Category Archives: Week 8: At Dallas

State of the team, Week 8: At Dallas, X's & O's

This is Seattle’s worst offense under Wilson

November 3, 2015 cc 1 Comment

Russell Wilson and the Seattle offense are getting lots of credit for a 17-play drive that yielded the winning field goal in Dallas — the first time in four chances this season Wilson has led a game-winning drive in the fourth quarter or overtime.

But let’s not let one very inefficient winning drive confuse the facts: This is the worst offense the Seahawks have had with Wilson at quarterback.

The Seahawks scored just once in the skintight 13-12 win in Dallas — the fourth time in eight games they have tallied one TD on offense. In the four other games, they have scored just two TDs. They have yet to score three touchdowns in a game.

In fact, they are the only offense in the league not to put up a TD trifecta. New England has done it in all seven. Arizona has done it five times. Even Oakland has done it four times and Jacksonville three.

Pete Carroll likes to say “it can’t be pretty and perfect all the time” or some silly copout like that, but does it really have to be so ugly and imperfect every damn game? The answer, Pete, is no. No, it doesn’t. If you knew anything about offense, you would have figured that out by now.

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State of the team, Trades, Week 8: At Dallas

Don’t expect any major deals from Seahawks

November 1, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Don’t get too excited about the reports that the Seahawks are working the trade phones ahead of the deadline Tuesday: Any deal they might make almost surely would be minor.

It’s no surprise John Schneider is on the hunt for offensive line help, but the Seahawks are not in financial position to bring on a big-money player such as Cleveland’s Alex Mack or Joe Thomas.

The report that Schneider is willing to trade a receiver such as Chris Matthews is evidence that any deal Seattle makes would be minor. The Hawks are not going to get much for Matthews or Ricardo Lockette, and they surely aren’t going to deal Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett or Paul Richardson.

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State of the team, The roster, Week 8: At Dallas

Seahawks trying to build what Cowboys have

October 31, 2015 cc 1 Comment

The Dallas Cowboys have what the Seahawks want, but the only way Seattle could get it is by losing a lot more and using first-round picks.

We’re talking about a great offensive line, of course.

If Russell Okung, who injured his ankle in practice Thursday, misses the game in Dallas on Sunday, the Seahawks will end up starting undrafted players at the tackle spots and center, with a seventh-round conversion at right guard and a second-round reach at left guard.

The Cowboys, meanwhile, have invested three first-round picks in their line over the last five drafts, and they lucked into a potential first-rounder when rookie La’el Collins went undrafted due to a murder case he was peripherally attached to.

The Cowboys won a recruiting war for Collins, adding him to an already stacked line that includes left tackle Tyron Smith, the No. 9 pick in the 2011 draft; center Travis Frederick, the No. 31 pick in 2013; right guard Zack Martin, the No. 16 pick in 2014; and veteran right tackle Doug Free.

“They’ve put their money in it. They’ve got three No. 1s playing there, those guys are all terrific football players,” Pete Carroll said. “Tyron was a guy that we loved coming up; he’s a fantastic athlete at the spot. And Zack’s terrific; it’s just a really good group. I think that they made a commitment to it and they’re benefiting from it. I don’t know if they’re the best one — we won’t see everybody particularly – but they’re as good as we’re going to see all year long.”

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State of the team, Week 8: At Dallas

Bennett says Hawks became complacent, selfish, unfocused

October 29, 2015 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are looking to prove this week that they really have awakened from their early-season doldrums and have returned to Super Bowl contenders.

For the record, Michael Bennett has not experienced any hangover — even though he was unhappy with his contract last offseason and considered holding out, as Kam Chancellor actually did. Instead, Bennett has played as well as ever (a bunch of early offsides penalties notwithstanding) — and is coming off a 3.5-sack effort against San Francisco that earned him recognition as the NFC’s defensive player of the week.

In a couple of recent interviews, the always candid Bennett said he chose not to hold out because he is determined to help lead the Seahawks back to the Super Bowl. And he shed some light on the causes, as he sees them, of Seattle’s ridiculous 2-4 start.

To sum it up, Bennett said the team became complacent, greedy, selfish, unfocused — all while getting younger because it has lost some key veterans over the past two years. He said this incarnation of the Seahawks had to learn how to handle losing and needed to regain the trust, chemistry and confidence that had disappeared since the last Super Bowl. He also hinted that XLIX still lingered in the minds of the Seahawks — proof that Pete Carroll did indeed damage his team’s psyche with his stupid call on the goal line at the end of that game.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 8: At Dallas

October 28, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Apparently, Thomas Rawls is not going to be able to play this week. Why else would the Seahawks sign Bryce Brown? The Hawks lost Rod Smith off waivers to Dallas two weeks ago, so they had to look elsewhere for reinforcements this time. B.J. Daniels was released for the second time this season.

Pete Carroll says K.J. Wright is having his best season (he’s great at defending screen plays, and he’s apparently not the one giving up big yards to tight ends).

Paul Richardson’s pending return highlights the general lack of contributions from the 2013 and 2014 draft classes.

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Injury report, Week 8: At Dallas

Hawks are getting healthier, but they can’t get any better at center

October 27, 2015 cc Leave a comment

Paul Richardson’s return to practice is the big news this week, but the Seahawks probably are more concerned with the possible returns of a few other injured players they have missed recently.

Garry Gilliam, Jordan Hill, Derrick Coleman and Marcus Burley are all expected to practice this week and play in Dallas. Gilliam missed stretches of the game vs. the 49ers last week due to an ankle injury. Hill (quadriceps) and Coleman (car accident) have missed the past two games, and Burley (broken thumb) has been out for three.

Pete Carroll also said he expects Demarcus Dobbs, who has missed three of the past four games, to make it back to practice.

“You can see there’s a number of guys that are going to be battling to get back out there,” Carroll said. “It’ll be great to see if we can pull that together, and it’ll make the practice feel much more competitive. We’ll see what that means for game day. I don’t know yet.”

The biggest question probably is at center, where Patrick Lewis didn’t even make it through one start before Drew Nowak had to be reinserted and Lemuel Jeanpierre re-signed. Not that it matters who plays that spot.

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State of the team, Week 8: At Dallas

Offense still has big problems, but Carroll has a plan to fix them

October 26, 2015 cc Leave a comment

It’s a good thing the Seahawks are finishing the first half of the season with a couple of struggling teams, because their offense still has its own issues to reconcile.

Sure, the Seahawks finally finished an opponent Thursday, dominating the San Francisco 49ers like they did last year, but the Seattle offense still functioned only about half as well as it should. And Pete Carroll knows things have to change if the Seahawks are going to win another Super Bowl this season.

Russell Wilson was sacked five times and Marshawn Lynch had to fight too hard for most of his 122 yards. While the line gave the running back some good cutback lanes early on the first drive, it took five tries for him to score from the 3-yard line. In fact, about half of Lynch’s 27 runs went for three yards or less. That explains why his teammates were so fired up by his performance — he did most of it himself.

Carroll thinks Seattle’s mostly neophyte line is getting better at run blocking, based on Lynch’s best game of the season and the 200-yard rushing day at Cincinnati a couple of weeks ago. But the simple fact is the unit is still far too inconsistent. And it is pathetic at pass blocking.

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