A lot of people had questions about Marshawn Lynch’s lack of participation in the game Sunday in San Diego.
Why didn’t he get the ball more? Why wasn’t he in on the Seahawks’ drive at the end of the first half? Why was he walking off the field with a minute left?
Easy answers.
Pete Carroll looks back at the loss to the Chargers and ahead to the Super Bowl rematch with the Broncos.
Bucky Brooks of NFL.com gives a detailed breakdown of how the Chargers beat the Seahawks and then concludes, “Even with the winning script in hand, it still takes flawless execution to defeat the defending Super Bowl champs.”
“If you thought San Diego was fired up to play the Seahawks, well, wait until Denver comes to town Sunday,” Larry Stone of The Seattle Times says.
This is the first time since 1997 that Super Bowl opponents have played a rematch the next season.
Denver cornerback Chris Harris: “Antonio Gates made a few plays, so we need Julius (Thomas) to have a huge game.”
Richard Sherman talks! To a llama. In a sunglasses commercial.
The inspiration for the Seahawks’ logo could be coming to Seattle’s Burke Museum.
As the Seattle defense prepares to face a star quarterback for the third straight week, coach Pete Carroll says, “It doesn’t get any better than this.”
Having beaten Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers and lost to Philip Rivers and the San Diego Chargers, the Hawks now prepare to host Peyton Manning and the Denver Broncos in a Super Bowl rematch. And Carroll cracked that they ought to add Tom Brady and the New England Patriots during the Seahawks’ Week 4 bye.
“It’s as hard as it can get,” Carroll said, not meaning that in a bad way. “It’s great for us. It’s going to help us during the course of the season. You can’t get any better challenges than these guys throwing the football. Aaron is phenomenal. And look what we just saw (with Rivers). And here comes Peyton.
“This is a great stretch for us. It’ll only help us,” Carroll said of playing the three top-rated active quarterbacks in the NFL. “We have to be so on the mark and so right in everything we’re doing to defend these guys.”
Continue reading Carroll on facing another great QB: ‘It doesn’t get any better’
The Legion of Boom had trouble with the dehydrating temperatures in San Diego, and the group is taking some heat in the aftermath of a 30-21 loss to the Chargers and a two-game start that has been more bust than boom for the all-star unit.
Whether it was what happened on the field or what was (or was not) said off the field, Seattle’s top defenders did not respond very well in San Diego.
Continue reading More bust than Boom: Rough start for Legion
The Seahawks have seen the Gates of Hell.
He’s a 34-year-old tight end who seems perpetually injured but who still finds ways to burn opponents.
On a scorching Sunday in San Diego, Antonio Gates caught fire — and three touchdown passes — against a Seattle defense that appeared ill-prepared for the heat and the physical pounding the Chargers’ offense put on it in San Diego’s 30-21 win.
The Seattle defense — so good at stopping tight ends last season — apparently forgot the formula in the San Diego heat. Last postseason alone, the Hawks held Jimmy Graham to one catch for eight yards, Vernon Davis to two receptions for 16 yards and Julius Thomas to four for 27.
But Gates, who was hindered by a hamstring injury all week, caught seven passes for 96 yards and scored against linebackers Malcolm Smith and K.J. Wright and safety Kam Chancellor.
It was the first time Gates had caught three TD passes since a 28-20 win over Kansas City in 2005.
“He definitely capitalized on every opportunity he had,” Chancellor told reporters. “He showed why he is (a five-time) All-Pro tight end. He also has a good quarterback that looks to him and knows him and his timing. They have the quarterback/tight end bond. He is a crafty tight end.”
Continue reading The Gates of Hell: Seahawks burned in the heat of San Diego
The Seahawks had three big needs entering the draft last May. They satisfied two in the second round, drafting wide receiver Paul Richardson 45th overall after trading out of the 32nd spot and selecting right tackle Justin Britt with the final pick.
The one position they did not address was LEO — their top pass-rushing spot. It’s not like they didn’t have a chance, though, and they will see one guy they could have had when they play Jerry Attaochu and the San Diego Chargers on Sunday.
Continue reading Young lions: Seahawks passed on Attaochu, so is Irvin their future LEO?
Receiver Ricardo Lockette has been a hot topic this week. “He’s come so far from where he was,” offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell says in features from Curtis Crabtree and Clare Farnsworth. And here’s audio of Lockette on 710 ESPN.
Rookie wide receiver Kevin Norwood is “really competing to get on the game-day roster,” per a report by Crabtree.
Bryan Walters talks to 710 ESPN about getting the chance to return punts.
Bob Condotta relates the humorous tale of how Justin Britt became a right tackle way back when.
“He has a movie-star smile, but he’ll bite you with those white teeth,” Ken Norton says of Bobby Wagner in a feature by Jerry Brewer of the Times.
Field Gulls reveals the Seattle defense’s secret to covering four deep routes.
Field Gulls also takes a look at how the Seahawks’ power running game excelled vs. Green Bay.
In 2012, the Seahawks added a dynamic player with unique traits and eventually found a way to take advantage of them: Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson lit up the league with the zone read option in the last few weeks of the season.
This year, the Hawks have another new player with stellar abilities, and they already know how to use him.
OK, so Percy Harvin isn’t really new — he was acquired last year — but a hip injury limited him to just a few plays all season so this is really the first time he has been healthy and used to full effect. He showed off his skills impressively in the season-opening 36-16 win over Green Bay.
Now everyone is talking about the Seahawks’ use of the jet sweep — i.e., “The Percy Harvin play.”
If the Seahawks don’t beat the San Diego Chargers on Sunday — perhaps handily — it will be a huge surprise. After all, how many advantages can one team have over another?
Shall we count the ways?
1 — The Seahawks saw the Chargers’ personnel in the preseason, during a 41-14 demolition, and we saw what happened the last time the Hawks played a preseason opponent during the season: Seahawks 43, Broncos 8 in the Super Bowl.
The Seahawks blew out the Broncos in the preseason last year, too, and they used that game to familiarize themselves with the Broncos’ personnel. (The Broncos have to really be looking forward to coming to Seattle next week.)
The Hawks did the same thing with the Chargers this preseason.
Continue reading Seahawks seem to have all of the advantages
Byron Maxwell says he is just “earning my keep” as the cornerback who gets targeted most while playing opposite Richard Sherman.
In the season opener, Sherman was avoided by Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers, who instead threw it Maxwell’s way all game. He didn’t have too much more success as Maxwell shut down the big plays and ended up with an interception — making Rodgers and the Packers pay for picking on him all game.
But Maxwell is not offended by all of that action. He knows Sherman has proven himself as perhaps the best corner in the game, so it follows that teams will look Maxwell’s way more often.
“I take it as earning my keep,” he told 710 ESPN.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 