State of the team, Week 3: San Francisco

Carroll: Season restarts this week

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san-francisco-logoA year ago, the Seahawks got off to a 0-2 start and soon found themselves at 2-4, two games behind Arizona in the NFC West.

They never made up that ground, failing to win the division for the first time since 2012, and ended up going on the road for both playoff games. It ended with a lackluster loss to Carolina in the divisional round.

Pete Carroll would like to avoid all of that this year by getting off to a better start. What’s that, you say? Too late? They are a mere 1-1, coming off a dud 9-3 loss to the division rival Rams?

In his Friday interview with Dori Monson, Carroll pointed out that all four NFC West teams are locked at 1-1 (it’s the only division where every team is tied) and this week is basically a restart for the teams in the division.

“When we started the season, we were all evened up; everybody’s all evened up right now,” he said. “It’s what are you going to do about it now that counts.

Continue reading Carroll: Season restarts this week →

State of the team, The roster, Trades

Joe Thomas? Still a fantasy trade

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san-francisco-logoThe Seahawks’ offensive line has endured a couple of rough games against stellar defensive fronts so far, and Bradley Sowell has been the most consistent problem player.

While we can expect Germain Ifedi’s eventual return to steady the right guard spot and Mark Glowinski and Justin Britt to continue to improve, left tackle is the one spot where there seems to be no help on the horizon. The Hawks are basically playing without a true left tackle this season.

Granted, Sowell will not have to go against great defensive lines like Miami’s or the Rams’ every week. And the coaches probably are counting on him holding his own against less stellar players than Robert Quinn.

But, in the wake of the slow-footed Sowell’s horrendous start to the season — three flags, one sack, one blocked field goal allowed, numerous pressures and hits surrendered — a lot of Seahawks fans are wondering once again whether John Schneider would make a deal for Cleveland All-Pro Joe Thomas.

The answer, like it was in the offseason, almost surely is no.

Continue reading Joe Thomas? Still a fantasy trade →

CHAWK LINES, Week 3: San Francisco
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CHAWK LINES -- 49ers at Seahawks

The Seahawks have been bad on offense for about six games now.

There are a lot of reasons for the poor running attack so far.

With C.J. Prosise and Thomas Rawls ailing, the Seahawks loaded up on running backs at this week’s tryout session.

One of the only good things on offense in L.A. was the re-emergence of Jimmy Graham, who feels “like a beast.”

Larry Stone says it’s not time to panic yet: “This Seahawks team, under this quarterback, has earned a little bit of rope.”

As disappointing as the offensive stats are, the defensive stats have been downright nasty.

Here are six 49ers to watch when they play in Seattle on Sunday.

Marshawn Lynch supports Colin Kaepernick’s protest against cop violence. (Anyone who has a problem with it isn’t paying attention to the news: Another unarmed, non-threatening black man was killed by a cop in Tulsa this week.)

 

Week 2: At Los Angeles

This offense looks as bad as the 2011 crew

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at-los-angeles-logoPete Carroll said last week that his team was ahead of where it was at this time last year. He’s probably rethinking that opinion after the Seahawks scored just three points in yet another loss to the Rams on Sunday.

While the defense is playing to the right standard, giving up just 19 points in the first two games, the offense has reverted to 2011 levels. That’s right: Russell Wilson and company are actually worse than they were early last season, scoring as poorly as the pre-Wilson 2011 unit, which was led by Tarvaris Jackson and Charlie Whitehurst.

The Seahawks have scored 15 points in two games. The last time they had two-game stretches that bad was in 2011, when they scored 13 total in a split with the Steelers (24-0 loss) and Cardinals (13-10 win) and then 15 in losses to the Browns (6-3) and Bengals (34-12).

Continue reading This offense looks as bad as the 2011 crew →

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

O-line on Plan C as Hawks face Rams’ stud D-line

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“The best-laid plans of mice and men (oft go astray)” — Robert Burns, “To a Mouse”

at-los-angeles-logoAfter getting pushed around by the great defensive fronts of the Rams, Panthers and Vikings last season, the Seahawks knew they needed to beef up their offensive line if they were going to win the NFC this year.

So they signed 6-foot-7, 331-pound J’Marcus Webb and 6-7, 309-pound Bradley Sowell and then drafted 6-6, 324-pound Germain Ifedi, 6-4, 314-pound Rees Odhiambo and 6-2, 299-pound center Joey Hunt.

The original plan was to pair Ifedi and Webb on the right side to, as Pete Carroll put it, “get as big as you can get in football.” That, along with moving Justin Britt (6-6, 315) to center, was their strategy for dealing with the great defensive fronts they were set to face in 2016 — the Rams, Panthers, Dolphins, Jets, et al.

But, Robert Burns’ poetic proverb has proven true for the Hawks, who are on to Plan C — and possibly D — as they take their first crack at Aaron Donald, Robert Quinn, Michael Brockers and the rest of the Rams’ deep line.

Continue reading O-line on Plan C as Hawks face Rams’ stud D-line →

CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Los Angeles
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks at Rams

Pete Carroll developed transcendent credibility on and off the field in L.A.

Russell Wilson will not be limited vs. the Rams.

The Rams have been a tough matchup for the Seahawks, mainly due to their defensive line’s dominance of Seattle’s offensive line.

Bob Condotta’s Seahawks to watch include most of the offensive line — J’Marcus Webb is questionable.

Jimmy Graham “had his best week” and is “ready to play in all situations.”

No. 1 pick Jared Goff was promoted to second string by the Rams.

Tharold Simon is the latest failure from Seattle’s 2013 draft class.

Fun & games, It's bigger than football

Lynch talks retirement & more on trek with Grylls

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lynch-with-gryllsMost Seahawks fans can’t get enough of Marshawn Lynch, even in retirement, and he provided one of the best glimpses into his character yet during his appearance on “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” earlier this week.

Lynch was alternately hilarious and philosophical, opening up to Grylls — who obviously knows little of American football and was not out to get anything from Lynch beyond his cooperation — as they bonded on a two-day trek through the Corsican Mountains.

During one rest stop along their journey, Grylls asked Lynch why he retired from the NFL.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 12, 13 years old. It starts to add up. Wear and tear,” Lynch said. “Full body. And mentally. Having to wake yourself up to go and put in all the work that it’s going to take. You know, the physical, the mental. The media starting to wear — all of it. It just all come together.”

Asked the highlight of his career, he said, “Most people don’t get to walk out or get to go out the way that I did, so that’s probably the biggest highlight.

“When it’s time, it’s time.”

Continue reading Lynch talks retirement & more on trek with Grylls →

State of the team, Week 2: At Los Angeles

Rams have lost clock edge on Hawks

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rams-clockIt’s going to be a big party in Los Angeles on Sunday when the Rams and Pete Carroll return to play an NFL game there for the first time since 1994.

Carroll and the California Seahawks are excited to make the return for obvious reasons, but there’s another, more significant, factor that makes the Seahawks very happy and gives them a better chance to win.

As Darrell Bevell said, “I think we get to play at a normal time.”

That’s right: No more 10 a.m. starts for the Hawks when they play the Rams. This game will be played at 1:05 p.m., and every other game going forward will be no earlier than 1 p.m.

Continue reading Rams have lost clock edge on Hawks →

CHAWK LINES, Week 2: At Los Angeles
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CHAWK LINES -- Seahawks at Rams

Russell Wilson said he will be “ready to roll” against the Rams.

The trip to Los Angeles will be special for Pete Carroll and all of the California Seahawks.

Carroll explained this week’s roster decisions at corner and fullback.

Earl Thomas said he was so upset about his play vs. Miami that he quickly left without showering.

Continue reading →

Franchise history, NFL history

Remember the Seahawks’ L.A. story?

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behringIt’s only appropriate that the Seahawks are going to be the first team in 22 years to play the Rams in Los Angeles.

L.A. fans are excited – or were before Monday’s debacle — about the return of the Rams, and plenty of people are making a big deal of Pete Carroll’s return to the site of his USC glory.

But this also marks a pretty major anniversary for the Seahawks, who actually were the last franchise to reside in Los Angeles – if only for a couple of unauthorized months 20 years ago.

As you may or may not recall, Ken Behring tried to move the Hawks to L.A. in 1996, just a year after the Rams and Raiders left. And it was that move that basically led to Paul Allen buying the team – and leading it to three Super Bowls and counting.

Here’s the Seahawks’ L.A. story from my book, “The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly: Seattle Seahawks”:

Continue reading Remember the Seahawks’ L.A. story? →