again whether John Schneider would make a deal for Cleveland All-Pro Joe Thomas.

The answer, like it was in the offseason, almost surely is no.

Continue reading Joe Thomas? Still a fantasy trade →

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

O-line on Plan C as Hawks face Rams’ stud D-line

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“The best-laid plans of mice and men (oft go astray)” — Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”

at-los-angeles-logoAfter getting pushed around by the great defensive fronts of the Rams, Panthers and Vikings last season, the Seahawks knew they needed to beef up their offensive line if they were going to win the NFC this year.

So they signed 6-foot-7, 331-pound J’Marcus Webb and 6-7, 309-pound Bradley Sowell and then drafted 6-6, 324-pound Germain Ifedi, 6-4, 314-pound Rees Odhiambo and 6-2, 299-pound center Joey Hunt.

The original plan was to pair Ifedi and Webb on the right side to, as Pete Carroll put it, “get as big as you can get in football.” That, along with moving Justin Britt (6-6, 315) to center, was their strategy for dealing with the great defensive fronts they were set to face in 2016 — the Rams, Panthers, Dolphins, Jets, et al.

But, Robert Burns’ poetic proverb has proven true for the Hawks, who are on to Plan C — and possibly D — as they take their first crack at Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and the rest of the Rams’ deep line.

Continue reading O-line on Plan C as Hawks face Rams’ stud D-line →

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Rams have lost clock edge on Hawks

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rams-clockIt’s going to be a big party in Los Angeles on Sunday when the Rams and Pete Carroll return to play an NFL game there for the first time since 1994.

Carroll and the California Seahawks are excited to make the return for obvious reasons, but there’s another, more significant, factor that makes the Seahawks very happy and gives them a better chance to win.

As Darrell Bevell said, “I think we get to play at a normal time.”

That’s right: No more 10 a.m. starts for the Hawks when they play the Rams. This game will be played at 1:05 p.m., and every other game going forward will be no earlier than 1 p.m.

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State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Hawks ‘have a lot of stuff to clean up’

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After Week 1, the Seahawks look like the third-best team in the NFC West. The good news is they face the fourth-best team this week.

The Rams melted down Monday night in San Francisco, which means either the 49ers are much better than we thought they would be or the Rams are much worse.

Of course, the Seahawks had their own issues – almost all on offense — in their nail-biting win over Miami, and they will need to fix those if they are going to beat the Rams in the first game in Los Angeles since 1994. (It will be Seattle’s first game vs. the Rams in L.A. since 1988.)

Continue reading Hawks ‘have a lot of stuff to clean up’ →

Injury report, State of the team

‘How could you think’ Wilson will miss a game?

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Seahawks bandagesIf you think Russell Wilson is going to miss a game with his sprained ankle, you underestimate his moxie, his toughness, his drive, his resilience.

Remember, this is a guy who has never missed a practice or a meaningful play.

As Pete Carroll told 710 ESPN on Monday, “He will make it through. How could you think otherwise?”

Wilson himself tweeted out, “See you in L.A.”

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Injury report, State of the team

Curse of first-round linemen continues

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Seahawks bandagesIt’s no wonder John Schneider and Pete Carroll had developed an aversion toward drafting offensive linemen in the first round: They always get hurt.

After going back-to-back with first-round linemen in 2010-11, it took them five years to try again. Now it might be another five years before they do it again.

We can only hope Germain Ifedi’s high ankle sprain, which is expected to sideline him for at least three weeks, will not send him down the same injury path traveled by Russell Okung and James Carpenter.

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State of the team, Trades

Hawks make two trades, keep 12 DBs — for now

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As usual, the Seahawks made a lot of fans scratch their heads with some of their moves on cutdown day. But, as usual, some of the moves are going to be very temporary.

It was no surprise that John Schneider pulled a trade — he has made at least one in every preseason (16 total). But the surprise was that he traded for two safeties.

The Seahawks reportedly added Dewey McDonald (6 feet, 220 pounds) from Oakland and L.J. McCray (6 feet, 215 pounds) from San Francisco. The Hawks reportedly gave up conditional seventh-rounders for both (2017 seventh or McDonald, 2018 pick for McCray).

With those additions, the Seahawks made a deep secondary even deeper — keeping 12 for now. They kept undrafted rookies Tyvis Powell (not a surprise) and De’Andre Elliott (a big surprise) over young veterans Tye Smith and Marcus Burley (injured).

The Seahawks also terminated the contracts of veterans Jahri Evans and Will Tukuafu; waived DT Brandin Bryant, TE Clayton Echard, S Keenan Lambert, LB Steve Longa, WR Douglas McNeil III, WR E.Z. Nwachukwu, WR Kasen Williams, RB Troymaine Pope, G/C Will Pericak, WR Antwan Goodley, DE Tylor Harris, S Keenan Lambert, WR Kenny Lawler, LB Kache Palacio, DE Ryan Robinson and DT Tani Tupou; and waived/injured TE Joe Sommers, DT Jordan Hill, LB Eric Pinkins and OT Terry Poole.

Continue reading Hawks make two trades, keep 12 DBs — for now →