Tag Archives: Russell Wilson

Big win, but Hawks still have much to fix

October 27, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Most of the game Sunday looked so similar to their three losses, but the Seahawks finally managed to overcome their own charity and clumsiness to get their first win in three weeks and a measure of feel-good amid swirling reports of bad team chemistry.

The 13-9 win at Carolina was just as ugly as the Seahawks’ wins the past two years — 16-12 in 2012 and 12-7 last season — but it was picture perfect for a team trying to avoid the first three-game losing streak in the Russell Wilson era and trying to prove it has not lost its mojo.

“It means a lot,” wide receiver Doug Baldwin told reporters. “This is a true character win for us, coming off two losses and all the things the media was saying about us. We showed resiliency.”

Some will say it saved Seattle’s season, which is a bit extreme and premature considering the many issues the Hawks still have.

Continue reading Big win, but Hawks still have much to fix →

State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

Lynch & team bosses reportedly at odds, but it’s not a distraction

October 27, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Amid reports that some teammates are jealous of quarterback Russell Wilson and that the Seahawks are ready to part ways with Marshawn Lynch, coach Pete Carroll and Wilson declared Sunday after they beat Carolina that the team is not distracted.

“The things that have been said have been said on the outside. We have no problem. No problem,” Carroll said. “Whatever the conversation is, that’s the job of the media to try to figure stuff out. That’s not what’s going on here. I have no problem. It was not a distraction at all. Our guys don’t care about what’s being said.”

In the wake of the Percy Harvin trade and Mike Freeman’s incendiary report on Wilson, the latest revelation is that the Hawks’ relationship with Lynch has reached a breaking point, with the team finally tired of the running back’s antics and Lynch apparently so upset with the team that he is talking about quitting again.

Seattle might even have tried to trade Lynch by Tuesday’s deadline if fullback Derrick Coleman had not suffered a broken foot last week, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported. With Coleman out, though, the Hawks have to use No. 2 tailback Robert Turbin as their fullback.

Continue reading Lynch & team bosses reportedly at odds, but it’s not a distraction →

State of the team, Week 8: At Carolina

Carroll & Schneider learned how fragile their team’s psyche is

October 26, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Percy Harvin Debacle was a great lesson for Pete Carroll and John Schneider: They learned just how fragile the psyche of their young Super Bowl team still is.

And they probably learned which other malcontents they are going to need to send packing to make sure their team remains a Super Bowl contender.

This was bound to happen. Carroll and Schneider have flirted with this kind of danger ever since they came to Seattle — bringing in bad apples such as Terrell Owens, Braylon Edwards and Kellen Winslow while courting chuckleheads such as Brandon Marshall and Vincent Jackson.

Adding those kinds of idiots to a young team is always a huge risk — too many impressionable kids on your team. Harvin apparently swung a few of them his way in his 19 months in Seattle.

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Contracts, Trades

Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Percy Harvin’s contract was an albatross from the ill-advised moment the Seahawks decided to guarantee him $25.5 million in a deal that included salary cap hits north of $12 million from 2014 through 2017.

It seemed farfetched that he would last that long at those numbers; thanks to his alleged anti-team antics, the Hawks just ended up cutting ties much earlier than anyone thought they would.

Even though he will still count $7.2 million in proration in 2015, the Seahawks divested themselves of the remainder of his $11 million salary this season and his $10.5 million salary in 2015.

With the trade official, the Hawks are not paying his $647,000 salary this week, so they will recoup $7.1 million this season. Add that to their net savings of $5.7 million in 2015, and the Hawks pulled an extra $12.8 million in cap space for next offseason.

That gives the Hawks a lot of wiggle room to re-sign some of their key free agents, if they choose.

Continue reading Harvin trade gives Seahawks $12.8 million more next offseason →

State of the team, Week 7: At St. Louis

Seahawks showed folly & wisdom in Harvin saga

October 18, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Seahawks’ stunning trade of Percy Harvin says a lot about John Schneider, Pete Carroll, Darrell Bevell and the entire franchise.

They were naïve, hopeful, enabling and nearly self-defeating, but they also realized what a colossal error it was and probably made a great move — however shocking it was — in order to save their offense and season.

The ill-advised decision (we said it then, so we can say it now) to trade for Harvin and give him a $67 million contract last year was easily Schneider’s biggest gamble since he and Carroll arrived in 2010. And, unsurprisingly, the GM lost big time.

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Week 6: Dallas, X's & O's

It’s time to put offense back in Beast Mode

October 12, 2014 cc Leave a comment

The Dallas Cowboys came to Seattle with the 20^th-ranked run defense in the league. You would think the Seahawks would have tried to exploit that weakness using their top-ranked rushing offense.

But, the same Seattle offense that ran for 225 yards on 36 attempts against Washington on Monday chose to eschew the run Sunday in a 30-23 loss. Coach Pete Carroll blamed it on losing the third-down battle, but it certainly was more than that.

True, the Hawks won just 12 of 30 third downs on both sides, which led to a 38-22 edge for Dallas in time of possession. And the defense gave up the biggest conversion — on third-and-20 — with five minutes left.

But the Hawks could have run the ball more than 18 times. Marshawn Lynch carried it just 10 — even though he averaged 6.1 yards per tote. Russell Wilson, who ran for a career-best 122 yards on 11 carries last Monday, ran it just twice for 12 yards vs. Dallas.

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Week 6: Dallas, X's & O's

Why doesn’t Wilson run more often?

October 11, 2014 cc Leave a comment

After watching Russell Wilson outrun Denver in overtime and use his feet to beat Washington, plenty of Seahawks fans have to be thinking: He controls the game so much when he runs, why doesn’t he do it more often?

The simple answer is he prefers to hand off to Marshawn Lynch on those read option plays and keep his eyes downfield when passing plays break down.

Most of Wilson’s running last season was out of necessity as Darrell Bevell inexplicably failed to move Wilson around behind Seattle’s battered offensive line. After rushing for 489 yards on 94 carries as a rookie — much of that on the read option in the second half of the season — Wilson ran for 539 yards on 96 carries last season.

As expected (by us anyway), this season he is running more. With 209 yards on 29 carries, he is on pace for 836 yards and 116 rushes.

Until Monday, most of Wilson’s runs had been scrambles off busted pass plays. In the 26-20 overtime win vs. Denver in Week 3, he led the Hawks to the winning touchdown on scrambles.

But against Washington, half of his runs were off zone-read keepers — a rare game in which he chose to run the ball 11 times, netting a career-high 122 yards in the 27-17 win. It was part of the plan against the Redskins.

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Contracts

Only one Russell is going to get an extension

October 8, 2014 cc Leave a comment

After this season, the Seahawks figure to give a contract extension to Russell.

Wilson. Not Okung.

While the quarterback has far exceeded expectations over his first two and a quarter seasons, the left tackle has largely been underwhelming since being drafted sixth overall in 2010.

Both are signed through 2015, which means next offseason is the key time for extensions. Wilson will get his, but it’s hard to see Okung getting one — especially if he continues to struggle like he did Monday night.

The left tackle was flagged for three penalties vs. Washington, including a false start on third down that helped stop a first-quarter drive and a holding on a third-quarter drive that also fizzled.

“I’ve got to play better,” he told The Seattle Times. “I can’t afford to have three penalties. Just a lack of focus. I take full responsibility for it. I can’t help out the line making mistakes like that.”

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Week 5: At Washington

Harvin’s unbelievable game is a good sign

October 8, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Percy Harvin is tackled by Washington defenders Monday (Getty Images)

In the season opener, the Seahawks showed just how much Percy Harvin changes their offense — creating a dynamic triple threat alongside Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch.

Pete Carroll promised more of Harvin, but all we had seen in the two games since were a lot of short passes and decoy plays.

But they used him a lot Monday night — even if all three of his touchdowns unbelievably were called back — and it is clear they want to keep him involved.

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CHAWK LINES

October 3, 2014 cc Leave a comment

Jerry Brewer of The Seattle Times says the Seahawks’ season, which has been very start-and-stop so far, shifts into overdrive now.

Russell Wilson probably stunned some of his adoring fans when he admitted to being a bully as a kid.

Field Gulls wraps up a week of interviews with Seahawks coaches and players.

Kam Chancellor says he has “no concerns at all” about the previously bothersome bone spurs in his ankles and explains why Zach Miller had to have surgery and he didn’t.

Jon Ryan — the hero of the Denver game — was named NFC special teams player of the month for September.

Bob Condotta of The Times explains how the synergy between Ryan and the speedy Ricardo Lockette has changed the Seahawks’ punting strategy this season.

As for the Seahawks’ opponent on Monday …

Jason Reid of the Washington Post wonders if neither Robert Griffin III (currently injured) nor Kirk Cousins (who will start Monday) is the Redskins’ answer at quarterback.

Five questions facing the Redskins for their tough matchup with the Seahawks.

Coach Jay Gruden says his biggest fear is that Cousins, who threw four interceptions in a 45-14 loss to the Giants, will be “gun shy” against the Seahawks.