Tag Archives: Brian Schottenheimer

Week 15: At Washington

Hawks pass big test and can win West this week

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The Seahawks passed the Washington test – and surprisingly passed the Rams in the NFC West in the process.

The 20-15 win over Washington was one of the Seahawks’ best wins of the season – right up there with the win over Arizona. With the Rams stunningly becoming the Jets’ first victim of the season, it put the Hawks on top in the NFC West. A win at home vs. L.A. this week would clinch the division for the Hawks.

“Next week will be another championship game for us,’’ Pete Carroll said. “Just what we’ve been preparing for.’’

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Week 15: At Washington

The measure of Wilson & the offense

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The Seahawks’ game in Washington on Sunday will be a great test of whether Brian Schottenheimer and Russell Wilson have gotten over their collective midseason slump and are ready to beat the Rams in Week 16.

Washington has one of the NFL’s best defenses – fourth in yards, sixth in scoring, fourth in DVOA. It all starts with their stellar defensive line, made up of a bunch of first-round picks: Chase Young (2020), Montez Sweat (2019), Da’Ron Payne (2018), Jonathan Allen (2017) and Ryan Kerrigan (2011). Add Tim Settle’s 5.5 sacks from inside, and that sextet has combined for 27.5 sacks (Seattle’s top six D-linemen have just 18.5).

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Schedule, X's & O's

1-4 and out? It’s possible if the Hawks don’t fix the offense

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One way the Seahawks could miss the playoffs at 9-7

If the Seahawks don’t fix their offense this week, they are in deep trouble the rest of the way. As in, they could go 1-4 in December and January, finish 9-7 and miss the playoffs.

Washington’s upset win over erstwhile undefeated Pittsburgh on Monday showed the team formerly known as Redskins will be maybe the toughest of the NFC Least clubs the Hawks face. WFT has perhaps the best defensive line in the league, and comeback QB Alex Smith has gone 3-1 as the starter.

The Hawks will go to DC after hosting the winless Jets this week. Then come the tough division games against the Rams in Seattle and the 49ers in a place to be determined (the 49ers are playing this month in Arizona). Those last three games will be challenges for a Seattle team that has been struggling on defense all season and has lost its offensive power over the past month.

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Week 13: NY Giants

Hawks choke at home

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So much for the easy run against the NFC Least.

The Seahawks’ offense continued its horrific slump and Seattle suffered its worst home upset since 2017 and probably lost any shot at the No. 1 seed, as the Giants managed to squeak out a 17-12 win.

The Seahawks’ offensive funk has now stretched over a month as they have put up terrible games against L.A., Philly and now New York. After averaging 34 points in the first eight games, they have scored a mere 19.8 over the past four games, going 2-2 during that stretch.

After a 5-0 start that featured premature MVP talk about Russell Wilson, the Hawks have now gone 3-4. With the Saints moving to 10-2, the Hawks are two games behind in the chase for the NFC bye. It does not seem likely. The Rams (8-4) also beat Arizona to take the NFC West lead back.

If the playoffs started this week, the Seahawks would be playing the Giants again, in New York.

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Video, Week 12: At Philadelphia, X's & O's

Offense needs to snap out of its funk

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Don’t let a two-game winning streak fool you. The Seahawks’ offense still has not recovered its rhythm.

While the defense had its way with the dysfunctional Eagles offense in Seattle’s 23-17 win Monday night, Philly’s stout defensive front gave the Seahawks trouble and showed Russell Wilson and Co. are still trying to rediscover their early-season mojo.

It will be important to find that again if they are going to avoid a stumble in this run against the NFL Least (Eagles, Giants, Jets, WFT) and actually beat good teams when it matters – i.e., the Rams and any playoff foe.

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Week 12: At Philadelphia

Hawks win ugly, keep control of WEst

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Brian Schottenheimer and the offense made it much harder than it needed to be, but the Seahawks managed to kick off their NFC Least tour with an ugly 23-17 win against the Eagles in Philadelphia. That allowed Seattle (8-3) to keep control of the NFC West, which the team had gained when the 49ers beat the Rams (7-4) on Sunday.

Against a stout Philly front seven, DK Metcalf bailed out the Seattle offense with a career-high 177 yards and Chris Carson tallied 59 yards and a TD in his return from a four-game absence. The defense started very strong against the Eagles and allowed a season low in points while sacking Carson Wentz six times.

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Week 11: Arizona

Can Wilson avoid first three-game losing streak?

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Russell Wilson has never lost three straight games, but he faces the biggest test of that streak ever on Thursday against Arizona.

The Cardinals have won four of the last five in Seattle, all coming in Week 10 or later. And they’re on a hot streak, having won four out of five – including a Hail Murray win over Buffalo on Sunday. That is the same Bills team that put up a Pete Carroll era-worst 44 points against Seattle two Sundays ago.

If the Seahawks lose this game, they will drop to 6-4 and basically be two games behind Arizona, thanks to a sweep. Seattle has an easy slate the rest of the way, with three NFC Least teams, the Jets and the battered 49ers. But the Hawks need to show they can beat good teams.  

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Week 3: Dallas, X's & O's

Wilson is not throwing more — just more proactively

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Russell Wilson – everyone’s three-game NFL MVP — has not thrown the ball more this year, contrary to what some might think. He has just thrown it more efficiently and effectively and, most important, more proactively.

He has thrown 103 passes through three games, which is right around his average (104) for the first three games of the 2015-19 seasons.

But Wilson has set an NFL record with 14 TD passes to start the season, and his 76.7 percent completions and 7.76 yards per attempt are all the best of his career through three games.

It hasn’t been the volume; it has been the timing: He is throwing on early downs and in the first half more than ever.

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Week 1: At Atlanta

Adams, Wilson, Schotty star in big opening win

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Pay Jamal Adams right now, and give Brian Schottenheimer a gold star.

In his first game, Adams showed he was definitely worth the 13th overall pick and Schotty made the “Let Russ Cook” crowd happy by coming out throwing.  

Apparently Russell Wilson has finally earned more pull in the organization, because the Hawks took his advice and stunned us all by coming out firing in Atlanta. They ended up scoring more points than in any season opener in Pete Carroll’s 11 seasons.

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X's & O's

Hawks gonna let Russ cook two-minute meals?

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Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images)“Let Russ cook” has become an annoying mantra repeated by some fans the last couple of years.

It’s a nebulous decree. For some, it is a call for Seattle to just throw the ball 40 times a game. For the smarter ones, it is a more nuanced request for the Seahawks to let Russell Wilson stir the pot in his own special way, especially earlier in games.

At the Pro Bowl in February, Wilson said he was all in favor of the latter. He talked about going up-tempo more — something we have constantly called for in the first half, especially. He also apparently has discussed this with Pete Carroll.

Don’t get too excited, cooking fans, but it sounds like the coach might have listened, based on staff moves he made and a report that Seattle is indeed talking about letting Wilson work up some two-minute meals.

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