Ah, what’s a matter, Twelves? Santa didn’t give your team a blowout win on the road over the Tennessee Titans? Just got another nail biter victory, instead?
Well, what on Sweet Baby Jesus’s Earth did you think was going to happen? Have you not learned a solitary thing about these 2023 Seahawks, yet?
Wins are not going to be easy. No fricking way. These Seahawks aren’t talented enough to bury a lot of inferior opponents right now, and I am not so sure they are always schemed the right way, either. Because of this, I think they can make games harder than they need to be.
They are showing some interesting late season resiliency, though, with late scoring come from behind victories against a good Eagles team, and then a not so good Titans team. With this latest win against Tennessee, I feel it is increasingly likely that they will secure a playoff spot, but they have two games left to stress all of us out in the process.
So, buckle yo’ selves ups, Buttercups. These Seahawk games are not going to be for the queasy.
I know what a lot of reactions and mood meters are for a lot of Seahawk fans. I suspect many aren’t impressed that they are climbing out of the four game losing streak hole they dug for themselves. Never you mind that two of those losses came against San Francisco, who are playing above and beyond any other team in football right now, and then narrow losses on the road against Dallas and the LA Rams, who are both in the playoff picture, as well.
Nah, I think many Seahawk fans need those style points. I’m sure many thought this game in Tennessee was supposed to be easy even though Tennessee has one of the best defensive lines in football and a run game that can pose a problem to Seattle’s spotty hybrid defensive scheme.
It is easy for folks to look at records of opponents and chalk up wins before games are even played, but they often fail to respect the truth of a seemingly weaker opponent. The truth of the Titans is that two weeks ago they traveled to Miami and beat the Dolphins on the road. The Dolphins might be the third best team in football right now behind the 49ers and Ravens.
So, I for one, did not think this was going to be an easy game for Seattle. I thought the Titans would be playing with something to prove. I felt a trap game, and Seattle has given me little reason to think they wouldn’t potentially fall victim to it. They narrowly did, but then they showed resilience for the second game in the row.
In doing that, it amuses me how much the outcome mirrored last Monday Night Football’s against the Eagles, but this time around, it was Geno Smith leading the team for a late go ahead touchdown. I could feel the hoards of fans laboring through most of the game that Drew Lock should have been the starter, but Geno stepped up and delivered two big time fourth quarter touchdown passes that put his team up twice.
For all the Geno haters out there on social media, forums, and sports radio, Geno Smith now leads the league in game winning drives this year. He has four of them, and he had done this while missing two games as a starter.
I revel in this fact. I soak in its bath water.
Gee, I thought the whole big argument from Geno Smith haters is that he is not capable of such feats on the field. Turns out that he very much is, and is currently best in the league at it this year. Guess they are going to have to find another reason why Pete Carroll is a moron for starting him over Drew Lock.
Seattle may have numerous issues preventing them from being a true Super Bowl contender this year, but I do not think quarterback is one of them. If Geno Smith had the offensive line that Lamar Jackson has in Baltimore, or Brock Purdy does in San Francisco, I think we would be celebrating this offense A LOT MORE. If Geno Smith was on a team that truly had a defense capable of making a good offense one dimensional, I think this team would be better at fighting San Francisco for this division. He has neither of these things.
If Seattle is going to fight their way into the playoffs, they will be doing it with a journeyman center, a raw rookie right guard, and a defensive scheme that perhaps plays too varied with an aging middle linebacker who is not the player he once way in coverage. They will be doing it playing more out of shotgun than perhaps they should in order to best utilize Jaxon Smith Njigba, Type Lockett, and DK Metcalf over a potentially potent run game with Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet.
Therefore, each game is going to be an adventure. I don’t expect the Steelers to be easy next week at Lumen Field, and I don’t imagine the Cardinals are going to lay down in Arizona afterwards. While it is possible Seattle wins out, it’s far from a given.
So, I am just going to enjoy these final couple games and hope for the best for Seattle. I would love to see them back in the playoffs, but I’m not punching any ticket anytime soon.
That said, I sense a vibe with this team that does make me increasingly hopeful they will find themselves in the post season. I sense a resiliency vibe brewing now.
I think they are getting timely play from key starters. I get frustrated with Shane Waldron’s play calling still, but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel for the offense when all I saw a few weeks ago was darkness. I don’t love the varied scheme Clint Hurtt runs with this defense, but I can see positive trends there, as well. I think a lot of this is the players responding positively on both sides of the ball recently.
I think DK Metcalf is stepping up more when he needs to do it. As is Tyler Lockett, and K9, and JSN. These are the top playmakers for this offense, and I sense them all coming on together.
I think Julian Love is becoming an interesting playmaker on defense, and Qunadre Diggs seems to be coming around. I think Seattle’s defensive line is finally gelling better now with Leonard Williams, Jarran Reed, Boye Mafe, and Dre’Mont Jones all coming on together. I think this defense has a chance to get better these last two games if they get Devon Witherspoon back.
On Christmas Day, I have optimism for my Seattle Seahawks. I will take that gift.
If it is not universally shared with all Seahawk fans, I get it. Some need style points. Some are exhausted of a 14 year run by Pete Carroll where all they see is trends of inconsistencies, lack of discipline, and lack of prior dominance.
I think it’s fair game to criticize this team, and I, for one, do not believe in holding back on it, myself. I just look at this whole landscape of the NFC, and I wonder who the class of the division is outside of San Francisco.
For as much as you want to bemoan how difficult these wins are for Seattle, and how disappointing some of the losses have been, Seattle has beaten the NFC North leading Detroit Lions, the playoff bound Philadelphia Eagles, the likely playoff bound Cleveland Browns, and they narrowly lost to the Cowboys, Rams, and Bengals who are all in the playoff mixes. I think that is worth keeping in mind.
I mean, is Seattle really that much different than most of the top competition?
I would argue that they are not, and there is only one or two teams in the entirety of football that is dominant, and those would be San Francisco and Baltimore.
Seattle won this game in Tennessee without their best player on defense in Witherspoon, and without their best linebacker in Jordyn Brooks. They won it with a spotty offensive line going up against one of the better defensive fronts in football.
I will take this victory, absolutely. Stats are for losers, and style points are for whiners. Just give me the W. I will take that every single time.
I don’t know what is in store for the Seattle Seahawks for the rest of this season, and I have no idea what is going to happen next year. I think there is a little cloud of mystery hovering over this team on many levels.
For the remainder of this season, I can see them winning out these last three games, and finding themselves in the playoffs. I can also see them losing out. I can see something in between.
I also have no idea if Carroll is back next year, or not. Nor am I certain Jody Allen will be owning the team when they kick off next Fall, or someone like Jeff Bezos will.
As I look at these Seattle quarterbacks, I have no idea if Geno Smith, or Drew Lock, or some other quarterback will be the starter next year. The only thing I know is that Geno Smith, barring injury, is going to start these final three games, and the chips will then fall where they may.
It was as fun of an experience as I have had in a long while as seeing Drew Lock engineer that improbable game winning drive on Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles. I was so much in the after glow of that moment, that I wrote the next morning that, as a fan, I wanted to see more of Lock moving forward these last few games.
Pete Carroll stepped all over that idea immediately, though. Geno Smith is his starting quarterback.
Pete Carroll is not presently in the mood to see what untapped potential there is with Drew Lock. If that was his deep interest all along, he would have made Lock the starter last year, and he would have been willing to take the lumps that go along with bringing along a raw quarterback.
I think after the Seahawks made the deal with Denver that included Lock, Carroll had it in his mind that he needed to get Geno Smith back into the program. I suspect that Geno had shown Carroll and Shane Waldron enough in his fill in duty for Russell Wilson in 2021 for them to believe he had a pretty good grasp on this offense. Therefore, I don’t believe there was ever any fair quarterback competition during the training camp of 2022, and all along, it was going to be Geno Smith’s job to lose, and so far, he has not lost it.
You can say that this quarterback handling by Carroll hasn’t been fair to Drew Lock, and I get it. Initially, I had it in my own mind that they should give the gig to Drew in order to see what’s there, but that didn’t happen, and I chose to move off of it.
Pamela Anderson should have dated me instead of Tommy Lee in the nineties, but that didn’t happen. No use crying over spilled milk.
Folks need to be realistic here when it comes to Pete Carroll and these quarterbacks. Pete Carroll wants to win ball games.
When he dealt away pouting Russell Wilson, I think he took it personally. He didn’t want 2022 to be a losing season while watching Russ potentially win in Denver just to see what’s there with Drew Lock. He wanted to go with the quarterback who he believed gave Seattle the best chance to win games. In the midst of that season, I think Geno Smith legitimately surprised him with his play, and further won him over.
As much as I think it is interesting to see what is there with Lock in these last handful of games, I think the quarterback who gives Seattle the best chance as winning out these last three games is Geno Smith. I think that had we had a healthy Geno Smith playing against a bad Philadelphia secondary on Monday night, Seattle would have likely walked away with a more comfortable win and a big night out of Geno Smith. That’s what my gut tells me.
I think Seattle’s game plan for Drew Lock was a simplified one. I think they asked him to take the safe stuff and to not chase after anything big that wasn’t there. I think they really wanted to get the run game going to help him out. I think Carroll was probably just hoping for the game to stay close enough in the fourth that maybe they could pull something off at the end.
I think Drew did an incredible job pulling off that final drive when he did, and I was so impressed by what had happened that he instantaneously forced me to rethink my ideas about him as a quarterback. I had previously written him off as any potential starter. I don’t feel that way about him now.
But I also think that the reality of the Seahawk situation right now is that Geno Smith gives Seattle the best chance at winning games, and I think that salvaging this up and down season and making the playoffs is the number one goal in Pete Carroll’s mind. Therefore, I think it’s time to bury the idea of starting Drew Lock more because it just isn’t going to happen.
The only way Lock starts again is if Geno gets injured again, or if they drop the next two games, and are eliminated from the playoffs by the time they close out the season in Arizona, and Carroll just decides to give Drew Lock a final look. Maybe in that latter scenario, Carroll acquiesces to the front office’s desires to look at Lock further before deciding what to do at quarterback in the soon to be offseason.
So, there we have it with these two quarterbacks. You might like it, or you might hate it, but this is what it is.
Instead of choosing a side of any quarterback argument here in Seattle, I just want to wrap my big ole arms around both of these passers, and love them up some. Both of these guys deserve to be embraced by the fans here, I think.
What I like most about these two quarterbacks is their relationship to each other. I believe Drew Lock when he says Geno Smith is one of his closest friends and strongest supporters.
We saw that on Monday Night Football when Drew threw the game winning touchdown and did his little signature celebration, and Geno did it back to him on the sidelines. The whole moment is a clip that has now gone very viral and it is by far my favorite thing surrounding the Seattle Seahawks this year.
In those short moments captured by cameras, we bore witness to their brotherly love that is probably pretty rare in quarterback rooms, if we are all being honest. I don’t recall Joe Montana doing that with Steve Young thirty years ago, or Brett Farve sharing a moment like that with Aaron Rodgers, either.
I’m not saying that Geno Smith and Drew Lock are those type of Hall of Fame guys, either, so pipe down if you were thinking that. In fact, I still think it’s unlikely that either of these two quarterbacks are going to end up as a long term solution to the quarterback situation here in Seattle, but that is just me.
I am just saying that these are our guys right now, and I think their vibe with each other is special. In fact, I think it is so special that I feel like it is a vibe this locker room can ride with.
The players on this team should now know they have two quarterbacks capable of starting and winning some games. That can breed some confidence. That can have you playing looser and with a little extra swag on the field.
I am going to dare to say that I think these Seattle Seahawks needed Monday Night to happen, and needed to see Drew Lock throw that perfect dart to Jaxon Smith Ngijba for the go ahead score. Further more, I think they really needed to see how both of these quarterbacks shared the moment with each other.
There has been a weird dark cloud hovering over this team for some weeks now. I think the whole weirdness with Jamal Adams has been symptomatic of a problem of some players being out for themselves and not their team mates. I don’t think Jamal has necessarily been the only player acting selfishly, either. He’s just been the most visible.
But with Drew Lock and Geno Smith, I think we have leaders showing the team how to set shit aside and support each other. I am positive that both players feel like they should be the starter. They should.
Geno was practically begging Carroll to start him even though team doctors were saying he should sit it out. I am sure Drew Lock feels like he has more than shown the team that he can be the guy moving forward, if they need him to do it.
Only one of these guys gets to start, though, and Carroll has made is clear to the world who his QB1 is. I think maybe one of the most valuable things that Drew Lock can offer this team for the remainder of the year is to continue throwing his full support behind Geno Smith. I think if the shoe was on the other foot, he would want Geno doing that for him. I suspect Geno would.
I think their friendship is that legit. People can doubt it, if they want, but I think they share so much commonality that I would suspect that it is very likely they will be closely bonded for life.
I think probably what has galvanized their bonds is that they have been in this very odd position together of being quarterbacks tasked to replace the legend of Russell Wilson, and in that process, having the entire world doubting them from the get go. Both players were high second round picks quickly cast off by their teams early in their careers without ever giving any real chance to develop as starters, and by fate, they found themselves here duking it out for the starter gig with everyone laughing at them on sports radio and social media, and saying Seattle needed to go after Baker Mayfield, instead. I think it is fair to say that they have both been put through a blender together.
Now they comprise of a quarterback room that has an opportunity to see Seattle in the playoffs for a second straight year post Russell Wilson. You can be up or down on the Seahawks right now, if you want to be, but you have to tip the hat to these guys for carrying through under an extremely tough microscope.
I think there can be something galvanizing in that, and special in its own way. As I sit days before the Christmas holiday, I think it’s cool to reflect on Drew Lock and Geno Smith some.
When I started writing this piece, I had it in my mind to touch on the Jamal Adams horse crap, and the recent speculations by way of Albert Breer as to whether Pete Carroll might retire after the season, but I just kept playing that viral clip of Drew and Geno celebrating together on MNF over and over again, and well, sometimes something just feels so damn good that I cannot shake it off. Today, I am just here to celebrate Drew Lock and Geno Smith.
I like these two quarterbacks for Seattle. Who knows if they will both be back next year. I’m not going to future trip on that right now, though.
I like these guys for Seattle right now, and I am excited if this win against the Eagles will spark something special to close this season out right, and see this team back into the playoffs.
Whatever happens, I will future trip later, and probably spend the whole offseason doing it. For now, I am eager to see if this team is ready to ride some really good vibes right now, and I am grateful for Geno and Drew showing us the way.
Being a Seattle Seahawk fan over the past several years can be a bipolar experience. Ever since the dismantling of the Legion Of Boom defense, they have never been able to build a competent defense back up again, and their offense this year has been such the issue that I have been constantly ramming my head into a brick wall in lamentation. These Seahawks of today rarely win easily, and when they lose lately, it can look pretty ugly.
Yesterday morning, I was all but done with them for the year. I was ready to get into the offseason to fire coaches, cut players, and reboot the whole program. Then Monday Night Football against the Philadelphia Eagles happened.
To say that a surprising 20-17 victory over a more talented Eagles team has changed my perspective on the Seahawks is an understatement. Now sitting at 7-7, Seattle has three games left on their schedule that appear a lot more winnable than the last four games they played.
Will they run the table, win four games in a row to finish this season 10-7, and see themselves back into playoffs again? I dunno, but I am now officially daring to dream.
Yesterday, I wanted to break the team apart and start from scratch with new coaches and players. Now I am sucked back into thinking that firing Pete Carroll would be the stupidest thing that Jody Allen could possibly do.
This is my bipolar existence as a Seattle Seahawk fan. Fourteen years of Pete Carroll has been a long haul for me as a Twelve, and at times I entertain the idea of change, but then a game like this one comes up, and I am reminded how spoiled I have been for about a decade and a half as a fan.
I was fortunate to see this MNF match in person, and up close behind the Seattle bench. Lumen Field was ELECTRIC, and the loudest I have felt it in years. Here are my overriding thoughts from this fantastic experience.
As someone who moonlights writing about the Seattle Seahawks, I owe an enormous apology to Drew Lock. I have been hyper critical of him in his fill in duty at quarterback this year. Part of it has to do with pushing back against the anti Geno crowd of the Seattle fanbase who have been laboring for Pete Carroll to play Lock, instead. Another reason is that I have felt that Lock just isn’t as good of a QB as Geno, and Seattle would be better served to draft and develop a long term starter who will be on a cheap rookie contract to beef up the roster around, and I still lean this way.
Here is what I will say about Drew Lock after this MNF game, and the game last week in San Francisco. I think Drew has qualities that make me see why Seattle’s front office has been intrigued by him. The ball comes easily out of his hands and he gets it out quickly. He effortlessly throws it downfield. He has pretty good mobility. He’s tall and likely sees the field well. I think he still does things that can put the ball in harms way, and that makes me nervous, but he has played two games in a row much better than anything I was anticipating. Bravo.
In this game against the Eagles, I think he played the style of game Pete Carroll wanted him to play. He got the ball out fast, and he was efficient. He didn’t try to make something out of nothing. Most importantly, when the team needed him at the end to win it, he led the team down the field for a ninety yard go ahead touchdown scoring drive, and he did the whole thing with his arm.
Make no mistake, this fourth quarter come from behind game winning scoring drive by Drew Lock is a super big deal. He is now officially back in the conversation for what Seattle does at the quarterback position in the future.
People will talk all week about the gorgeous touchdown winning throw to Jaxon Smith Ngijba, but my favorite Drew Lock moment of the night might have been the lead block he threw for Ken Walker’s touchdown in the third quarter. It is plays like that where a quarterback will win me over, and show me that he is willing to do whatever he can to help his teammates win a ball game. In that moment, Drew Lock captured me as a fan. I’m in his corner now.
Honestly, after this performance against the Eagles, I wouldn’t mind seeing Lock again next week in Tennessee, and if things continue to trend well with another win, maybe just ride him out the rest of the way. I say that being a Geno Smith fan, but I just sense maybe an interesting momentum with Lock that I would like to see where it leads. I think I know what we have with Geno. Lock is now a more of an intriguing mystery in my mind.
This will not be the case, however. Pete Carroll made it clear in his post game press conference that Geno Smith is the starter for the Seahawks, and when he is healthy enough, he will be the guy they ride with to finish out the season. I would be lying if I said that part of me isn’t a bit disappointed in that, but I get why Carroll is firm in this position.
I think Carroll is going to see Tennessee, Pittsburgh, and Arizona as games they can win, and I just think he’s going to trust Geno more than he will Drew Lock. After all, Geno played a pretty good game a few weeks ago against a good Dallas Cowboy defense, and almost got Seattle the W on the road. I think with Geno, Seattle is more willing to open up the offensive playbook, and who knows how many how many points they would have scored against Philly if a healthy Geno was playing.
Still there is something about Lock that just intrigues me more now. It is rumored that John Schneider had a very high opinion about him coming out of college and the reason Seattle made the trade with Denver is that they specifically wanted Lock in the package. I think it is possible that there might even be a divide between Pete and John regarding Lock, but that is just my own loosey goosey speculation.
I dunno, as I type this out this morning, I just wouldn’t mind it if Seattle rested Geno one more week against a struggling Titans team to see what more can Lock do, but I think it’s all moot. If Carroll thinks Geno is good enough to go, Drew Lock will be the backup again. I fully expect Geno to be the guy the rest of the way starting next weekend.
My other big overriding thought on this epic MNF match between the Seahawks and Eagles is that Julian Love is a WAY better safety for the Seattle Seahawks than Jamal Adams presently is. Even though they held Philly to 17 points, I still sense that Seattle’s defense is a mixed bag of some good, and some not so goods, but I at least believe now that Love mixed with Quandre Diggs gives Seattle two legitimately good coverage safeties.
Therefore, I do not see how Adams can come back and take that spot away from Love. Once he is healthy enough, I think you use Adams as a linebacker in situations, and you have the starting safeties be Quandre Diggs and Julian Love. Drew Lock might have won the game for Seattle in the end, but Julian Love saved the game for Seattle by intercepting Jalen Hurts twice.
Oh, yeah. I forgot to mention this. Drew Lock outplayed Jalen Hurts. Let that sink in, America.
Also, here is my bonus overriding thought. Offensively, I saw the return of Pete Carroll football with Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet running the rock and it was glorious. For the first time this season, I felt I saw an identity to this offense that just made sense. With players like Anthony Bradford at guard and Abe Lucas at tackle, Seattle has ability to be a big powerful run blocking offensive line that can wear into defensive linemen and linebackers but they haven’t committed to it enough, and it drives me absolutely bonkers.
Maybe with Lock at quarterback and the stakes high, Shane Waldron felt the need to dial into the run more. Maybe this is yet another reason why to ride with Lock; it forces Waldron to choose an offensively identity. Yes, you read that right.
Jesus H Crispy! What a novel idea! Running the ball to wear down an opponent and compliment a defense more, and make the job of the quarterback an easier one.
Football need not be so complicated. The best Pete Carroll coached teams have always been centered on very basic formulas, and in doing this, they have won national championships, and a Super Bowl.
I would love to see more Pete Carroll football in Seattle again. I feel like I have been waiting for it for a long time. This game against the Eagles has given me a sliver of hope.
Can this team run the table and win out and get back to the playoffs again? I think they can but they have to lean into the formula that got them this win against the Eagles.
Run the fricking ball. Play smarter and better on defense. Make the big plays when you need to make them. These three things and get them to 10-7, and I would be all for that.
Will they? Well, we are about to find out. Right now, I am daring again to believe in them. God help me.
San Francisco 49er beat reporter Michael Silver recently came out with an interesting little article detailing what 49er head coach Kyle Shanahan had planned for the Seahawks last Sunday. Essentially, he placed a bounty out to get DK Metcalf tossed from the game. He showed his defense a highlights of all the times DK had lost his shit, and he said there would be a nice present from Santa for any player who got under his skin enough for him get ejected.
It doesn’t take a genius mind to imagine 49er defenders had spent most of the game trying to incite DK Metcalf into a meltdown. So, I kinda credit DK for keeping his cool up until the last few minutes of the fourth quarter when after an interception, he used a relatively harmless suplex move to tackle Fred Warner, only to see Warner lateral the ball to a teammate, and then shove with his body weight on the back of his neck, the same neck he had broken in college. After that inciting incident, DK lost it, grabbed Warner’s face mask, and was ejected out of the game after it was clear that the 49ers were going to runaway with their decisive victory.
I hope Shanahan got Warner a really dope jet ski on Monday. I am sure the entire collective of the 49er Faithful shared the same euphoric joy watching all that go down. I wouldn’t be surprised if Silver had a big old shit eating grin spread across his face when he submitted his article.
You are free to react to this news however you want to as a Seahawk fan. You can be like me, and call Shanahan a chump coach, or you can be like others, and think that Shanahan is genius for doing it.
Personally, I don’t think he’s a genius at all for this. He didn’t need his defense to get DK Metcalf ejected in order to beat the Seattle Seahawks, not with the way Seattle’s defense has been matching up with his offense, nor the way his defense owned Seattle’s offense.
Nope. In my mind, this was a punk move by the coach. He didn’t just want his team to beat Seattle, he wanted them to have extra fun doing it, and they did.
As a Seattle Seahawk fan, how does that make you feel?
The head coach of your main division rival does not respect your team on any sort of level, at all. He has no fear matching his team up against them.
In fact, in order to make any contest fun, he’s now got to rub it in extra during the win. He’s got to make it a super fun spectacle for the 49er Faithful to bathe in kinda like the mean girl in Season Four of Stranger Things.
I am not a psychologist, but I have been around the block enough times to recognize certain things. When I look at these 49ers and their head coach, I see a smug arrogance that thinks they are way ahead of everyone else. That’s fine. They are playing on fire right now, and have kinda earned the right to be arrogant. That’s not what really bothers me, though.
What really gets under my skin is that they do not fear the Seattle Seahawks in any way, shape or form. If Kyle Shanahan did, I do not think he would have shown his team the DK meltdown highlights in order to create a bounty. If his present day team was facing the 2013 Seattle Seahawk squad on Sunday, he wouldn’t have thought to poke that bear. I guarantee that.
The Seattle Seahawks won Super Bowl XLVIII because Pete Carroll and John Schneider constructed a roster that was so mean, and nasty, and dominating, that Kirk Cousins could have been the quarterback they took 75th overall in 2012 instead of Russell Wilson, and he would have led Seattle to that Super Bowl victory. This is the undeniable truth of our Seattle Seahawk history.
Seattle’s entire identity was built around pissed off and hungry pit bulls and grizzly bears littered all throughout that roster a decade ago. They terrified opponents.
Defensive backs didn’t want to tackle Marshawn Lynch because he was intentionally looking to harm any dude who dared to do it. Receivers and tight ends didn’t want to catch balls thrown over the middle of this defense because Seattle had a strong safety built like a defensive end, and they had a freakishly fast free safety who shot out of his position like a canon ball towards anyone attempting a catch. Quarterbacks got nervous because defensive coordinator Dan Quinn devised a pass rush that made Michael Bennett almost unblockable inside and Cliff Avril too quick to handle outside, and they didn’t want to throw to their right because of Richard Sherman at cornerback. Tacklers got tired of tackling because Seattle had a huge and physical offensive line that wore their bodies down over time. Defensive backs and linebackers got stressed out because they weren’t sure when a play would break down for Seattle’s offense and Russell Wilson would use his legs to make a huge play.
A decade ago, the NFL had a Seattle Seahawk problem. They almost didn’t have an answer for it. This is sadly not the case anymore. It’s the opposite.
The undeniably hard truth about these Seattle Seahawks today is that there is not a team in this league that fears them. That upsets me way more any chump move the 49ers decided to do against a hot tempered DK Metcalf last Sunday.
Kyle Shanahan thought it would be fun to punk this team. He knew that his team wasn’t facing a defense with a fierce front seven that might try to put a little something extra on Brock Purdy if DK got ejected. He wasn’t at all concerned about how the Seattle secondary would hit his receivers. He saw these Seahawks as ducks in a barrel, and he just wanted some extra fun.
He allowed the information of what he was planning for DK Metcalf to reach Michael Silver for publication. He was more than happy to let the world in on his joke. That’s how much respect that he has for the Seattle Seahawks. That’s how much he fears any matchup against them in the future.
I am sure that not only does he believe he is winning the physical battle against Seattle, he now believes he is setting himself up to win the psychological one, as well. I think that is the true motivation behind all of this, why he planned it, and why he let it be known to a 49er beat reporter.
Pete Carroll has lost his way. I believe this now. For whatever reason, he has deviated too far away from the recipe that allowed him to win a Super Bowl in Seattle.
Perhaps it started in 2015 when he allowed for the trade of Jimmy Graham to perhaps appease Russell Wilson and his agent, and the team dealt away the leader of its offensive line in Max Unger as a part of that deal. Unger was a beloved member of Seattle’s locker room, and the stabilizing presence of their offensive line. Graham was an opponent Seattle defenders never respected because he played with a large ego and was soft.
It is perfectly natural to imagine the resentment that built up not only after that fateful transaction. Not only did Pete seemingly try to make Russ the hero at the one yard line during the Super Bowl against New England only to watch it fail in the worst way possible, now he was rewarding Russ with a tight end that did not match the mentality of the team that led them to back to back Super Bowls in the first place.
Pete Carroll chose to placate the quarterback over his core philosophy of how this team was built and operated. He weakened a clear strength of the roster, and he didn’t adjust his offense to play to the strength of its new shiny toy. The rest is history.
Seattle became a team good enough to make post season appearances, but not good enough to advance to the highest points. They never sucked enough to be in positions to draft players like Vita Vea, and to add insult to injury, they reached on players like LJ Collier. Eventually, their legacy driven quarterback had enough, and forced his way to Denver, and now here we have it.
Pete Carroll now has a team that does not feature any feared run game, and his defense is a sad dysfunctional shadow of itself that does not even know what it wants to be. They aren’t physical enough to compete with San Francisco, and they aren’t smart enough to be a good finesse team, either.
In the end, I think he is, in fact, the one to blame for all of this. I have been a Stan of his for many years, but even I cannot shake away this reality.
After all, he is not just the head coach, but he is also the Vice President with overriding powers over general manager John Schneider. Ultimately, the buck stops with him, not Schneider, and that is why I believe these next four games might be do or die for him.
In short, Pete Carroll has four games left in this season to find his way again. I hope he does it. Carroll could absolutely get his team up for a late season rally. I am just kinda pumping the breaks on that.
Presently, I see a Seattle team that is playing with too much dysfunction, and it is drawing up memories of Jim Mora Junior’s lone year as the head coach of this team in 2009. I see safeties and linebackers on defense perhaps now making business decisions on the field. I see a lack of adjusting schemes to better fit the talents that Seattle has to play with. I see players acting out in frustration.
I see a team that looks like it is on the verge of a dramatic free fall, and until Seattle starts to mount wins again, I have no reason to see it in any other way. Therefore, what I need more than anything else is that I need big time changes moving forward after this season has concluded.
As dire as this situation feels to me now, I actually do not necessarily need a change from Pete Carroll, per se. What I need most is actually a return to Seattle being a feared organization again, but if Pete Carroll cannot deliver that, for whatever reason, I need whoever it is out there who will.
I need Seattle to be the team who will get under the skin of Kyle Shanahan again. Even when Seattle was struggling to maintain dominance in the division in recent history, they always proved a tough out for San Francisco. They are not that anymore.
I need the 49er Faithful to feel anxiety and frustration again just like they have for most of the past two decades. If Carroll cannot commit to whatever it takes to bring that back, I need a new head coach who will.
Over the past year or more, I have seen fans cry out for a more innovative younger offensive minded head coach, and I totally get that. Sean McVay and Kyle Shanahan and now Mike McDaniels have made former offensive coordinator to HC storylines the new sexy thing, and many now firmly believe that you need an offensive minded head coach to succeed this day and age in this league.
I won’t argue against the merits of transitioning from Carroll to an offensive minded head coach, but for me, that should not be the driving reasoning behind a new hire. Nay, more over, I just need that next guy to be a total bad ass who his players will love and bite off knees for.
If I can’t have Dan Campbell, I want a dude who will revel in coaching up a hard hitting, tough blocking, fierce fighting team that nobody will enjoy playing against on Sundays. I don’t care if that is an offensive minded coach, or a defensive minded one.
I want someone who will look at San Francisco with Kyle Shanahan, and will be willing to dig deep for ways in which he will his squad will piss off, annoy, and fluster them. It could be Ben Johnson, the hotshot OC at Detroit who a lot of people seem to love, or with fun irony, it could be Jim Harbaugh. It could even be the current OC of the Eagles.
In my mind, it could also be Dan Quinn or Robert Saleh who have coached with Shanahan and know his tendencies well. People can scoff at both defensive minded coaches, but I won’t write them off. Saleh is stuck in a shit situation with the highly dysfunctional Jets and yet his team still fights hard for him. With Quinn, I see a coach entirely worthy of a second chance and he is a guy who players will absolutely run through walls for.
Everywhere Quinn goes, players play hard for him, and love him. Some believe that the true demise of the Legion Of Boom wasn’t that the league caught up to them, but that Dan Quinn left them. That says something to me.
It could also be Dan Lanning down at Oregon who is as fiery and bad assed as it comes as a coach. If you have any doubts, go surf the web on some of his pregame speeches. He’s a foaming at the mouth pit bull who gets his guys playing hard, fast, and furious. I like that dude a lot.
And yes, it could absolutely be Kalen DeBoer at Washington with the way he coaches up the details and the resiliency his teams exude on the field.
I could even make a strong case for Kevin Stefanski in Cleveland with the way he continues to have the Browns fighting despite their shit quarterback situation.
Ultimately, though, at least in my mind, it could still be Carroll. Maybe he’s now grown tired of being a nice guy with his underperforming roster, and is ready to shake things up. Again, he has four games left to turn this around, and make it a season.
All I know is that I want a feared NFL team playing in Seattle again. That’s what I want from these Seahawks more than anything else.
I want a team that is going to give Kyle Shanahan a hand full when he’s preparing against it, and he isn’t going to have time to think about chump moves again. I want a team that will force him lose his own gasket in the late stages of a game.
This is what I want for these Seattle Seahawks. This is what I need.
There is nothing like watching my team getting thoroughly swept by your team two years in a row that will now turn me into a Sith Lord and an old school member of Cobra Kai. As the dust has settled on this latest overwhelming defeat to your San Fransisco 49ers, I have calmed myself down enough to find my clarity and balance again. Here are my Monday morning thoughts for your reading pleasure.
On one of your evening commutes home this week, I hope you slip on wet slimy leaves, and you do a face plant into fresh pile of dog shit that someone left in your parking strip. I hope when you get up, you hit your head on a heavy branch and it leaves a weird looking deep gash on your forehead that resembles the numbers 666.
When you get inside your home, I hope your spouse is hosting unexpected guests, and when you quickly dip into the bathroom to cleanup, you feel the overwhelming need take a huge shit first. I hope you discover you are out of toilet paper after you dropped your load.
I hope that, instead of yelling for help and drawing attention to the situation, you decide to use your hand to clean your ass. Then I hope when you get to the sink to wash your poopy hand and your poopy face, a giant black spider comes out of the water drain, and it scares you so much that you slip and fall backward and you hit your head on the way down to the floor. I hope after the loud crash, the door of the bathroom opens up, and the entire room full of guests sees you sprawled out on the floor, your junk on display along with your poopy face and poopy hand, and that weird bloody 666 shaped gash on your forehead.
This is my hope for you. It’s nothing person. I’m sure outside of rooting passionately for that vile organization down in Northern California, you are not so terrible. Outside of sports, we might even be friends, but this is just how I feel, especially after coming at me during and after the game yesterday.
So, revel all you want in sweeping my Seahawks again for another year. My one big hope for your team is that they make it all the way to the Super Bowl only to lose to the Chiefs again, but this time around with Brock Purdy throwing three interceptions, and Fred Warner breaking his leg.
Yeah. I can be petty, but I hate your team. I just do. It’s a hate that I am oh so happy to revel in.
I hate your show boating tight end, and your chump middle linebacker Fred Warner who pushed the back of DK Metcalf’s neck when he was on the ground which led DK into retaliating and getting ejected. I hate proud boy Nick Bosa who looks like a dude who would hang out with Homelander in his spare time. I hate your jerk of a left tackle, I hate your snot nosed head coach, and Deebo is welcomed to suck on my tale pipe in rush hour traffic anytime he wants.
The only person associated with your team that I don’t hate is your quarterback, but give it time. I’m sure I will get there.
As for my Seahawks, good freaking Christ what a mess. Where do I even start?
I hate their situation at guard and center, and I really hate that they never commit to acquiring top end talent on the interior of their offensive line. Tired of this. I need a new aggressive strategy for fixing this offensive line FOR ONCE.
I hate that they ridiculously overpaid two safeties who no longer tackle and their coverage is kinda shit too. People can complain all they want to about Jamal Adams but I don’t see Quandre Diggs making any big plays either, and I see a lot of ball carriers blowing right past him.
I hate that Bobby Wagner is slow. I love Bobby Wagner, but he is not the player he once was. He’s not great in coverage, and he got trucked so badly by Deebo in this game that I felt bad for him while watching. I need Bobby Wagner to retire now.
I hate that they are in some stupid hybrid defense that doesn’t seem to make great sense. It’s the ultimate feast or famine defense. They will make big plays and they will give up a ton of big plays. I need to see this team shift back to the 4-3. I BADLY NEED THIS TO HAPPEN.
I weekly hate the offensive play calling of my team, and it’s lack of commitment to the run. This has been a rinse and repeat topic for me on a weekly basis all season long. It is as oppressive to watch as it was probably oppressive to stand in a long line in communist Russia for toilet paper and vodka.
But, what I hate most about my team right now is that they do not, on any level, resemble a Pete Carroll coached team. They have shifted into this weird modified 3-4 scheme that sucks against the run and pass. They don’t commit to running the ball. They lack toughness in scheme and philosophy, and they really suck at being finesse. It’s sad to watch it unfold like this, but I feel like it has all finally caught up to Carroll. Maybe this is the natural conclusive place for this team to be at right now, but it sure as shit sucks.
My one hope that I am hanging onto is that, if they end up with a losing season, acting owner Jody Allen will have had enough of this, as well. I don’t know if they need a full shake up in the front office along with the head coach, but I am pretty sure that if Carroll stays, he needs better coordinators that come with way better schemes, and he needs a way better offensive line.
Shane Waldron and Clint Hurtt are not good enough. They are not getting the most out of the talent assembled on this roster. At the end of the day, maybe this is all on Carroll. After all, he brought these guys in when they were raw at coordinating and gave them autonomy.
The offense has been the bane of my existence as a Seahawk fan this season, but lately, I have really found myself hating on this defense more and more again. It’s becoming as painful watch as it was last year at this time.
Here is a shining example of just how much I think this defense sucks. On George Kittle’s second half touchdown, the Seattle coaches appeared to think that is was a good idea to put 5-11,195 pound, safety Juilian Love on him at the line of scrimmage like a SAM linebacker (?!) only to run with him in coverage to which Kittle caught the ball and shuck him off like he was ladybug who flew onto his shoulder. WTF was the logic behind that?
Good coaching is about putting players in positions to succeed, and not positions to fail. Bad coaching is forgetting this golden rule.
Offensively, it’s hard to judge Waldron in this one. He had to play call for Drew Lock, and he showed a bit more creativity, kinda like he did last week against the Cowboys, but there is just still nothing this offense really hangs its hat on, and I think that reflects on him. It is an offense without identity. I passionately hate this.
I don’t know, 49er Fan. I’m just venting now. I don’t even know why I’m talking to you. After all, I want you to do a face plant into fresh dog poop and receive a 666 scar on your forehead for life.
Maybe I am just tired of venting to Seahawk fans these days. Every Twelve has an opinion, and opinions are like assholes. We all got them. I just don’t want some goofball Twelve telling me that they think Drew Lock is the savior. I don’t need that asshole in my face, so I guess I am just taking this out on you.
So, enjoy this win. Who knows how long this will last for you. Your team probably has a two year window to win a Super Bowl before you have to pay Brock Purdy, and say goodbye some some of these annoyingly good pieces they have. Maybe one of them will become a Seahawk, and I will then like him.
After all, I surely didn’t think Richard Sherman would have ever have joined your wretched team. Sometimes, pay back is a cold hearted bitch.
As for my Seahawks, yeah.. fuck. It was a nice fight for a while in this game until it wasn’t.. again.
They got a lot of work to do to get competitive with your team again. I hope they have a really good plan brewing for that.
If they don’t, then I hope ownership steps up to find someone else who will.
At 6-6 with five crucial games in the season left to play, the Seattle Seahawks still have it within themselves to win three games or maybe more, and still make the playoffs. I don’t greatly care if they do, and that absolutely stuns me.
For the first time since I can ever remember, I find myself feeling this way. Every year up to this point, from Dave Krieg leading this team to the playoffs for the first time when I was a kid, it has always been about making it to the post season. Even in that horrid year of 1992, when they went 2-14, and some dude named Stan Gelbaugh was their starting quarterback, I was blindly thinking playoffs.
I’m not thinking playoffs right now. I’m thinking how to we get this team to become more than what it is, which is the epitome of NFL mediocrity.
Forget about the Super Bowl, how do we get them to become a team that is actually feared in this league like it was a decade ago?
People will say that we need better guards, a true franchise quarterback, linebackers and safeties who can cover and tackle, and play callers who are actually good at their jobs, etc.
Yeah, okay. I won’t argue against that.
I’m nervous, however, this present regime run by Pete Carroll won’t see it this way. I can fully envision Carroll saying at the end of this season that he likes the young nucleus on the offensive line, he loves his coordinators, still thinks Jamal Adams is the player on defense to build around, and he wants to bring a slowed down Bobby Wagner back.
I gotta tell you folks, if those words come out of Coach’s mouth after this team finishes 8-9 or worse in January, I am going to have a hard time wrapping any sort of optimistic embrace around them next year. Hello Darkness My Old Friend may very well be playing on a hellish loop inside my mind every time I reach for one of my many Seahawk hoodies.
Walking this team back next year is not good enough. It would be like the Seattle Seahawks colluding with the Seattle Mariner ownership to suck all the joy and hope out of a PNW fanbase.
My mood meter for the Seattle Seahawks right now is as “meh” as meh can possibly be. Instead of looking forward to games, I am looking at mock draft articles. I’m not fixated on the present, I am almost entirely looking ahead.
Here are the things that I hope this organization is preparing to do to build themselves into a true contender starting next offseason, and winning three out of the next five games and sneaking into the playoffs isn’t likely going to change this list for me.
Shake Up This Coaching Staff
When this team was dominating in 2013-2014, Pete Carroll had an outstanding defensive coordinator in Dan Quinn, and he had an underrated offensive coordinator in Darrel Bevell. Progressively over the years, his coordinators have gotten worse, and thus so have his defenses and offenses.
Pete Carroll is a great culture builder and a master motivator, but I think it’s fair to say that he is not the tactician as other coaches are in this division. He needs great coordinators on his staff. Right now, it appears as if Seattle has two young coordinators who may very well be in over their heads.
Nowadays, Seattle is neither a top offensive team, nor is it a top defensive team. They have become as mediocre as mediocre can be, and if the season ended today, Seattle would be picking 15th overall in the first round of the draft. It quite frankly doesn’t get any mediocre than that, and this needs to drastically change.
In my ideal world, I would have Pete Carroll remain as the head coach of the Seahawks and coach through his contract that expires in 2025. I would have him move off of Shane Waldron as the offensive coordinator, and do the same for Clint Hurtt as the defensive coach. Neither side of the ball is playing well enough for me to believe either coordinator has earned the right to be back next year. The defense is only marginally improved from the god awful mess that it was last year, and the offense has greatly regressed.
At the end of this season, three defensive minded NFL head coaches, who have all been very good defensive coordinators in the past, could be out of a gig. Robert Saleh with the Jets (who used to be on Carroll’s Super Bowl winning staff), Dennis Allen with the Saints, and Matt Eberflus with the Bears could all be available for Carroll to bring in. If I were Seattle, I would make one of these guys a handsomely paid coordinator. Incidentally, each one of these guys prefers the 4-3 defensive scheme which had be a trademark of the great Pete Carroll defenses in years past.
I have nothing personal against Clint Hurtt, but two years into this thing, I think this whole shift to a modified 3-4 has been a frustrating failure, and I would prefer it if Carroll just returned to the 4-3 defense he knows inside and out. Watching Seattle flirt in this 3-4 has been a frustrating mess and I think it’s a bad defense to throw at the San Francisco 49er offense.
As for the offensive coordinator, how about this crazy idea? Why not bring Darrel Bevell back who is now serving at the pass game coordinator for the high octane offense of the Miami Dolphins?
For me, this is not a crazy idea. In fact, I think it might actually be a really good one.
Under Bevell, Seattle had the most success in the Carroll era, offensively. They were a league leading unit in explosive plays, and he figured out a way to best utilize Russell Wilson as a duo threat quarterback that caught the league off guard.
With Bevell down in Miami today, I think it is fair to think that perhaps he has gained insight into how to operate Mike McDaniels exotic Shanahan-esque offense. Personally, I would very much like that offense here in Seattle.
Former players have come back to Pete over the years. Why not this former coach?
Whether Carroll sticks it out or not, the one thing I know is that I don’t know if I can handle another season next year of this team underperforming with the talent it has on this roster, especially on the offensive side of the ball. For me, I think the main issue has been Xs and Os over the Jimmies and Joes. We will see how this season plays out, but right now, I need changes on this staff.
Make The Tough Choices On Expensive Players Not Playing Up To Their Contracts
It’s not fun to write about player contracts and who is living up to them and who isn’t, but good teams do not pay top end dollars for middling results with players. Presently, Seattle has the most expensive starting safety tandem in the league and they do not play dominantly.
In fact, according to Pro Football Focus, Jamal Adams has been one of the worst starting safeties in the league this year, and he has been especially terrible against the run. I have thought for a while that the team should move permanently to a linebacker role, but would you trust him to stay discipline in his technique to make the routine tackle at or behind the line of scrimmage?
His partner, Quandre Diggs, has been a better performer, but he still whiffs a lot in the open field on tackles. Diggs is set to make over $21 million next year if he is still on the team. That is an absurd amount to pay a safety who is decent but not great.
Adams is set to make over $26 million, and that is an insane amount to pay a safety who PFF thinks is one of the worst starters in the league. Even moving him to linebacker where he might function better as a player, paying him this amount seems like a gross dereliction of salary cap management. He has not been nearly the impact player they thought they were getting when they traded for him.
There is no universe where I think it is a good idea for this Seahawk organization to bring both safeties back in 2024 at these high salary rates. If I were John Schneider, I would move off of both of these players, and look to have Julian Love play one safety spot with possibly Coby Bryant competing for the other. I would also look to the NFL draft to see what I can find. Personally, I really dig Washington State safety Jaden Hicks as a possible option in the third round.
Another expensive veteran who is not really living up to the high salary he is earning is tight end Will Dissly. I love Uncle Will as much as the next fan, but he is not a $10 million a year level tight end in the league. I do not see how this team can bring him back in 2024 at this cost.
The most complicated issue salary wise for the team in 2024 might be Geno Smith. In 2024, he is due to make over $31 million dollars, and even though he hasn’t been helped by Waldron as a play caller, even the biggest Geno Smith fan has to acknowledge his regression this year over where he was at this point last year. Most metrics have him ranked at about the 18th best passer in the league this year.
Is it good spending to pay Geno $31 million next year when 17 other quarterbacks have been outperforming him in 2023? Or is it wise to cut him loose and try your hand with Gardner Minshew or Jacoby Brissett and look to the draft that appears deeper than usual at the position?
Lastly, there is the issue with Tyler Lockett and his $26 million set to be due on the books in 2024 when the team has DK Metcalf, Jaxon Smith Njigba, Dee Eskridge and Jake Bobo on the roster who are all younger and less expensive. It sucks to think about moving on from a Mr Seahawk like Lockett, but is $26 million to an older receiver on a roster loaded up with good receivers good spending?
Here is the stark reality facing this team in 2024 that a lot of fans don’t want to think about right now, but I will share. This team is going to be tighter against the cap, and they don’t have a starting linebacker contracted in 2024, nor do they have a starting tight end, starting left guard, or a starting center. They also just traded a second round pick and fifth round pick to the Giants for starting defensive tackle Leonard Williams who is set to be a free agent. This is a grim outlook.
If I were the GM of this team, I would absolutely cut my losses with Jamal Adams, and I also would cut loose Quandre Diggs. Those two moves would free up about $13 million dollars, and that would be the money I would look to use for signing Leonard Williams to a multi year contract. Williams provides a stoutness up front on their defense line that is more important than middling safety play on the backend.
If I were the GM, I would move off of the Will Dissly contract and use that money to try to retain starting linebacker Jordyn Brooks who at this stage, is probably more impactful of a player than Bobby Wagner is. If I can’t keep him, I look to free agency to add a younger linebacker, and I look at the draft.
If I were the GM, I would begrudgingly move on from Geno Smith’s contract, and use that money to bring in a cheaper veteran solution at quarterback, and I would look to the draft. I have made my steadfast desires about this team drafting Michael Penix Junior well known, but there are others in this draft class who would also get me pretty excited.
Seattle can free themselves of the Geno contract, and open up nearly $30 million in cap space to go after a solid veteran guard and possibly a solid veteran center, as well, and finally fix this offensive line right, instead of continually shelling out one year prove it deals on journeymen players such as Phil Haynes and the countless players they’ve tried to plug at center over the years. They could add someone like Gardner Minshew who has been a somewhat decent starter, and they set themselves up to draft a player to be the next franchise passer.
If I were GM, I would move off of the weirdly big contract this team gave backup nose tackle Brian Mone, and I think they probably will. Someone needs a noogy on their head for even signing him to that deal in the first place.
If I were GM, I would hang onto Tyler Lockett even though he’s expensive. I like having one of the deepest wide receiver rooms in the league, and if I am drafting a quarterback, I want him to benefit from that.
Add To The Trenches In Free Agency
The only players set to be free agents that I would be greatly inclined to bring back would be Leonard Williams, Jordyn Brooks, and tight end Noah Fant.
As stated above, this team needs to quit toying around with their offensive and defensive lines. Teams like the Eagles and 49ers annually look to add to their lines, not subtract, and low and hold, they are annually NFC powerhouses. Football is not rocket science. The teams that run better and stop the run better generally do better at winning games.
Here is a short list of quality NFL guards set to be free agents in 2024. Robert Hunt of the Dolphins, Jonah Jackson of the Lions, Jon Runyan of the Packers are all probably big upgrades over Damien Lewis for the Seahawks. For my money, if Robert Hunt hits the open market, I would love to see Seattle pounce on him.
Here is a short list of pending free agent centers. Connor Williams of the Dolphins, and Lloyd Cushenberry of the Broncos, and Andre James of the Raiders. Getting Connor Williams to pair with Robert Hunt both from the Dolphins would be an ideal scenario for Seattle. Retaining Evan Brown actually wouldn’t be a terrible move for the team as a Plan B, as he has been the one consistent player on the unit all season, but I want greatness at that position, for once.
As for the defensive line, just work out a multi year deal with Leonard Williams, and develop DTs behind him. I like the players around him enough on this unit to feel like Seattle is building something if they can just retain him. So, do it.
Draft A Quarterback To Develop Into A Starter
This coming draft class could involve as many as ten quarterbacks who could be viewed as eventual starters in this league. I think it’s likely that six could easily be drafted in the first round. If the season ended today, Seattle would hold the 15th overall pick. If Seattle finishes at 8-9 or worse, that pick could easily climb closer to the top ten. This should put Seattle in position to draft one of these quarterbacks.
As already stated, I have been very outward in my belief that Seattle should have UW’s Michael Penix Junior high on their draft board. He has an elite arm, he can make every single NFL throw, he’s accurate, he’s big and athletic enough, and he has a pension for winning games. His age and injury history almost might make him the fourth or fifth quarterback on a lot of teams’ draft boards in a draft that could also include Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Jayden Daniels, JJ McCarthy, and Bo Nix.
If Penix manages to land at whatever pick Seattle is selecting at in round one, I pray they do not overthink it, and take another player. Penix fits what Carroll wants to do as a big armed deep passer working off of play action, and he’s a high character dude. Even more so, he’s now firmly a local legend. Fans will likely be more patient with Penix than they are at this point with Geno Smith, or possibly a different drafted quarterback.
But like I said, there are others in this coming draft class who could present really interesting options. For my money, I would probably be just as excited if Seattle landed Jayden Daniels or Bo Nix. Just go get one of these guys, and look at other areas of need afterwards.
Final Thoughts
This team is not built to compete with the 49ers, and I don’t know if it’s even built to compete with the Rams. I fear that continuing the status quo will give Arizona an opportunity to surpass them in the division with their new coaching staff, and upcoming draft capital.
Last year, Arizona ownership said enough is enough with Kliff Kingsbury, and moved on when it was clear that mediocrity was about as far as Kingsbury would take them. It should be noted that they did this after gifting him a brand new contract extension the year before.
Would Jody Allen and her Vulcan crew do the same in Seattle if Carroll leads this team to a losing season?
I have my doubts, but she may insist on new coordinators, and she may grant general manager John Schneider more autonomy from Carroll’s overriding powers of the front office. This is my realistic hope for this team.
I’m not convinced it was Schneider who wanted Seattle to overspend for Jamal Adams in that trade with the Jets and then sink nearly $48 million dollars into two starting safeties. My gut tells me those were all of Carroll’s desires.
I think this team needs to move on from Jamal Adams this offseason. His play doesn’t warrant his salary, and fans are growing tired of him not living up to the billing.
Also, when I watch Adams play, and I don’t see a great team guy. I see a person who loves to celebrate with over the top antics whenever he makes a play, and I see a dude who misses too many tackles and isn’t a great cover safety. He also often behaves like a total jerk, and the way in which he most recently went after a NY Jet reporter on Twitter taking shots at his wife is a terrible look.
I don’t want a guy like this on the team I root for, and I don’t think he is doing this culture any favors. I think it would best for the team and the player if they parted ways after the season is done.
I like Quandre Diggs as a player but not at $20 million APY. I don’t see a safety in the league worth with this contract, to be honest.
Lastly, I don’t really want to see this team part ways with Geno Smith in the coming offseason, but given the fact that this roster is in no way shape or form ready to truly compete with San Francisco, I see logic in freeing up cap space to go out and truly land two high quality veteran additions to the interior of this offensive line. If Seattle hangs onto Geno in 2024, I don’t think they will be in a position to make these sort of moves even if they cut their safeties, Will Dissly, and Brian Mone, and also try to retain Leonard Williams, Noah Fant, and Jordyn Brooks.
The easiest way to properly build this roster up to win games against San Francisco might just be to release Geno Smith in February. If they did that and it landed them a stud guard, and a really good center, and they brought in Gardner Minshew or Marcus Mariota, or whoever else at a cheaper cost to compete with a rookie quarterback, I would get totally behind that.
This is where I oddly find myself with this team presently. I don’t have much faith in them over this final stretch of games. I have found myself more frustrated in the coaching of this team than I can ever remember beyond the brutal Mike Flores era of Seahawk football. That is saying something.
I love Pete Carroll, but I cannot handle this continual lack of discipline, and I really can’t handle frustrating play calling, and odd schemes that don’t appear to be working. I am long past tired of the antics of Jamal Adams paired with his underwhelming play. I am really super tired of the offensive line being a nonstop issue with this team.
I need change.
Frankly, I kinda think Geno Smith deserves better than this after winning Comeback Player Of The Year last year. I kinda think maybe playing for a team like Minnesota next year might be a really good thing for him while Seattle finally starts to sort all this shit out.. finally.
This is my mood meter. It is as “meh” as it can be for the team I love most. I would like it to change.
All day, as I went about my work, I completely envisioned Seattle getting smoked by the Dallas Cowboys. I thought the Cowboys would be sharks smelling blood in the water, and I was positive that a Pete Carroll coached team was about to get steam rolled two weeks in a row.
I was wrong. Dead wrong.
Then, by the third quarter, I started believing that Seattle was going to win this game handily in Dallas, and our season was going to be salvaged.
I was wrong. Dead wrong.
The refs came in to make sure that would not happen. It would appear that Seattle cannot have nice things because there is a conspiracy against them.
I don’t know how much money Jerry Jones paid these refs, but that show they put on was absolutely comical. At one point in the second half when Dallas had the ball, it actually became shocking whenever an official didn’t throw a flag against a Seahawk defender.
Now, I know what you are probably thinking as you read this. You’re thinking I’m delusional to think the NFL was actually trying to prevent Seattle from winning this game, or Jerry offered the refs a night out with the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and free drinks at Jerry World for life.
I’m just going to say that is was really fucking weird seeing those flags flying out like that at a machine gun clip against the Seahawk defense right after Seattle jumped comfortably ahead in the game and only occasionally against the Dallas one. You are free to draw whatever conclusion you would like in result. I, however, smell something rotten in Dallas.
Whatev’s.
Seattle put up a great fight on the road. Not a perfect fight. There was still points of bad tackling on the defense, and spotty coverage. The defense still found ways to get gashed by the run, too. Shane Waldron finally started to cook as a play caller only to crap his bed in the end.
But they fought hard. You could feel that fight.
Offensively, it was nice to see blocking finally, and it was a pleasure to see Shane Waldron actually call a functional game plan, and utilize all the nice pieces on offense that Geno Smith gets to play with. DK Metcalf proved once again that he is the most dynamic player on offense when you can scheme the ball into his hands. Ditto for Jaxon Smith Njigba and Zach Charbonett, and how about that spectacular catch by Noah Fant on a deep play action crosser?
Wasn’t it also nice to see the run game going enough so that Geno could play action off of it? Where was this play calling over the past month and a half?! Is it just because we finally have Abe Lucas back at right tackle?
Is Abe Lucas the key to unlocking this offense? A right tackle Abe Lucas??!!
It was exciting to think that Seattle now maybe has a functional offensive coordinator again, but then that weird fourth and one play happened where Charbonnet got stuffed on a decidedly uncreative attempt at a first down, but that wasn’t the real killer for Seattle’s offense. Nay. Waldron saved his best stinker for the end of the game on fourth and short when he decided to not to have anyone block the best pass rusher in football while calling for a dump off to a backup running back who was tasked to get to the other side of this monster speed rusher for a catch, and decidedly didn’t.
For all the creativity that Waldron finally showed us in the game, he called a play that had next to no chance of working against Micah Parsons who’s forty yard dash is as fast as DK Metcalf’s. What. The. Fudge.
As you can probably tell, I’m still not so high on Waldron, but he has five games left to maybe win me over. We shall see.
As for Geno Smith, I think he had a decent rebound game. Not perfect. A few throws got away from him, and he threw yet another bad pick. I forgive him for those though. He battled hard, and played well enough that had Tyler Lockett would have caught a deep seam pass from him, we may have easily went on to win the game.
This was a weird game for Tyler Lockett. He felt third fiddle to JSN and DK. I thought Quandre Diggs and Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams had weird moments as well.
I think the reason why I am bringing these older veterans up like this is because even though Seattle is still in a fight for the playoffs, at 6-6 now, I also feel like Seattle is officially entering an evaluation phase for this franchise moving forward. How much should these high paid guys be considered the future of the franchise at this point if Seattle is to ultimately have a down year?
Right now, this doesn’t feel like a 6-6 team that will end up 9-8 and in the playoffs again this year like they were last year. If I am to be honest, I think this feels like a 6-6 team on a path to finish an annoying 8-9, not good enough to be in the playoffs, but not sucking enough to have a super high draft pick, either.
This feels like a mediocre team who will now put up good fights because they are in a corner, and Pete Carroll tends to motivate his teams to fight hard whenever the world is against them. He’s a really good coach that way.
I feel like, through twelve games now, we know who they are. They have talent, but they maybe aren’t schemed up to the level their talent needs, and they lack discipline and fundamentals to take the next step. This game against Dallas is a microcosm of all of that.
So, I kinda think that through these last five remaining games, everything and everyone should be scrutinized. Players, coaches, and front office should all be under Jody Allen’s microscope.
Is Geno Smith worth over $30 million APY to stick around? Or should the team move on and perhaps pursue a different quarterback perhaps through the draft (cough cough Michael Penix Junior and or Bo Nix)?
Is Shane Waldron an offensive coordinator who can maximize the talents on this offense consistently? I have severe doubts.
Is Clint Hurtt a good enough defensive coordinator who has a scheme that everyone understands and will play disciplined ball in? I have questions.
Who are the young players who can be the building blocks of a championship? This is perhaps the most important question.
Right now, I feel great about Devon Witherspoon, JSN, K9, Woolen, Boye Mafe, Abe Lucas, Charles Cross, Zach Charbonnet, Tre Brown, and Anthony Bradford. My jury is out on Derick Hall, Coby Bryant, Cameron Young, Dee Eskridge, and Oli Oluwatimi, and maybe it is these younger guys we should start seeing more of moving forward.
As for the older vets, I don’t know how much longer Bobby Wagner can/will go. I’m not really digging on Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams with their big contracts at safety, and I think Adams should just be a linebacker, anyways. I feel good about Tyler Lockett, but I am unsure how much longer he’s planning to play.
I’m not sure how much Seattle needs to pay big dollars towards Noah Fant, Jordyn Brooks, Evan Brown, and Damien Lewis coming back. I think if I had my druthers, I would spend big in free agency on high quality guard over Lewis, and I would look to the draft for tight end and linebacker and I would start playing Oluwatimi more to see if he can be the starting center.
Leonard Williams is a tricky one. On one had because Seattle dealt a second and fifth round pick to acquire him mid season, I think he should be the top priority to bring back. On the other hand, should John Schneider be scrutinized more now for making that bold move when it is clear that Seattle is probably another draft away from building into a true contender? Was it even his call or was it a directive from Pete Carroll?
Then of course, there is the big elephant in the room with Geno Smith and how smart it is for Seattle to pay him next year like he’s a pro bowl quarterback when maybe he is just kind of a middling one. These last five games will loom incredibly large for Geno Smith now. In a way I feel bad about that, but football is very much a what have you done for me lately.
Lastly, at 6-6, with games against San Francisco, Philly, and Pittsburgh, how much should Jody Allen now be evaluating Pete Carroll as the head coach moving forward into next year?
If they lose out or only win one more game, will she feel the sting of maybe a fanbase growing more frustrated and apathetic and disinterested?
After all, it took Pete Carroll twelve games into the season to get Shane Waldron to kick it in the ass with better play calling. It feels to me that this should have happened a month ago.
This is perhaps the most frustrating thing about this season. It took twelve games for this offense to feel like a Pete Carroll style offense with some sort of identity.
I am hoping that through these last five games, Carroll can work his magic on this young team and they win at least three out of the five. However, I fear is that we are going to see a lot of the same as we have seen over the past week, and that is losing in ugly ways against the 49ers and Eagles, and losing in a frustratingly close way against the Steelers.
However these games shake out, I hope that ownership is taking a good long look at it all, and everything is under evaluation.
I don’t want these Seahawks to dip into becoming the perpetually middling franchise. I want them to be great. I want Jody Allen to do whatever she thinks Paul would do to make sure it’s great again.
This is where I am at as a fan. Losing a close game on the round against a really good Dallas team doesn’t change this needle for me. I love this team, but I need them to be better.
I will be perfectly honest with you. I have a deep love for Michael Penix Junior. In fact, I haven’t been this attached to a football player in the PNW since Russell Wilson’s rookie year in Seattle. I think he’s special.
I think he has enough physical traits to transition well into the NFL. I believe his arm is elite, and with massive hands, he can absolutely spin it, and he throws one of the prettiest deep passes you will ever see, but I think it is what is inside him that makes him truly special.
His teammates refer to him as the Quiet Assassin. He’s not a demonstrative personality, and maybe sorta prefers to allow his calmness and his actions on the field to do the talking, but make no mistake, he is regarded as the unanimous leader of the UW locker room. He is the alpha dawg. For me, I think there is a greater reason for this particular Penix calm and reserve, and it is that very thing that fascinates me most about him as a player, and person.
People can say whatever they want about how Washington got to their lofty 12-0 status. They can say they haven’t won as dominantly as Oregon, and Penix struggled more in the second half of the season than in the extremely high clip he was playing at during the first half, and, of course, they can say UW should have blown out the pesky Washington State Cougars, and whatever else whatnots.
For me, when I look at Washington, I see a ton of resiliency, and it starts with their quarterback. It’s a fool’s errand to walk away in dismissal of the awesome intangibles of high resiliency.
You want to talk about what it takes to play quarterback in the highest level, how about talking about the inner strength needed to fight through extreme adversity. There is not a single quarterback on this planet who has fought through more adversity than Michael Penix Junior has right now. Penix is a resilient mother fucker, and I would absolutely take him as QB1 for the Seattle Seahawks.
His injury history while he was at Indiana is famous. In four seasons, he tore his ACL in his right knee twice, had his left shoulder separated, and he had a dislocated the sternoclavicular joint in his right arm. There was a point in which he almost walked away from the game. Instead, he entered the transfer portal and joined his old coach Kalen DeBoer in Washington, and the rest is history.
What DeBoer and Penix have done together in leading a Washington football program that two short years ago was an absolute dumpster fire into instant prominence is nothing short of remarkable. This year, Penix leads the nation in passing yards in a system that asks him to make a lot of difficult sideline throws. They trust him that much. If they go on into the playoffs, I think a strong case can be made for Penix to be the GOAT Husky quarterback, and there have been some good ones over the years long before him.
Anyone who says that Penix can no longer run is full of horse crap. He’s plenty athletic, and can easily extend plays whenever needed. I think because of his prior injuries, he much prefers to beat you by throwing instead of running much like CJ Stroud did recently at Ohio State. In fact, Stroud is my exact NFL comp for Penix. I think he’s left handed CJ Stroud, and as a Seattle Seahawk fan, yes, please sign me up for that.
If Michael Penix Junior clears medicals during the draft process (as I suspect he ultimately will), I would wind sprint to the podium for him next Spring if he were sitting at my pick. His story arc in college football has shown me everything I need to know about him as a player and person.
On the other side of this writing, I have grown to become a HUGE Bo Nix fan. Given the fact that my wife is a Duck, I watch more Oregon football than probably most casual Husky fans, and I have sorta grown to adopt this program (don’t judge me, my wife is awesome). Bo Nix is the most impressive quarterback I have seen at Oregon in a long time.
I’ve been more impressed by him than I was with Justin Herbert, and I kinda might like him more than even Marcus Mariota who I thought was awesome in that old Chip Kelly system. Box Nix is leading the nation in quarterback efficiency for a reason.
Some might be dismissive about him and his extremely high completion percentage, and say it’s the system that he plays in which calls for the easy short completions. I say that is lazy thinking, and I don’t think that should be used as a deterrent towards thinking that he can’t have great success in the NFL.
Bo Nix makes every throw needed for Oregon. He can throw deep outs, he can throw intermediate, and he can throw short. He can fit it over defenders and between defenders, and he has wheels that him a genuine threat to take off and run. He throws with great anticipation and awareness. Bo Nix has a lot of fun playmaker in his game.
Of all these exciting draft eligible college quarterbacks this year, in a long list that includes Caleb Williams, Penix, Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, JJ McCarthy, Jordan Travis, and Cameron Ward, I think Bo Nix might be the safest pick for a NFL GM out of any of them. With over fifty starts in college football, I think he has, by far, the surest floor. In short, that absurd amount of playing experience is going to have some NFL organizations drooling.
I firmly suspect that Seattle is quite high on Bo Nix because of this experience along with his maturity, productivity, and above all, his crazy good efficiency numbers. The last time Seattle drafted a quarterback they thought could be their franchise guy it was the nation’s leader in efficiency in one Russell Wilson out of Wisconsin in 2012. So yeah, I can completely see Seattle being deeply into Nix.
The truth is for me, as a Seahawks fan, I would do cartwheels down my sidewalk if Seattle drafts either one of these two quarterbacks next Spring. The one silver lining I see to them having an unexpected down season is for them to be in position to do just that.
Some might think that I am being Anti Geno Smith by writing this, but that is not true. I have been a staunch Geno Smith supporter, and remain so. I just see certain writings on the wall for this team moving forward beyond this year.
They are going to be super tight against the salary cap in 2024, and here is the list of players who’s contracts are about to expire; starting defensive tackle Leonard Williams, starting linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner, starting tight end Noah Fant, starting left guard Damien Lewis, and starting center Evan Brown. Three starters on defense and three starters on offense and Seattle currently does not have the cap space available to even sign back two of these players.
Bringing back Leonard Williams is an absolute must considering what Seattle gave up to acquire him and the level of which he still plays at as an interior pass rusher. Jordyn Brooks is a near must as I suspect this is maybe Wagner’s last year playing in the league, and I think, at the very least, Seattle needs to bring back one of Damien Lewis or Evan Brown in order help the continuity of their offensive line.
The easiest and simplest way for Seattle to keep the veterans they want to retain, and to also make another much needed splash signing in free agency next year would to move off of Geno’s contract. They could sign a journeyman vet like Gardner Minshew or Jacoby Brissett, and then take advantage of this deep quarterback class in 2024. This is the conclusion I have reached watching this season unfold the way it now has.
If Seattle hangs onto an expensive Geno Smith, and allows most of these guys to walk, and tries to fill holes cheaply through free agency and the draft, I think Seattle will most likely remain San Francisco’s punching bag for years to come. That is the sobering reality that I see under this scenario.
If Seattle had more younger bright talent on rookie contracts filling out this roster, I would feel much better about continuing to pay and play Geno. They do not have this, even with two pretty good back to back draft classes. The cupboard was that bare when they traded off Russell Wilson.
I think, given the way this roster is set up with contracts about to expire, the team likely thought this was going to be their year to truly take a much bigger step forward competing for the division. So far, that doesn’t look like the case at all, and that is why I think they structured Geno’s contract as they did last Spring by giving themselves a clear financial out at the end of this season. In short, if they don’t achieve what they hoped for with Geno as QB1, they don’t have to stay trapped in that deal, and they can move on.
That was a smart clause they placed in Geno’s contract. Cold blooded for sure, but smart.
As for Geno, if they do move on from him, I think he can be a quality starter on a decent team with less holes on their roster than Seattle. He could move onto Cleveland if they move on from Deshaun Watson in the offseason (I think they might). He could go to Tampa, or Minnesota, or Atlanta, or even Pittsburgh who all have nice rosters and just need a stable starter at QB.
This is sorta what I think is going on for Seattle right now. I think we are fully entering an evaluation phase as we head further into the toughest part of their season.
These tough games coming up will tell us a lot about the team and Geno Smith. If he can turn it on against tougher competition, and get some quality wins through this tough stretch of games, then I think that tells the club he’s worth continuing to build around. If it’s all really rough and Geno basically continues to look like he did against San Francisco and LA even with better play calling (that’s another topic for another piece), then I think fans of this team should really start looking at some of these young bright quarterbacks in college because one of them could more likely be coming here.
As it stands now, I think the Seahawks are probably looking very hard at both Bo Nix and Michael Penix Junior as possible long term solutions to their quarterback position. I think they rightly should be doing this regardless of how Geno plays.
With Penix, I think he’s a player who likely fits what a coach such as Sean McVay loves to do in attacking the deep middle of the field behind the linebackers and in front of safeties through play action. Penix can launch a ball with ease downfield on a boot leg, and he has the special arm talent to drop it into tight windows. My fear as a Seahawks fan is that McVay is also very keen on him.
Bo Nix feels like he could work wonderfully in a Kyle Shanahan offense getting out on boot legs, getting the ball out quickly and accurately and into the hands of playmakers, and just commanding the whole offense like a point guard. I think Bo Nix is very much a Brock Purdy type player but quicker and with better overall athleticism. I see a little Dak Prescott in his game, as well. Just like Prudy and Prescott, I wouldn’t be shocked if he got drafted and found quick success as a rookie.
So, given all of this, it’s going to be this really interesting bittersweet watching of this last and final PAC 12 Championship Game. On one hand, I am still super bummed out over the PAC 12 dissolvement, but on this whole other hand, holy shit is this conference ever going out with the bang!
It is beyond fascinating to see these two bitter rivalry schools battling each other for a chance to go the college playoffs with each school being quarterbacked by a dude who could win the Heisman Trophy next month. Hollywood could not script this scenario any better.
For me, I won’t lie about it. I am as fair weathered of a Husky fan as any alum could possibly be. I have always been more of a Seahawks fan than a Husky one, but because of Michael Penix Junior, I badly want the Huskies to win this game. I want his unique story about overcoming adversity to end with him winning the Heisman, and leading his team into the college playoffs.
As I said in the beginning of this piece, Penix is my guy. In his two years here in Seattle, I have come to appreciate him in ways I have only appreciated a few other athletes in this town. I have appreciated Steve Largent this way, and Sue Bird this way, and for a while, Russell Wilson. For me, Penix is that type of special. If that makes me more of a homer, then so be it. Homer me up.
I also really truly dig on Bo Nix a lot, too, and if the Huskies were to lose this historic game against Oregon, the sting of it would be taken away a tad by knowing that Bo Nix won. I think Nix is a pretty solid dude who had battled his own sets of adversity at Auburn, and found his rebirth here in the PNW. His story is a pretty cool one, and he’s a worthy guy to root for, and I enjoy watching him play.
In the end, if I can’t get the UW victory for Penix, I want an epically fantastic game for both of these special quarterbacks. I want this to be a game remembered for its greatness and not any sort of lopsidedness. It’s exciting to think about it in that way.
For all the back and forth pettiness that Duck fans and Husky fans probably have about these two quarterbacks, I think it is pretty silly for a fan of either program to dismiss the talents of the quarterback of the other. I think if Michael Penix Junior was QB1 for the Ducks, the entire state of Oregon would be absolutely gaga over him, and if Bo Nix was the Husky quarterback, almost everyone in the 206 would be talking about how much the Seahawks need to draft him.
But this is the dumb stupid petty nature of college football rivalries. Neither side wants to admit that the other is pretty even though both of them very much are.
This is where I will be more than happy to say that, in my own fandom, I am better than that. I despise the San Francisco 49ers with my whole entire being, but I fully recognize the specialness in Brock Purdy, and his likability. It’s fully possible to hate on a program and organization and think to yourself ‘but that player is pretty fucking cool.”
On my end, I just here for both of these quarterbacks. I am into them, and I want one of them on the Seahawks roster next year. Either one of them, or Jayden Daniels from LSU who looks like the second coming of Randall Cunningham, and his story is another pretty damn good one.
Congratulations, San Francisco 49er Fans. Your team is finally, regularly, kicking the snot out of the Seattle Seahawks. It took your team long enough!
Even when Pete Carroll’s Seahawks were showing signs of decline with Russell Wilson, and your team was on the rise to become the prize of the conference, the Seahawks were at least good for laying a big old frustrating bucket disappointment on your Sunday afternoon. Now, it appears the tide has finally turned, and I think with it, maybe Seattle ownership needs to consider the bigger picture more after the season if these Seahawks end up with a losing record. After all, this is what San Francisco decided to do years ago when it was clear that Pete Carroll was making Jim Harbaugh his personal pool boy.
I love Pete Carroll as much as the next fan, and, emotionally, I don’t want him gone, but I also don’t want to continue watching these Seahawks looking more and more like the clueless clown of the division whenever playing the Rams and 49ers. This team spent over $130 dollars in this past year to better compete with these power house 49ers, and to be honest, they look worse than they did last year playing them. That’s not a good thing
Seattle added to it’s defense Leonard Williams, Dre’Mont Jones, brought back Bobby Wagner, added Julian Love, and drafted Devon Witherspoon, and they have Jamal Adams back, and still this defense has no real answer for Kyle Shanahan’s offense. That’s a bad look.
Personally, I think Seattle’s usage of a 3-4 defense against the Shanahan scheme is a dumb idea, especially considering how well Carroll’s old 4-3 front played against it even in the Ken Norton Junior years. Why Carroll has been persuaded into shifting away from his 4-3, I will never understand, but on the replays of Christian McCaffery banging it up inside for big gains, it clearly shows each time how there’s not enough big bodies in gaps up front and it puts more stress on the linebackers.
I officially hate the 3-4 defense. I think this whole idea of how much more “exotic” defenses can be with it is vastly overrated. There’s a few teams in the league that run it well, but the great defenses of San Fransisco, Dallas, Philly all operate more out of 4-3.
I was writing about this stuff a lot last year at this time, and after last night’s game, emotions have boiled over. I hate that Carroll has shifted away from his 4-3 stuff that he knows inside and out. Sure, there’s some nice pieces in place, but I think think they would work better in the older scheme.
I don’t even know what to call this defensive scheme, either. It’s not even a true 3-4, and it certainly isn’t a 4-3. It’s like they are being multiple in their fronts just for the sake of it.
As an actor, if I were to go into an audition for a national Ford commercial with the intent of doing a lower class Brooklyn accent one minute, and then shifting into a British accent the next just to be multiple, the well paid casting director would most likely never call me in again.. ever. That’s how I feel about this Clint Hurtt defense for Seattle.
As for the offense, I don’t know where to even start. I think everything going on right now sucks, and I will take a very unhip position of believing that Geno Smith is not the problem of it.
I think Shane Waldron is really struggling to come up with anything that they can hang their hat on, and I don’t think he’s nearly as creative as others in the league as coordinators. I also think he has been doing a really lousy job adjusting to how defenses adjust to his play calling, and too many times he’s calling long developing patterns against a strong pass rush with no outlets for the quarterback to go towards.
The best two things Seattle did on offense last night were stretching the defense on an incredible one handed catch by Jaxon Smith Njigba that was all about the player and not the play caller, and then a nifty jet sweep by Dee Eskridge. That jet sweep reminded me how much of a staple that play is in a Sean McVay offense, and isn’t that the offense we are supposed to now have here?
With JSN and Eskridge on this roster, the jet sweep should be ran at least four to five times a game in order to keep defenses thinking. Right now, defenses don’t have to think when playing against Seattle. It’s like they know everything Waldron is going to throw at them. That’s not a Geno Smith problem. Drew Lock isn’t going to fix that. Neither will Michael Penix Junior or Bo Nix.
I hate it all so much that I officially don’t want Waldron back next year. Unless he miraculously turns this offense around during the toughest portion of this season, nothing is going to move this needle for me.
This offense has way too much talent to be playing this poorly. My one shiny silver lining to Seattle now having a down year is for them to have a high enough draft pick next Spring to potentially draft one of the many talented quarterbacks in college right now, but if they did that, I wouldn’t want that rookie walking into this situation with Shane Waldron as his OC.
Seattle clearly needs a new OC, and if they continue a long stretch of losing games badly like this, I think it’s entirely fair for Jody Allen to consider how much longer Pete Carroll should be running the show, as well. After all, it was Pete Carroll who decided to bring in Waldron when he had no coordinating experience at any level, and it was also Pete Carroll who promoted Clint Hurtt to defensive coordinator over bringing in a proven coach at the position.
If Carroll was persuaded to change to a Vic Fangio 3-4 defense, why didn’t he just go after Fangio who was available? And while we are at it, why didn’t he pursue Dan Quinn after he was fired from the Falcons and bring him back home?
If Pete Carroll’s mantra is “to always compete,” don’t you think part of that should be going out and getting the best coaches out there for his staff? I would think that would absolutely be essential to that.
I don’t know if there’s a lot of good coaches on this staff anymore. I’m sure that there are a few. Andy Dickerson seems to be a fine OL coach. Greg Olson is a well respected quarterback coach and a former coordinator. They hired a fancy pass rush coach this offseason and Boye Mafe has developed nicely. I just look at this situation and feel like Carroll could have done a LOT better putting together the best staff possible.
This makes me literally start to question how much longer Carroll should be going at this. He is in this fourteenth year as the HC and VP. Only legendary Husky coach Don James has coached longer in this market than Carroll has, and not by much.
Pete Carroll is 72 years old and has been coaching for 50 years of his life. Coaching is an incredible grind, and he’s been grinding at it for almost as long as I have been alive.
Mike Holmgren went about ten seasons here and was exhausted at the end, and needed to step aside as a much younger man than Carroll is right now. His team had quickly gotten old and injured and it was clear that they needed a reset. He was too tired to do it, and he knew it.
When I watched how this team gave away the game last week in LA, got blown out a few weeks back in Baltimore, and blown out at home against a dreaded 49er team, I see a young Seattle team with enough talent to be playing better than they have. Ultimately, the buck should stop with Carroll.
I don’t think Seattle is a juggernaut contender, either, but they should be playing better than this. They should be smarter, and more disciplined on both sides of the ball. That is a coaching issue, plain and simple.
So, we will see when this goes in the next month and a half. They have a ridiculously tough stretch that they are in the midst of right now, but so what. Life is not fair, and as Chuck Knox used to say as the Seahawks coach, you have to play the hand you’re dealt.
If they get blown out like this in each of the next three games, I think Jody Allen needs to consider moving on from this entire staff, or maybe Pete Carroll should consider doing what Holmgren did, and just step aside. Maybe take a year off and go grab one of the So Cal coaching gigs, and bring his career full circle.
I say this all being a huge Pete Carroll fan, but first and foremost, I’m a Seahawk fan, and if what this team needs most moving forward now is fresh eyes on the program, then I’m for it. Having said that, if Carroll is able to clean it up, and get this ship sailing right again, I fully support him finishing this out right.
Time will tell us soon enough how this 2023 Seahawk ship sails, and damnit all towards the high heaven if these waters aren’t about to get crazy ass stormy over the next month. Hang onto your butts.
Drew Lock might be a really cool person, and he seems like a likable enough guy. He might even have some talent that could make one believe that he could be a quality NFL quarterback someday, maybe.
He’s tall, he moves quickly, he’s got a big arm that can easily fling the ball downfield. He’s the person that you look at with all the ideal measurables where you could convince yourself that “this is what an NFL quarterback should look like.”
Here is something that I feel very certain about Drew Lock as it stands right now. Drew Lock is not a good quarterback. He’s bad. I’m not sure he’s even he’s a decent backup, and I was sorta surprised when Seattle brought him back on a one year $4 million deal to backup Geno Smith again this year. I kinda thought, if he came back again, it would be for a lot less, and kinda in the $1 million dollar range Seattle paid Geno yearly when he was the backup for Russell Wilson.
But Seattle must really like Drew Lock to be paying him this exorbitant amount to enter into the second half of the game to take the place of injured Geno Smith, and throw two completions on six attempts for a grand total of three yards and a dumb interception. They must really believe the sun shines brightly out of his buttocks ripe with potential.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I have nothing personal against Drew Lock, and if he has to take over for Geno for a few games, I will root hard for him. I just do not believe he’s very good, and I will never, for the life of me, understand the demographic of Seattle fans who believe he’s more talented and has more upside that Geno Smith does. He does not.
You know how I know this?
Two years ago, when the Seahawks were playing the Rams in LA, and Aaron Donald knocked a struggling Russell Wilson out of the game, one lowly regarded amongst fans Geno Smith stepped in and almost guided Seattle to a win. He played better than Russ that day, in fact.
Two years later, this time around, when Aaron Donald knocks out Geno Smith, Drew Lock came in and threw ridiculous hero balls deep downfield, and looked clownish doing it. No sense of down and distance, and it was so bad, Geno Smith had to enter the game at the end to give Seattle a chance to win, and gosh dang it, if Geno Smith didn’t almost pull it off like he did last week against Washington, and last month against Cleveland.
Geno Smith might not be the greatest quarterback on the planet. A lot of people want to call him mediocre, and that’s fine, if they want. I think this league is full of mediocre mid tier-ish quarterbacks, and Geno is no worse than any of them. Geno Smith is not a bad quarterback, though, and he’s not a backup, either. He’s a starter.
Drew Lock might well have proven in this game that he’s not even be a good backup. If Seattle honestly thought his upside was higher than Geno’s, he would have been made the starter last year. They do not, and he didn’t.
The people who’s mantra has been “Geno Smith has always been a backup for a reason” while clamoring for Drew Lock must be one step removed from being flat earthers. How else can their lack of logic be explained?
I got news for them. If Geno Smith had not gotten knocked out of this game midway through the second half, I think Seattle most likely would have won this game. Yes, he wasn’t perfect, and yes, there were some shitty penalties called against Seattle that benefitted LA, but I think Seattle would have overcome those, and got it together more in the fourth quarter just like they did last week.
You know why I kinda feel this way? Because that is how Seattle has been playing a lot lately with Geno Smith. He’s been a fourth quarter guy.
Drew Lock? Please. I’m honestly kinda glad this whole thing happened so everyone got a good old dose of Drew before Geno game back in to almost save the day.. yet again.
And while I am on this peppery tangent, how annoying is Shane Waldron’s play-calling still, and all these dumb procedural penalties and lack of proper execution? Who the fuck knows if Waldron was calling those down field YOLO balls for Lock when he went in, or if Lock took it upon himself to throw at guys who weren’t the primary receivers that the plays were drawn up for, but there were plenty of other times earlier where I was scratching my head when Geno was in the game.
Seattle is now ten games into their season, and they are still playing way too sloppy on offense, and this offense is still tough to figure out what they want to be. There is not nearly as much commitment to the run as there should be, and there is way too much sloppiness, and lack of awareness of down and distance at times is almost comical.
Geno takes a dumb delay of game in the red zone, doesn’t spike the ball in the final moments of the game to preserve more time for another play or two, someone isn’t lined up right another time, Will Dissly drops a ridiculously catchable ball, someone false starts, who the fuck even knows what Lock was doing. It’s nice to see the screen game actually working for once in a Pete Carroll offense, but there is still way too much slop going on.
As I watched this game unfold, it dawned on me that we never see this type of slop from a McVay coached offense, or from Shanahan’s, or even a Kevin Stefanski one. When Seattle gets blown out by the Ravens, I feel like it’s just one of those days, and I can easily move on, but when they lose a winnable game like this one, I look at the slop, and all the inconsistencies, and I just start to really wonder how much of this is on just the coaching.
I love Pete Carroll. I remain one of his biggest fans, I love that he’s a master motivator, and culture builder, but I think sloppiness kinda follows his teams a bit. This team, however, I think is especially sloppy, and particularly on offense. Shane Waldron has been a punching bag for me a lot lately, but shouldn’t it ultimately be up to the head coach to make sure things get better ironed out?
I watch the Cleveland Browns this year, and I am truly impressed with the job Kevin Stefanski is doing as their head coach. They have an extremely unsettling quarterback situation, and yet they are still finding ways to win.
I think Stefanski runs a very well defined offense that doesn’t try to out scheme you so much as they try to out execute you. I think that helps his players play better together as a unit, and it becomes more plug and play when injuries happen.
I also think he’s hired a very strong coaching staff full of quality proven coordinators. Jim Schwartz has been a quality defensive coordinator for years and was a head coach for a while. Bill Callahan has been a top offensive line coach for decades and was a former head coach. Alex Van Pelt has been a well regarded quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator.
Stefanski has surrounded himself with quality proven coaches, and he is maximizing the talent on his roster. Now, I don’t think that Cleveland is a true Super Bowl contender, but damn it if they aren’t impressing the shit out of me with the adversity that they have been fighting through.
Why hasn’t Pete Carroll done this in Seattle lately?
He plucked Waldron from the Rams, who had never coordinated before, and it was an assumption that he hired him because he was Russell Wilson’s preference after Brian Schottenhiemer was fired. I gotta be honest, though, we are two and a half years into the Waldron offense, and I think Schotty did a better job in Seattle. I think his offense had a much stronger identity, and while more predictable, played with better consistency. I think Darrel Bevell has been the best OC under Carroll.
Here’s the rub in this though. Schotty and Bevell both came into Seattle with coordinator experiences. I don’t want this piece about yet another annoying loss to the Rams be about how much Waldron sucks, but it’s kinda getting harder for me not to do this.
I know Waldron is a smart coach, but something is preventing him from taking the next step as a coordinator, and it is starting to cost Seattle games. What is it?
And why hasn’t Carroll stepped in more with demands for establishing the run more when it is clear that Waldron isn’t doing it enough?
I don’t know what this offense wants to be. I have no idea what the identity of it is. They are neither a great pass team or run team. They lack balance, and I have an overwhelming sense that the root of it is that Waldron wants them to do too much, and therefore, they master nothing.
It’s not just Waldron, either. Pete Carroll could have brought back Gus Bradley or some other experienced defensive coordinator out there a couple years ago, but he decided to promote Clint Hurtt who also had never coordinated before, and I still can’t totally tell what kind of defense it is that I am looking at.
I appreciate that Hurtt has made decent strides in his second year as DC, but they are starting to show signs of not being able to contain outside runs again, and that should be a fairly basic thing to stop, and too often linebackers look absolutely lost in coverage.
I kinda sense the chinks in the armor this defense more with each game. There are nice pieces on it right now, but I don’t know if they are being schemed the right way, and like Waldron, I fear Hurtt has them doing too much in their various looks and fronts.
On one hand, I think it’s commendable that Carroll wants to use his platform to give young coaches opportunities to advance, but on the other hand, I think it would also be awesome to see Carroll just bring in as much good experienced coaching talent as possible like Stefanski has in Cleveland. As it stands now, I look at this team, and I don’t feel as bought into these coaches as I would like to be at this juncture.
I also have this sinking feeling like the coordinators here have gotten progressively worse over the years. At some point, isn’t Carroll to blame for this?
Now before you start accusing of me trying to usher out Carroll for a Kevin Stefanki type, just know that I don’t want Pete Carroll fired. I just want this team clicking better. I need to see things cleaned up, and I think the coach should be subject to blame as much as the players, if not more in some ways.
Even if Drew Lock has to start a few games in place of Geno Smith, I just need to see better execution from those around him to make his job easier, and hopefully he can play within himself better than whatever it was he was trying to do against the Rams. I need to see players getting it, and executing it on both sides of the ball. Ten games into this season, and things should not be this sloppy still.
If this is not to be a playoff team this year, so be it. I just need to feel like this team as the right coaches in place to move forward next year. I know the quality of coaches in San Francisco and in LA with the Rams.
This game brought me back down to Earth with this team. All is not lost, and there are still a lot of games left to play to get it right, but damn it if we don’t need to see better, and better best come sooner than later with this tough stretch of games.
At least some more of us now know that Drew Lock is not the answer over Geno Smith. So, there’s that.
Something tell me that there will be still some Drew Lockers dug in, though. When someone vehemently believes the Earth is flat and science is lying to us, don’t hold your breath arguing with them. Just have a chuckle and move on.
12th Life 