The NFL now has a 17 game season. It’s stupid.

If these money grabbing owners need to make more cheddar, have two preseason games, make the season 18 games, give the teams two bye weeks, and play the damn Super Bowl in the middle of February. This Get Off My Lawn moment of mine is brought to you be Stihl; the maker of quality German engineered backpack blowers to annoy white privileged urbanites every Autumn during leaf season.

At any rate, as it stands now, it’s weird to determine what the mid point of the season is so that a middle aged blogger such as myself can issue grades out to his favorite team. I was going to do this last week, but I decided to write about why it’s dumb to bench Geno Smith right now, instead.

At any rate again, here are my grades for the 6-3 Seattle Seahawks. Read them and weep.

Quarterback: B-

Last year, at the time, I probably had Geno Smith down for an A-. He surprised everyone with his high efficiency play, and was throwing one of the very best deep balls in the game before his play fell back down to Earth more in the second half of the season. I love me some Geno Smith, but I gotta keep it real.

This season hasn’t gone nearly as well. Thus far, his touchdown numbers are down, and his interceptions are up. While I don’t believe he’s been helped by the play calling, I think he’s pressed a lot more, forced the ball into bad situations, been more skittish, and hopefully this cleaner game against Washington is a sign of better things to come.

His completion percentage is still pretty good, though, and out of three of these six wins on the season, he has guided this offense to come from behind wins against the Lions, Browns, and Commanders. In short, I think he’s doing his job good enough for this team to be solidly in playoff contention, but he can be a lot more consistent.

Running Back: B

Seattle has the potential to have an outstanding running back situation with the one two punch of Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet, but I don’t think they are taking enough advantage of what they have with these two. Finally, they got them more involved against Washington, and it paid off in a big way. This grade, in my opinion, should be a solid A, but because they haven’t been the focus enough, I can’t grade them this way, yet. Hopefully, that changes by the season’s end.

Wide Receiver: B-

Kinda like the quarterback situation, I think Seattle’s receivers have underwhelmed from where they were at this point last year. People want to trash on Geno, but I think it is up to these receivers to be more consistently on the same page with him, so I am giving them the same grade.

This is a highly talented group led by the consistently great Tyler Lockett, but I want to see better chemistry with the quarterback from others. If they can do this, they have the ceiling to be an A+ unit at the end of the season.

Jaxon Smith Njigba is starting to become more of a factor now, DK Metcalf has been calming himself down more, and Jake Bobo is a fun folk hero. So, at the very least, there are signs of this unit treading upwards. I got my fingers crossed for them.

Tight End: B-

Kinda like the running backs, I don’t think the tight ends are being used enough as they should be used. They were very active in September, but play caller Shane Waldron went away from using the multi TE looks in October, and they have since been less involved. When they are more of a focus, they are a talented group who can deliver as pass catchers and run blockers.

Offensive Line: C+

The offensive line has been pretty banged up throughout most of this season, and has seen so many different lineups that it has been tough for them to gain consistency and continuity. For far, they are gutting through it, and hopefully with promising right tackle Abe Lucas coming back, they can start rolling better during this tough second half of the season.

Defensive Line And Edge: B

Seattle lists their personnel as if they run a 3-4 defense, but I don’t think that is what they really are. I think they are mostly a modified 4-2-5 scheme that uses two defensive tackles, two stand up ends who will drop into coverage on occasion, and two off ball linebackers with three safeties on the field. Therefore, I am including their listed outside linebackers in this group with the interior defensive linemen.

Boye Mafe is the breakout star of the defensive front, breaking a franchise record for seven sacks in seven consecutive games. He is an ascending talent who have HUGE upside to his game. The edge rushers behind him are hanging in there after the season ending injury to Uchenna Nwosu. Rookie Derick Hall is strong against the run, Darrell Taylor provides a decent pass rush, and Frank Clark provides good depth.

Seattle’s DT types have played pretty solidly. Jarran Reed has been a real force at nose tackle, and Mario Edwards and Dre’Mont Jones have flashed at times. Leonard Williams as the new primary three technique played fierce against Washington, and should be a huge boost to this interior unit for the final stretch of the season.

Middle Linebacker: B-

Bobby Wagner has been outstanding versus the run, but I fear he’s becoming a bit more of a liability in coverage, although Pro Football Focus appears to love his play. Jordyn Brooks has been the more explosive player of the two. I think they are both fierce run defenders who are hanging in there in coverage.

Devin Bush has been a bit of a disappoint as a hyped up free agent signing, and I think Jon Rhattigan is just a dude. The depth of this squad has me nervous and I feel like this is an area of need heading into next offseason.

Cornerback: A

I think Seattle has one of the top cornerback situations in the league again, and they are the clear strength of the team. They are four deep in quality starters.

I think Devon Witherspoon is a superstar cornerback in the league right now, and should win Defensive Rookie Of The Year, but probably won’t because the league hates Seattle. In all my years, I have never seen a cornerback like him. He’s a mixture of Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman.

Riq Woolen is surprisingly overshadowed by Spoon, but is still a top end young corner in the league, and nobody else playing the position is built like him and has his type of world class speed. Tre Brown has provided scrappy good play as an outside corner in the nickel, and Mike Jackson is a quality depth player who probably starts somewhere else.

Safety: B

I think Seattle’s safeties are really good and are overshadowed by the corners. Jullian Love has been a really solid addition to the team, and Quandre Diggs has remained reliable enough.

Jamal Adams remains the team’s chosen X factor chess piece, playing a lot of safety, and linebacker, and even edge rusher. I think his play has been more up and down, but he is tasked to do a lot more than others. He will make splashy plays against the run, but he will also miss a tackle going for the knockout instead of slowing down to wrap up. My guess is that he is still working himself through the serious leg injury he’s coming back from. I would still take an up and down Jamal Adams on this defense, though.

Special Teams: A-

Jason Myers is a great kicker. Michael Dickson is a solid punter. I really like DeeJay Dallas returning kicks and punts now.

Coaching: B-

I am a HUGE Pete Carroll fan, and because of him, I want to grade this area higher than I have, but I can’t. I think Pete is still a tremendous leader and Seattle is lucky to have him still here, but I haven’t loved a lot of the play calling on offense this year, and this have been the big sticking point for me.

If feels like Shane Waldron really wants his three receiver passing attack to be the bread and butter of this offense with the addition of rookie Jaxon Smith Njigba to his squad. Don’t get me wrong, I love the potential of JSN, and I think he’s going to be special in this league, but with all the injuries that have occurred to the offensive line, I think tight end heavier formations along with more run plays, and play action, has probably been the better recipe for this offense with Geno Smith at quarterback. I think Geno is a much better play action QB than a straight drop back passer, and Waldron has taken that away from him for whatever reason.

I think Clint Hurtt has done a solid job modifying his defense to better fit the principles that have worked well for Seattle over the years. I think he’s steered away from some of the stuff he was trying to get do last year, and it’s been a return of tilted even front for the defense where defenders are better able to defend the A and B gaps. All this football jargon just means is that he has simplified his front seven, and has made their jobs a lot easier. Bravo.

Thoughts Moving Forward

At this point in the season, I would say that the defense is ahead of the offense, and.. well, that sorta does feel like maybe this team is, in fact, returning back to Legion Of Boom form. I wouldn’t say that this defense today is at that level yet, but I think they have the youthful upside to be close down the line, perhaps by next year.

Offensively, this team has been much more of a disappointment. Heading into the season, I expected the additions of Jaxon Smith Njigba and Zach Charbonnet to really open things up for Geno Smith.

Instead, the Seahawks have been dealing with a tattered offensive line right out of the gates, and with all the constant shuffling mixed with suspect playing calling, and inconsistent quarterback play, this entire side of the ball has been kinda just been hanging in there.

They haven’t been bad, but they haven’t been great, either. They have the talent to be great, and they are going to need to really get it together in this second half of the season when the schedule gets a lot tougher.

I would love for this team to really take it to the Rams this weekend down in LA and beat the snot out of them, but I think that’s going to be yet another tough matchup. The Rams are rested out of their bye week, and are getting Matt Stafford back. We will see how well Stafford is healed up, but Sean McVay as a head coach absolutely has Pete Carroll’s number. So, Seattle is going to have to play very disciplined ball to get this W. I think they can, but it’s up to them.

I think this is how the second half will go. Seattle is far enough into their season where the expectation is for them to be more disciplined and consistent.

Geno Smith needs to be a good distributor and not get caught up in hero ball. Jamal Adams needs to go for the proper tackle and not the knock out blow. DK Metcalf needs to keep his cool while maintaining his physical edge. The defense cannot afford to blow coverages much.

If this team stays fierce on defense, and plays more consistent on offense, they should be able to get through the remaining schedule and earn double digit wins, if they stay healthy enough. Pro Football Focus projects them to have a 83% chance at the playoffs with these tough remaining games.

In short, despite the inconsistencies on offense, this team is pretty much where we want them to be. Of their six wins on the season, I think they beat three quality opponents in Detroit, Cleveland, and Washington, and they took care of business against three other lesser opponents.

The Seattle Seahawks have the fifth youngest roster in the league and out of the five youngest teams, they are the only ones with a winning record. I think we should be pretty damn excited about that as fans, but way too many folks seems dead set on trashing on Geno Smith. That’s a shame, in my view.

Therefore, what I am really rooting for is for Geno to flip the narrative about him in this second half of the season. There’s a lot of anticipation from the fans that Seattle could be drafting a quarterback next Spring to be the future starter, and that could prove true.

Having said that, though, I think Geno Smith controls the narrative here. If we see more consistently good Geno during this final stretch when the games get tougher, and he leads us to the playoffs again, I think he more than earns the right to be QB1 again next year, even if they take a QB high in the draft.

My prediction for this team is that they finish this season at 10-7, and they are a wildcard playoff birth. Of these remaining games, I think it’s likely that they beat an opponent that few are expecting them to beat, and they drop a game that many will probably think that they should have won because that is just the nature of NFL football.

I think we do see more consistent and better play out of Geno Smith and the offense. The team is getting right tackle Abe Lucas back soon and I think that’s going to be a boost for the unit. I think we see start to see better play calling from Shane Waldron, and I like what he’s starting to do with the screens to JSN and getting the quick passes going.

I think it’s possible that we could see the defense taper off a bit, and that is just because of the daunting matchups that they will face against the explosive offenses of 49ers, Dallas, and Philly. I think the loss of Uchenna Nwosu is significant and maybe preventative of this side of the ball from truly reaching elite status this year, but we will see.

I don’t see this team going far into the playoffs. Not unless they really start to whoop up on some really quality in late November and in through December.

I think it’s fine if their post season is short lived again. I know a lot of other fans won’t like that, but I’m going to be more patient with these young cats. It is more important for me that they build this young new nucleus right, and in that, they take whatever lumps come their way so that they feel it together and learn together.

The Legion of Boom did not happen over night, or even through the course of a season, or two. It was a three year process for them to grow into what they became. I think it’s reasonable to be patient with this franchise to expect a similar three year process of building back up to a true contender again post Russell Wilson.

And if by chance the wheels come off this cart during this final stretch, if injuries to key players mount, and they miss the playoffs, well, that just means higher picks in next year’s draft to further fortify this rebuild. In that sense, I see little scenarios where Seattle isn’t winning out in the bigger picture.

I think the future is bright for this club, either way.

Go Hawks.

I woke up Sunday morning with perfect clarity in anticipation of the game between the Seattle Seahawks and Washington Commanders. I wanted the Seahawks to win, and I wanted Geno Smith to have a really good bounce back game.

Washington, I feared was going to be tougher than many the casual fan would anticipate. They hung tight with Philadelphia, and it felt like they were on a bit of a roll, but these were my two big asks for the day; a Seahawks win, and Geno playing well. I am happy to write that I got them both.

Fans are kinda funny, and handle wins and losses differently. After all, we are all our own individuals, and we each handle failure and success in different ways.

For myself, I just want the job to get done, and I don’t need style points on how to accomplish the task at hand. During the Seahawks road to the Super Bowl in 2013, the Seahawks won a number of games ugly, and I was good with it. “Just get the W” is sorta my mantra.

So, when Seattle sputtered a bit, offensively, in the first half of this game, I had this feeling like they were going to get it together more in the second half. I saw receivers coming open in coverage where the passes from Geno looked off, but also maybe the receivers didn’t adjust their patterns the way he was anticipating. Seattle runs an offense that is a bit more dependent on timing, and receivers making adjustments to coverages. To the naked eye of the casual fan, it can look like the quarterback made a bad throw, but in reality, it was up to the receiver to break to that spot.

This is what I think many inside the anti Geno Smith portion of the Seahawk fanbase don’t understand. For them, Geno Smith has next to no margin of error, either.

In this game, he threw for a career best 369 yards, 2 touchdowns, no picks, and he completed over 65% of his passes. That is a good day for any NFL quarterback, and on the team’s social media post, I commented that is was a superb bounce back game for Geno. Here is how one gentleman chose to respond this Geno Smith affirming comment of mine.

“.. are you high or drunk? Both? Nice stats maybe, but that doesn’t tell the truth of how he played. He’s a terrible QB and if you think he gives this team a chance to win against the 49ers or any team vying for a championship, this team will have a repeat of last weekends game. He was s backup for a decade for a reason. We are seeing why. But hey, he didn’t have a turnover today.”

So, first off; no, I was not high or drunk. I actually haven’t had a drop of alcohol since 2010, thank you very much.

Secondly, those are actually pretty darn good stats.

Thirdly, this guy’s typos are every bit as bad as mine.

Lastly, wow. I don’t know the mental or emotional state of this dude, but I hope he’s not the type to backhand a young child across the face for spilling milk at the breakfast table because the vitriol he chose to go after me and dump on Geno Smith makes him come across as a total dickhead in life.

But this is the type of vitriol that I think Geno Smith kinda has to deal with as QB1 of the Seattle Seahawks with a loud, angry minority portion of the Seahawks fanbase on social media, online team fan-pages, forums, and on sports radio. For them, I think it pains them to pay him any sort of compliment, and when someone else does it, they must be a moron. They want to over inflate any mistake he makes, and deemphasize anything positive he does. He cannot possibly be the long term starter for Seattle. That guy is either Drew Lock (?!), or someone playing in college right now.

Geno Smith may or may not be a long term answer at quarterback for the Seahawks. I am not here to say that he is, or isn’t. I’m here to say that he is the guy they have now, so why beat him down?

He’s not a terrible quarterback. I think he’s a decent mid tier starting quarterback in the league, a solid Alex Smith, if you will. He’s a quarterback who guided Seattle to the playoffs last year, and was voted into the Pro Bowl by his peers in the league who probably know a lot more about quarterback play than some angry dude who needed to come at me on the internet.

Presently, Geno Smith has quarterbacked Seattle to a 6-3 record, and has led them to two come from behind victories in the past month. Excuse me, if I choose to have his back as the starting quarterback of my favorite team, and decide to heap some positive praise on the fella whenever he does good.

On the whole, I think Geno played pretty well in this one. He was clutch when they needed him to be, he didn’t turn the ball over, he threw the ball away when he needed to do it, and he was generally pretty accurate when the timing was right with his receivers. He managed the game as Pete Carroll would have him, and Pete said as much as that in his post game presser.

The only blemish on his day was the intentional grounding penalty he took towards the end of the first half that took a field goal opportunity away from the team to potentially put them in the lead. Outside of that mishap, I thought he delivered the game I wanted to see from him. Bravo.

The other offensive guy much maligned by fans who had himself a big game was DK Metcalf. When this team desperately needed someone at the end to come up with big time catches, it was this guy.

DK Metcalf is a force of nature. There are not a lot of living breathing human beings on the planet built like this guy playing wide receiver in the NFL. His catch and run at the end of the game, barreling over defenders was one of the most beastmode things I have seen out of a Seattle Seahawk player since Beastmode himself circa 2014. Seattle had mere seconds left on the clock at the midpoint of the field, no timeouts left, and they needed someone to haul in a pass and get it close to the thirty yard line for a chance at a game winning field goal. DK caught the pass at around the Washington 37 yard line, and barreled people over for superhuman YAC to the Washington 23 yard line for a much easier game winning kick by Jason Myers. Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith Njigba, as good as they are, do not make this play.

If it wasn’t for Geno Smith, who some fans need to trash on, and DK Metcalf, who some fans want to deal away, the Seattle Seahawks probably do not win this game against the Commanders. Sam Howell started finding success against the Seahawks defense late, and with that, Washington felt like the team with the momentum to win. In many ways, as I watched in the stands, it felt like it was going to go down like that annoying game against the Raiders last year when Seattle blew a lead late, and gave the game up in overtime. Geno Smith and DK said “fuck that” though, and took this game over at the end for the win.

In the spirit of Bill Maher, I have two new rules I would like to put forth to Seahawk fans. One is to stop talking about benching Geno Smith for Drew Lock, and the other is to stop the trade DK Metcalf rubbish. The Seahawks have a decent starting quarterback, and they have a freak of nature receiver. Teams do not bench decent quarterbacks when they have a winning record, and good teams generally don’t trade away rare offensive weapons and get better. How is that trading away of AJ Brown working out for the Tennessee Titans these days?

Onto other great bright spots in this game.

Seattle has two super cool young running backs, and Shane Waldron chose to finally get them both involved more than in recent weeks, and I think that paid off pretty well. K9 had the flashiest play of the day with a big time NFL catch and touchdown run for 64 yards, and Zach Charbonnet provided explosive inside running for 44 yards and a 7.3 yard average. Getting these two more involved makes life easier for Geno, so keep doing this Shane Waldron.

Boye Mafe collected another sack and now has set a franchise record for seven sacks in seven consecutive games. Much of the fanfare around this defense is directed towards rookie corner Devon Witherspoon and rightly so, but Mafe looks like he’s on the verge of stardom. This is a huge deal for the future of this franchise of this proves the case.

Speaking of Spoon, the dude was a playmaking machine in the secondary against Washington. He kept Terry McLaurin fairly quiet, had multiple passes defensed, created pressures on blitzes and forced a fumble. Spoon plays football like Adam Sandler’s Water Boy character. He’s a 6-0 180 pound holy terror on the football field, and he’s just getting started. I’ve never seen a cornerback like him, and I find that the so damn exciting.

It was also cool to see newly acquired Leonard Big Cat Williams get his first sack as a Seahawk. It was also really cool to see Dre’Mont Jones get a sack, as well. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love it when defensive tackles get sacks. It just makes my heart go pitter patter extra.

Also, also, Jason Myers is a football kicking Jesse!

What I didn’t love seeing was the long gains up the sidelines that the Seahawk defense gave up to Brian Robinson catching in the flats. Whatever the defense was doing on those plays, don’t have them do it again, Clint Hurtt! Fix this issue!

How good are these Seattle Seahawks for real, though? Is this the question you are asking?

I think they are a really promising young team. I think they have a lot of young talent who are showing signs of being really quality players in this league, and that is exciting. I don’t think they are built up like San Francisco is, or Philly, or Baltimore, or even Dallas. Those are strong veteran teams with great players in their primes. I think Seattle is probably another year or two away from that, if all continues to trend well through draft and development.

The agro keyboard warrior who responded to me about Geno pointed out his grave doubts about how Seattle (with Geno) will match up against some of these teams on the remainder of the season. I think the truth is, if you put Brock Purdy or Dak Prescott on this Seahawk team, they would probably still be sitting at 6-3 today, and folks would be saying how Seattle doesn’t have a great quarterback situation, and the schedule looks daunting. If think if you put Geno on the 49ers squad, they would still be torching through the league.

But I am more patient about these Seahawks than some others. That is how I deal as a fan. I am seeing young promising talent develop, and that is a good thing for me. I see Geno doing enough of what he needs to do to run this offense right enough for them to win games, and I am good with that.

Before the season started, I saw a potential 10-7 team. I still see them as such. Of the eight remaining games they have left, I feel like they have a really good shot at getting four more wins, and if all break well for them, maybe more Ws.

I don’t care how those wins happen, either. I don’t need style points. Finding ways to win is how to develop a strong winning mindset for a promising young collective. That’s what is more important to me at this stage of the team’s post Russell Wilson rebuild. Anything more would be bonus.

Win or lose, though, I am here for them, either way.

I got your back, Geno Smith. You, too, DK.

Go Hawks.

The Seattle Seahawks are 5-3, and they are tied with San Francisco for first place in the NFC West. At the start of the season, if someone from the future were to have said to you that they would be in this position by early November, would you have gladly taken that news well?

I would have received it with joy. I’m going to guess that a lot of Seahawk fans would have, too.

Funny what a beat down on the road will do to a lotta fans, though. It’s annoying to write my thoughts about this subject matter, but since this debacle of a game in Baltimore, every time I turn on sports radio, or glance through Twitter X, I seem to be hearing and seeing a whole lotta whether or not the Seattle Seahawks should bench Geno Smith right now. So, here I am, again, writing my thoughts about why the Seahawks should not do this.

Geno Smith has had a rough four game stretch where he has turned the ball over eight times. The Seahawks have just played the top two NFL defenses in back to back weeks, and the Bengals defense isn’t any slouch either. Geno struggled against the Bengals, Browns, and had a really rough game against Baltimore, and yet he played fairly good against the Cardinals. The Seahawks are 2-2 in this stretch.

I don’t think Geno Smith has been helped by the play calling of Shane Waldron over this month, and I have been pretty outward about my thoughts on that. Waldron has shifted away from a lot of the multiple tight end looks and play action plays that were very successful in September. Why he has done this, I do not know. If I were to guess, I would suspect that those formations and plays have come at the expensive of getting Jaxon Smith Njigba more involved in the offense as its slot receiver.

On top of that, there has been a sharp imbalance between the run and pass. The other week against Cleveland the team ran 18 times to 37 passes. Against Baltimore, they ran 15 times to 28 passes. With no real commitment to the ground game, and a sharp deviation away from what was working well during the first month of the season, this whole entire offense lacks an identity.

Therefore, what I suspect we see Seattle attempting to do over the next few games is to correct course with Geno Smith. Pete Carroll has already started sounding the bell about getting the run game going more, and doing things as coaches to further help Geno out. I think the plan moving forward is to do everything they can to get Geno playing better, and more confidently. I think in those plans could be a return to things that worked really well for him, getting the tight ends more involved, getting the ground game going to build play action off of, and having better check down options available.

Benching Geno Smith now before giving him a chance to work himself out of this rut with more supportive play calling, when this team is tied for first place in the division, would be a potentially devastating move impacting the chemistry and culture of this team. He is a beloved member of the locker room, and he is a team captain.

If Carroll were to be the hard ass coach that some of the more toxic members of the Seahawks fanbase would like him to be, and bench Geno now, right in front of two winnable games, for Drew Lock, and if Drew Lock were to play not as good as Geno, and Seattle were to lose both of those games, you can bet every last dollar in your savings accounts that his coaching decision would set a gasoline fire to his locker room culture. No way could he be able to look his players in the eye with his “always compete and win forever” messaging, and be taken seriously. No sensible head coach would risk doing that, and the ones that would generally find themselves fired at the end of the season.

I get why some fans remain more intrigued by Drew Lock, too. He’s younger that Geno Smith, and he’s more athletic. His launch points would probably be more extended in roll outs, and he can probably make some fun plays with his legs. Here’s the reality, though, if the Seattle coaches and players felt that Drew Lock would give Seattle a better chance to win over Geno Smith, Drew Lock would be the starter. They don’t, so he isn’t. It is as simple as that.

While we are on that subject of Lock, let’s be real about what Seattle’s likely plans are for their long term solution to the quarterback situation. Drew Lock was probably brought back to get a further look at how he is picking up the system, but there is a DEEP quarterback class laying ahead in the 2024 draft.

Seattle probably opted not to draft Will Levis this past Spring because they know what lies ahead. There could be as many as ten quarterbacks taken within the first two rounds of next year’s draft, and that is not an exaggeration. It is very possible that Seattle sent their second round pick to the Giants for Leonard Williams knowing that it isn’t necessarily going to harm their chances of drafting a young passer that they really like.

So when I look at these quarterbacks in college and I see Drew Lock, I just see a much greater likelihood that there is going to be some young cat on a rookie contract next year that folks are excited about than I see Drew being any sort of real heir apparent to Geno Smith. I think the only way Drew Lock really becomes The Guy moving forward is if Geno Smith doesn’t play better with adjusted play calling, they lose the next handful of games, and then they decide to run with Drew just to see what’s there, and he miraculously balls out in the final month of December. Either that, or Geno gets knocked out for the season, and Drew comes in under that scenario and balls out, as well, but I’m not going to hold my breath waiting for either scenario to occur.

So my advice to you, if you are a Twelve clamoring for Drew Lock is to do the same as I, and do not hold your breath. Breathe, and see how Geno Smith responds over these next few games with better play calling, and maybe getting Abe Lucas back finally at right tackle. If Geno Smith stinks it up under those circumstances, then we can have a more proper discussing of seeing with Drew can do.

Until then, just breathe.

Go Hawks.

I had a weird feeling Sunday morning that defied a whole lotta logic. I woke up feeling the Seattle Seahawks were going to pull out a victory in Baltimore against maybe the hottest team (and player) in football right now.

I don’t know why. They narrowly beat the Cleveland Browns at home who were starting a backup quarterback, and Geno Smith has been a turnover machine recently.

I just felt that on that Sunday, Seattle was going to shine on the road. I thought Geno was going to play a clean game, and they would get the run game going, and the defense was going to hold Lamar Jackson in check with all their flashy playmakers.

Holy fuck balls was I ever wrong. It’s probably all the cough syrup I’ve become dependent on lately mixed with daylight savings time, and three quarters of a pot of coffee downed by 8:30.

Well, shit. The Seahawks got slaughtered on the road by a Ravens team that could be the best team currently in the AFC. What can I say? Sometimes, shit goes South in a hurry.

This was not the game for Shane Waldron to call 14 runs to 28 passes, and of those pass plays, most of them were direct drop backs against perhaps the best pass rushing team in all of football. No creativity with those drop backs, either, might I add.

This was not the game for Geno to force yet another pass to be double coverage for an interception, and cough up yet another fumble. Eight turnovers now over the last four games is almost certainly going to make fans cry out for Drew Lock.

This was not a game for players like Jamal Adams, Jordyn Brooks, Bobby Wagner, and Quandre Diggs and others to miss tackles against a fantastic rushing attack. It is tough to criticize this defense when the offense decided not show up, but stellar is something these tacklers were not.

It would have been nice to see Waldron stay a bit more stubborn with the run and to get play action going off of it, but instead, he would call a run play that would earn positive yards, and then go directly into an empty backfield. Am I the only person who sees the lack of logic with that?

Geno Smith has been one of the best play action quarterbacks in the league for a while, and yet Waldron seems intent on going away from that. I would love to know what his strategy is.

Also, where are all the multiple heavy tight end looks that were working well in September against teams like the Lions, Panthers, and Giants? Has Seattle shifted away from all of this just to get Jaxon Smith Njigba more involved? If so, please shift the F back to it.

Look, I know I am about to come across as a Geno Smith apologist after he struggled in this game, but I just don’t see how he’s being helped out by the play calling right now. Geno’s strengths, in my mind, are centered around the tools he has to be a good play action passer. Get the defense thinking about the run, then beat them with the play fake passes just as Geno did when he hit DK Metcalf on that beautiful deep crosser against the Ravens vaunted secondary. Why are there not more of these plays being drawn up?!

How much longer is Pete Carroll going to allow this drop back pass happiness to continue?

That’s the question for me. That’s the issue that I think they need to resolve in order to make this season a special one.

As it stands right now, this offense lacks any sort of identity. They are neither a great passing team or a great running team. For me, I think the path is clearer for them to be a great running offense. This should be their identity.

They have two dynamic young runners in K9 and Zach Charbonnet, and they aren’t being used nearly enough. Why the fuck would you spend high second round picks on both of these guys if they are not more of the focus on offense? It makes no sense, and Payton Manning is not something that Geno Smith frankly is.

For the first time since Geno Smith was made the starter over a year ago, I thought he should be pulled out of the game, and it had nothing to do with believing Drew Lock would have likely done anything better. I thought pulling him would have been a mercy move once the game was clearly out of reach.

Fans, of course, are going to blow this game way out of proportion. I already see the agro tweeters out there calling the Seahawks frauds, and saying that Geno should be benched, Carroll doesn’t know what he’s doing, etc.

I get it. It isn’t fun watching your favorite team getting its ass kicked on all levels like that. People need to deal with disappointment however they choose so long as no family members and loved ones are harmed in the process. Taking to Twitter X and calling the Seahawks frauds and calling for Drew Lock is perfectly acceptable after a game like this.

Seattle got their butts kicked on all levels, end of story. They were vastly outplayed, and vastly out coached, but this is nowhere near the end to their season. It is well within the Seahawks to correct course and turn this ship around, and it can start this week at home against the Washington Commanders.

The Commanders aren’t going to come into Lumen Field and lay down for the Seahawks. They can be a dangerous team, and got a good win against the Patriots. That said, this should be a great opportunity for Seattle to have a get right game at home.

Let us remember, for as bad as this beating was, the Ravens did the same exact thing to the very good Detroit Lions a couple weeks back. They are talented enough and schemed well enough to do that to probably many good teams out there.

So, for the Seahawks, I think maybe just maybe this is the ass kicking what they needed, and the Commanders are the right kinda team for them to face to get things right. They need to be very honest with themselves this week, though, about what they want to be.

They just traded a second round pick for a big defensive tackle in Leonard Williams to fortify their playoff push. Now is not the time to fuck around on offense through the remaining portions of a tough schedule.

What type of team do these Seahawks want to be? Do they want to further be a pass happy attack with all the fancy wide receiver weapons, or do they want to be a physical running team that uses those weapons as complimentary pieces with play action?

They have the defense built up enough now that if they just went back to a more balanced attack, used those multiple tight end looks more, they can still be a dangerous factor for the remainder of the season. They are tied for first place in their division.

Time to get it straightened out. Be honest about what Geno Smith does best, and put him in the best positions to do that.

Play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Claim your identity and then own it. Do it.

Run the fucking ball!

Go Hawks.

I gotta be honest. I didn’t foresee the Seahawks making a big move before the NFL trade deadline. In fact, I didn’t really want them to.

For me, I have been singularly focused on this team continuing to build through the draft, and I wanted them to have a bunch of picks to select from next Spring. Specifically, I would love to see them add more to the offensive line, maybe add more at linebacker, defensive tackle, tight end, and definitely be in the market for drafting and developing a young quarterback.

When the team signed Frank Clark last week to replace the injured Uchenna Nwosu, I thought that was going to be the final piece for this defense. Apparently, I was grossly mistaken.

Pete Carroll isn’t in the mood to be fucking around with a methodical rebuild anymore. He wants this team competing for the division right now. That’s what this splash trade with the New York Giants for Leonard Williams means to me; a big ol’ war daddy DT affectionately known as The Big Cat.

With injuries and losses mounting for the San Francisco 49ers, and injuries and losses mounting for the Los Angeles Rams, Pete Carroll is an old tiger shark smelling blood in the waters of the NFC West. His defense is already looking pretty good these days, but adding Leonard Williams up front gives it a chance to be elite this year, if not wholly terrifying to opponents.

In Carroll’s own words, Big Cat is described as a classic three technique defensive tackle who is talented enough to play multiple positions on the defensive line, and is a player he has been monitoring for a long time. At 6-5 and 300 pounds, he as the length, strength, and athleticism to make life very difficult for pass blocking offensive linemen. He is one of the best interior pass rushers in the league, and he’s a big ol’ bad ass against the run, as well.

Adding Williams makes Seattle’s defensive line rotation significantly better, and it was already playing pretty decent with Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, and Mario Edwards. Now, Seattle has four quality veterans to rotate in with. I have been waiting for this sort of defensive line rotation to happen in Seattle for years, and it appears to be here now (I almost crapped myself with excitement writing that).

Seattle can now do pretty much whatever they choose to do with their defensive front. They can further feature the 3-4, if they want, and they can also shift back into Carroll’s big bodied 4-3 whenever they so choose. All four of those defensive tackles can play multiple positions. This is a huge benefit to the linebackers and edge rushers on this team.

I firmly believe that with Seattle making this move, Boye Mafe is probably going to get 15 or more sacks this season, if he stays healthy. He has been flirting with that trajectory prior to this trade, but I think Williams is going to solidify that likelihood. I think others on going to feast on this defense to because of The Big Cat, too.

The only downside to this trade is that Seattle gave up a second round pick in 2024 and a fifth round pick in 2025, and Williams is set to be a free agent after this season. That is a ton to give up for a ten game rental player, but I suspect that Seattle is fully intending to work out a long term deal with him.

Given the fact that he has played with both Julian Love and Jamal Adams on both New York teams, it’s reasonable to suspect that Seattle has pretty good intel on him, and I doubt they make this move if they don’t feel they have a pretty strong chance at keeping him around for the longer haul. If I am to guess anything, I think they have a good idea about Big Cat’s character, and they believe he will a great addition for years to come.

If he is signed to a three or four year deal, this trade will be a bargain. Williams is a rare game wrecking DT in his prime, and you aren’t likely going to find a player like him at the bottom of round two. Pete Carroll has never had a three technique of his caliber in Seattle before, and his long term addition would allow Jarran Reed to stay at the nose tackle position, and allow Dre’Mont Jones to further play on the edges as a five technique defensive end.

If he isn’t signed to an extension, however, and he walks after the season, the best that Seattle can hope for is probably a fourth round comp pick in the 2025 draft. That’s the risk this team is willing to take, and even with that, I think there is something exciting about that risk.

The bottom line is that these 2023 Seahawks are not content with competing for a playoff birth. They want to win the division this year, and host playoff games at Lumen Field. That is what this move means. They are going for it.

For this, I applaud the Seahawks. I don’t think they necessarily needed to add another defensive tackle, but if they feel like they are close to really kicking major ass this year, and a really good one is on the market, then I totally get it.

They did just that. Bravo. This is exciting stuff!

Onto Baltimore.

Go Hawks.

I decided days ago that nothing was going to rain on my parade when I got to Lumen Field to watch the Seattle Seahawks take on an intimidating Cleveland Browns team. Rain or shine, win or lose, it was going to be a special day.

The Seattle Seahawks used to wear the best uniforms in the Nation Football League.

Nope! Strike that. The best football uniforms on Planet Earth.

From 1983 to 2001, the Seahawks donned a bitchin’ sweet silver helmet, silver green and blue pants, and a sweet ass blue and green jersey, and the rest of the league looked like professional bugger eaters next to them. Sure, the 49ers and Broncos might have been way better teams, but their uni’s sucked donkey nuggets.

I understood why the team changed up the look in 2001. Paul Allen had now owned the team and built a brand new stadium. The nineties Seahawks had a stigma. They were run into the ground by a horrendous previous owner, and they were almost moved to Los Angeles. Allen stepped in, and bought the team with a promise by local leaders that a new stadium would be built.

I think Allen wanted to turn the page from the Ken Behring years as much as he could. A new stadium, along with a new look for the team felt completely understandable. The thing of it was, though, the Seattle Seahawks in the 1980’s, when the Nordstrom family owned them, were a lot of fucking fun, and this region loved them passionately,

As a young teen in 1983, I fell in love with them when Dave Krieg took over at quarterback for Jim Zorn, and guided them to the AFC Championship Game. I have been hooked on them ever since.

And I have been waiting for years to see them back in the uniforms that I loved watching every Sunday as a teen and then as a young adult. The Cleveland Browns could have come into Seattle and boat raced them, and I would have enjoyed seeing the team in those magnificent colors again.

Fortunately, that did not happen. Nay, the Seahawks managed to prevail during this long awaited day. It wasn’t easy, and I think they made it harder on themselves than necessary, but at the end, they made more of the better plays, and Cleveland did not.

I suspect much is going to be made about Geno Smith on local sports radio and on that X thing formerly known as Twitter. Many people on knee deep stuck in their priors about him, and are pining for his replacement. I am not one of them, but in my view, even I would say Geno had a sporadic day.

During the first few offensive series, I thought he looked great, and he eventually had a beautiful roll out touchdown pass to Tyler Lockett. He also threw an interception close to the red zone that prevented Seattle from scoring more right before the half, and then tossed another pick later in the game. Additionally, he threw another ball that could have easily been a pick six had the Cleveland DB held onto the pass.

The picks weren’t even the most concerning thing for me. From my nose bleeder vantage, I saw him give up on receivers who looked open a few times, and he was weirdly off on his accuracy at other times.

I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he was facing a top defense against the pass, and maybe that was leading to some erratic decisions and accuracy issues, but I will also say the a $30 plus million dollar a year quarterback needs to play better. I will also further say that when the defense came up with a HUGE in the final minutes to get an interception off of JAMAL ADAMS’ HEAD, and got the ball back for the offense, I felt that Geno Smith was going to guide this offense for the go ahead score, and guess what?

Geno Smith marvelously guided Seattle for the go ahead score with some sweet ass passes.

So, you can criticize him all you want to about playing poorly during portions of the game, but you have to also praise him for how he finished it off. He engineered a come from behind win in the closing seconds that was capped by a fun screen pass score by Jaxon Smith Ngijba led by a fantastic block by DK Metcalf. Bravo.

Also bravos go out to the Seahawks continuing to win with young player stepping up. JSN had 3 catches for 36 yards and a score. Jake Bobo had two grabs for 23 yards, and a fun rushing score early in the game to further solidify his cult hero status. Boye Mafe got another sweet as sugar pie sack in the game making it five sacks in five games in a row for him now, and cornerbacks Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon, and Tre Brown all had solid games.

The young corners are playing so well together with the safeties now, you have to wonder where quarterbacks are apt to go to with the ball. This bodes really well for this defense moving forward. Cleveland is a really good team, I think, and Seattle’s defense made it hard on them even though they allowed themselves to get burned by the screen pass a few times.

The icing on the cake for the youngster participants in this contest, however, was the running back tandem of Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet. K9 had 8 carries for 66 yards, and Zach had 5 carries for 53 yards, and caught a couple nice passes. For as loaded up as this offense is at receiver and tight end, it’s the backs who really get my juices flowing when the get going. With these two guys, I think Seattle has the potential to have the best backfield in the league in a short amount of time.

Their production on the ground begs the question, yet again, why offensive coordinator Shane Waldron did not dial up more play action for Geno Smith? It seemed like the vast majority of his 37 pass attempts were off of straight drop backs. This has kind of become an odd trend, lately, considering how well Geno had been playing off of play action earlier in the season. With these two backs, and Geno being pretty good at it, you would think play action would be more of the focus of the attack.

But like I said, nothing was going to rain on my Seahawk parade in this one. It was beyond fantastic to be at the stadium for this game. It was great to see the team play in those fabulous old colors, it was fun listening to all the nineties and eighties music that filled the air, and the crowd was electric.

There was an air about the place that felt like the high points of Seahawk football in the old Kingdome. It was loud, and proud. The whole place went holy bat shit when that pass bounced off of Jamal Adams’ glorious silver helmet, and into the loving mitts of Julian Love. I knew then and there that we were going to score and win the game.

It just had that old special Kingdome feeling.

I’m so glad that I was there for this game. It wasn’t the prettiest win, but it was a very Seattle Seahawk-y win.

I won’t lie. I also want to see this team return to these uniforms permanently. Enough time has gone by from the sad sack Ken Behring ownership days. As this young team moves further away from the historic Legion Of Boom Seahawk team, let them have their own look. I suspect many of these young guys would love to make this uniform look regular.

And why wouldn’t they? They looked great in them!

After all, it’s the dopest look in the league and it isn’t close. See, I’m a Gen X’er who uses the term dope. That’s bitchin’ rad.

Go Hawks!

I love what Pete Carroll and Clint Hurtt are brewing up with this new Seahawks defense. It’s way different than what they ran last year. It’s faster, they attack the gaps harder, and it feels more multiple as it ebbs and flows between 3-4 and 4-3 variations.

On early downs, you might see something that resembles a 5-2 look with three big bodied men inside, and two book end linebacker/end types at the line of scrimmage (shades of the 3-4). More often, you see a nickel defense with a nose tackle and defensive tackle controlling the A and B gaps inside and two ends (shades of the old LOB 4-2-5 defensive front).

Sometimes you get variations of the 4-2-5 nickel where either both the ends are standing up, both have their hands in the dirt, or one is in a standup posture while the other guy is in the three point stance. Constantly out of this front, you see all kinds of designed twists and stunts and blitzes happen, and almost every guy on the defensive line seemingly has multiple roles that they are capable of playing.

Dre’Mont Jones is a great example of this. He listed as a defensive end, but he can be seen making plays in the backfield firing out of the nose tackle position lined up between guard and center. He can also do standup stuff like a rush linebacker. Functionally, he’s as close to a thing as Michael Bennett that Seattle has had since, well.. Michael Bennett.

The reason why these guys have so much thrown at them is that Clint Hurtt wants to attack the offensive line as much as possible, and the way he is coaching these guys up is to know and understand multiple positions, and be able to play them at a high enough level whenever called upon. He wants confusion to occur with the blockers. He wants to send blitzes and stunts, and he doesn’t want to stay in the same looks over and over again while doing it.

This is a very different scheme than last year when Hurtt had the defensive line trying to read in and react in a very predictable and passive way. That may have been more of the Vic Fangio thing he was trying to install, but it wasn’t working, and it was a really difficult thing to watch on Sundays.

This new thing? It feels like Carroll’s old defense if it had melded into more 3-4 stuff than they did back in the day.

In fact, you could say Uchenna Nwosu has often been playing the Cliff Avril rush end role, and also playing the Bruce Irvin like SAM linebacker. Paired with Boye Mafe as the other hybrid linebacker/end, Nwosu has seemed like an essential player who Seattle could ill afford to lose.

So when news broke Monday that his season was over with a pectoral injury, my first thought was “oh, shitters.”

Then, after I collected myself, I thought about Frank Clark a lot, and I was like “pretty, please go get him.”

Needless to say, I dig this return of Clark to Seattle. I’m not expecting him to be a star player again, and I don’t think I need him to be that. What I think he can be is an important, steady, veteran piece to this versatile defensive scheme.

For one, even if he’s not the same sack master that he once was, he will set a strong enough edge against the run whenever he’s on the field. If Seattle pairs him with Boye Mafe on run downs, I will feel confident about this defense continuing to be a top ten unit against the run.

Boye Mafe is an ascending talent on this defensive line, and may very well be on his way to becoming Seattle’s next star player there, but he needs a mate on run downs. I don’t think Darrell Taylor is steady enough against the run, and I feared Seattle trying to pair him with Mafe as soon as news broke about Nwosu’s injury. Rookie Derick Hall is an interesting player, but is still probably pretty raw. Frank Clark, however, has all kinds of seasoning.

He’s savvy, aggressive, strong, and mean. He can play linebacker, end, and he’s big enough to slide inside, if needed.

He will bring an attitude for others to play off of, and he also has great chemistry with the resurgent Jarran Reed. Whatever is needed to keep the steady rotation going, and to give offensive linemen more to think about, I think Clark is capable of providing.

Darrell Taylor is a perfectly fine player to have as a rush end on obvious pass rush downs, and should probably stay at that spot. Let him excel at getting sacks. Just let Frank be the one mostly setting the edge against the runners.

The player who might be the biggest beneficiary to Frank’s presence could actually be Derick Hall, in my mind. He’s built very similarly to Clark, and has a similar violent style about him. Frank Clark is exactly who I thought of when Seattle drafted him last Spring. Now, he gets to learn from him.

Perhaps the biggest reason why I love this move is that it didn’t involve any sort of splashy trade for a big named player on another team. I didn’t want to see Seattle trade DK Metcalf for Brian Burns, or send a high round pick to Washington for Chase Young.

I need to see Seattle stay firmly intrenched in a draft and develop mode of operation for a while longer. I need to see this team hit on one more draft class in 2024 to finish out this rebuild post Russell Wilson. Now is not the time to trade high picks away for other teams’ players. Now is the time to develop Boye Mafe and Derick Hall into stars, and draft one more kick ass group next year to finish this out correctly.

This team has spent two high second round picks on edge rushers in back to back years, so develop them. Bringing in Chase Young and paying him a boat load of money is practically giving up on the guys you just drafted.

Adding Frank Clark, however, is adding a veteran player good enough to play a factor in the rotation, who has a history here with Hurtt and Carroll, and a chemistry with Bobby Wagner and Reed, and he is not going to hinder what they just invested high picks in. When you factor that he didn’t cost any draft pick vital to fully building up this team right, while it might not be the sexiest move to make, it feels the smart move.

And let’s be honest about another thing.

Frank Clark is a bit of a wacky pit bull, right? Like, he might not be the guy you want to sneak up on in an alleyway after dark.

Well, the team just brought this pit bull back into the fold of pit bulls that include Jarran Reed, Devon Witherspoon, Jamal Adams, and Jordyn Brooks. That is a whole lotta nasty dawg on the field together. These are players perfectly willing to do a fella ugly whenever they got the ball in their hands.

Something tells me this could become a whole lotta something fun down the stretch when the schedule gets tougher. Frank Clark may not be the same player he was when he last played here in 2018, but you can’t discount just how tough and fiesty that dude probably still is.

Nah, I like this move a lot. I want to see this defense turn into something nasty and fearsome again.

When Carroll broke up the LOB by cutting Richard Sherman, and trading away Michael Bennett, he has spent years trying to recapture the essence of what those guys brought to the field along with Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas, and others. Now, it feels like it’s finally coming back. Frank Clark was there with them, and so was Bobby, and Jarran.

Welcome home, Frank Clark. I’m glad you’re back.

Go Hawks!

There are many ways one can take the Seahawks handling the Arizona Cardinals at home in a 20-10 win. Coming after a disappointing loss in Cincinnati, you can think of it as a nice bounce back game playing without their superstar receiver. You can just as easily think of it as a frustrating endeavor when Seattle coughed up the ball three times to an inferior Cardinals team, and let them hang around in this match way too long.

Different people will see this game differently.

The anti Geno Smith crowd will look at the interception he threw in the red zone (and the fumbled center exchange), and they will be filled with the See, I Told You So vigor. They will also be more than happy to point out that he threw a red zone interception in Cincinnati last week, as well. No matter how well Geno plays, they will curb compliments, and whenever he makes a mistake, they will be more than happy to point out that he is not the answer at quarterback. The anti Geno gang will look at this game as ammo for why Seattle should move on from him, even though he was pretty efficient throughout most of this day, and threw a couple sweet ass touchdown grabs.

The anti DK Metcalf contingent of the Twelves will see the breakout games Jaxon Smith Njigba and Jake Bobo had, and they will be determined that Seattle should trade the personal foul committing receiver for some high draft picks or another marquee player. They will believe that the combination of both players more than mitigates the loss of DK.

I think many Seahawk fans will look at this defense, and be pretty fired up. I mean, how could you not?

Outside of Joshua Dobbs scrambling, some other funky run designs, the Cardinals offense couldn’t get much established. The speed and talent in the Seattle defense was overwhelming, at times, and as a Seattle fan, it was a joy to behold. The only few times where I flipped out in contempt was when edge rusher Darrell Taylor gave up containment twice that led to big plays by a runner, and one of those was Dobbs for a long touchdown. Other than that, this defense is continuing to trend in a very positive way.

For me, I generally look at this game as a relief that the Seahawks got through it with a win. I wasn’t totally confident in how this day would end up. I didn’t like seeing DK Metcalf, rookie running back Zach Charbonnet, and center Evan Brown sitting out of this one. I didn’t love watching DeeJay Dallas fumble a punt return that gave Arizona great field position. I hated watching Geno Smith force a third down throw towards a double covered Jake Bobo near the goal line and having it picked off. I didn’t like seeing him fumble the snap on the next series, either.

I think the Seahawks made this win much harder than it needed to be. Dallas needed to better hang onto the ball during his return. Geno needed to throw the ball away and settle for the field goal attempt to extend the lead. Darrell Taylor needed to contain the run which is job number freaking one for any defensive end.

This team isn’t talented enough to overcome a lot of mistakes. The defense, when all the intended pieces are on the field together, has a chance at being something special this year, I think. The offense, when they get Abe Lucas back at right tackle, and have DK healthy, and Charbonnet healthy, has the chance at being top ten in the league. Right now, however, they are so banged up at so many different positions, offensively, they have to play as mistake free as possible to scratch out some of these wins.

In this game, Seattle was fortunate that Arizona sucked as badly as they did. They will face a much better Cleveland Browns team next week. Therefore, they better play a much cleaner game.

None of this is to take away from how well the defense continues to play, or how well Jake Bobo and JSN played. Shoot, you take the INT and the fumbled snap away from Geno, and I think the talk would have been about how solid his outing would have been (I still think he had a solid enough of a game, but critics are going to critic).

As Seattle campaigns further through this season, I wouldn’t be surprised if we get a few more games like this. I don’t know if Seattle is going to win with the style points we would like to envision, but I do think that there are enough young promising talents starting to emerge that they are going to make each game very interesting.

Ken Walker as the focal point of this offense is a must. In this game, he was, and it opened up the play action. K9 ran tough, and decisive, and he forced Arizona to honor the run. He is, and should always be, the straw that stirs the drink of this offense, and as soon as Zach Charbonnet gets back, he should be the second straw.

Devon Witherspoon continues to be a holy terror as a striker of ball carriers, and receivers catches short curls. I’ve never seen a cornerback play like him. It’s like he’s a combination of Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman. In this game, he had a sack called back because of a penalty, and he had an interception called back because of a bull crap roughing the passer call against Boye Mafe. Spoon still had himself quite a game.. again.

So did Boye Mafe, who continues to lead the team in sacks along with a rejuvenated Jarran Reed at nose tackle. Mafe is on pace for double digit sacks, and is showing to be a strong run defender, as well. He had another sack in this one, but he could have easily had two.

Jordyn Brooks is playing so well lately that I think he should be a high priority to get an extension. Him mixing in with Bobby Wagner is giving Seattle an intimidating linebacker tandem. It showed up big against the Cardinals. I think Brooks has fully come into his own now, and it’s a lot of fun to watch.

Dre’Mont Jones mixed with Jarran Reed and Mario Edwards is giving Seattle an impressively active interior of their defensive line. They have consistently showed up for weeks now, and did it again yesterday. Jones doesn’t have the sack totals that Reed now has, but he’s a constant disruptor as a three technique, and it showed again.

And, of course, I don’t think enough can be said for how good Jake Bobo and JSN stepped in for DK Metcalf. Both rookie receivers have their unique traits, and could blossom into special players for Seattle.

Bobo has all the makings of a quality big bodied possession receiver. You can see that now. He is subtle in his route running, and plays with a plan. He is a refined pass catcher, and his toe tap touchdown grab was as pretty of a catch against contested coverage as you will find.

JSN, however, really is starting to come across as a young Doug Baldwin. He’s shifty in his routes, and has clear run after the catch abilities. I think it’s now safe to say that the folks who were worried about his yards per catch in September can start to relax now. As we move forward down the schedule, I think we are going to see this offense feature him more and more as a weapon against cover two looks.

Having said that, no, I do not think this team should trade DK. I think had he been healthy enough to play in this game, Seattle probably would have more comfortably won this match, and it might have been a big time blow out.

If I were to trade DK, it would have to be for a cornerstone player on the defensive line like Vita Vea. I don’t see a team coughing up that type of defensive tackle for him, though, and the teams that need a receiver are playoff contenders like the Chiefs, and while they could offer up a first round pick and day two of the draft change for him, those picks would be in the bottom of the rounds. Therefore, the likelihood of decent return value wouldn’t be very good. Say what you want to about your frustrations with DK, but he is a young premiere talent in this league, and in order to make a trade make any sense, Seattle would need a premiere talent in return.

The pectoral muscle injury that Uchenna Nwosu picked up in this game is concerning, though. If Carolina came calling to offer Brian Burns in exchange for DK, I think that would be tempting. Given the fact that Seattle is pretty well rostered with young talented edge rushers in Nwosu, Mafe, Taylor, and Derick Hall, Burns coming here in the last year of his contract isn’t super appealing, and the Panthers would probably have to add a high round pick in addition. I don’t see Carolina doing that, and Seattle could just as easily keep DK and sign Frank Clark in free agency right now who has familiarity with the team and defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt.

In fact, I think Frank Clark is a name to keep in mind right now. The team knows him, he has chemistry with Jarran Reed, and if Nwosu is going to miss games, I think Clark on early downs and keeping Darrell Taylor as a third down rusher makes sense. Either that, or maybe shift further back into Carroll’s old slanted 4-3 again with either Mario Edwards or Dre’Mont Jones playing the big end role with Mafe as the primary rush end.

However way they solve the potential loss of Nwosu, the truth of the matter is, even if Seattle wins kinda ugly a lot this year (or loses a number of close games), as long as the youth of this roster continues to trend upwards, that’s the real sign that Seattle is truly building itself up again. We need those young guys on rookie contracts developing into quality and high quality players.

We need more Mafe, Witherspoon, JSN, Anthony Bradford at right guard, Cam Young at DT, K9, Zach Charbonnet, Riq Woolen, and Tre Brown. We need more Bobo.

In this game, I felt lot of that. I saw it. Keep it coming.

Bring on the Cleveland Browns. It’s not going to likely be an easy game, but maybe, right now, Seattle needs a tougher opponent to get up for. I’m ready for it.

I cannot wait to see Seattle play in those classic old school uniforms, either. I’m going to have mine ironed and pressed as I sit watching in the nose bleeders. Bring. It. On.

Go Hawks.

The Seattle Seahawks are 3-2 to start their season. Let me ask you this question.

When this schedule first came out, and you looked at Seattle facing the Rams at home (a team that always has their number), the Lions on the road (a team many think is a contender), the Panthers at home (a team that beat Seattle at Lumen Field last year), the Giants on the road (a playoff team last year), and the Bengals on the road (serious contender), would you have taken 3-2 through this initial five came stretch?

I know I would have. 3-2 is pretty much what I was hoping for, but to listen to some fans and read a few articles out there now, you would think this team is 1-4, and it’s largely Geno Smith’s fault.. weirdly.

Here are all my thoughts about Geno Smith as it pertains to this team and fanbase. I am going to keep this as hyperbolic and drama free as I possibly can.

I think Geno is an extremely well liked guy within the Seattle Seahawk organization, but I don’t believe that is the reason why he was chosen over a year ago to be the starter over Drew Lock. I think he had the players and coaches trust in him more than the other guy. I think, through OTAs, training camp, and preseason games, he showed a better command of the offense and the playbook, made better decisions, and was more accurate with the football. Therefore, I think he earned his status of QB1.

Now, I don’t think the NFL is a popularity contest to which over 50 guys in a locker room want a guy at quarterback who’s got the better personality. I think they want the guy who they believe will give them the best chance at winning games when they step out onto the field, and put their lives on the line for our entertainment.

If the majority of the locker room felt like Drew Lock would give them the best shot at winning games, he would have been made the starter over Geno Smith last year. This is the long and short of how it stood with the quarterbacks last year, and I highly doubt much has changed this year.

This is Geno Smith’s team. This is his locker room.

He has the respect of the players, and he has trust from the coaches. If he didn’t, Drew Lock would be the starter. It is that cut and dried, and it should be obvious to anyone who follows this team closely.

So, having said all of that, it is beyond weird to me how many fans (maybe fueled by a prominent online fan page writer or two) are all pointing their fingers at him, and are pining to give Drew Lock a chance. It would seem that they know more about infinitely more football than the Seahawks locker room, and Seahawk coaching staff.

Through five games, Geno had a couple rough ones, a couple great ones, and he played good enough to help beat the Giants on the road. A month ago, he was named FedEx Passer Of the Week. Through these five games, he has also been playing largely without his starting tackles, and there was a spell when he had 4/5s of his starting offensive line out of the game.

You can point to whatever advanced metrics that you want to about whatever slump you feel like he’s having. Go for it. He’s been completing nearly 70% of his passes while playing in a scheme that had to adjust itself to compensate for the loss of talent on the offensive line, and yet up until the Bengals game, he was Pro Football Network’s 8th best quarterback last week in their NFL QB power rankings.

Also, when Seattle mustered through a three game win streak, many folks were praising offensive coordinator Shane Waldron for adjusting this scheme to fit the lack of talent on the offensive line by going extra tight ends, and a lot of play action out of heavy looks to which Geno Smith was looking pretty good working out of. So, after this tough loss to the Bengals, why are there not more people criticizing Waldron for going away from those designs in favor of more funky spread and empty backfield stuff against a defense that had a pretty strong secondary?

Is it because it’s easier to dump on a quarterback who you were never really bought into in the first place?

Maybe.

Instead talking about Waldron’s game plan against the Bengals on Monday, we get articles like the one Matt Calkins wrote for The Seattle Times that focuses on Geno not playing as good in December of last year as he did in October after a tough loss on the road against a very good Bengals team in which he threw two picks. We also have Kenneth Arthur (formerly from Fieldgulls and writing his own daily Seahawks newsletter), who has been staunchly anti Geno Smith all along, proclaiming that Geno should be benched Drew Lock now for reasons that make my brain hurt reading.

I will say this about Geno in regards to how he is seen by the fan base and writers of this team. I think there are many who like him, appreciate his story, and they recognize him as a good quarterback capable of winning games, and they enjoy rooting for him. I think there is also a section of fans and media who have been hanging onto negative beliefs about him, and they are resistant to heap too much praise on him after he plays a good game, and they are equally too quick to dump shit on him after a game in which he isn’t perfect (see Arthur’s Seaside Joe newsletter daily).

Personally, I think the latter is kind of a crappy look. I think some of what fuels this bad look is that, for some folks who spend an exorbitant amount of time obsessing about this team, tweeting about them, writing about them, podcasting about them, there is a lot of ego inside many of these individuals, and sometimes the need to be right about a prior belief trumps the need to see a player succeed. I think another thing that fuels it is an unyielding (agist) belief that Geno Smith cannot possibly be a longer termed solution to Seattle’s quarterback situation, and that guy is either in next year’s draft class, or maybe it’s Drew Lock and Pete Carroll doesn’t know what he’s doing.

I can understand the logic in thinking that Seattle needs to draft and develop its next franchise quarterback. I just wrote about my huge infatuation over Michael Penix Junior and how I believe he could be a fantastic fit for this offense. While I don’t believe 33 is that old for an NFL quarterback in today’s game, I think in a couple years, it is going to be way easier for Seattle to manage their salary cap if they have a talented passer on a rookie contract over an older vet on an expensive one. So, I entirely see the logic of drafting an heir apparent, and I write that being a Geno Smith fan.

But this idea of benching Geno Smith now for Drew Lock? Holy crap balls, that sounds totally bonkers, crackers, off your meds, coo coo pants, and I do not get that on any level.

What on Earth do people think is there with Drew Lock?

Sure, he’s six years younger, and maybe a better athlete, but I haven’t seen anything out of him that leads me to believe he’s got better upside than what they already have with Geno, and I think he floor as a starter is very likely way worse. I think he’s capable of making splashy throws downfield, and some nice plays with his legs, but I think he’s not nearly as good of a processor and he’s more likely to put the ball in harm’s way. I do not think he’s nearly as good of a passer.

I also do not think that this is going to happen. Carroll isn’t going to piss away chances to win games to see if he can uncork his backup quarterback’s “upside.” He’s not going to piss off his locker room, either.

Geno Smith isn’t the starting quarterback over Drew Lock because he is the safer choice. He’s the starting quarterback because he is the better quarterback.

Now, if Geno Smith goes out against the Cardinals this Sunday at Lumen Field, and truly stinks up the joint when his blocking was good, and he had plenty of time to throw, and Shane Waldron called a good game plan, and the ground game was good, then maybe just maybe discussions about Lock could earn better merit. I don’t think that’s going to happen, however. I suspect we are going to get a good enough game out of Geno, and a Seattle win.

I will also say this. I think if you are a white dude openly pining away for Drew Lock over Geno Smith after five games into this season, that’s a bad look, buddy. That makes you look like a racist.

Yup! I’m getting that one out of the way.

Doesn’t matter whether you think you aren’t, and you can argue until the cows come home that you’re not, but it looks pretty racist advocating for a white turnover machine quarterback to replace the black dude who just won Comeback Player Of The Year last year. You can slice that, and dice that any which way you want to with all your reasoning, but I’m telling you now, it’s just going to make you look all the more racist in the process. So, there’s that.

My simple solution to all of this right now is to chill out on Geno Smith. Just lay off of him, his age, his salary, and his status as QB1 for the Seattle Seahawks. Let the season play out.

If he badly regresses and is eventually replaced by Lock, he won’t be here next year. If he provides a steadiness to the quarterback position that leads them to another winning season, then there’s a good chance he will stick around, even if the draft a quarterback next Spring.

As for now, I just want to root for my Seahawks without seeing or hearing the ridiculous noise of benching Geno Smith. Who knows if I will get that peaceful snow globe existence as a Twelve. Probably not. There’s too many freaks out there.

Go Hawks.

I gotta be honest. I’m not disappointed much by this annoying Seahawk loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on the road.

I expected them to win. I wanted them to win. I thought, at the end, they were going to win, but, interestingly enough, I wasn’t super bummed that they didn’t win, and I am a WAY bigger Seahawks fan than I am out of any other team in the Pacific Northwest.

Call me crazy, but I see a lot of silver linings in this loss, and I will take whatever positives I can get. I see several.

Firstly, when this schedule first came out months ago, I figured Seattle would be sitting at 3-2 at this point, and they are. I thought they would lose to the Lions and Bengals on the road. Well, they just lost to the Bengals, and they beat the Lions. Cool. Can’t get everything right.

Secondly, even though this is the second game in a row where the offense has struggled, the Seahawk defense has played solidly. This is highly encouraging for me. It is one thing to shutdown a struggling Giants offense a couple weeks ago, but it is another thing altogether to limit a healthier Joe Burrow and Ja’Marr Chase to 17 points on their home turf. Buy into them now or don’t, I don’t care, but the Seahawk defense is trending upwards in an interesting and exciting way.

Lastly, I remain bullish on the Seahawk offense, and I think they are going to get it together. They have too much talent not to do so, and their blemishes are correctable. They need to play cleaner. They need to not get caught up in stupid penalties. They need to make better decisions at quarterback. All of this is doable. I suspect they all know this well enough.

Geno Smith did not have his best game. I don’t think he was helped by some of the play calling, but this may have been his worst game as a Seahawk considering that he forced a throw towards Jaxon Smith Njigba in the red zone that become an interception (thus, taking points off the board), threw another funky INT (although maybe DK Metcalf wasn’t on the same page as him), and he ran himself into a couple sacks a la vintage 2017 Russell Wilson. Say whatever you want to about Geno Smith, but he is fully capable of playing much better ball than this, and I expect he will, starting next week against the Cardinals.

In the bigger picture of this football team, it is vitally important that younger players continue to step up and make plays, and in this game, a good number of them did. Running backs Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet continue to impress as runners and receivers. JSN finally got on track more with 4 catches for 48 yards. Boye Mafe got another big time sack, and is looking like the big breakout player this year on defense. Devon Witherspoon continues making splash plays as a corner, and Tre Brown, as well. Charles Cross made a nice run block that sprung K9 for a big gain. Jake Bobo made two big catches and was the lead blocker on K9’s touchdown run.

These guys are the future of this team. They have the opportunity in front of them to grow into the vital new foundation that Pete Carroll and John Schneider are trying to create post Russell Wilson. In many ways, it is more important for me to see these young players step up than see Seattle sneak out this win at the end.

I think the Bengals are going to end up being a pretty good team again this year. I think they have Burrow playing closer to full health again, and they are about to start mounting a bunch of wins over the next couple months. Seattle could have played better in this, and they should have, but I have put this game behind me the minute the final whistle blew, and everyone shook hands and patted asses.

The only things standing in my way of feeling rosy about the state of the Seahawks right now are the fans who now want to see DK Metcalf traded, and the fan who want Geno Smith benched. When DK lost his cool again, and shoved a Bengal DB for another unsportsmanlike penalty, I received texts and messages from friends who are done with him. After the game, I saw remarks on social media that the team should bench Geno.

Here are my very quick thoughts on both.

Trade DK Metcalf? Are you shitting me?

DK lost is crap again and shoved a DB for a fifteen yard penalty. This clown act of his is getting old, and frustrating, and I get it. I want it to stop as badly as you do.

BUT! – In my best Dennis Miller impersonation, allow me to state the following.

Look, Cha Cha, the Seattle Seahawks aren’t trading away DK Metcalf. Let’s be real about this, okay Chichi?

He’s young, he’s a premiere talent, and he’s still an ascending talent. He’s on pace to become the next Calvin Johnson in this league, putting up very similar numbers through each of these seasons. He is the type of player you keep rostered, even if he does boneheaded things at times.

The only way Seattle is trading DK Metcalf is if they are getting a premiere talent in return. If Tampa wants to fork over Vita Vea in a player for player trade, I could see Seattle entertaining the idea, but Tampa is not going to give up on a unicorn game wrecking defensive tackle in his prime. If Chicago wants to surrender the top overall pick in the draft for DK and Seattle’s first round pick that it probably going to be in the twenties or late teens, then okay, let’s talk. If they are stupid enough not to draft Caleb Williams, then by all means, allow us.. but that ain’t happening.

So let’s be real.

Benching Geno Smith now is what asshats do. Don’t be an asshat!

I see you on Seahawks X Twitter whatever the French it’s now called (Elon Musk is a douche). You really want to see what Drew Lock brings now, don’t yeah? You think you know everything there is to see with Geno Smith and what the ceiling is with this offense, right?

Look, Geno Smith may not be Tom Brady or Aaron Rodgers, I get it, but I think his floor is probably way higher than what Drew Lock’s is, and that is why he’s going to stay the starter this year. On his best days, I think Geno is a top ten quarterback presently in this league, and on his bad days, he’s clearly not.

He didn’t have a great day in Cincinnati. I don’t think he was helped by Shane Waldron’s play calling that didn’t use nearly enough play action and roll outs that had be working well in previous games, but whatever. He wasn’t sharp enough to pull out this win.

Also, I thought he was only so so against the Giants a few weeks ago with better play calling, but I thought he was pretty good against Carolina and Detroit. We all know what happened against the Rams in the opener, and don’t need to revisit that.

This is how I think the rest of this season is probably going to go down. I think there’s going to be a number of games where he will play pretty well, and most fans will be happy with him. I also think there’s going to be a few where he plays okay-ish, and questions will mount, and I also think he will have some clunkers like this one.

Welcome to the life of a second tier starting quarterback in the NFL. I see you Matt Stafford, Dak Prescott, Derek Carr, Kirk Cousins, Jalen Hurts, and Brock Purdy.

Having said that, I think he remains a much better option for Seattle than Drew Lock if the goal is to win games and build a young winning roster. He’s a much better passer. When Lock was in for a quarter against the Giants, he made a few nice plays with his arm and legs, but on a roll out pass to his right, he badly missed a wide open JSN for what would have been a big gain.

With Lock starting, I think this is what you would get a lot of. You would see his plus athleticism that would entice you, you would see some pretty downfield throws, but you would also probably get bad misses and bad decisions as the games wear on. I don’t think Lock processes as well as Geno Smith, and I don’t think Pete Carroll is into tanking the season for a quarterback next year. That’s not how he cultivates his culture.

If Pete Carroll thought it was worth it to be playing Lock over Smith, this would have happened last year. It didn’t, and I doubt much has changed.

Unless Geno Smith collapses over the next month and turns into rookie NY Jets Geno Smith, or get injured, he’s going to remain the starter. The latter might happen, but I doubt we see a big time regression.

Having said all this, allow me to share some thoughts on the Huskies big win on Saturday over the very good Oregon Ducks. Actually, I have one overriding thought. Here it is.

I want Michael Penix Junior to be a Seattle Seahawk next year so badly that I could have a baby right now just thinking about it.

There, I said what has been on my mind for a while. This has nothing to do with Geno Smith and his struggles against the Bengals. This has everything to do with who and what I think Penix is, and can be at the next level.

I think Penix has the arm talent and accuracy to be a very good quarterback in the west coast offensive that Seattle runs. On top of that, I think he has shown enough to believe that he understands defenses well, knows how to look off defenders, and make quick decisions, and stay within the structure of the plays.

Of all the draft eligible quarterbacks in college football right now, I think he’s the best fit for Seattle, and I am not just saying that because he plays college ball here, and fans would be extra jacked up if Seattle drafted him. I think there are other quarterbacks who are probably better athletes on top of their arm talent like Caleb Williams, Drake Maye, Prime Time’s kid, Bo Nix, and Spencer Rattler, but I think Penix is perfect for Seattle.

He’s mature, he’s got a high character, he’s gritty (as demonstrated when he played through injury during the second half against the Ducks) and he can make every single NFL throw. In fact, he makes throws that will win you games.

You put him on this roster, with these receivers and tight ends and backs, and I don’t think it would take him very long to pick things up. I think he could take over fairly quickly, if they wanted him to do that.

I also think that there is a decent chance that he could be at Seattle’s pick even if they are picking in the later portion of round one. As mentioned before, there is likely going to be younger more athletic quarterbacks in this 2024 draft class.

Williams and Maye will be headliners, but I suspect that Michigan’s JJ McCarthy and Quinn Ewers of Texas will also get a lot of buzz assuming all of them declare. If Shedeur Sanders declares, he almost certainly would become a top ten pick.

Even if Penix wins the Heisman and his medicals check out fine with teams, he might be the fourth or fifth quarterback taken. He will turn 24 in May, and NFL front offices might feel more enticed by drafting someone a few years younger and without injury history.

For a team like Seattle, however, that has done a good job filling out its roster with a lot of bright young talent over the last few years, and has a good core of vets, spending a later first round pick on Penix makes a lot of sense. He would be a good system fit and culture fit. I think Pete Carroll would love him.

I also think Seattle needs to take more seriously the idea of drafting and developing a quarterback right now. In a few short years, young talented players are going to be due big second contracts. If the goal is to draft, develop, and maintain a strong roster, having a talented young quarterback on a rookie contract is going to be huge advantage.

Even if they want to hang onto Geno Smith a bit longer, and not rush Penix along, I think this would be a smart decision to draft him. I honestly do. In many ways, I think they are very similar styled quarterbacks, too. Enough so that transition to Penix could be pretty seamless.

I have been holding back on these thoughts for a while, but that game against Oregon on Saturday solidified it. Penix is my guy. I just hope he doesn’t end up a Ram or a 49er.

I also like that Bo Nix dude, too. Different player, but I like him. Good athlete, nice arm, seems like another really solid and mature kid.

But give me Michael Penix Junior.

Go Hawks.