Contrary to some thoughts, Richard Sherman is not going anywhere.
The Seahawks are not going to cut him, because they never do that to injured stars. And they’re now not going to consider trading him, because his Achilles injury has stunted his value.
The Seahawks are going to do what they always do with valued players who get hurt: Help him rehab and come back stronger than ever in 2018.
“It’s hard to be fired up about this because a lot of guys got banged up today and I feel terrible about it.” — Pete Carroll
Richard Sherman’s season is over, but that doesn’t mean Seattle’s is — unless some of the seven other injuries they suffered Thursday are serious as well.
If the Seahawks didn’t already have enough problems — no running game, no first-half offense, too many penalties — they now can add another: Injuries.
They already were a band of walking wounded as they headed into the dreaded short-week clash with Arizona. Missing seven starters and coming in with at least 11 more players banged up, they took a bloodbath in the 22-16 win.
Continue reading Win in Arizona was costly; how much do Hawks have left?
As the Seahawks quickly get ready to embark on the second half of their season, their roster — like many around the NFL — looks quite a bit different than it did when the season started.
Seattle will head to Arizona without starters Cliff Avril, Chris Carson and Luke Joeckel. But John Schneider also has added Duane Brown and Dwight Freeney, who already have made their presences felt and will be big parts of the second-half playoff push.
As he tries to help the Hawks become a contender this season, Schneider also is evaluating and plotting his 2018 moves.
It’s midseason and the Hawks are in their usual discovery mode, trying to figure out how to improve their offense enough to make a Super Bowl run.
They have failed the last two years, coming up way short in the divisional round on the road each time, and they look like they are headed down the same path this year.
In their pursuit of home field for the playoffs, the Hawks really needed to beat Washington — one of the easiest games they had left. They would have then been 6-2, just a game and a half behind NFC-leading Philadelphia (8-1), which has a bye this week. A win Thursday then would have put the Hawks at 7-2, one game behind, with the Eagles coming to Seattle in Week 13.
Now, the best Seattle can do is trail by two after Thursday and hope the Eagles stumble. Even then, it looks really hard for the Hawks to make up ground. They will be lucky to win the NFC West.
Continue reading Hawks still look like a 10-win team; more will be hard to get though
Seattle’s 17-14 debacle against Washington was easily the worst home loss of the Russell Wilson era — a ridiculous defeat to an undermanned team that the Seahawks couldn’t afford to take, not with the toughest part of their schedule about to begin.
This was just the seventh home loss in the Wilson era. But it came against a broken-down Washington offense and a defense giving up 25.7 points per game. In other words, it was completely unacceptable. Seattle could have — should have — won at least 22-17.
But, thanks to a record penalty day, three missed field goals and two interceptions, the Seahawks are just 5-3 midway through another disjointed season. They have struggled to stay above .500, with five wins against teams that are a combined 13-29. And it is about to get really hard. The winless 49ers are the only losing team in the final eight games, with the seven others a combined 32-17.
That’s not a good sign for a Seattle team that halfway through the season still has no running game and is now beating itself with record penalty counts and many other errors.
Continue reading That was the worst home loss in Wilson era; now it gets tougher
The Seahawks say they aim to be the best scrambling offense in the NFL — so it figures that’s what they’re doing this week: Scrambling once again to fix their offense.
The trade for Duane Brown, an excellent if belated move to shore up left tackle, and the decision to ride one running back are steps that should have been taken long ago. These moves at this late date are emblematic of Pete Carroll’s offense: They never seem to have a good plan.
John Schneider was ready for this. He had to be.
He knew it was possible — if not probable — that Jeremy Lane could fail his physical. After all, Lane suffered yet another injury Sunday.
Seattle’s trade filed Tuesday indicated a conditional fifth-rounder going to Houston, and the condition probably was Lane passing his physical. Schneider and Houston GM Rick Smith probably wrote in the upgrade to a third in that case, which is how Seattle ended up giving up a 2018 third-rounder and 2019 second and getting back a 2018 fifth along with Duane Brown.
The bigger issue now is cap space: With Lane’s $2.1 million staying on the books, the Seahawks have around $500,000 in room — even after Russell Wilson signed off on a simple restructure to accommodate Brown’s remaining $5 million.
John Schneider and Pete Carroll know they have wasted two years of their great defense because of a poor offensive line — one that is even worse than the middling units they had as they reached the Super Bowl in 2013 and 2014 — and the team’s chiefs apparently have had enough.
Fans have been calling for them to add a good left tackle since Russell Okung left after the 2015 season. After using Bradley Sowell, George Fant and Rees Odhiambo over the past two seasons, they finally did it — Schneider pulling off his second blockbuster deal in two months to add another Pro Bowl player.
Some think Schneider is selling the future for one last hurrah, but he’s really just making sure the Hawks don’t waste this window any more than they already have. And he’s doing it at little cost to the future.
Continue reading Hawks finally tired of wasting a great defense
The Seahawks don’t often win shootouts — because their defense rarely lets them get into those situations.
So, it was a great sign Sunday that Russell Wilson put the team on his back and won a historic duel with stellar Houston rookie Deshaun Watson.
The Hawks have a long way to go still, but this 41-38 win felt a lot like a 39-30 victory over Pittsburgh in 2015. That was the second game in a 6-1 finish to the 2015 season during which the Hawks averaged 32 points.
The Hawks are 5-2, tied with the surprising Rams atop the NFC West, with a direct win already. Seattle should win at least three of the next four (Washington, at Arizona, Atlanta, at San Francisco) before a tough four-game stretch (Philadelphia, at Jacksonville, L.A., at Dallas). Add the finale vs. Arizona, and the Hawks look poised for 10-11 wins — more if they can find a running game.
The Seahawks continue to call about left tackles and reportedly are willing to deal Jimmy Graham — although Pete Carroll emphatically refuted that report and John Schneider also shot it down.
The Texans are in turmoil, and the Seahawks had a few things to say about it. The Texans have a demonstration planned.
The Seahawks are thankful to have Paul Allen as their owner.
Justin Britt will be a game-time decision, but signs point to him playing.
Rookie QBs are 2-10 in Seattle, meaning Deshaun Watson will have a tough time.
Will Watson play into the Seattle pass rush’s hands?
Five things to watch in #HOUvsSEA, from John Clayton. And three keys, via Seahawks.com.
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 