Carroll loves first place, but ‘the best is yet to come’

October 25, 2022 cc 1 Comment

The Seahawks have surprised everyone, leading the NFC West at Week 7 with a 4-3 record built on two straight good-looking wins.

Now everyone wants to take a pause to congratulate Pete Carroll and John Schneider. There are still 10 games left, but no one predicted the Hawks would be leading the division at this point (the closest we came was a 3-4 projection) with a quarterback who is playing better than the erstwhile star he replaced and a young defense that has seemed to find its way after a rough start.

Carroll is enjoying this rebirth, both of his roster and himself and Schneider, who could be seen in the SoFi Stadium suites Sunday excitedly watching his new young team beat the Chargers 37-23.

Continue reading →

Week 6: Arizona

If defense flipped a permanent switch, Hawks are a playoff contender

October 17, 2022 cc 1 Comment

Don’t look now, but the Seahawks might be turning into a playoff contender before our very eyes.

After a 19-9 win over Arizona, they are again tied atop the so far middling NFC West — and they suddenly might have figured out how to play defense.

The West has no standout team. With San Francisco and Los Angeles also 3-3, the division is up for grabs. So, if the Hawks have indeed discovered the secret sauce on defense, it could be a fun, competitive ride from here on out.

Continue reading →

Week 5: At New Orleans

Trends — good and bad — continue in mistake-filled loss to Saints

October 10, 2022 cc Leave a comment

Three trends continued in New Orleans – one really pleasant one and two supremely disappointing ones.

Geno Smith once again played very well, continuing to prove wrong all of us who thought he could not be an NFL starter. Far from being the weak link on this team, he has been a steady, competent leader and one of the top passers in the NFL in 2022.

But the dysfunctional defense continues to make it hard for Smith to win games. With even an average unit, the Hawks could be 4-1 and leading the division. Smith has played that well — the top-rated QB in the league. But the defense has been that bad — on pace yet again to be the worst in franchise history.

Continue reading →

Week 4: At Detroit

Hawks won’t always face defenses that bad, so theirs needs to improve

October 6, 2022 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are in the thick of the division race – for now. But an average offense and horrible defense can’t keep them there.

Yeah, yeah, the offense put up 41 points Sunday in Detroit — against the NFL’s worst defense. That followed 23 against the league’s No. 25 scoring defense, Atlanta. But the Hawks were shut out by the NFL’s top scoring defense, the 49ers, after scoring just 17 (all in the first half) against Denver, which is a top-five defense.

So far, the Hawks have struggled vs. good defenses and scored well against bad ones. In other words, Geno Smith and Co. look like an average group that needs some help from the defense.

Continue reading →

Week 3: Atlanta

Until Hawks figure out how to run 3-4, losses will keep coming

September 27, 2022 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are losing games the way they would like to win them: On the ground. Until they get that figured out, they will keep losing – because Geno Smith and the offense are not a come-from-behind bunch.

The Hawks are 1-2 – with an emotionally charged prime-time win over Russell Wilson’s Broncos followed up by a self-inflicted blowout loss to the 49ers and a defense-driven home defeat to the Falcons.

The Hawks are headed to Detroit to face a high-scoring Lions team (32 ppg) that lost a shootout to the undefeated Eagles in Week 1 and had the Vikings on the ropes until late in the game last week.

The Hawks are still trying to find their way on defense, which bodes poorly for this week, obviously.

Continue reading →

Week 1: Denver

Don’t write off Geno & the Hawks so soon

September 13, 2022 cc Leave a comment

“They wrote me off; I ain’t write back though.”

That was Geno Smith after winning his first opening-game start in eight years, against Russell Wilson’s Broncos on Monday Night Football.

It also could be the entire Seahawks team, which felt a measure of vindication after beating the highly favored Broncos and Wilson, Seattle’s longtime franchise QB.

Smith was nearly perfect in the first half and then fizzled in the second thanks to DK Metcalf’s fumble and the Broncos owning the ball for over 20 minutes. But the defense rose up and showed how improved it already is — and signs of how very good it may become as this season goes on.

Continue reading →

CHAWK LINES, Week 1: Denver

Russell Wilson returns

September 11, 2022 cc Leave a comment

Russell Wilson’s first game with the Broncos will be against his old Seahawks. Here’s a good in-depth look from Brady Henderson of ESPN.com at why Wilson is no longer a Seahawk.

A big question is: How will Seattle fans greet Wilson? Cheers or boos? We expect a mix of both before the game and a very loud crowd when Wilson has the ball during the game. Pete Carroll seems all in favor the latter. Wilson said, “I know they’ll be rowdy. I know they will be excited. I know that. It’s ‘Monday Night Football,’ so it’ll be a special environment.”

Continue reading →

Schedule, Week 1: Denver

Just how many games can the Seahawks win?

September 6, 2022 cc 2 Comments

As the Seahawks prepare to start a season without Russell Wilson for the first time in 11 years, they are not expected to win more than four or five games.

In the Wilson years, the Hawks would have been favored to beat Denver, Atlanta, Detroit, Las Vegas, Carolina and the Giants and Jets while splitting their division games. That would equal 10 wins, with New Orleans, Tampa Bay, the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City the wild cards.

With no dependable quarterback, though, the Hawks currently are favored against only the Falcons, Panthers and the New York teams. Vegas has the over/under at 5.5 wins. The combined career winning percentage of Geno Smith and Drew Lock is .382, which would translate to six wins.

Is that really the best this team will be able to manage without Wilson?

It all depends on the running game, special teams, takeaways — and more takeaways. And probably putting Lock at QB.

Continue reading →

Preseason, The roster

Even with Lock sick, Geno can’t claim QB1

August 18, 2022 cc 1 Comment

Drew Lock still has a shot at Seattle’s starting quarterback position. So perhaps does Jimmy Garoppolo.

With Lock unable to start Thursday because of Covid-19, Geno Smith had his chance to lock down the position – and he didn’t do it.

In a terribly messy 27-11 preseason home loss to Chicago, Smith failed to lead Seattle to any points in the first half. The Hawks punted five times and missed a field goal off Smith’s drives. He hit just 10 of 18 passes for 118 yards – with 41 coming on a pass to Penny Hart. It was just the latest struggle for Smith to get his offense into the end zone (he also didn’t have a lot of help from a line that committed too many penalties and lost Damien Lewis to an ankle injury).

Continue reading →

Preseason, The roster

First game shows Drew Lock’s upside

August 15, 2022 cc Leave a comment

In the first game of the post-Wilson era, Drew Lock showed he probably will end up the starting quarterback and the Seahawks’ top rookies all showed early evidence that they will live up to the promise of draft day.

We think the Hawks could win eight or nine games, depending on the quarterback play, and the rest of the team sure seems capable of backing that projection.

Now we just need to see what Lock can do against starting defenses.

In a 32-25 loss in Pittsburgh, Lock showed more arm strength, zip, mobility and decisiveness than Geno Smith. Yes, he was facing the Steelers’ reserve defenders and lost the ball on a blitz sack late in the game, but he clearly looked like the more explosive quarterback.

Continue reading →