Sean Payton is learning a painful truth in Denver. Without Drew Brees, he sucks as a coach. In fact, he sucks hard.

Payton was assumed to have been brought into Denver to fix Russell Wilson, a one time great quarterback of the Seattle Seahawks. Instead, maybe it is Wilson who needs to fix Payton.

Through five games, Russell Wilson has actually played okay-ish, but Payton has been a hot mess of a head coach spewing out bulletin material for opposing teams (go Jets), throwing players under the bus (RW3), and generally sucking donkey turds at fielding a competent team on Sundays. Maybe was needs to sit down with him now in his office and explain to him how things were done in Seattle.

Maybe Payton should have also just stayed with the network television gig. Spewing his “get off my lawn” half-time gibberish had to have been a lot easier than what he’s tasked to do now, which is maybe no longer about salvaging Russell Wilson, but saving his legacy as a head coach of NFL football.

If I were a betting man in Vegas, I would lay cheddar on this being the last year of Russ as the starting quarterback of the Broncos. I can see them cutting him outright (along with a number of other veterans to fix what will probably be a salary cap nightmare), drafting his replacement, and in a couple years moving on from Payton for a younger more chiseled offensive minded coach to fix said drafted quarterback.

Sean Payton isn’t the only geezer with a whistle who appears on the ropes in this unforgiving league. Bill Belichick looks cooked in New England.

Without Tom Brady, and with the personality of a dried up drunk who’s doctor has forced him to give up caffeine, Belichick finally looks done. He has probably wrecked Mac Jones as a quarterback by forcing him to play under Matt Patricia as the offensive coordinator last year. As you might recall, Patricia had been New England’s defensive coordinator before he accepted the role of head coach of the Detroit Lions, and then chased away all of the Detroits best players.

Playing for Belichick now has to feel like wearing a prom dress and being stuck in a car with Biff from Back To The Future. You just want to get the fuck out of that situation is quickly as possible.

He’s an entitled bully who’s ego has gotten so large that he can’t see simple logic, and there’s nobody around him to question and challenge him. Sounds very 2016 to 2020, frankly, and if this continues to trend poorly, Bob Kraft is going to have a big decision to make at the end of this season.

On the opposite side of the States, here in Seattle, Washington, things are very different. 72 year old Pete Carroll appears of have gotten his groove back. Of these three legendary Super Bowl winning coaches, Carroll is the one who is shining right now.

With all the draft capital Seattle received out of the Russell Wilson trade, Carroll has a young built up roster. While it is not at the level of San Francisco or Philadelphia yet, it’s trending positively.

They have bright young stars such as Devon Witherspoon, Riq Woolen, Ken Walker III, and DK Metcalf. They have talented young players who could blossom into stars such as Boye Mafe, Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, and Jaxon Smith Njigba. They have solid productive veterans who can lead the pups in Bobby Wagner, Tyler Lockett, Quandre Diggs, and Jarran Reed.

They found a veteran quarterback in Geno Smith who fits the offensive scheme well, and maybe more importantly, is willing to play the game the way Pete Carroll wants is played. Geno is on pace to throw over 3500 yards, 20 plus touchdowns, and 4-ish interceptions this year, while completing close to 70% of his passes. With Ken Walker on pace to have 20 rushing touchdowns and 1200 yards on the ground, those high efficiency numbers from Geno are probably exactly what Seattle wants.

Carroll has always talked about his ideal quarterback as being like a point guard. He wants that guy to be a really good distributor of the football, who will read the defense correctly, and make good decisions and accurate passes. By and large, Geno is going exactly that. There was a time when Russ did that, as well.

With Seattle’s defense looking like it is maybe turning the corner in the envisioned way Carroll has wanted it, and the offense staying efficient and explosive enough, Pete Carroll football looks like is starting to take shape again in the PNW, and this is a fun thing. So long is 2023 remains about playing younger guys and getting them developed, the future outlook for the Seattle Seahawks remains bright.

Maybe they don’t take back the division this year from the 49ers. Nobody in their right mind is going to fault Seattle if they do not.

Right now, San Francisco has the look of a team that is the top dog in football. Their talent is deep, they appear to have finally found the right quarterback, and they have next to no flaws in terms of talent, coaching, or scheme.

The 49ers are exactly what Seattle should be striving to become. If Seattle manages to split the series with them this year, I think that would be a pretty big feather in their cap, but I think Seattle’s best chance at catching them, and ultimately overtaking them is to continue drafting and developing, and making good choices in free agency like they have with signing Uchenna Nwosu, Julian Love, and Dre’Mont Jones.

Having Pete Carroll remain as the head coach feels like the smart choice. Not the safe choice, but the smart choice. I know that flies in the face of bloggers and fans who want a bright young magical offensive minded head coach in the mystical form of Sean McVay. Two years ago there were those on Seahawks Twitter who thought Nathaniel Hackett should be the guy to replace Pete and coach up Russ. Thank God, ownership didn’t listen to those folks.

In my gut, I think Carroll is in a great place to continue succeeding in Seattle. I think he’s got many of the right players in place with maintaining an outstanding team culture. I think he has an offensive coordinator that he trusts and likes, and I think Clint Hurtt is starting to perhaps blossom as a defensive coordinator now. Pete can focus in on managing the troops, and being a CEO type coach like Nick Sabin has become in Alabama for the Crimson Tide.

I think the ultimate advantage for Carroll over other old school coaches like Payton and Belichick is his coaching style. Carroll understands today’s younger athletes better than most head coaches in the pros. During his long tenure at USC, he went well out of his way to go into the urban areas to meet with young athletes and their families. To this day, he maintains a foundation in Los Angeles that supports inner city kids.

In all of these efforts, I believe Carroll understands that today’s young athletes are not like yesterday’s, and yesterday’s hard ass drill sergeant “my way or the highway” style isn’t going to win them over. In public schools today, students are taught empathy, mood meters, and teachers work to develop their emotional IQs at an early age. Safe to say it that when I was a kid, we didn’t have that going on.

So when you see all this hubbub about how Gen Z and Gen X and Boomers are all going back and forth with each other, I think it all stems out of how the generations are and have been reared in school. Gen Z isn’t going to stand for the old ways being talked down to in disparaging ways. You can’t be John Gruden-like calling them homophobic names if they aren’t blocking hard enough in practice. You got to find other ways to inspire them to be pissed off for greatness.

Bill Belichick hasn’t done jack shit since Brady has left New England. Players see that now, and he has lost his mystic as a Sith Lord coach. I think he’s toast and we are seeing it played out now.

Sean Payton has already lost the locker room in Denver. I am calling it now. You can’t blast into the star quarterback who has spent a decade in the league being coached in a specific way in Seattle, and tear him down to build him new. He is what he is. You also can’t go into the press and blast the former head coach, and you can’t throw current players under the bus.

I am tell you folks now, Denver is going to become an absolute shit show for the long time because of what they gave up in the Russell Wilson trade and then hiring this guy to be the savior to fix everything. Do you think Caleb Williams wants to be drafted there, and be coached by Payton? I do not.

I think Williams wouldn’t mind going to Seattle, though, and playing for an older head coach who would let him be himself with all those shiny pieces on the offense, but that’s not happening. Seattle isn’t going to be anyone close enough in the draft next year to take him, or trade up for him.

What Seattle is in position to do is to continue getting further back into Pete Carroll football now. They have the tools on offensive to be a dominant running team that is explosive in play action passes. They have gone back to elements of their prior defensive schemes to better snuff out the run again, and they are more loaded up front to pass rush. They also appear to have two bright young shutdown cornerbacks.

All Pete Carroll needs to do is coach them up, love them up, and preach his mantra of it being “all about the ball.” You try to take the ball away from the other team on defense, and you keep it away from them on offense.

I’m here for it. I’m excited. I think the future looks bright.

Go Hawks.

Dear Seattle Sports Fan,

I don’t know why you’re wasting energy stressing out about a couple Seattle Seahawk players.

The Seahawks have just won three games in a row without their starting offensive tackles. They beat a good Lions team on the road, a Panthers team with a talented defensive line, and the gutted through a win against the Giants on MNF when 4/5 of their offensive line were backups. After the royal butt kicking this team got in the opener against the mediocre Rams, you would think every fan would be thrilled by this win streak going into the early bye. Instead, some Seahawk fans can’t be wholly satisfied.

“What’s going on with Jaxon Smith Njigba? Why isn’t he getting any yards?”

“Oh no. Here we go again with Jamal Adams, injured again.”

I get it. Not every Hawk fan is wired like I am. Some people have to see the reasons for concern.

I’m just not one to fully give up on a uniquely gifted player who has had a lot of bad luck, and I am definitely not one to expect a rookie to hit the ground running like a potential All Pro. I take wins however they come about, and I try to move past the losses as quickly as possible.

Also, football is flipping tough, and injuries happen to every team. The good teams figure out ways to adjust.

Seattle was dealt bad luck against the Rams, losing Charles Cross and Abe Lucas to injuries, and being out indefinitely. That was one of the freakiest occurrences I have ever seen in football. I cannot recall another instance where a team lost both starting tackles in the same game.

Credit Shane Waldron for adjusting his offense afterwards heading into Detroit. Most people thought Seattle was going to get their asses kicked. Instead, they hung with a good Lions team, and snuck out a win in overtime. Waldron adjusted his scheme.

I think it is pretty certain that with the drafting of JSN, Seattle wanted to prominently feature a three receiver attack this year. They probably wanted to go back to the days where they had Doug Baldwin working the slot with Golden Tate and Sidney Rice on the outside. They wanted a move the chains guy on third downs working inside with quick separation and soft hands.

That is what JSN is. That is what he will be for this team when they get all the parts back on the offensive line again. I still think he has the talent to be one of the very best slot receivers in the league, and I would feel comfortable betting my brother’s left leg that he will be.

Right now, he is on pace to catch about 48 passes. People will point to his yards per catch average being paltry, but because Seattle is so heavily reliant on a quick game right now, Geno Smith is mostly trying to get the ball out as fast as he can when JSN is on the field without extra tight ends. Conversely, Geno’s longer shots down field have gone to DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett when he is play action passing out of the heavier multi high end formations with JSN not on the field.

That’s the rub right now, and this has been totally out of necessity. It has nothing to do with JSN’s abilities, and whether he’s going to live up to the billing of a first round pick.

But Seattle is winning games, and they are doing it with the defense starting to look like it could turn into something special this year. This leads me to Jamal Adams.

For me, I think Adams is still an exciting player. He only saw nine plays against the Giants before he was oddly knocked out. You could feel his rust missing an easy sack, and maybe he needed to go for the sure tackle against Daniel Jones instead of diving at his legs with his head bent down. I thought it was a pretty fluky occurrence, though, honestly.

The thing that cannot be denied about Adams is how dynamic he is as a player. He’s so fast on the field against the run, as a rusher, and dropping into zone coverage. There is the reason why so many for ex NFL’ers like Mark Schlereth come onto local sports radio and maintain that he is an exciting talent. Players know.

My hunch is that Adams is going to be back playing with the team in Cincinnati after this bye week. I think he is going to have a very active role in their nickel fronts, and it’s probably going to be as a linebacker a lot of the time. They might even float him out on the edge as a rusher.

Just my hunch, but I think the look that Clint Hurtt would love to get his defense into a lot is a package that has Adams and Bobby Wagner/Jordyn Brooks as linebackers, and Seahawk legend Devon Witherspoon as the nickel corner with Riq Woolen and Tre Brown as the outside guys. This is the look that can send pressures a lot of different ways with a variety of great blitzers on the field together with a bunch of guys who can win one on one battles up front.

Just because Jamal Adams got knocked out early against the Giants, it need not be gloom and doom with fans. He hasn’t played live football in over a year. His muscle memory for the fundamentals of hitting aren’t likely caught up to him yet, and it is pretty unrealistic to expect them to be.

Call me an Adams apologist, if you will. Maybe I am. I don’t care, really. I just think, in my gut, he’s going to have a great year as the season wears on, and it’s going to be fun to watch.

What may not be fun to watch, however, is what the Seattle Mariners do this offseason as they work to maintain winning “54 percent of the time.”

Warning. If you are a diehard Mariner fan, this is where you might want to stop reading if you don’t have a bottle of Mylanta in close proximity.

What the flipping crispy is going on with Mariner management?

By now, you’ve probably heard it all on local sports radio, and have read about it, but let me throw in my two cents, for whatever it is worth. I have HUGE concerns about what lies ahead for these Mariners, and I think practically all of the issues reside at the very top.

In case you have been living under a rock, Mariner GM Jerry Dipoto staged a rather gutless press conference several days ago when neither Seattle market sports radio station could carry it live. With a whole lot of baseball analytic arrogance, he GM-‘splained to a bunch of baseball writers that Seattle’s actual goal over a ten year span is to “win 54 percent of the time” and in that time frame maybe they get to a World Series or what have you.

To put a cherry on top of all of this, he said that Seattle fans should be thanking the Mariner brass having this sort of “patient” approach.

What the actual fudge?

Okay, anyone who knows me well, or reads this blog knows that I am much more of a Seahawk guy than a Seattle Mariner one. I can sense that maybe this piece is going to inspire some folks to come at me a bit on this. Fine. Bring it on.

What Jerry Dipoto said in that fateful post season presser is every reason why I am a diehard Twelve, and a very tentative Mariner fan, at best. I know an abusive codependent relationship whenever I see one.

Been there. Done did that. No need to take another one on. Happy to remain in the shadows lurking and rooting for the Mariners 54 percent of the time moving forward.

After the Mariners got eliminated from playoff contention last weekend, I posted on my Facebook page that I rejected the notion of “same old Seattle Mariners.” After hearing Dipoto’s words in this gawd awful presser (and his half hearted apology on sports radio on Thursday), I’m squarely back in the Same Old Mariners Camp, and I really want to fully believe in this team again, but I can’t.

I cannot. Not with Dipoto in the front office, and quite possibly moreover, not with John Stanton as the majority owner.

People have called Dipoto’s words this week a lot of things. They have been described as tone deaf, arrogant, and unearned arrogance.

I call it as I see it. The Mariner GM got in front of the media, and he tried to gaslight everyone.

Mariner fans who are outraged by Dipoto have every single reason to feel that way. This team has done very little in the past twenty two years. Just one playoff appearance while the Seattle Seahawks have largely been playoff regulars and Super Bowl champs, and the Sounders and Storm have been champs, as well. Shoot, in their second season in the NHL, the Seattle Kraken have as many playoff appearances as the Mariners have had since 2001.

Seattle Mariner history gets worse. In 47 seasons, the Mariners have made the playoffs 5 fives. That’s it.

So for Dipoto to weirdly ‘splain away all these pseudo baseball analytics saying that the goal of this organization is to win 54 percent of the time over the span of a decade and teams that do that stand a shot at a World Series doesn’t sit well with the majority of baseball fans in this market, I get it. I feel that frustration.

And while I am sure some fans will support Jerry’s words and say that he’s right, my sense is that they are in the vast minority. I feel many more fans are fearing the following writing on the wall.

The Seattle Mariners aren’t likely going to be aggressive contenders in free agency this offseason, or in future years.

Shohei Ohtani most likely will not be a Mariner in 2024, even though Seattle could definitely use his bat.

In order to get the bats to field a better offense, the Mariners are going to have to surrender a talented young arm, or two. People can point to Bryce Miller or Brian Woo, but George Kirby would be the guy to offer up that would land the best haul in return.

Either way, Dipoto’s front office feels destined to weaken a solid pitching rotation in order to build a better offensive. For many, I’m sure that kinda feels like winning 54% of the time.

In my gut, I don’t think this is all really on Jerry Dipoto, either. I think he’s a direct extension of owner John Stanton, and while Stanton might say he’s a huge baseball fan, and wants to win titles, I think the deeper truth could very well be that, bottomline, Mariner ownership for Stanton is a status thing, and he needs to see profits to maintain that status.

In 2023, the Seattle Mariners were tenth in the league in ticket sales, and yet eighteenth in payroll. Read into that what you will, but when I look at those numbers, I cannot help but hear Whitesnake’s “Hear I Go Again” song in my head.

Ultimately, I cannot fault Jerry Dipoto for following Stanton’s marching orders with how to run the front office. I thought he chose his words incredibly poorly in front of the press, and I think that reflects his personality flaws.

Personally, I don’t think Dipoto is the most personable guy. I think he can come across as smug and arrogant, and his track record in thirteen years of being a GM doesn’t warrant such arrogance.

In that, I think he tends to rub some players and agents wrong (word on the streets, anyway), but my greater sense is that all of this building a sustainable winner by winning 54% of the time garbage is really coming from ownership, and that should alarm every single Mariner fan. After that crap fest of a presser, I felt sick to my stomach all night long.

Things won’t change until ownership, or at least ownership agendas change. Shit rolls down hill, and if it shit at the top, then everyone underneath is covered in it.

The goal every single year should be to win a title. You can be damn sure that is the thinking in Houston and Toronto.

Shoot for the stars, and maybe you hit the moon. Shoot for the moon, and you might be damn fortunate if you even make it out of the Earth’s atmosphere.

Stringing along a hungry, long suffering, fanbase for profits over titles deserves a special ring in Hades to suffer in for all eternity. There. I said it.

Go Hawks.

Dear National Football League,

31 of your teams are totally screwed in the pants right now. The Pete Carroll defense is back in Seattle, your announcers are going to get really bored talking about how miserable offenses are gonna be having to function against it.

On Monday Night Football, in front of millions of viewers, Daniel Jones stood no chance, even after weirdly knocking Jamal Adams out of the game with his knee. Yes, he didn’t have Saquon, and his offensive line was bad, but Seattle’s offensive line was worse. Seattle’s offense still managed enough points to comfortably win. The New York Giants kicked a field goal, and that was it.

The Giants’ defense was very good in this game. They were tough, aggressive, and they made it hard on Geno Smith, and almost knocked him out of the entire game. The Seattle Seahawks’ defense, though, was DOMINANT through the entire game.

In fact, that has got to the best defensive effort I have seen from a Seattle Seahawk defense since 2014. They dominated against the run and the pass any which way they chose to slice it up. They sacked Jones ELEVEN times, and intercepted him twice.

Daniel Jones may not be the great quarterback in the league, but he’s not that bad, either. Seattle made him look clueless.

Some will say that Seattle caught a break going against a banged up team. I say horse crap. Seattle has as banged up of an offensive line as it can get in this league, but they have now won three games in a row despite it. They are finding ways to win. That is what good teams do, let’s go back to that defense.

Quietly, Seattle has been settling into its defense for a few games now, I was convinced of it. The points had not shown it, nor had the passing yards, but if you really looked at a few things deeper, you could sense it. For one, they’ve been consistently strong against the run. For another, they were getting completions against them in fairly tight coverage, at times. For yet another, their pass rush was starting to show up more.

What all these things told me was that they just needed to get a bit tighter in coverage, and they needed feel each other a bit more as rushers. Once those things happened, I could feel this defense rounding into a very good one. In short, stop the run, and everything else should eventually fall into place with the talents on the back end, and at edge rusher. Low and behold, it happened on Monday night.

Now, after this total butt kicking, it feels like Seattle is on pace for having a great defense this year. Why am I so staunchly confident about all of this?

Devon F’ing Witherspoon. He is the straw that is going to stir this whole damn delicious drink.

Post game, Troy Aikman said, very candidly, that he has never seen a cornerback like Witherspoon. He compared him to a linebacker playing corner. I think that is highly accurate.

In this epic performance, Spoon recorded two sacks, seven tackles, a tackle for a loss, and a pick six that would have made Earl Thomas green with envy. He dominated the game playing outside, and inside.

Last week, I published a piece about who the Seahawk tone setters are to lead this team further towards a championship. Devon Witherspoon is a TONE SETTER for this team.

If I am defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt, I am coming out of the bye week with Spoon as the left cornerback in the base defense, and then as the inside corner in the nickel. When Jamal Adams gets back, I’m probably using him as a nickel linebacker with Bobby Wagner. I’m going to get quarterbacks thinking about the options I might send on a blitz.

Spoon isn’t the only guy setting tones and making things click for this defense, either. His mate on the other side, Riq Woolen had himself a strong game against the Giants, has been consistently very good this year, and will continue to make quarterbacks leery passing against him. Jarran Reed, Mario Edwards, and Dre’Mont Jones are bringing heat on the DL against the run and pass. Boye Mafe and Uchenna Nwuso are developing chemistry as bookend rushers and are playing strong against the run, as well. Bobby Wagner remains Bobby Wagner, and Jordyn Brooks isn’t bad either.

This defense, I am telling you, is coming around. They are getting it.

They get a bye week to sort it out further, get guys rested, and ready to play the Bengals, Cardinals, and Browns in October. They could easily put up dominant efforts against all three of those teams if they keep the focus and hunger for pissed off greatness in tact. There is no reason in the world why they should not. I expect great things.

Offensively, they got through this game, and that is fine. There was too much sloppiness with procedures and holds, but given the fact that they had both starting guards knocked out early, and the line shifted with Evan Brown moving from center to guard, rookie Olu Oluwatimi taking over at center, and rookie Anthony Bradford taking over at right guard once again, it stands to reason that a few gadget plays might get f’d up in the process.

Illegal procedures killed momentum too often, but the Giant defenders didn’t make it easy, either. Credit the Giants for coming out and defending their turf with everything they got.

As for Geno Smith, nah, he didn’t light the world on fire, but he took a hard hit out of bounds, getting his legs rolled on, and once he came back into the game out of the half, he decided to continue barking at New York defenders, drawing a personal foul that cost the team fifteen yards after a big first down play. It was that kind of night (along with the penalties), but he gutted through it, and threw as pretty of a touchdown pass to DK Metcalf as you will see in this league.

It was also fun to see Drew Lock get into the live action for a while, and spark a scoring drive. He’s not as good of a passer as Geno is, but he’s a better athlete, and you could sense his dynamic rolling out of the pocket, and taking off as a runner. Drew Lock helped this team win, no doubt. Great job on a guy with the same initials as Def Leppard.

If I were to nitpick this game a little bit more, I would say to Carroll when it was fourth and short in the red zone in the third quarter with an eleven point lead “just kick the damn field goal.” Getting up fourteen points, with how this defense was playing felt like the right move.

I would also say that I didn’t love watching Shane Waldron call three pass plays in a row midway through the fourth quarter when they needed to just drain clock. I don’t know if he was trying to get Geno’s numbers up, or they thought they could catch the defense off guard, but I didn’t dig it.

It was clear from the get go that this was going to be a defensive battle. Embrace the defensive battle. I hate to say it, Gen Z’ers, but sometimes it’s cool to go conservative when the moment calls for it.

But the Seahawk defense, though. Woof. Just look at some of these individual efforts.

Seven tackles, two sacks for Spoon, and a pick six.

Seventeen tackles for Bobby Wagner, and two sacks.

Ten tackles for Jordyn Brooks, and two sacks.

Six tackles for Uchenna Nwosu, and two sacks.

All of these guys were beasts, and in addition, Mario Edwards, Boye Mafe, and Myles Adams each got a sack apiece. When you’re best defenders play their best ball, good things tend to happen for everyone.

Total domination. Total Pete Carroll football. Seattle protected the ball, and they took it away. They ran the ball for 121 yards, and held the Giants to 112 with 66 of those yards coming off off Daniels Jones running for his life. They found ways to score 24 points, and held the Giants to 3. Beautiful.

Bring on the Bye week. Then bring on the Bengals.

The Legend Of Spoon is upon us, and it is a glorious thing.

Go Hawks.

“It’s not the Seahawk that’s on you. It’s the Seahawk that’s in you!”

Last week, the Seattle Seahawks celebrated their 10 year anniversary of their mighty Super Bowl victory over the Denver Broncos. In doing so, many of the old players came back to the team facilities to hang out with the Seahawk players of present.

In that, a video of former defensive lineman Red Bryant giving a hype speech to the club went viral over the weekend, and people got jacked. Magnificently, he crescendoed his fiery speech with the above quote, and you could feel it hit you square inside your soul.

If you haven’t watch it, I highly encourage it. Red Bryant was (and still is) exceptionally good at firing up troops. At 6-4 330 pounds, he is a monstrous man, but it is what exists inside him that makes him special.

His intensity is real. He is equal parts fire and brimstone baptist minister, and General George S Patton. There’s fire in his eyes, and a conviction in his voice that pierces your soul.

Conviction.

That is what made Red Bryant a great Seahawk in his day. It is what made him a champion.

He had a conviction to set a tone on defense. Every time he stepped on the field, he was determined use every ounce of his massive frame to snuff the run, and defend every blade of grass like it was a baby kitten about to be trampled on by a pulling guard. He had others on that defensive line just like him.

Brandon Mebane was a nasty run stuffing nose tackle. Tony McDaniel was a long bodied, tough as nails DT, and Chris Clemons brought a fierce attitude as the rush end.

All of this isn’t even bringing up the fact that Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril were rotating pass rush hotshots. Then, of course, behind them were Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright, and the Legion of Boom players led by Kam Chancellor who was arguably the single most intimidating defender in the league at that time.

All of these guys had a conviction in their game. They weren’t just going to try to stop an offensive. They wanted to punish the offense for even daring to step out onto the field with them.

They made it personal, and because of that, they made football great as they played it. I have never seen a better defense played on the football field, and I vividly remember the 1986 Bears.

This level of conviction wasn’t just on the defensive side of the ball, either. On offense, Marshawn Lynch provided the heartbeat of the entire team. He was the rare running back who actually sought out contact against linebackers and DBs, and he did it with a fierce determination to punish anyone who dared to tackle him.

The conviction he had to inspire his teammates bled into fierce play from receivers Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. It led to fierce run blocking by a nasty offensive line that played like a goon squad.

Kam Chancellor was once quoted as saying that Marshawn’s toughness inspired him to be vicious on defense. To see 24 play like that made him what to set an equal tone, and that essentially was the birth of the LOB.

The 2013 Seattle Seahawks were as badass of a collection of players as I have ever seen assembled. They were a band of merry men, sure, but they filled to the gills with bad intentions.

Who were the tone setters of that club?

The proper question is – “who wasn’t?”

They had tone setting bad asses at almost every position group and sometimes, it was the whole group. Teams did not want to play them on Sundays. You could feel it.

So, ten years later, who is it now who are the tone setters of these 2023 Seattle Seahawks?

For the first time in quite a while, I sense this team is forming a few, and it’s encouraging, and refreshing. I think this is why I might feel more optimism in this club this year. I sense a return to more genuine bad-assed-ness of football.

Here are some of the tone setters for this club that I see emerging in really promising ways.

Jarran Reed returning to Seattle to play defensive tackle again is a total blessing. For a guy who was a productive pass rusher as he was during his first stay here, I was always a bit surprised that he didn’t have as much fanfare as I thought he deserved. Fans either dug him, or thought he was overrated and overpaid.

He came into Seattle as a highly touted run stopper from Alabama, and he developed into a good pass rusher. What more do you want at that position?

So far, through three games, Jarran Reed has been Seattle’s best interior run stopper and pass rusher, and their run defense has been very good. He has better production in these games than the combined efforts of Shelby Harris, Al Woods, and Poona Ford who were the entire starting defensive line of this club last year, and are all playing for other clubs now.

Jarran Reed is a classic, old school, every down DT. He has a genuine nastiness about him in the way he tackles. He will also put a little extra tabasco in his sauce taking down quarterbacks, as well.

I think Seattle brought Jarran Reed back because they knew what they would have with him, and they didn’t have hardly enough of that from other defensive linemen they had rostered here last year. He is going to bring an intensity up front not too much unlike Red Bryant and Brandon Mebane.

It is just a small sample size of a couple games with him, but I think rookie defensive tackle Cameron Young could have some Jarran Reed qualities going on, too. Pro Football Focus dug his play against the Panthers last week, and I thought he made a pretty flashy run stop the week before against the Lions. If Seattle wants to do more 4-3 stuff again, I can see the potential of Reed and Young being a very physical tandem inside on run downs. We will see, but I think the team hopes to develop Young into a pass rusher, as well, much like they did with Reed some years ago.

Uchenna Nwosu has a fieriness about himself as an edge defender. He has no problem sticking his nose in the fray looking to blow up a run play. He’s a good pass rusher too, but I think he’s plus run defender, and an emerging leader of this squad.

Bobby Wagner, of course, is back as the leader of this defense, and he will be the alpha dog of this entire team. While it is possible that his coverage skills might be declining, his run stopping skills remain elite, and after a tough season opener loss to the Rams, he’s already stepped in to fire up the troops with an ear full of absolutely everything they needed to hear said at the moment. He is the undisputed leader of this team this year.

His mate beside him, Jordyn Brooks, is stepping into his own as a leader, and will bring fierce heat on any ball carrier. He is in his contract year of his rookie contract, and is playing for a big pay day in 2023. As this defense settles in more, I suspect Brooks is going to be a menace. He has to be.

On the back end of this defense, people will probably point to Jamal Adams as a toner setter when he returns, but for my money, Devon Witherspoon plays cornerback with the mentality of pit bull who just got a ribeye steak ripped away from him. Through two games into his career, you can see all the reasons why Seattle felt compelled to select him fifth overall. He tackles with violence. He’s a determined run stopper, and he’s sticky in coverage.

It would not shock me at all if Spoon quickly becomes a leader on this defense. In fact, I would suggest that Seattle has not had a player in their secondary with his level of tone setting bad-assed-ness since Kam Chancellor played here. It will be fascinating to see how his play blends in with Riq Woolen, Quandre Diggs, Adams and others.

Back in the day, players like Chancellor inspired others to play fierce. Will Spoon be the guy who’s play makes others on the backend play more ferocious? Will he be the straw that stirs the drink?

I’m eager to find out.

On offense, I think the tone setters are clear. I see several, and this is exciting.

When he’s healthy, right tackle Abe Lucas plays with the type of meanness you want in an offensive lineman. Personally, I think rookie guard Anthony Bradford has the potential to drive defenders nuts, as well.

Speaking of nuts, sometimes DK Metcalf drives me bonkers with plays wide receiver with a linebacker’s mentality. He wants to go extra on the run blocking, and that’s a big benefit for Seattle. He wants to be physical with the ball in his hands, as well.

Another rookie who has huge potential to set tone through the course of a game is running back Zach Charbonnet. He’s a huge, powerful, explosive runner, and when he lowers his shoulder with the determination to pop a would be tackler, he’s got the power to send a guy flying.

The hit he put on a Carolina defender near the goal line last Sunday is my favorite play that I have seen from a Seahawk player this year. He blew that guy up and sent him flying. That play, right there, is the exact type of play that these Seahawks need this year.

If Charbonnet has soaked up that moment, and really has taken just how much he fired up his teammates and the fans, he can take the next step forward and be that thunderous hammer to go along Ken Walker’s lightening style of running. He can be the physical force of this offense.

And let’s be clear what football is. It’s not a contact sport. It’s a sport of violence. The teams who collect the most players willing to sellout on the violence tend to win a lot of ball games.

The 1986 Bears were this. The Ravens in the early 2000’s were this. The Seahawks 2012-2015 were this. The 49ers are this now.

If the Seahawks want to topple the 49ers, they need to be the nastier team. It feels like a tall order now, but this season is young, and let’s see how this things gels.

Right now, I think Seattle has more pieces in place than they did last year. Jarran Reed plays a mean style of football that you want to see out of your DT. Seattle has Bobby back, and Witherspoon feels like the real deal. I really like the potential nastiness with the offensive line once they get more of their starters healthy again. Zach Charbonnet can definitely step into a tone setting role as a runner, and we know what DK is about.

Let us not forget one other thing. At the most important position in the game, the Seahawks have a veteran quarterback who has been through a lot of dark times, and has come through it to see the light. Geno Smith is a tough cookie. He’s built differently than Russell Wilson is in his mentality. He’s a bit more scrappy, and has a sharper edge.

Many of those old Legion Of Boom players have said how much they like Geno. Maybe they see something in him that they find more relatable.

Guys tend to play hard for quarterbacks who they relate strongly with. It’s a natural instinct.

So, yeah. I think Seattle is poised to be in a good spot this year. I can feel it. I can’t wait for the tone setters to take over and make this team their own. I think Seattle has the potential of having a number of really good ones. I’m ready for it.

Bring on the Giants.

Go Hawks.

After this Sunday’s game against the Panthers, the Seattle Seahawks are sitting at 2-1, and while they’re not entirely pretty as a team, they are fun. This is kinda Pete Carroll football.

It’s not about winning in the first quarter, the second, or third. It’s about winning a ball game in the fourth. It’s about finishing.

Last week, Seattle hung tight in Detroit against a good Lions team, and they snuck out a win in overtime. This week, they finished strong in the fourth quarter, and put down a Panthers team that wasn’t going down easily in the first half. In fact, in back to back weeks, Seattle has trailed at halftime, and has come back to win each game. That’s something.

Now, the Panthers aren’t likely going to be much of a team this year, and we will see how good the Lions actually are, but I am going to spin this pretty optimistically for Seattle right now. For Pete Carroll, it is really important for his teams to finish strong. In the bigger picture, he wants his guys believing that when the going gets tough, they can and will get going better than the other team.

Geno Smith didn’t have a good first half of ball. He threw a bad interception when he should have either gotten the ball out sooner, or he should have sensed the Panther linebacker hovering close enough by to make the play. Either way, that wasn’t a sharp moment for him, and it proved pretty costly considering he gave Andy Dalton easy field position. There were other moments where it felt like he wasn’t getting the ball out quick enough. He was off.

It did not help that he was playing behind an offensive line so banged up that, as the game wore on, they were down to only one starter. Any defensive line that features players like Derrick Brown and Brian Burns should be licking their chops at what Seattle had put in front of them trying to block.

From a Panther perspective, the way Seattle’s offensive linemen were dropping like flys, and the way Andy Dalton was throwing, they should have felt like this was turning into the perfect scenario to get their young team right on the road. Heading into the half, it felt like Seattle was on the ropes, and it was going to be one of those grueling days for the Twelves.

Then, just like how it happened last week in Detroit, Seattle came out of the half to start the third quarter with their defense buckling down. Geno engineers a drive that results in a field goal, a short time later, Geno guides another drive that leads to a Ken Walker touchdown.

Seattle stayed enough with the run for it to be a big time factor, and it made Geno’s job easier, and he played a better second half. Even when the Panthers would answer with another score of their own to get back in it, Geno gathered the poise to lead more scoring drives.

Make no mistake, this was Ken Walker’s day on the offense. In my opinion, this offense should run as much through Ken Walker as it can on a weekly basis with just the right amount of Zach Charbonnet to mix in. That’s not to take anything away from DK Metcalf, and Tyler Lockett, but I just think if the goal is to win a lot of games this year, the run game has got to be the big time factor.

Walker is just too dynamic of a runner and receiver to not want to have him get his touches. Charbonnet has the talent to be not that far behind him, and fans are starting to get some really good glimpses of that now. Walker averaged 5.4 yards per carry against a good Carolina defensive line, and Charbonnet averaged 5.1. Walker also had 3 catches for 59 yards.

You get these backs gaining this sort of production, and that should unlock this offense for Geno Smith to do whatever he wants to do with getting the ball out of his tight ends and receivers with play action. Again, for two weeks in a row, play action passing plays a big second half factor against good defenses.

The other big hero of this game for me is offensive line coach Andy Dickerson for getting max effort out of dudes would be buried on depth charts of other teams. Raise your hand you would have thought month ago that Stone Forysthe, someone by the name of Ben Brown, Evan Brown, rookie Anthony Bradford, and Jake Curhan would make for a line that would bully a big bad defensive line from Carolina for nearly 150 yards on the ground, and would help pass block enough for Geno Smith to throw nearly 300 yards through the air against them, as well.

I know that the Mariners are in the thick to get back to the playoffs, and a lot of folks around the 206 are buzzing about the Husky football team with Michael Penix Junior, but I think the way the Seattle Seahawks are winning over these past couple weeks is pretty interesting stuff. I’m not sure that the way Seattle’s reserve offensive linemen stepped in will be talked about enough on local airwaves, though.

I’m sure rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon will be talked a lot about. He took a big step forward in this game, and you can see his upside. I’m also positive that Walker will be talked a lot about, and DK, and maybe some will start to come around more to a Seahawk defensive line that continues to play the run really well, and is starting to pick up its pass rush a bit more, but I hope people are starting to take note that Seattle is showing a ton of resilience with their offensive line that, on paper, is significantly less than ideal in a league that has high quality pass rushers everywhere.

Andy Dickerson is kind of my hero right now.

As for this Seahawk defense, I believe it is coming around. They were better this game as they gutted through banged up at cornerback. Andy Dalton having a big day through the air should not have felt like that much of a shocker. You can make fun of Dalton all you want, but he a very season veteran quarterback who has passed for a lot of yards in this thirteen year career, and has done his share of winning games. He beat Seattle last year playing for the Saints.

With no Riq Woolen, and for much of the game, no Tre Brown, you could kinda feel like Seattle was going to bust a critical coverage at some point, and they did. What I think is important is for reserves to get feel for each other and this defense. They withstood the flames.

Onto New York next Monday to face the Giants. Seattle will have Jamal Adams back, and he will be a new wrinkle for this defense. They might likely have Woolen back, as well, and Spoon will another game under his belt to feel more confidence.

The Giants love to run the ball. The Seahawks, through three games now, has been one of the best run stopping defenses in the league. Jarran Reed is establishing a much needed toughness inside as a tone-setter and playmaker, and young guys like Boye Mafe are starting to take bigger steps forward.

I think this defense is poised to get a lot better. I think the offense just needs to get some of their starters back on the line, get their red zone play better cleaned up, and keep that run game going.

Pete Carroll coached teams tend to do well on Monday nights. If they can show up big and get that W against the Giants, they will be 3-1 heading into their early bye week with a chance to get further heeled, rested, and ready to take on the Bengals and Browns. That early bye is looking like it is coming in at exactly the right time.

Good to get this win. Good to gut through a game in which the circumstances are less than ideal. Good to shake off a bad first half and play a much stronger second half.

These are all building blocks.

Also nice to see Jake Bobo get his first NFL touchdown catch. That was a great grab and effort to stay inbounds. We need more Bobo.

Go Hawks.

As I have said it recently before, I’m not much into predictions these days for the Seattle Seahawks. For example, I no long preview games and predict outcomes. There’s other better writers out there that love to do that.

For me? That routine started to feel like a chore, and I hate chores!

That’s said, nothing prevents me from making a bold take when I see a good one. Right now, I gotta bold take on these 2023 Seattle Seahawks that I feel right good about, and am happy to share.

They are going to have a good defense this year. Yup. Bank on that.

Will it be elite? I don’t know, but through two games, they are top tennis the league at stopping the run, and that is at least something.

Last year, they were the worst run stopping defense I have seen in Seattle in well over twenty years. It hurt my soul watching that run defense. Make no mistake about it, being able to stop the run for the last two games is a good, positive baby step.

Now, I get it. A lot of naysayers will point out that these Seahawk defenders have been terrible against the pass in these same first couple games, and in each game, they gave up 31 points each. I won’t deny that. Those are horrible numbers, but you know what?

Chicken butt.

I think the pass defense is going to change in a big positive way, and I think it’s going to happen soon. Last week at Detroit, Seattle faced one of the better offenses in the league, they went against a quarterback who has had a lot of success against them, and they gave up a number of passes against more contested coverage than the week before.

What does this mean? It means that Seattle showed signs to tightening their cover three defense that they appear to be returning towards. I think they just need to few more games to gel with it, add more press with the corners, and sort through their best looks.

Let us remember that there are still a lot of new faces on this defense trying to build chemistry with each other. Chemistry with the Legion Of Boom did not happen over night. When Richard Sherman took over the left cornerback spot, he had to figure out how Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas played. When Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril came to town, they had to figure out on the fly how to pass rush with each other.

As that legendary defense formed, there were days where they hemorrhaged huge yards through the air. Russell Wilson had to try and win shootouts against Andrew Luck, and Matthew Stafford. In 2013, the year that led them to a Super Bowl win, the lowly Tampa Bay Bucs came into Seattle and put up huge yards and a bunch of points.

As Cliff Avril points out in the teams wonderful docs-series Season Of Boom, the core of Pete Carroll’s defense is “bend don’t break.” Carroll wants you to abandon the run and throw it. He wants to feature a defensive line for which the inside gaps are easily defended by big men, and he is willing to give up short gains through the air.

Ideally, this should lead to defenders developing natural instincts to where the ball will go, and then makes plays on them. In time, it allows them to play faster, and more decisive. That’s how Kam, Earl, Richard, and Brandon Browner eventually played together. They would concede certain amounts of yards, but as the field shrunk towards the red zone, the back of the end zone becomes an extra defender. That was the area of the field where a lot of their bigger plays would happen. A lot of turnovers were created down there, sacks would happen, and teams would often settle for field goals.

I think Pete Carroll is happy to give up yards if it means settling for field goals. To him, I think having a good scoring defense means more than how many yards of offense his defense gives up. In other words, if the defense gives up well over 300 yards through the air, but holds an offense to under 20 points, Carroll considers that really good defense.

The key to that whole philosophy is entirely dependent on the ability to stop the run. Through two games, Seattle is showing a good ability to do that. Last year at this time, they did not.

So, what’s the difference?

I kinda think, to some degree, Carroll is returning back to his old scheme up front again, at least enough to where he knows certain tenets of his core philosophy are followed, and namely the ones to which the A and B gaps of the interior portion of the line of scrimmage are always defended.

Truth be told, I don’t think Seattle is really operating much out of a 3-4 scheme like defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt was trying to run last year. Last week, against the Lions, Seattle ran the 3-4 less than twenty percent of the time.

Don’t get too caught up in the positional labeling that Seattle has on their team page with their roster, either. Guys who are listed as linebackers are playing a lot of defensive end through these games, and guys are listed as ends are playing a lot of three technique defensive tackle.

I think Seattle is heading back towards the 5-2 in their base defense, and then 4-2-5 nickel on what they anticipate to be passing downs. They want to have enough bodies around the line of scrimmage to discourage the run, and encourage the pass. This is a contrast to the weirdly anti Pete Carroll stuff they did in bunches last year that screamed “run at us in third and long, and you will get a first down” against teams like Tampa, the Saints, Raiders, and Panthers (all annoying losses in 2022).

I think a return to more 5-2 is a return to a defense that Carroll knows best.

During the LOB days, Seattle listed players on their roster like they were operating as a 4-3, but the bird’s eye look of this defense was always a 5-2 look in it’s base. Bruce Irvin was listed as a linebacker, but played at the line of scrimmage like a stand up defensive end. Red Bryant was listed as a defensive end, but he played like an extra defensive tackle. Carroll’s defenses were always hybrids, and I think they are returning to this hybrid philosophy. This is encouraging.

A big key moving forward now is for the back end to sync up. Highly drafted rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon gave us a positive glimpse last Sunday in Detroit that it could be on it’s way soon.

I thought the rookie played a really positive game being thrown into the fire against the Lions. His instincts and technique showed up well against the run, and his tackling was good with 5 credited stops. He also had a key 4th down pass defense.

Sure, he got burned badly on a flea flicker, but I think he got caught getting sucked into trying to do someone else’s job against the run then doing his assignment, and I think he’s going to learn form that quickly. Spoon is a smart instinctual cookie. There is a reason why this team wanted to draft him at five overall last Spring.

On the other side, Riq Woolen has scored strongly through two games with the Pro Football Focus gang. He is tailor made for Seattle to return to its cover three stuff.

In the back end, I sense that the safeties are working to figure each other out more. Julian Love is coming into the situation here from the Giants where he did a lot of two deep safety stuff. He is holding the fort at strong safety for Jamal Adams, and is adjusting to a new scheme of playing more in the box, and building chemistry with Quandre Diggs.

Julian Love is a good football player, and is going to figure it out. When Adams gets back, it will be interesting to see what Seattle does with these two in their nickel looks. Will the presence of Love allow for Adams to play the weak side linebacker role, or will Love be Seattle’s best option at nickel corner?

Hmmmmmm..

Now, I circle back to Devon Witherspoon. I think the key to the whole tasty taco is right here.

Much was made during training camp about Seattle trying Spoon at nickel. There was some concern that he wasn’t showing enough to be the left outside corner. I suspect that the plan always was for him to be the outside guy opposite of Woolen in the base defense, but I also think that Carroll and crew began to envision his potential of sliding into the slot like Jalen Ramsey did so well with the Rams for a few years.

Watching Tre Brown step in for Woolen was huge against the Lions last Sunday. Not only was he graded Seattle’s best performing defender by PFF, he might have just showed his coaches that he showed be the outside guy opposite of Woolen in the nickel defense. If this is the case, the guy who could really be in store for a big breakout year in 2023 is this Brown.

Seattle’s most ideal nickel look might feature Adams at linebacker next to Bobby Wagner or Jordyn Brooks, Diggs and Love at safety, Woolen and Brown outside, and Spoon at the inside nickel position. I think this could be the package that is most assured to both stop the run, but also provide top playmaking abilities against the pass, and provide the best blitz options.

Where are quarterbacks most likely to go on third down if Spoon shows well as the nickel? Nope, won’t likely be towards Woolen (they are showing that already). Maybe not towards the rookie so much as the season wears on.

Maybe the passer looks to a tight end covered by a linebacker. Maybe to Brown who just got a pick 6 against Jared Goff who hadn’t thrown an INT in what has felt like forever. Defenders will anticipate that more and be more ready in their drops.

I am saying it now, if Spoon is able to move inside and hold down that nickel spot, and Brown is able to get onto the field opposite of Woolen, and Adams plays more linebacker, I think the 4-2-5 is probably going to be Seattle’s strongest look on defense. I think this is what they are building towards.

The final piece of the whole enchilada is for the pass rush to come together. Make no mistake, through two games thus far, it’s been bad.

Seattle needs their pass rushers to build chemistry together. I kinda have a lot of faith that it is coming.

Guys like Uchenna Nwuso, Boye Mafe, Jarran Reed, Dre’Mont Jones, Mario Edwards are already making plays in the backfield against the run. They just need to feel each other as pass rushers. Darrell Taylor is going to be a guy to factor as a rusher, as well.

It may not come together like we all want it to this week against Carolina. Jarran Reed as been sitting out of practice with a sore groin, and if he’s not going to play, the Panthers might feel inclined to really test the run defense. I think Seattle has players who can still hold up inside like rookie Cameron Young, and reserve defensive tackle Myles Adams, but neither guy is Reed right now.

The two players who probably need to most figure each other out on the DL are probably Jones and Nwuso. I think Seattle is envisioning them as their new Bennett-Avril combo. I suspect Seattle will want to see how they move together with stunts, but really, they just want these two younger established vets to work together knowing how each one rushes.

Bennett and Avril communicated with each other a lot during the 2013 campaign in order to figure out their best rush plans. This took time. It was about a month or so into the season before dividends started paying off.

I think we could see a similar chemistry about to brew with Jones and Nwosu, along with others factoring in. Edwards has an ability to rush inside. Reed is a good inside pass rusher. Adams has shown potential. I think the team wants Cameron Young to develop as a rusher inside. Boye Mafe, I feel is on the verge of being a really good edge rusher. Darrell Taylor is already a good edge rusher. Derick Hall is a rookie trying to figure out his rush plans, but I think he’s got too much natural talents to not come on as the season wears along.

Seattle has a lot of decent pieces. I will even go as far to say that I think they have the potential to be a lot better of a collective than what people want to give them credit for right now.

So, yeah. I’m going to say it. I think the Seahawks are going to be good on defense this year.

This isn’t just something that I am writing about to wish it into existence, either. This is carefully reasoned stuff I am scribing. Simply put, Seattle has too much talent in their secondary to not be good, and I think they have just enough up front. It is going to come together this year.

I think they are going to be good on defense, and I think they are going to continue being really good on offense with Geno Smith and company. That should equal double digit wins this year, and another run at the playoffs.

Will it be good enough to overtake the 49ers?

Like I said, I’m not into making predictions, but I think they have put out their documents-series The Season Of Boom beyond the reason of this year being the tenth anniversary of the Super Bowl win over the Broncos. I think it has been put together to inspire these players and the fans in the stands.

Yeah. I think good things are about to happen. You heard it here. You will soon see.

Go Hawks.

You can think whatever negative nilly thoughts you want about Pete Carroll, and his 2023 Seattle Seahawks. I will not try to steer you one way, or the other.

You can believe, with all of your soul, that so long as he remains coach of the team, they will never reach the Super Bowl again because he is too old and has too much “lost his way.” Okay.

You can also be firmly intrenched within a staunch mindset that Geno Smith is nothing more than an expensive run of the mill quarterback who will never take this team far, and they need to draft a quarterback next year in order to be cheap at the position, and load up on veteran talent elsewhere on the roster. Cool. You are not alone in those thoughts.

You can also, of course, believe that, despite this surprising win on the road against the trendy Lions, these Seahawks are still due a down season this year. You know what? They might be. We will see.

What I think very few people would find a hard time discrediting is the fact that, historically, Pete Carroll coached Seattle Seahawk teams have done very well coming off of tough losses like this team faced last week at home against the Rams. Much was made this week about how Seattle was in trouble heading into Detroit. I, myself, had my doubts, but I don’t think enough folks who have followed this team for a living reflected on how good of a coach Carroll is at getting his players to respond after a tough loss, even though he is in his thirteenth year now coaching this team, and he has been doing exactly that for years now.

I would also say that, even though I had doubts about this matchup, I wouldn’t predict a Detroit Lions victory over this team. I don’t get involved in previewing and predicting games for the Seahawks anymore on this blog. Partly, it is because it has allowed my writing to become too formulaic and thus feeling more like a chore, but another reason is because over these last few years, these Pete Carroll coached Seahawks have become less predictable.

It is almost like the only thing I can predict is for them not to be predictable.. unless maybe when it is coming off of a bad loss. When that happens, many of these iterations of the Pete Carroll Seahawks tend to come out swinging the following week.

This week was one of those weeks, and while it was by far perfect, it was a thrilling game to watch. After all, the Seahawks had to travel on the road and face a team with a loud and fired up fan base, better offensive and defensive lines, and a collection of skill players who are more than capable of going toe to toe what Seattle has.

Given the fact that Seattle was down both starting offensive tackles, it should have felt surprising that they were as competitive as they were, even for much of this game feeling like was still going to become a likely loss. As I watched this game, I was preparing to write a piece about “moral victories.”

But instead these Pete Carroll Seattle Seahawks prevailed, and they did it by doing the very stuff against the Lions that I asked for them to do in a piece I wrote last week. Good on them.

Offensively, they stayed firmly with the run enough to allow pro bowl quarterback Geno Smith to throw pretty play action passes that kept this offensive humming. Yes, Seattle did not net a bunch of yards on the ground in this game, but 22 carries by the backs for a meager 62 yards kept the Lion defenders (knowing Seattle was down two starting tackles) having to honor the run, and that allowed for Geno to go 32-41 for 328 and 2 touchdowns with most of those throws coming off of said play action.

I said this last week, and I will say it again, this new and improved version of Geno Smith is very good at play action. He is tall enough, athletic enough with a strong enough arm, and the accuracy needed to throw pretty down field passes off of heavy run formations. Many of Seattle’s best plays of the game came off of this stuff. They royally messed up last week against the Rams not establishing this, but they didn’t make that mistake again here. Bravo!

Run the freaking ball, and Geno should be good to deliver. This should be the formula the rest of the way. Some games, the run will get going well enough that Ken Walker and Zach Charbonnet will be the guys with all the fancy stats. Other times, it’s going to be Geno, and Tyler Lockett, DK, and others because of the commitment to these runners.

But just run the fricking ball.

Defensively, this team is still a work in progress, yet again. I said it last week, and I will say it again, I’m not super duper in love with this scheme Seattle is running. They do things that make it hard on me, but I will say that, at times, they show flashes that makes things interesting, and hopeful. Through two games now, at times, they will blow up plays in the backfield, create some turn over, and at others, they will get sliced and diced, and give up points.

In this game, they again gave up a ton of points and yards through the air, but then reserve cornerback Tre Brown turned into The Black Panther and took over the fourth quarter by sacking Jared Goff on one play, and then picking him off for 6 points on the next. Then, to complete the circle of feasting and famine, Brown gave up a touchdown in the end zone on the next series.

This is sooooooo Seattle Seahawks defense under Clint Hurtt, it seems. Honestly, it doesn’t feel that far off from the Seahawks defense under Ken Norton Junior. People will say that this is really Pete Carroll, but the vibe I get is that Carroll grants his defensive coordinators a bunch of autonomy to call their own schemes until he has to step in and fix. Hopefully, it fixes itself soon.

One positive that I can say about this defense against the Lions is that rookie Devin Witherspoon looks like the real deal at cornerback, and that is pretty cool. He had a few rookie moments like getting beat on a flea flicker, but the dude hadn’t played in the preseason at all, and is just now working himself in. He had a few nice pass defenses, and a really good open field tackle for as minimal gain early in the game. For his first professional start, I thought this was a nice start. I am excited about his potential moving forward.

It was also nice to see defensive tackle Dre’Mont Jones getting his first sack with the team after not factoring in much against the Rams, and then drawing criticism from fans and media because of the expensive nature of the contract. So far, Jones is on pace to get about 8 sacks this season. Not bad for an interior guy at all, but we will see.

Also another guy who is on a nice pace now is Geno Smith. We can all point to the nice game Tyler Lockett had, and DK, and the tight ends, but Geno had to enter into Ford Field with reserve offensive tackles Jake Curhan and Stone Forsythe starting (and playing surprisingly solid) against the dreaded Aidan Hutchinson and company, in front of a huge crowd of loud, jacked up, blue ski masked Detroit fans, and he had to stay patient, poised, and deliver, and when the team needed him most, deliver a walk off touchdown in overtime.

Outside of the one play towards the final minutes of regulation when bad Russell Wilson entered into his body, and demonically possessed him into truly one of the most bizarre running around in circles like a chicken without his head sacks that I have ever seen, Geno Smith had an outstanding game, under the given circumstances. That walk off touchdown pass on the road in OT is why he’s being paid the big dollars. Others played well around him, but Geno Smith delivered like as high priced quarterback should. Good job, Geno Smith.

So, yeah. You can away pine for Michael Penix Junior all you want to be the next starting quarterback for the Seattle Seahawks, and that’s fine. I get it.

I dig Big Penix Energy, too, and having a talented quarterback on a cheap rookie contract is gold in this league, but the reality of it is that, if Geno keeps playing this way, Seattle isn’t going to be anywhere near where they have to be in order to draft a quarterback like that. So, maybe it’s best to just embrace Geno as the guy, and get behind him.

After all, the Seahawks face the Panthers back at home next week with rookie quarterback Bryce Young, and then travel to New York to face a suspect Giants team on Monday Night Football. It is entirely possible that in a couple weeks, Seattle is sitting at 3-1 heading into their early bye week.

What felt like what was sure to be a long season last Sunday against the Rams, and gave me moments of thinking about Seattle having an off year that could lead to another top ten pick, now this win makes me think that Seattle can still do serious damage to other teams this year, if they keep together fighting through adversity like this. Now, it feels like a lot is more possible, and I like that feeling.

Make no mistake about it, going to Detroit and pulling off this win without Charles Cross, Abe Lucas, Jamal Adams, Boye Mafe, and for much of the game, Riq Woolen, .. yeah, this sort of feat is a thing that can give this youthful roster a lot of confidence heading into New York, into Cincinnati, Baltimore, and Dallas. After all, Detroit is supposed to be that sexy team that this year, aren’t they?

So, you can doubt these Seahawks all you want. You can even pine for a new head coach, quarterback, defense, ownership group, etc.

The one thing I would caution against is predicting what this team will do moving forward. Like many other teams in this league right now, it is still too early to figure out what they are, but right now, I wouldn’t bet against them. Not yet, anyways.

Also, after watching this game unfold like it did, I now have the feeling that Seattle, and its head coach, is an entity in this league that just really pisses off a lot of people, and is a festering itch that just won’t go away. Like, right now, there are a lot of Lion fans who hate this team kinda like maybe how Packer fans do, Panther fans, Giant fans probably do, Dallas and Philly fans, and, of course all those 49er faithful fans.

I think fans for teams in other markets are desperate to believe that Seattle sucks, and when their team gets beaten by them, it’s like watching their ex happily hitched to a short nerdy dude who works for Radio Shack and drives a Geo Metro. It makes them wonder what he has going on for himself that they do not possess themselves.

Honestly, I think that is what Pete Carroll is. If you are a hater, he is that weird old elf who is banging your ex inside his Metro, and you want to burn your eyeballs out with flaming marshmallow sticks whenever you see his team win. Each time Carroll and company win, you take another step closer to becoming either a Sith apprentice, or a Reddit troll.

As a life long Seahawk fan, I appreciate rooting for a team that has a coach who annoys people in that jolly sort of way. In fact, I kinda revel in it.

I would even bet that there is a smallish faction of Seahawk fans who are pining for this team to collapse this year so that that change finally occurs at the top, and they are annoyed by this win. To them, I drink their tears of frustration.

Will Pete Carroll get this team back to a Super Bowl? I dunno, nobody does, but I am going to have fun finding out.

Go Hawks.

Well, we are now enough days past the debacle of season home opener the Seattle Seahawks had against the godless Lost Angeles Rams, and the dust has calmly settled for me. I have one big wish for my Seahawks this year.

I don’t need them to get back to the Super Bowl, or the NFC championship game. Don’t get me wrong, I would be elated beyond tears if they did, but I don’t need it. I’m not even a hundred percent sure I absolutely need them to get back to the playoffs right now.

What I need most from this team is for them to really get back to Pete Carroll football. That’s it, and I am sure this probably makes many snort laugh at that suggestion.

I get it. Pete is not the chiseled offensive minded Ken doll that Sean McVay is, or the cool young hipster offensive guru that Kyle Shanahan appears to be, but Pete Carroll football has a clear, and concise, and proven winning identity.

So, right now, I am trying to not overreact to the toilet bowl flushing worthy performance that just happened against the Blink-182 listening Rams, but I think the biggest issue that I see with the Hawks right now is that they lack a clear identity. What was the identity of that offense? And what exactly is that defense, anyways?

Last Sunday, they appeared more offensively concerned with getting the pass game going over the run when the run looked quite promising in the first halve. Weirdly, it appeared that Seattle chose to go downfield even more when the two starting tackles went out in the third quarter. Shane Waldron should have went to more of the run when Aaron Donald starting feeling his groove after two of the best players on the offensive line was out of the game. It’s that simple.

Defensively, I don’t know what to say. As bad as the offense was in the second half, I kinda trust that Geno and the Gang will correct themselves as we get further into games more than I trust what this defense is right now, and that pains me to express this as a Seahawks fan, and as a Pete Carroll one, as well.

For years now, I have been waiting on this defense to get back to being at least formidable. Personally, I fear that under Clint Hurtt, they are going to be caught up trying to do too much up front, and on the backend with all these “multiple looks” – and thus nobody is really going to master anything, and therefore, we will continue to see an underwhelming defense for yet another season under Carroll, sadly. I really hope I am wrong.

So, for me, I need to see some reincarnation of the vintage Pete Carroll LOB styled football again. I need to see a more simplified defense that plays fast and furious and connected.

I don’t know if I need to see them fully abandon more of the 3-4 stuff (although, I would kinda welcome it), but I need a better plan. In my inexpert observations, I really think I am going to sound like a broken record abut this, but I think Hurtt still has these guys doing way too much.

A lot was made on social media and on the airwaves about how defensive lineman Dre’Mont Jones didn’t show up last Sunday, but I don’t think that was on him that much. I saw him at times playing inside at 3 tech defensive tackle, and at other times standing up like a linebacker. Even for as versatile and productive as Michael Bennett was back in the day, he was squarely a hand in the dirt dude who fired out of his stance, won with leverage, quickness, and strength at both DE, and both DT spots. Just let Jones have the chance to do that in this scheme for a long duration, and then judge his play. Keep it simple, and clear for him.

As for the DE/OLBs, I think the same thing. At times Uchenna Nwuso, Darrell Taylor, and Boye Mafe were rushing the edges, and at other times (in order to create zone blitzes) they were dropping into coverage. These dudes should be your primary pass rushers whenever they are on the field.

I do not care what label is put on this scheme, whether they run a bear front, 3-4, or if they show more 4-3 stuff, if you drop one of these guys off into coverage, you are taking one of your best rushers out of the pass rush scenario. Seattle has been going this for a long enough now over the past few years where I have to imagine that it is no surprise to a seasoned, smart quarterback such as Matthew Stafford, or a sharp play caller such as frat boy Sean McVay.

This is the biggest reason why I have been clamoring for Pete to get back to more of the 4-3 aspect of his older scheme. In the old LOB defense, each guy up front had his designed thing to do, and Dan Quinn had very defined roles for them to play. Big Red Bryant played a monster run stuffing end that took half of the side of the field away to run towards. Brandon Mebane controlled, and often blew up the gap between guard and center. Michael Bennett mixed as a power end with Bryant, but was really the primary pass rushing DT. Cliff Avril and Chris Clemons were the speedy rush ends always going forward and not dropping. Even the reserves had their defined jobs, and did them well.

I think Boye Mafe has too much talent at the line of scrimmage to be dropping into coverage. I think he is a natural defensive end, chiseled out of a defensive end factory. He naturally plays the run very well, keeps containment, and I think he has traits to be an explosive, and reliable pass rusher. I think Darrell Taylor is more of a natural 4-3 end, as well. I think Uchenna Nwuso is more than capable of being a 4-3 rush end or a SAM linebacker, and is probably the only guy out of the edge rushers who, at least at this stage, truly fits either scheme. When I look at rookie second round pick Derick Hall, I see the second coming of Frank Clark. He’s a defensive end, to me.

If Seattle wanted to do this, I honestly think they could line up more in their old 4-3 base scheme, have Mafe as the Leo end, Dre’ Jones as the 3 tech, Jarran Reed at nose tackle, Mario Edwards playing the big 5 tech spot, and Nwosu being the old Bruce Irvin SAM, with Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks at the starting off ball linebackers, and I think this would be a formidable enough base front for this team moving forward. In nickel, Nwuso becomes a primary rush end like Chad Brown was way back in the day, Edwards kicks inside mixing in with Jones and Reed, and Taylor, Mafe, and Hall mix in as the other rush ends. Simple, clear, and defined. This is what I would prefer seeing, but that is just my take.

On the back end, especially when Jamal Adams finally gets back, I feel like they could return to more cover three, thus keeping Adams in the box (a la Kam Chancellor), while mixing in some press, and making it harder on receivers to get into their routes. They have the talent now to get back to this style of play, and keep it simplified enough to where each guy clearly knows what his assignments our and the assignments of his mates. This way they play fast and confidently, and they can adjust the coverage calls pre-snap if they need to, just like the LOB guys did back in the day.

For me, I feel like Seattle has collected enough good young talent for Pete to steer this thing back to the scheme he knows best, and because he knows his old scheme inside and out, he can correct issues at they materialize. It feels so obvious to me, that is would nearly be a dereliction of duty to not do this, in my opinion.

Even rookie fifth round DT Mike Morris on Sunday played well enough to look like a potential starting 3 technique on base downs in the future. I would like him to have that defined role moving forward and learn to just master that, and maybe he develops well enough that it kicks Dre’ Jones to at 5 tech role outside more like Bennett.

Personally, though, I don’t know if we see Pete making this shift back to his older defensive scheme (at least this year). Honestly, I wouldn’t bet on it.

I suspect he is at a stage in his coaching career where he wants to elevate young coaches, and give guys like Hurtt opportunities to develop their own schemes, and Hurtt seems very steadfast in his beliefs in the Vic Fangio 3-4 stuff that he learned in his time in Chicago, and why wouldn’t he? Fangio’s defenses are consistently very good, but I digress. My greater point is that I think Carroll has likely elevated Hurtt to defensive coordinator in order to give him the autonomy to develop his own vision as a coach, and Carroll doesn’t want to strip that away from him.

Let us remember, Carroll was a long time defensive backs coach and coordinator in the league before he got opportunities for head coaching. He consistently credits legendary Viking coach Bud Grant for believing in him and giving him a great opportunity. He also credits 49er legend Bill Walsh. So, I can very much see, at this stage in his life, Carroll wanting to give bright young coaches platforms of similar opportunity. I think that matters to him. Personally, if this is true, I think it’s very commendable, but also, I really want wins, Baby.

So, we will see where this defensive scheme goes, and how well it adapts. If I can’t see a return to Carrol’s old scheme, at least let me see the defined identity to what this defense is. Right now, I can’t determine what it is, and that troubles me.

Offensively, there is no reason why Seattle should not lean more into the run game the rest of this year. As I watched the play calling against the Rams defense, I was reminded of the opening of the 2018 season when Brian Schottenhiemer was trying to let Russell Wilson cook too much against good defenses in Denver and Chicago and the offense looked ridiculously out of sorts. Pete Carroll stepped in and mandated a whole lot more of Chris Carson, and for the rest of the way, while Russ wasn’t cooking so much, he did look like the play action king of the entire NFL, and you know what? They were a playoff team when many thought that maybe they wouldn’t be after the complete tear down of the LOB.

There is no excuse in the world why Pete Carroll shouldn’t be steering Shane Waldron back to an offensive attack that allows Geno Smith the same benefit. Geno is built to be a quality play action passer in this league. He’s tall, athletic, throws accurately, and he tosses a great deep ball.

Something tells me that Carroll will step in and correct this offense as he did in 2018, if pass happy play calling continues with bad results. It might likely happen this Sunday in Detroit against the fired up Lions. Geno Smith, after what he faced during the second half against the Rams, might actually welcome more a committed ground attack.

I also think there’s a chance that we see some better effort on the defense, even if this defense, again, underwhelms here and there. Bobby Wagner didn’t come back to Seattle to play garbage defense. Now that the dust has been knocked off of a number of defenders who didn’t play the preseason, they might be looking to prove that the second half against the Rams an outlier to who and what they are. Maybe, possibly, the Lions will be the team caught napping a bit.

But given the way Dan Campbell is, I think the more likely scenario is that the Lions are going to be pretty jacked up, and more than ready for this game. After all, they went into Green Bay last January, beat the Packers, and spoiled their chances of getting to the playoffs, only to watch Seattle advance into the post season instead of them. They might have circled this game on their calendar the minute it came out.

So, I am not going to pick the Seahawks to win this game on Sunday. Actually, I’m not going to do anymore pieces about predicting games and outcomes. The routine of that is not as interesting to me these days as I continue to write about the Hawks. Instead, I would just like to offer weekly thoughts and musings about the Seahawks as this season progresses.

The thought I have this week is that, so long as Pete Carroll remains the Commander and Chief of the Seattle Seahawks, I want to see them get back to his formula that won a Super Bowl a decade ago. I want to see unapologetically Pete Carroll football, and then let the chips fall where they may.

In recent years, I think Carroll has drifted away from that, but he doesn’t have a prima donna, legacy obsessed quarterback that he is trying to appease anymore. He can get back to where he belongs, and these players will follow him lock step. He can be a staunchly old schooled, ground and pound, defensive minded head coach who maximizes the talents on his roster, and then pisses off hoards of pass happy millennials and Gen Z’ers on Twitter X.

After all, it is all about the ball. The team that possesses the ball longer, and takes the ball away is the team most likely to win. That’s the formula. So, just do that.

Go Hawks.

If you are reading this blog, you are likely a big time Seahawks fan. I mean, why else would you waste your time with it? Maybe you are just here for my typoes and half-baked proses, but who knows.

If you are, in fact, at diehard Twelve, I am not going to tell you how you should handle the pain and misery of watching the Seahawks stink up Lumen Field in a 30-13 loss to a Rams team that wasn’t expected to be very good this year. If you threw your beer at your television set when DK Metcalf started losing his mind in the final minutes of the fourth quarter, I support that. If you were trying to stab out your eyeballs with toothpicks watching Seattle’s lack of pass coverage and pass rush, I totally get it. If you want Pete Carroll and John Schneider fired, okay. Twelves need to feel their feels.

For me, I’m kinda not all that upset with this loss. I mean, it sucks a nasty wet fart to lose like that, especially to the mother stinking Rams, but I just still see a lot of silver linings for this team.

Truthfully, I never really jumped onto the bandwagon that was considering Seattle to be a serious contender this year. As much as I have wanted to believe that, deep down I have accepted a more realistic idea that we are probably another draft class away from reaching that status.

So, for me, 2023 is about continuing to play young guys and developing them through the course of a season. If they win a bunch of games doing this, that’s fantastic. If they struggle and lose a lot of games, but still stay somewhat competitive in those matches, I think that can also be very ideal.

In many ways, I think these 2023 Seahawks are in a win-win situation. Winning a lot of games now means that they are a contender, and if so, then that’s super. Losing, however, for me, simply means another draft next year to which they will be picking in the top ten range, thus further building up a deep, youth, talented roster, and as many know, next year’s draft class appears to be potentially a very loaded one at quarterback, and anyone who reads this blog knows how much I dig Geno Smith, but I also see the value of having a talented young passer on a cheap rookie contract, too, if that comes to be the situation.

So, as much as I have been hoping another fun season for this team potentially winning a bunch of games, perhaps going further in the playoffs, there has been another side of me envisioning scenarios where Seattle falls short, and I sorta think that’s okay in the long run.

One scenario that I felt could lead to a lot of losses is losing a number of key starters. What happens if Geno gets injured for a month or more? What if we lose Tyler Lockett, or K9, Riq Woolen, or Quandre Diggs?

In this game against the Rams, Seattle was in fairly decent control of it heading into halfttime. Then they lost starting right tackle Abe Lucas, and then left tackle Charles Cross went out of the game; two of the very brightest talents on their roster. The lack of depth behind both was instantly felt.

Seattle couldn’t pass block or run block well enough with the reserves, and Geno Smith is not the style of quarterback who is going to dodge a heavy rush with his legs and agility like vintage Russell Wilson had years back. He looked constantly hurried and flustered, got sacked a bunch, and sorta lost composure going for a deep go route to DK Metcalf on third and four instead of opting for a shorter completion.

A strong narrative of this game will be about how badly Seattle’s offense played in the second half, and to be clear, they did. They needed to find a rhythm and they needed better poise. I would also say that the aggressive attacking style defense that Pete Carroll and Clint Hurtt had kinda been promising didn’t show up on any level outside of stopping the run, and that did not help matters at all. They were gawd stinking awful on third downs.

The truth is that the Rams didn’t need a run game with how open their receivers were for Matt Stafford. I’m no football film junky, but I sensed a lot of soft coverages. Riq Woolen looked bad. Tre Brown looked bad. Bobby Wagner, Jordan Love, and Quandre Diggs didn’t look great, in my opinion. There was no pressing receivers at the line of scrimmage. This felt like a Ken Norton Junior 2018-2019 Seahawk defense. They played the run well, but didn’t get home on the quarterback, and couldn’t cover to save themselves.

Also, I never got a sense of the disruptive inside pass rushing force that Dre’Mont Jones was supposed to be after signing a monster deal to come to Seattle, and supposedly be the next Michael Bennett. Jarran Reed looked more impactful of a DT stuffing the run, blocking a kick, and putting at least some pressure on Matthew Stafford.

From, what I saw, Clint Hurtt had Jones doing a lot, from being in a three point stance as a three tech, to standing up as what looked like an inside blitzing linebacker? We will get more into the whole concept of different looks in a moment.

While it was fun to see edge rushers like Boye Mafe and Uchenna Nwuso stuff the run and get tackles for losses, nobody got home on Stafford. The coverage and the pass rush were, in no way, connected in this game. That was a huge disappointment for me.

In that regard, as I was watching this lack of “Pete Carroll football”, I was pretty darn annoyed, to be honest. I would imagine that it’s tough to play an attacking style defense if you are willing to give up easy completion after easy competition. It makes me wonder what the plan is, and here is my greater point and concern.

There was a simplicity with the old 4-3 LOB defense. It allowed good, talented, smart football players to play fast, and adjust quickly to things pre snap. Everyone understood the structure, and it freed them up.

To use a music analogy, some musical snobs can scoff at bands such as the Ramones back in the day for having simple cords, but the simplicity freed them to be more precise, and exact, and fast, and they recorded a boat load of catchy tunes in the process over the years. Sometimes, less notes is a good thing.

The Vic Fangio 3-4 that Hurtt has been trying to adapt calls more aggressive coverages and mixed looks in attempts to send pressures different ways, and confuse quarterbacks. What I fear is happening right now is some weird nowhere land in between both philosophies.. like Carroll is trying to strive for some middle ground with trying something new with a lot more notes and meshing it with what he knows in his cover three stuff.

I am, of course, speculating on all of this, and what do I really know about NFL defenses, anyways? – But I will also say this following thing.

I really miss Carroll’s old 4-3 cover three scheme that was consistently really good against the run, was good at getting to the quarterback, was willing to be bend don’t break against the pass, made timely plays in the backfield, and had a great mixture of solid vets, a few pro bowlers, and had great depth with young up and comers. I wish Carroll would get back to that scheme. San Francisco runs it. The New York Jets run it. Dallas runs it. It is still relevant in this league.

I want Pete Carroll to be The Ramones again. I pine for it.

What I also really, super duper, big time wish for is that DK Metcalf would get past his occasional bush league WWF antics out on the field. In the past, I have been more forgiving of him taunting defenders and losing his cool than many others have been. I chalked it up to immaturity, and have felt he would outgrow it over time.

Well, he has been in this league for five years now. It is time to grow up. His taunting in the late fourth killed any remote opportunity for Geno Smith to mount a late comeback. It showed lousy leadership. It also made him look like a total idiot, and it doesn’t look super great that he laid a cheap shot hit on Rams corner Ahkello Witherspoon, either.

DK Metcalf isn’t dumb, and this is why this continual behavior has become so damn frustrating for me. He should know better by now.

I think he needs to decide what he wants to be. Does he want to reach his fullest potential as a pro, win a Super Bowl, be an eventual Hall of Fame player? If so, he needs to play smarter, and not put up dumb bulletin board material in the Rams’ locker room days before the game by talking trash about their secondary and fans, and not start jawing in the final critical moments of the game, and taking an unnecessary cheap shot on a defenseless defender just to look like the tougher dude.

DK Metcalf is starting to come across as a dude who wants to trash talk in order to get under the skin of the opposition, but when the going gets tough for himself, he loses his cool and acts like a chump in the aftermath. He’s gotta get past that shit. He makes too much money to not be better than that.

So, yeah, in some ways, I’m not sweating this loss. The Giants got boat raced at home and lost to the Cowboys 40-0. The mighty Bengals got beat up by the Browns. Pittsburgh lost badly at home to the 49ers. The Super Bowl champs lost at home to the Lions. Shit happens in football, and far be it for me to be shocked that a Rams team, two years removed from winning a Super Bowl, came up to Seattle and took it to maybe an overconfident Seahawk roster.

But not seeing any real step forward with a defense that was promised to be better, and not seeing great composure by highly priced vets like Metcalf, yeah, those are harder things for me to watch as a diehard Seattle Seahawk fan. Those are things that I really hope that I don’t continue seeing in 2023.

Right now, I’m trusting that Pete Carroll is going to get both of these things turned around. Frankly, I don’t have any other choice.

I also don’t need the Seahawks to go into Detroit and beat the Lions next Sunday. If they do, then that’s awesome. What I do need to see is a way better effort, and way better composure, and way better fight.

If the effort is there, along with the composure and fight, and they lose a close match, I will not fault this team. The Lions look like a really tough out, they will be more rested, and they will be at home in front of a stadium full of jacked up fans. If Seattle manages to beat them on their turf, under those conditions, this miserable game against these super annoying Rams will long be forgotten in my mind.

Here’s to hoping for that. Go Hawks.

Well, here we are just a couple days before the Seahawks travel to play their final preseason game in Green Bay, and I am ready to project my final roster. I don’t image we will see many starters play in that matchup, if any.

No matter. Through training camp and these first two preseason games, I think I have seen enough. If I am the brain trust of Pete Carroll and John Schneider, here is my list of players on my active roster heading into the first game of the season agains the Rams.

Quarterback: Geno Smith, Drew Lock, Holton Ahlers (3)

I have Seattle carrying three quarterbacks. Geno is the established starter, Lock looks better in the system this year than he did at this point last year, and Ahlers is too interesting as a duo threat quarterback not keep around in some sort of Taysom Hill styled way. If I am Shane Waldron, I’m pleading for Ahlers to be kept in order to further expand the playbook of my offense.

Running Back: Ken Walker III, Zach Charbonnet, DeeJay Dallas, Ken McIntosh (4)

K9 and Charbonnet are my one two punch with Dallas and McIntosh as my depth players. I was tempted to carry five backs with rookie SaRodrick Thompson, but I think Seattle can get away with placing him on the practice squad.

Wide Receiver: DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith Njigba, Jake Bobo, Cody Thompson, Tyjon Lindsey (6)

This in the position group is muddied right now with JSN’s twist injury, and Dee Eskridge facing a six game suspension. I believe that undrafted rookie Jake Bobo is a lock to make the club. He feels like a classic big bodied west coast offensive possession receiver who gets it. Cody Thompson has been in the system for a few years now and will probably be kept as a valuable depth player at least until JSN is ready to go. The real surprise is another undrafted rookie Tyjon Lindsey making the cut. Seattle needs a reliable returner who isn’t Tyler Lockett or JSN, and Lindsey showed out big time against Dallas making a spectacular punt return at a pivotal point in the game.

Tight End: Will Dissly, Noah Fant, Coby Parkinson (3)

Seattle has a great three headed monster at tight end. This is a fun position group.

Offensive Line: Charles Cross, Damien Lewis, Evan Brown, Phil Haynes, Abe Lucas, Stone Forsythe, Olu Oluwatimi, Anthony Bradford, Jake Curhan (9)

Cross, Lewis, Brown, Haynes, and Lucas should be the starters. Oluwatimi is the backup center who could also be looked at as depth at guard. Curhan also has position flexibility at tackle and guard. Bradford should continue to battling Haynes for starter reps at right guard, and Forysthe provides value as the backup left tackle. Seattle has enough player flexibility to go a bit lighter on the OL with a couple guys stashed on the practice squad.

Interior Defensive Line: Dre’Mont Jones, Jarran Reed, Mario Edwards, Myles Adams, Cam Young, Jacob Sykes (6)

It will be interesting to see if Seattle adds here with a trade for, or a released veteran, but I also kinda sense from Carroll that they might like their DTs more than fans and media types do. Reed is the starting nose tackle. Adams and Young provide flexibility to play nose and 3 tech. Jones, Edwards, and Sykes are the DT/DE types. Promising rookie Mike Morris starts the season on the PUP list, which is kind of a bummer.

Edge Rusher: Uchenna Nwosu, Boye Mafe, Derick Hall, Darrell Taylor, Tyreke Smith, Levi Bell (6)

I think Boye Mafe is the starter opposite of Nwosu even if Darrell Taylor is healthy enough to start the season and isn’t traded; he looks that good, and he looks ready to emerge in year two as a pass rushing threat. I kinda think that Taylor could be trade bait, but we will see. Derick Hall looks Frank Clark-promising, and Levi Bell has been a preseason star through two preseason games. Tyreke Smith brings a tough physicality, and ideally, should be kept. Seattle is DEEEEEEEP at the edges, and I think that is exactly how they want it.

Inside Linebacker: Bobby Wagner, Devin Bush, Jordyn Brooks (3)

I am going to make the bold prediction that Jordyn Brooks is on the active roster in week one. On paper, this makes Seattle light at middle linebacker for a team that is operating out of more 3-4, but I think that they are going to mix up their looks more, and not be so much a true 3-4 team as some would have it. I also think Jamal Adams is going to fit into this group as a nickel linebacker, and play a lot of that, but we will see. Also, could Levi Bell serve as an inside backer on occasion? It’s an interesting thought as Michael Bennett as described him as a Swiss army knife player.

Cornerback: Riq Woolen, Devon Witherspoon, Mike Jackson, Tre Brown, Artie Burns (5)

Seattle is very solidly four deep at corner with Woolen, ‘Spoon, Jackson, and Brown. All four of these guys are starter types in this league. ‘Spoon probably starts his career as their nickel corner but will eventually be an outside starter in the base defense, as well, I suspect. Burns provides quality veteran depth. Where is Coby Bryant, you ask? Hmm..

Safety: Quandre Diggs, Jamal Adams Julian Love, Coby Bryant (4)

Diggs and Adams are the starters, and Cody Bryant will transition to backup safety while possibly mixing in at corner, as well. I suspect Jordan Love becomes the “starting” nickel strong safety when Adams plays more of a nickel linebacker role. This position group provides Seattle with a crazy amount of positional flexibility on the back end.

Special Teams: Jason Myers, Michael Dickson, Chris Stoll (3)

Seattle has a pro bowl kicker, and pro bowl punter, and some dude to play long snapper.

Final thoughts about this projected 53 and the Seahawks heading towards the regular season

I don’t know how realistic it is for Seattle to cary three QBs but I don’t want them to lose Ahlers to another team by trying to stash him on the practice squad. Therefore, I hope he is rostered and they find certain ways of using him on Sundays while trying to develop his game as a passer. It would be fun to have a Taysom Hill type in Seattle.

I also do not know how realistic it is for Seattle to cary six edge rushers. Five seems more realistic, but I love the potential of all six of those guys.

In that, if Seattle were to move a player for more interior DL or MLB bolstering, I think Darrell Taylor would likely bring the most back in return. He’s a good pass rusher and young enough to think that there is still upside to his game, and because he redshirted injured his rookie season, he is a restricted free agent next Spring. A team trading for him would have club control over him next year. I think Philly, with their log jam at DT, might serve as an interesting trade partner considering that their current DC was on the Seahawk staff last year.

Heading into the season, I was excited about JSN mixing in right away as the slot receiver, and alas, we are probably going to have to wait a couple games for that. The Dee Eskridge suspension looms bigger now. Seattle is going to need someone who can reliably hold down the slot until JSN is ready. As fun as he’s been in the preseason, Jake Bobo is probably not that guy. Maybe this is an opportunity for Cody Thompson to finally make his mark. He’s been a guy on the fringe of the roster who they have liked for a while.

The JSN wrist injury really buggers up what I wanted to do with this final roster. I don’t want to PUP him and lose him for a full month of games, and ideally, I also don’t want to carry six receivers. In result, I chose to go light at middle linebacker for a while by adding an extra receiver. That’s scary for a team that wants to function in a 3-4 base defense more often.

I have very popular LB/FB and special team’s caption Nick Bellore not making the cut, and that’s probably the biggest stunner. I’m not convinced Seattle will do this, but I was willing to make him the sacrificial lamb in order to keep Levi Bell and Tyreke Smith on this roster. Bell can play fullback, and looks like someone who could be a special teams ace in the making with his motor.

I have five undrafted rookies making this squad with Ahlers, Bobo, Lindsey, Sykes, and Bell. I think their undrafted free agent class is that good. Seattle continues to be a great destination for undrafted players. That is a big aspect of Pete Carroll’s “always compete’ culture. Doesn’t matter where you have been drafted, if at all. What matters is what you did with your opportunities. All five of these guys have showed out with theirs.

On Sunday, we will see start seeing how this final roster shakes out. This is how I would do it, but I’m bracing for the reality that Seattle will likely do it a bit differently. Cool. I’m excited to see how it shakes out.

Go Hawks.