Will Seahawks say bye to bad trend?

October 15, 2016 cc Leave a comment

As they face the Falcons, the Seahawks will be looking to reverse a bad trend: poor performances off long layoffs.

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In 2013 and most of 2014, the Seahawks were excellent when coming off byes or long prep times — going 9-2, with an average win margin of 14.9.

But they finished 2014 poorly, losing Super Bowl XLIX at the end after a 14-day prep period. And they haven’t done well on long layoffs since then, losing 34-31 at St. Louis in the 2015 opener, barely beating Dallas in an ugly 13-12 contest before their bye and then dropping a 39-32 home decision to Arizona after their bye.

Defense was a huge culprit in both of those 2015 losses, which were the reason they failed to win the NFC West. Had they won those division games, they would have ended up 12-4 with a first-round bye. As we all know, playoff byes were good to Seattle in 2013 and 2014, when they beat New Orleans and Carolina, moved on to the NFC title game and then the Super Bowl.

But the Hawks lost those two division games in 2015 and paid the consequences with two miserable road playoff games.

So, they entered this season with three losses in their last four off long layoffs — and barely squeaked past Miami in the opener, due mainly to a new offensive line that was outclassed.

Now they are getting ready to face the No. 1 offense in the league — and the question is: Have they finally gotten back on the post-bye winning track?

CHAWK LINES, Week 6: Atlanta

October 15, 2016 cc Leave a comment

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Kam Chancellor and Frank Clark are game-time decisions for ATL-SEA.

The weather is expected to be a big player in the game.

The Seahawks had great things to say about Dan Quinn, their former DC who brings the Falcons to town this weekend.

Julio Jones vs. Richard Sherman is the matchup everyone wants to see.

But K.J. Wright said this “is a linebacker’s game,” and Bobby Wagner said he thinks he and Wright are up to the big challenge of stopping Atlanta RBs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman.

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State of the team, Week 6: Atlanta

Neal looked like a Seahawk, which is why Chancellor trained him

October 13, 2016 cc Leave a comment

In the lead-up to the NFL draft last spring, Florida safety Keanu Neal looked like the kind of player the Seahawks might consider late in the first round.

He had a lot of similarities to Kam Chancellor and seemed like he could be the formerly disgruntled Pro Bowl safety’s heir apparent.

As it turned out, the Seahawks had no shot at Neal — even if they would have considered taking a defensive back so high. Atlanta drafted him instead, at pick 17 — obviously Dan Quinn’s move to find his own Chancellor.

The interesting twist in this is that Chancellor actually reached out to Neal, despite not knowing him, and offered to teach the rookie how to train NFL style.

“He was a bit surprised,” Chancellor said of the text he sent the rookie. “He just was very thankful and grateful that I reached out to him. I said a few things to him, talked to him and asked him if he wanted to come train with me in the offseason. He was just a grateful kid.”

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Week 6: Atlanta, X's & O's

Can the Hawks catch the Falcons’ backs?

October 13, 2016 cc 2 Comments

Over the offseason, the Seahawks talked about tweaking their defense to account for the short passing attacks some savvy offenses have used to beat them.

Although Miami and the Jets worked the short game with some success in the first month, they didn’t do it well enough to beat the Seahawks. But now the Hawks are about to face their first big test against a quarterback and skill players who are capable of beating them the way Tom Brady, Philip Rivers, Aaron Rodgers, Andy Dalton and Cam Newton have in recent seasons.

Sure, Atlanta’s 300-yard man, Julio Jones, will have a fun matchup against Richard Sherman. But the Falcons the Hawks need to be most concerned about are running backs Tevin Coleman and Devonta Freeman.

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State of the team, Week 6: Atlanta

After rough first month, O-line gets a few easier matchups

October 12, 2016 cc Leave a comment

One of the concerning themes of the first month for the Seahawks was the crazy caliber of defensive lines they had to face.

Poor performance by their reconfigured offensive line against the Dolphins, Rams and Jets was the only thing that stood between the Hawks and a 4-0 record.

As expected, the new unit got whipped in the first two games — except for that final winning drive against Miami.

But, the good news is the unit did a better-than-expected job vs. the Jets — allowing Russell Wilson, Jimmy Graham and company to score some points and the Hawks to enter their bye at 3-1.

Now, with the line’s tough start over, the unit has a fairly friendly three-game stretch before it gets difficult again. And the quintet should get better by the week now that Germain Ifedi is back.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 6: Atlanta

October 11, 2016 cc Leave a comment

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The game against the Falcons could be a barometer of where the Seahawks stand in the NFC.

Russell Wilson looks fine, and more injury updates.

Five Seahawks who are key to the final 12 games.

Frank Clark is playing a lot more this year, and DeShawn Shead has played every snap.

The Seahawks are producing more sacks this year despite blitzing at the same frequency as last year.

Dan Quinn said he has “a lot of gratitude” for Pete Carroll and the Seahawks setting him up to coach the Falcons.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 5: Bye

October 10, 2016 cc Leave a comment

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A revealing story about how Kevin Pierre-Louis has learned to manage his depression.

The upcoming game vs. Atlanta is surprisingly one of the best on Seattle’s remaining schedule.

Four stats that tell the Seahawks’ story so far.

What the media had to say about Seattle’s first quarter.

Germain Ifedi is “a real presence” on the offensive line.

Jimmy Graham’s return from a torn patellar tendon has been impressive.

Cassius Marsh was among those fined for a penalty in the Jets game.

Seahawks.com looks at Richard Sherman’s leadership skills.

Ricardo Lockette is raising awareness for spinal injuries.

State of the team, Week 5: Bye

Hawks suddenly look like expected Super Bowl contenders

October 5, 2016 cc Leave a comment

“I’m really excited about what’s coming up. I think we have a hell of a football team.” – Pete Carroll, to 710 ESPN

After the first two weeks of the season – a 1-1 record and just 15 points scored — it sure looked like this was going to be a repeat of the Seahawks’ slow start in 2015.

But, overcoming injuries and tough matchups for their offensive line, the Hawks have quickly rallied to look much more like the Super Bowl contenders we all envisioned.

While some silly folks thought Russell Wilson should have sat out in New York, he instead overcame his leg injuries to play his best game of the season and lead the offense to a second straight good-looking performance – making it 64 points for Seattle over the past two games despite all kinds of injuries.

“We make a good step forward here,” Pete Carroll said this week. “We played well two weeks ago (in a 37-18 win over the 49ers), then we went on the road in a difficult setting and found our play again. So that kicks us into the bye thing, where we can really take a look at the end of the first quarter of the season and kind of see where we are. We still have a game out there that we wish we would have gotten, but we’re coming around. We’re moving forward and moving in a good direction.”

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State of the team, Week 4: At N.Y. Jets

Graham has answered all of the big questions

October 3, 2016 cc 1 Comment

The Seahawks’ trade for Jimmy Graham in 2015 was met with a lot of raised eyebrows and just about everyone critiqued Graham’s every move in the offense last season.

When he suffered a torn patellar tendon against Pittsburgh in Week 11, the critics of the deal said, “I told you so.”

They said it again as the offense took off without Graham, setting team records behind Russell Wilson and Doug Baldwin.

So, as Graham came back from the injury this year, the big questions were: (1) Would he be able to return to his old self, (2) would he and Wilson find the rhythm they had just discovered when he was hurt and (3) how would his return affect Baldwin?

The wins over the Niners and Jets provided answers to all of those queries.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 4: At N.Y. Jets

October 3, 2016 cc Leave a comment

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