Tag Archives: Russell Wilson

State of the team, Week 12: At Tampa Bay

O-line costs Hawks the No. 1 seed again

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logo-tampa-bayIt’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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CHAWK LINES, Week 12: At Tampa Bay
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Earl Thomas will miss a game for the first time since Seattle drafted him in 2010.

Doug Baldwin was fined for flipping the bird at Darrell Bevell last Sunday.

The Seahawks promoted George Farmer to bolster their backfield. Zac Brooks is back, too.

Eleven players missed practice Wednesday — and at least half seem likely to miss the game in Tampa Bay.

Find out why Doug Baldwin playfully flipped off Darrell Bevell before the reverse pass to Wilson for a TD vs. Philly.

What does the release of J’Marcus Webb mean?

Russell Wilson is protecting the ball better than ever.

Bucs coach Dirk Koetter says Wilson does things the coach would never want Bucs QB Jameis Winston trying.

The Bucs, run by John Schneider’s friend Jason Licht, are trying to emulate Seattle’s approach to building a consistent winner.

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State of the team, Week 11: Philadelphia

Just like 2014, Hawks pass test vs. Eagles

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logo-philadelphiaIn 2014, the last time the Seahawks put together a Super Bowl run, their proving game came in Week 14 at the Philadelphia Eagles.

That game was more of a test for Seattle’s No. 1 defense, which had built its ranking on the backs of some bad offenses and faced a big test against the league’s fourth-ranked offense. The Hawks dominated Chip Kelly’s Eagles, winning 24-14, and did not lose again that season.

This Eagles game brought a different challenge: The league’s No. 3 scoring defense against Seattle’s rollercoaster offense.

The Seahawks were coming off two pretty decent offensive games against AFC East teams Buffalo and New England, but the Eagles’ front posed a much bigger challenge.

Just like the defense in 2014, the offense proved itself in fine fashion. The Hawks put up a season-high 439 yards in a 26-15 victory that featured a bevy of big plays, a fully healthy Russell Wilson, a much more explosive running game and a resilient offensive line.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 11: Philadelphia
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With Thomas Rawls back, Pete Carroll said the Seahawks are “in a good situation” at running back.

Rawls is so pumped to return that family members are telling him to relax and “breathe.”

C.J. Prosise’s big hit after a big gain vs. the Patriots had everyone talking this week.

Here’s a preview of this week’s game, plus more to watch as the Seahawks and Eagles meet for the 15th time.

After the Seahawks lost a winnable game in New Orleans, the coaches decided it was time to let a heathier Russell Wilson make plays again.

The Eagles’ defense ranks as highly as Seattle’s in almost every category and will be a big challenge for Wilson and Seattle’s offense.

Meanwhile, Seattle’s defense has slumped a bit without Michael Bennett.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 10: At New England
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The Seahawks made some interesting moves Tuesday, waiving Christine Michael and Sealver Siliga, promoting fan favorite Troymaine Pope and signing an interesting D-tackle, John Jenkins.

Michael simply never earned the trust of the coaches (and still had that entitled attitude that goes counter to Pete Carroll’s mantra).

Thomas Rawls is finally ready to roll again (which explains the timing of Michael’s release).

Earl Thomas apparently punctured Rob Gronkowski’s lung on that big hit, but both players have a lot of respect for each other.

Lots of people going gaga over Kam Chancellor’s return.

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State of the team, Week 10: At New England

Seahawks’ season takes the usual super turn with marquee win

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logo-at-new-englandIt was hard to know what to expect in New England. Vegas called the Hawks a touchdown underdog, and most analysts went with that in picking the Patriots in the Super Bowl XLIX rematch.

But the Seahawks bounced back off a short week against the bye-rested Pats and put together their best — though far from perfect — game of the season in a 31-24 upset that Doug Baldwin said evoked a “phenomenal emotional feeling in our locker room.”

That is the feeling that this team has made its typical Second Half Turn and is headed for something special again.

This was not a must-win for Seattle, from a standings standpoint. But it certainly was a big game for Seattle’s psyche — to get even for the XLIX debacle and to measure themselves against the AFC’s best team.

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State of the team, Week 8: At New Orleans

Worried? This is just how the Hawks do it

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at-new-orleans-logoAs it turns out, Seattle’s offensive problems are not limited merely to their matchups with good defenses. Even the lowly Saints managed to keep the Seahawks to one measly touchdown in a game Seattle really should have won.

Once again, the Hawks put themselves in too many second-and-longs, killing drives. They completed one drive for a touchdown, needing a cool trick play to pull it off, but otherwise had issues with penalties, some bad decisions by Russell Wilson and poor run blocking.

If that all sounds familiar, it’s very similar to what the Seahawks have done the last three years. As usual, their offense is playing poorly at midseason. As usual, they are committing lots of penalties and their opponents are not being called for many. As usual, they are underachieving as we approach the second half.

It’s simply Pete Carroll’s oddball formula for success.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 8: At New Orleans
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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 8: At New Orleans

Offense is standing in way of No. 1 seed

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at-new-orleans-logoThe Seahawks put up 90 points in a three-game winning streak that had many thinking they had finally turned it on after tallying just 15 points in a tough first couple of games.

But then along came Arizona’s defense, clamping down on the Hawks the way Miami and Los Angeles did and showing everyone that Seattle still isn’t good enough to beat teams with excellent defensive fronts — no matter how great its own defense plays.

The defense has given up just 15 points to the Rams and Cardinals, but the Hawks are 0-1-1 in those games because their offensive line just hasn’t been good enough. The result: The Hawks scored just nine points vs. those division rivals and are the NFL’s fifth-worst scoring offense, averaging just 18.5 points. They’ve never finished worse than 10th (24.6 ppg in 2014) with Russell Wilson.

The good news is they still have 10 games to straighten it out — and they get a much better matchup this weekend against the Saints’ 32nd-ranked scoring defense (32.5 ppg).

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State of the team, Week 8: At New Orleans

Wilson is becoming a legendary tough guy

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at-new-orleans-logoIn 2011, Tarvaris Jackson earned major props in the Seahawks’ locker room by playing through a pectoral injury for most of the season.

Imagine the locker room cred Russell Wilson is putting together this year, playing through a high ankle sprain that should have sidelined him for several weeks, along with a sprained knee that he said was supposed to keep him out at least four weeks and now his own chest injury.

Has anyone ever won Comeback Player of the Year the same season he was injured? Wilson, showing more resilience than a regenerating five-headed hydra, certainly has been the Seahawks’ No. 1 Tough Guy.

Wilson was listed as limited in practice Wednesday and Thursday — the first time that has ever happened. But there should be no concern about him missing the game in New Orleans this Sunday — or about him playing well there.

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