Category Archives: X’s & O’s

Coaches, Contracts, State of the team, X's & O's

Hawks will extend Geno; Kubiak has ‘best vision’ for using DK

1 Comment

While the Seahawks are certainly likely to move on from a few highly paid players, one thing has become very clear over the last couple of days: Geno Smith and DK Metcalf will be back in 2025.

Mike Macdonald and new offensive coordinator Klint Kubiak both emphasized Smith is Seattle’s quarterback and said they have big plans for Metcalf.

In an interview with FOX 13, Macdonald said Kubiak will “utilize the entire roster,” Smith can help the Seahawks win the Super Bowl and Metcalf will be the “main focal point” of the passing game.

Macdonald seemed to put all of the scuttlebutt about Smith and Metcalf to rest with his strong words about both. And NFL Network also reported on Super Bowl Sunday that the Hawks plan to give Smith a raise while keeping themselves “flexible” to acquiring a long-term quarterback.

Continue reading Hawks will extend Geno; Kubiak has ‘best vision’ for using DK →
Coaches, X's & O's

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

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.

Continue reading If Grubb can’t turn offense around, will he be one & done? →
Week 12: Arizona, X's & O's

Defense is now ‘locked in,’ but can Hawks find key to offense, too?

2 Comments

Mike Macdonald finally has his defense playing the way we all expected. After three pretty dominant weeks against NFC West foes, including a 16-6 clampdown of Arizona in Week 12, that unit looks capable of holding down most offenses the rest of the way and helping the Seahawks make the playoffs.

But the offense is going to have to start doing its part.

Before we get to the offense’s problems, let’s start with the defense’s turnaround, which hopefully has not come too late.

Continue reading Defense is now ‘locked in,’ but can Hawks find key to offense, too? →
Coaches, X's & O's

Time to stop the ‘independent contracting’ on defense

Leave a comment

Mike Macdonald’s Seahawks are 4-4 largely because the defense has been struggling with the same issues that plagued Pete Carroll’s unit over the past few years: poor tackling and terrible run defense.

It has led to a lot of speculation about why Macdonald has not yet fixed the problems he was expected to resolve by this point in his first season.

More on Hawkszone rundown podcast


This week, we got some answers and Macdonald explained how he is going to try to finally fix these chronic flaws that have carried over from one coaching program to another. If he does what he says he is going to do, the defenders should be able to play faster and more aggressively, ideally helping them cause havoc and create turnovers.

Continue reading Time to stop the ‘independent contracting’ on defense →
State of the team, Week 8: Buffalo, X's & O's

Hawks have given away three games — and that’s on Macdonald & the lines

Leave a comment

In the wake of the most embarrassing Seattle performance since the Seahawks were demolished by Baltimore last season, Brock Huard posited an interesting poll:

Our take: There is a lot of blame to go around.

The Seahawks are weak at the interior line positions on both sides and are getting pushed around by good teams. That’s John Schneider’s fault.

The Hawks have given away three games with poor prep and mental mistakes. That’s Mike Macdonald’s fault.

Continue reading Hawks have given away three games — and that’s on Macdonald & the lines →
State of the team, X's & O's

Predictable problems and historic lack of takeaways are hobbling Hawks

Leave a comment

Before the season, we projected the Seahawks would win nine games. It was fewer than many optimistic fans were picking, but we saw a tough schedule and had big questions about the offensive line and run defense.

After a soft 3-0 start, the Hawks have come back to Earth against better teams and sit at 3-3 largely because their offensive line and run defense have failed them.  

They gave away the game against the Giants with mistakes in every phase, and then they followed that up by making a bunch more mistakes against the 49ers in a game they could have won if they had played it more cleanly.

“Right now, we’re just coming up short,” Mike Macdonald said. “We’re just not doing the things that good football teams do to win football games.”

Continue reading Predictable problems and historic lack of takeaways are hobbling Hawks →
The roster, X's & O's

More ‘bad ball’ from the defense means it’s time to look ahead

Leave a comment

Now that the Seahawks have proven how far they are from contending, with another double-digit loss to the 49ers, attention for most is turning to the future of this franchise. How do they get where the 49ers are?

Pete Carroll’s team is technically still in the playoff chase, but the odds are against the Hawks making it. They are 6-7 with four straight losses – something Carroll hasn’t been a part of for at least a couple of decades — and probably will go 2-2 in the final four to finish 8-9.

The Hawks are among the league’s many mediocre teams: 13 are 6-7 or 7-6. The 49ers are the clear class of the NFC, if not the NFL, and Seattle has been beaten by that Super Bowl contender by an aggregate score of 59-29 (average of about 30-15) twice over the past three weeks. So we know the gap between the Hawks and Super Bowl contention: two touchdowns.

But no one really knows what the solution for this team is. Many want Carroll gone (whether he is fired or retires). Others want coordinators ousted. Others want better players at key spots. Some people want all of the above.

One thing’s for sure: Something has to change.

Continue reading More ‘bad ball’ from the defense means it’s time to look ahead →
State of the team, X's & O's

Carroll won’t win another playoff game unless he creates a ‘conflict defense’

1 Comment

It’s very difficult to see Pete Carroll ever winning another playoff game unless he changes the way his defense plays. We’ve seen the same thing for six seasons now, which is enough to know it is more than just the players who are at fault.

Last Thursday in Dallas, the Seahawks’ offense finally snapped out of a two-month funk and looked like the unit we expected it to be all season, but the defense remained a broken record playing the same old sad-sack song.

The offense was surprisingly competitive against the Cowboys in the 41-35 loss, but Seattle’s slide continued as expected – now four losses in five games. And, with a terrible defense yet again, there is no encouraging sign the Hawks will be able to beat San Francisco and Philadelphia in the next two weeks to stop that skid.

Continue reading Carroll won’t win another playoff game unless he creates a ‘conflict defense’ →
Week 6: At Cincinnati, X's & O's

As defense gets better and better, Smith is regressing

1 Comment

Over the first month of the season, Geno Smith had done a decent job of surviving, sometimes overcoming, the loss of both tackles and intermittent other injuries along the Seahawks’ offensive line.

The Seahawks had few explosive passing plays and were terrible on third downs, thanks to playing so many backups on the line, but Smith had managed to avoid any big mistakes (just one interception).

But Sunday in a 17-13 loss in Cincinnati, he played probably his worst game since becoming Seattle’s starting QB and ruined a great performance by a resurgent Seahawks defense.  It cost the Hawks a chance to gain ground on San Francisco in the division.  

Continue reading As defense gets better and better, Smith is regressing →
OTAs, Video, X's & O's

Hawks still looking, but Waldron breaks down Lock’s positives

3 Comments

Pete Carroll recently told KJR that the Seahawks did not draft a QB because they considered Drew Lock, a 2019 second-round pick, to be better than every rookie passer.

Carroll also said the Hawks will not trade for a veteran QB at this point, but he and John Schneider also said they will “keep looking” for possible upgrades at QB.

Meanwhile, as Lock and Geno Smith begin their QB competition during Seattle’s OTAs, Shane Waldron broke down some film on Lock from his Denver days.

Continue reading Hawks still looking, but Waldron breaks down Lock’s positives →