Here are Bob Condotta’s things to watch in the Rams-Seahawks game.
Matchups and key stats for Rams-Seahawks, via FieldGulls’ Alistair Corp.
Frank Clark is going to play despite fighting food poisoning all week. Dion Jordan and Chris Carson also will return.
The Hawks are confident in Tedric Thompson replacing Earl Thomas, although the Hawks have struggled without Thomas.
The Seahawks could barely get out of their own way in Arizona, missing two field goals, going 0 for 10 on third downs, committing eight penalties, losing Earl Thomas and Will Dissly.
If it weren’t for a 171-yard rushing day, some stout defense against David Johnson and rookie QB Josh Rosen and Arizona dropping some passes, the Hawks might not have evened up their record at 2-2 as they prepare to host the juggernaut Rams, who sure look like the NFL’s top team at this point and come to Seattle as touchdown favorites.
The Hawks are a game off our projection due to the loss in Chicago, but how does Pete Carroll see his team after the first quarter?
Continue reading Seahawks’ status report after NFL’s first quarter
It looks like the Seahawks just lost three players for the season.
In addition to Earl Thomas and Will Dissly, who both were put on IR on Tuesday, Mychal Kendricks looks unlikely to play the rest of the way — he was suspended indefinitely by the NFL for his inside-trading case and is likely out of commission until after he finishes his prison sentence.
When Earl Thomas gave his one-finger salute to John Schneider (who else would he be targeting?) as the safety was being carted off the field Sunday in Arizona, he was just pointing out the general manager’s latest error.
Earlier this year, we detailed many of the mistakes Schneider has made since his magical (lucky?) draft run from 2010 to 2012. It has merely continued this year, with the Thomas debacle now officially another black eye for Schneider and the Rashaad Penny pick looking every bit the waste it appeared in April.
Continue reading Thomas was just pointing out another big mistake by Schneider
The last time the Seahawks traveled to Arizona, in November, they were already beaten up — and then lost Richard Sherman and Kam Chancellor forever.
This time, the Seahawks enter their Arizona preparation with a lot of positive news: Doug Baldwin and Justin Britt returned to practice, Mychal Kendricks will be available again this week, and Pete Carroll and Earl Thomas are “in a good place” after the non-practice drama last week.
Earl Thomas and company, take a bow. Oh, Earl already did?
Well, he deserved to. Along with Bradley McDougald, Chris Carson, Tyler Lockett and the rest of the Hawks, who finally got on the board and avoided the dreaded 0-3 start.
The Seahawks played great defense, overcame a reshuffled offensive line, ran the ball and took advantage of Dallas’ defensive blunders in a 24-13 win Sunday.
The Seahawks need to end this soon.
They have enough problems without having to put up with the drama of a star player who refuses to practice. Time to trade Earl Thomas. Take the second-rounder and move on.
The Hawks reportedly are considering fining him for missing two practices last week as they prepared to play his favorite team, Dallas.
Pete Carroll’s defense is sitting in a very unfamiliar place after one game, ranked 28th overall and 29th against the pass. So, how worried should we be?
In the short term (this month), maybe a little. In the long term, not very.
There were a lot of variables at play in Denver that surely won’t be such big issues a month from now. The heat and altitude were factors; the Hawks were playing with five new starters, including two rookies; Earl Thomas had just returned; and K.J. Wright was not playing.
Continue reading Off to bad start, defense will get much better
In a lot of ways, the Seahawks’ opener was everything we thought it would be: on-the-job training for young defenders, a de facto preseason game for Earl Thomas, a stress test for the offensive line, a big game for Michael Dickson — and a close loss.
Among all of the negatives in the 27-24 loss in Denver — 329 yards and three TDs by Case Keenum, Shaquem Griffin and Tre Flowers over their heads in their NFL debuts, Von Miller tallying three sacks and two forced fumbles — the biggest was the disappointing play of Russell Wilson in a scheme that looked like it had not changed a bit.
Wilson, now in his seventh season, looked like a rookie throughout much of this game as he dropped to 1-4 in road season openers. He knew he was going against the NFL’s top pass rusher in Miller, and yet he continually held the ball for too long. He said he was responsible for three of Denver’s six sacks, but it was more than three — and he caused his offense trouble in other ways.
Earl Thomas’ message has been sent and he is begrudgingly coming back for his final year in Seattle — unless a trade comes together at some point. And you can expect him to quietly play lights out.
The Seahawks reportedly rebuffed a second-round offer from Dallas this week, holding firm on better compensation for the five-time All-Pro. And that left Thomas with the choice of continuing to hold out — and lose money — or report and play for a new contract elsewhere.
He announced his return Wednesday on Instagram: “I worked my whole life for this. I’ve never let (my) teammates, city or fans down as long as I’ve lived and don’t plan on starting this weekend. With that being said, the disrespect has been well noted and will not be forgotten. Father Time may have an undefeated record, but best believe I plan on taking him into triple overtime when it comes to my career.”
Continue reading Thomas begrudgingly returns; expect him to play his quiet best
CHAWK TALK: Everything being said about the Seahawks 