Tag Archives: Rashaad Penny

Trends — good and bad — continue in mistake-filled loss to Saints

October 10, 2022 cc Leave a comment

Three trends continued in New Orleans – one really pleasant one and two supremely disappointing ones.

Geno Smith once again played very well, continuing to prove wrong all of us who thought he could not be an NFL starter. Far from being the weak link on this team, he has been a steady, competent leader and one of the top passers in the NFL in 2022.

But the dysfunctional defense continues to make it hard for Smith to win games. With even an average unit, the Hawks could be 4-1 and leading the division. Smith has played that well — the top-rated QB in the league. But the defense has been that bad — on pace yet again to be the worst in franchise history.

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Week 4: At Detroit

Hawks won’t always face defenses that bad, so theirs needs to improve

October 6, 2022 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are in the thick of the division race – for now. But an average offense and horrible defense can’t keep them there.

Yeah, yeah, the offense put up 41 points Sunday in Detroit — against the NFL’s worst defense. That followed 23 against the league’s No. 25 scoring defense, Atlanta. But the Hawks were shut out by the NFL’s top scoring defense, the 49ers, after scoring just 17 (all in the first half) against Denver, which is a top-five defense.

So far, the Hawks have struggled vs. good defenses and scored well against bad ones. In other words, Geno Smith and Co. look like an average group that needs some help from the defense.

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State of the team, The roster, Trades

Was the trade a good deal? And how quickly can the Hawks ‘reset’?

March 9, 2022 cc 2 Comments

Many Seahawks fans are understandably upset over the trade of longtime franchise QB Russell Wilson, not realizing that it is the best thing for the franchise (and for Wilson).

Some fans are so busy sobbing into their beers that they even think the Seahawks are counting on Drew Lock to be the new starter. Some think they got a bad deal from Denver (Lock’s presence might have some bearing on that). And almost everyone thinks the Hawks are now rebuilding.

Let’s take a look at each of those concerns and see where the Seahawks go from here:

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Contracts, Free agency

‘So many decisions’: Diggs and other offseason priorities

February 23, 2022 cc Leave a comment

“We have so many decisions to make and so many things we have to handle.” – Pete Carroll.

As the franchise tag window opened this week, a report emerged that the Seahawks have begun negotiating a long-term deal with Quandre Diggs. Consider that the first step as Seattle’s offseason gets under way.

As the 2021 season ended, Pete Carroll said he wanted most of the roster from the 7-10 season back. Diggs is obviously the No. 1 free agent.

As the offseason revs up and the league year approaches, let’s look at Diggs and Seattle’s other priorities (we’ll avoid Russell Wilson trade talk here).

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Contracts, The roster, Week 18: At Arizona

Futures of Diggs, Penny are the focus after notable season finale

January 9, 2022 cc Leave a comment

Seattle’s 38-30 win in Arizona was meaningless to the franchise as far as this season is concerned, but it certainly meant a lot to the futures of Quandre Diggs and Rashaad Penny – for opposite reasons.

Poor Diggs suffered a broken fibula and dislocated ankle in the fourth quarter and left on a cart in tears as he surely considered the impact of the injury on his impending free agency.

Meanwhile, Penny had another big game, leading even more people to foolishly suggest the Seahawks pay him a bunch of money this year.

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Week 14: At Houston, Week 15: At L.A. Rams

Still alive, Hawks face biggest test next

December 14, 2021 cc 1 Comment

A win over one of the NFL’s worst teams proved nothing about the Seahawks, though it did keep them vaguely in the tightly knotted race for the seventh playoff spot.

Russell Wilson played as well as he had since perhaps early last season, Rashaad Penny (137 yards, two TDs) had the best game of his career and the Hawks turned a close contest into a 33-13 blowout with 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Now comes the real test. Wilson almost always struggles against the Rams – e.g., he led Seattle to just one touchdown in three quarters before he was injured earlier this season. But he is going to have to play like he did in Houston if he is going to help keep Seattle’s hopes alive.

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The roster, Week 15: At Washington

The Legion of Blitz & more hot topics

December 17, 2020 cc Leave a comment

Jamal Adams’ sack record is getting a lot of attention this week.

Some say it is over-inflated – like a blind squirrel finding a nut in a park full of them. Some say Pete Carroll’s use of a safety as his main sack guy has completely changed his defense. And some say Carroll is again revolutionizing secondary play for the entire NFL.

We say Carroll is doing what he always tries to do (and often succeeds at doing): Use the skills of his players to best effect. So yeah, LOB now means Legion of Blitz. And there’s nothing wrong with that.

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The roster, Week 13: Minnesota

Roster review ahead of big Monday game

November 27, 2019 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks are hoping to accomplish three things Monday against Minnesota: (1) Get their 10th win; (2) take over first place in the NFC West; and (3) play a complete game for the first time all season.

That’s right: The Hawks are 9-2 — the fourth time they have at least nine wins in the first 11 games — and they still have not put together a total team game. The offense carried them in most of their first seven wins, and the defense has led the way (with eight takeaways) the past two games.

Monday, against surging Minnesota, with some major playoff positioning possibly on the line, would be a good time for both Seattle sides to show up.

As we wait for that big matchup, here’s how each position has done so far — and what it might mean for the future of the roster:

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State of the team, Week 10: At San Francisco

Catching up ahead of huge Monday night game

November 10, 2019 cc 1 Comment

Back from South Africa and Paris, a rare two-week vacation during football season, let’s catch up with some thoughts after the Seahawks improved to 7-2 while we were gone …

While we were watching lions (not the Detroit guys) devour baby buffalo (not the Bills) in the South Africa bush, the Seahawks held off Atlanta and beat Tampa Bay in overtime (we followed that one on Twitter from Nelspruit, S.A., which was fun).

Seattle also put Tedric Thompson and Justin Britt on IR, reportedly dangled Rashaad Penny, once again considered signing Antonio Brown and claimed Josh Gordon. And Quandre Diggs still has not played for them.

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Preseason, State of the team

Hawks have improved almost everywhere

August 30, 2019 cc Leave a comment

Pete Carroll and Russell Wilson plan to be clapping about their offense a lot this season (Getty Images) A year ago, few people thought the Seahawks could play even .500 ball — due to a completely revamped defense and an offense that didn’t seem capable of winning many shootouts.

Well, as we predicted, the Hawks won 10 games and made the playoffs for the seventh time in Pete Carroll’s nine seasons (and, as we all know, should have beaten Dallas in the wild-card round).

This year, it seems plenty of people have not learned their lesson — still forecasting the Seahawks as an 8-8 or 9-7 team. The main concerns are pass rush and a youthful secondary, plus the permanent loss of Doug Baldwin in the receiving corps.

Carroll knows his pass rush is weaker than it was — “We gotta make something special out of it” — but he also knows his team is otherwise very stout. (UPDATE: The Hawks acquired pass rusher Jadeveon Clowney the day after this was first posted.)

After the Hawks beat the Raiders in the preseason finale, Carroll said, “We’re going to be a really good team. … We’re going to be hard to beat.”

He’s right. When the schedule came out, we predicted 11 or 12 wins. It’s still easy to see that because they look better at ~~six~~ seven of nine position groups.

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