Tag Archives: Germain Ifedi

Don’t expect any big additions on O-line

January 17, 2017 cc Leave a comment

A year ago, the Seahawks’ obvious priority was to build an almost entirely new offensive line. They ended up with three first-time starters, a fourth in a new position and a fifth who was only in his second year at his spot.

Everyone hoped against hope that bunch of neophytes would not be this Super Bowl contender’s undoing. But, along with a few key injuries, it was.

Despite the apparent lack of progress, Pete Carroll thinks they have set a foundation and the continuity will help the group improve even if the club does nothing to add to the unit. He also made it clear they do not plan to spend much money on the line.

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State of the team, Week 15: Los Angeles

Hawks have to keep running the ball

December 19, 2016 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll knows his team has to keep trying to run the ball if it is going to keep winning. That was true vs. the Rams and certainly will apply in the playoffs.

The question: Will the offensive line get it back together or will Seattle have to win the way it did against Los Angeles?

The Seahawks had rolled up 655 rushing yards, at a 6.1 average, over four games heading into last Thursday, leading to some confidence that they might be able to buck their trend of poor performances against the Rams.

But they instead conjured one of their worst rushing games of the season, averaging a season-low 2.4 yards per carry. It was their sixth game under 3.0 this season — the most in Carroll’s seven seasons. It also was the worst rushing performance by that metric since Russell Wilson became QB.

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State of the team, Week 12: At Tampa Bay

Carroll not concerned about OL’s poor game

November 28, 2016 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll was as befuddled by his offensive line’s horrible performance against Tampa Bay as anyone, but he is viewing it as a one-off.

“I ain’t worried about it a bit,” he told 710 ESPN.”If it happens next week and the next week, then we’re in trouble.”

Carroll said Joey Hunt played well in place of Justin Britt (ankle) but Britt’s absence might have messed up Germain Ifedi, who also had a new right tackle next to him as Bradley Sowell replaced Garry Gilliam for performance reasons.

Aside from George Fant’s struggles against Noah Spence and Robert Ayers, the biggest issue was Ifedi missing stunts by the defensive line.

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State of the team, Week 12: At Tampa Bay

O-line costs Hawks the No. 1 seed again

November 28, 2016 cc Leave a comment

It’s all but official: The Seahawks’ decision to ignore the offensive line has cost them the No. 1 seed in the NFC. Again.

After their third turd of an offensive game this year, an inexplicable 14-5 loss in Tampa Bay, the Hawks (7-3-1) are now 2.5 games behind dominant Dallas (10-1) in the NFC. With five games left, the Hawks now have to hope they can hold off Detroit (7-4) and Atlanta (7-4) for the No. 2 seed.

They won’t do it unless they fix their offense. They have now scored under seven points three times this year – just the third time in 41 years a Seattle offense has been so feckless. They are 0-2-1 in those games, by an average score of 10-5.

The defense, despite myriad injuries, clearly has held up its end – still the No. 1 scoring unit in the league. So this is all on the offense, which continues to operate like a teenager driving a stick shift – lurching along, popping the clutch, stalling out.

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Franchise history, State of the team, Week 10: At New England

Can Seahawks overcome O-line once again?

November 13, 2016 cc Leave a comment

At the midway point of the season, as the Seahawks prepare for a mammoth matchup in New England on “Sunday Night Football,” we know a number of things about Pete Carroll’s 2016 club:

Russell Wilson is an iron man. Jimmy Graham is a miracle man. The defense can’t be dominant without Michael Bennett. NFL refs love creating controversy during Seattle games. And …

The offensive line is every bit the problem we all thought it would be — and seems to be getting worse. Is there any hope it will improve? And if it doesn’t, will it prevent the Hawks from winning the Super Bowl?

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CHAWK LINES, Week 8: At New Orleans

October 28, 2016 cc Leave a comment

CHAWK LINES -- Hawks at Saints.png

Russell Wilson talks fatherhood and playing through yet another injury.

Wilson, limited in practice for the first time ever, said he plans to play in New Orleans.

Looks like Kam Chancellor and Kevin Pierre-Louis will be out again this week. Chancellor has missed the past two games.

Sherman Smith basically called out Christine Michael for running out of bounds and not bringing the physical attitude the Seahawks prefer.

Tom Cable said Germain Ifedi made a “big jump” last week and Garry Gilliam needs to be more physical.

K.J. Wright says playing Madden made him a smarter player and he played his best game of the season at Arizona.

Bobby Wagner says hot yoga is part of his recovery routine and he is taking better care of his body than he ever has.

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State of the team, Week 6: Atlanta

Theme of the week: Experience matters

October 17, 2016 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll spent a lot of his Monday press conference explaining Richard Sherman’s outburst during Seattle’s 26-24 win over Atlanta and breaking down the injury situation, but he offered some good analysis of his 4-1 football team as well.

Among the big points he made: Experience matters, and they missed Kam Chancellor; Kelcie McCray handled the criticism like a pro; Germain Ifedi had a rough game as he makes up for missed time; the pass protection is strong because of Russell Wilson’s development; and the running game just didn’t get the chances vs. Atlanta because the Seahawks had to rally in the fourth quarter.

Carroll said the 36-yard touchdown by Julio Jones that set Sherman off was a result of “just not being on the same page.”

“What was clear to me is that Kam is a big factor,” Carroll said. “We don’t see that stuff; I can’t remember another game when Kam was playing (where that happened). He has such a connection and skills at communicating and all that.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 6: Atlanta

October 15, 2016 cc Leave a comment

chawk-lines-falcons-at-hawks

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

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 5: Bye

October 10, 2016 cc Leave a comment

CHAWK LINES -- Bye week