Yesterday, I spent a long day doing yard work, and in doing that, I spent much of that time reflecting on the Seattle Seahawks, and how I think things are now trending for the team. I thought I would share these thoughts. I will break them down into two categories.

Things that I like about the Seahawks right now

The biggest thing is obviously how the defense has been playing over the last two and a half games. I say two and a half because I think that things started to settle down midway through that painful loss to the Rams a few weeks ago. With Carlos Dunlap, they are able to rush with four and young defensive linemen like Poona Ford and LJ Collier are now factoring in. The linebackers are playing faster, and more certain. Jamal Adams is being more varied as a passing linebacker and a coverage safety. Quietly, Tre Flowers is putting together good games at corner.

Perhaps the biggest thing with this defense is that they are playing more connected. It feels like they are building chemistry, and in this stretch of games against struggling offenses, this is a great time for them to take that chemistry further. I have warm fuzzy feelings about that.

Poona Ford is emerging as a really good defensive tackle. Anyone who has followed this little blog knows how much of a fan I am of Poona. I am now becoming a huge fan of his. Jarran Reed, Snacks Harrison are much bigger names at DT on this roster, but if I am to be honest, I think Poona is the best one on this team. He’s always been a play-maker against the run, but he is now a legitimate factor as a pass rusher. It would not surprise me if we see the sacks starting to pour in for him over the next few games, and going into the 2021 off-season, it feels like Seattle is going to have an interesting call to make about his future on the club. He will be a restricted free agent, so they can keep him with a second round tender, but because of Covid, the salary cap will be going down $20 million, and Seattle is already carrying an expensive DT on the roster in Jarran Reed. There is a chance that Poona’s play could make Reed expendable, espeically if the team wants to lock in Chris Carson, Shaquill Griffin, and Ethan Pocic.

Jamal Adams is the much needed heartbeat of this improving defense and it’s a lot of fun to watch. Adams has an infectious energy on and off the field. He willed the Seahawk defense to play better in the second half of the game against the Rams, and it has had a carry over effect. There is been a fair amount of criticism over what Seattle spent to get Adams, and in that, there has been a fair amount of scrutiny over his play by some beat writers and fans. Personally, I think those two first rounders and a third are looking to be worth it. Adams is special. He can play linebacker, safety, and corner and it is reasonable to expect that it will take time for him to settle into this new scheme and for Ken Norton Junior and Pete Carroll to fully igure out how to use him. It feels like they are turning that corner now. I love what Adams brings.

Jordyn Brooks is really fast at linebacker, and it feels like things are starting to turn the corner with him, as well. This is a big deal for this defense as they look to further improve down the stretch. I thought this game against the Eagles was his best one so far, and going against the Giants and Jets, I think we might start to see his game really take off. I’m excited to see this.

The offense is playing with more balance and that is going to help this team win down the stretch. I fully believe that if the offense would have played with more balance against the Bills and Rams, Seattle could have won those games. Balance does not mean run fifty percent of the time and pass fifty percent of the time. Balance means mixing in the run with the pass enough to keep defenses honest, and therefore allowing Russell Wilson to play efficient and smart football. It takes pressure off of him to make all the plays. Take those last six minutes during MNF when Seattle settled for run plays to drain clock, and toss them away. When Seattle was controlling that game, they were mixing run with pass. This is the way.

Finally, DK Metcalf is becoming Seattle’s force of nature on offense, and it is a lot of fun to watch. Enjoy this time, Seahawk fans, he is quite possibly becoming the biggest rising star in this league. That’s not hyperbole.

Things that I’m not fond of right now with this Seahawks

As fun as it has been watching this Seattle defense playing over the past couple games, there still exists some things that I don’t like and that is mainly things on their defensive line. I hate seeing defensive tackles dropping into coverage on zone blitzes. I fully believe in putting your players in the best spots to succeed. Watching Jarran Reed drop into coverage takes the ability to do what he is paid to do (pass rushing) away from him.

Speaking of Jarran Reed, I’ve been noticing that Ken Norton is having him play a fair amount these days at defensive end. Reed is a 6-3, 300 plus pound interior defensive linemen who is not fast nor especially athletic. His best game is inside. Every time I see him at end and Rasheem Green (a true end) at defensive tackle, it annoys me. I am not nearly as smart about football as Norton and will not pretend to be, but I would personally like to know why they are doing this. Looking from the outside, it feels like Seattle is getting too cute with their defensive line personnel.

Speaking further on the defensive line, it looks to me like LJ Collier’s potential is better at defensive tackle than the 5-tech defensive end spot he has been playing. Rasheem Green looks like a better 5-tech. Going down this final stretch of games, it is my hope that we see more of Green at end, and Seattle starts to allow Collier to become more of a pass rushing defensive tackle. Collier’s most recent splash plays seem to be coming from the interior. If for salary cap reasons, if the team decides it needs to move on from Jarran Reed, it would be nice if they have two young up and comers at defensive tackle in Poona and LJ. This is something that I am going to be watching for down the stretch. Do we start to see more of Green at DE, and more of Collier at DT? I kinda hope so. Let LJ cook at DT.

I find it a wee bit troubling that Seattle is not getting the tight ends involved. Heading into the season, this position group was thought to be a strength. It’s possible that the play at receiver is so dynamic now with DK and Tyler Lockett that Seattle is staying with the hot hands, but I would like to see Russ spread it around to Jacob Hollister and Will Dissly a bit more.

Speaking of receiver, I’m starting to get a bit concerned with the health of Tyler Lockett and especially David Moore. Neither looker particularly explosive against the Eagles. It would be nice if the league would make its decision on Josh Gordon, but Seattle can’t rely on that. If Tyler is hobbled, it would further be nice if they start scheming more to the tight ends, and it would be nice timing to have Freddie Swain step up more in these next couple games.

Final Thoughts

I’m not worried about this notion that Pete Carroll is maybe dialing down Russell Wilson. I think over these next couple games, we are going to see Russ cooking a bit more. I think the key will still be balancing his play with the hard running of Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde. For Seattle, I think this is the way.

Finally, I am saying this now, and it didn’t think this was possible a few weeks ago, but I now think it is possible that Seattle gets to twelve wins this season, or better. I think this team is trending up at the right time, and the schedule is favorable.

Enjoy this time, Twelves. This season can still be a pretty special one.

Go Hawks!

On Sunday, the Cardinals lost to the Patriots, and the Rams lost to the 49ers. It was a good day for Seahawk fans, as with those losses, Seattle slightly regained their lead in the NFC West. On Monday Night, the Seahawks beat the Eagles, and their lead in the division strengthened. I will gladly take that.

No, it was not a sexy outing by the Seahawk offense. Russell Wilson didn’t cook up sexy passing stats. In fact, he got hammered by a highly determined Eagle defensive front, and at more than a few times, it felt like it was going to be “one of those games.”

The truth of the matter is that Russell Wilson, again, quietly had another highly efficient game, making enough plays as needed to guide his team to a relatively easy victory. It wasn’t sexy, but sometimes sexy is overrated.

Right now, the Seattle Seahawks just need Russell Wilson to play efficient ball to win winnable games. They don’t likely need him to cook during this stretch of games against the Giants, Jets, and the Washington Team. It’s cool if he does, but it’s not likely needed, just as it wasn’t in this game against the Eagles, and the most recent game against the Cardinals, and in the game against the 49ers.

Sometimes, Efficient Russ is the best Russ. In the world of football, there are quarterbacks that you want to date, and then there are quarterbacks that you want to marry. For me, give me the efficiently productive quarterback every single time. This is why Russell Wilson has been my favorite quarterback for nearly a decade. When he plays like this, he’s the marrying type.

Here are my further thoughts about this game.

The Good

As expected, the Seattle defense continued playing better ball. They did what they needed to do against a struggling Eagle offense. They harassed Carlson Wentz into sacks and bad throws, they came up big on fourth downs, and they kept the Eagles from scoring a lot of points (the Eagles got to 17 points on a fluky garbage time interception). While it wasn’t a shutout many Seattle fans were probably hoping for, it as a solid all around effort.

Numerous defenders had big plays. Jamal Adams was obviously the big impact defender as Seattle’s do-it-all safety. Linebackers Bobby Wagner, KJ Wright and Jordyn Brooks were also highly active. Carlos Dunlap continued his disruptive efforts as Seattle’s main edge rusher. Defensive end Rasheem Green had a flashy early sack and was active as a pass rusher throughout. KJ Wright probably had the defensive play of the game that sealed Philly’s loss by batting a fourth and two pass down at mid field.

Of all defenders, I thought the defensive tackle duo of Jarran Reed and Poona Ford especially stood out both in pressuring Wentz and making splash plays against the run. Reed, in particular, played with a particular bad ass quality, and Ford continued showing that he is maybe Seattle’s most disruptive interior pass rusher. The emergence of pass rushing Poona Ford over the last month has been an overlooked thing by some, but not here. His break out play has been duly noted at 12th Life.

While Russell Wilson had a good overall game passing, DK Metcalf was the clear star of the offense, hauling in 10 passes for 177 yards. He owned Darius Slay in this game. It continues to be exciting watching his game evolve, especially knowing that he is just scratching the surface of his potential. He is now officially over one thousand yards receiving in the season and they have five games left to go. I can’t remember a Seahawk receiver getting to a thousand yards quicker than him. Make no mistake about it, this guy is going to be a superstar in the league for years to come. Bank on that.

It was really nice seeing Chris Carson back in this offense and running with authority. The Eagle defenders did a stellar job snuffing out the run late in the game when it was obvious that Pete Carroll just wanted to drain clock by running more than he wanted to score by passing, but when it was earlier in the game and the Eagles had to concern themselves with Russell’s arm, Carson was a beast. I fully believe that Seattle should extent him to a new contract. He is the perfect back to pair with Russell. This game kinda solidified it for me.

The Bad

As good as the Seahawk defense was, they kinda got caught napping a bit when Doug Pederson had Carson Wentz go up tempo with the offense. This is me nitpicking, but while they didn’t give up a bunch of points, you could feel some of the old leaks with the defense emerge again, and I found that unsettling during those stretches of ball.

Also, I wasn’t totally in love with Pete Carroll majorly dialing down the offense in the final minutes of the game, and taking the ball out of Russell’s hands by calling runs that the Eagle defenders were destroying. I would have preferred to have had Russ go for the throat a bit more. You know, get that touchdown to further put the Eagles away, instead of settling for the field goal. While I appreciate this more simmered down and efficient Russ, I don’t want to see the offense so dialed back that you aren’t fully trusting your MVP contending quarterback to put a team away when it seems clear that he is more than capable of doing that.

On the injury front, it appears that Carlos Dunlap hurt his foot late in the game. Fingers crossed that he doesn’t miss much time, if any at all. His addition on the defensive line has made everyone better.

The Ugly

It was a weird night for the zebras throwing the laundry on the field. The weirdest thing for me was calling Russ on an intentional grounding call in the red zone that could have been uncalled, and then not calling Wentz for grounding when it was clear that he tossed a ball out of bounds well behind the line of scrimmage.. which is grounding.. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

Moving Forward

Fans didn’t get the big blowout victory that they were hoping for against this struggling Eagles team. The thing is though, and I hate to put it in this overly simplistic cliched way, but that is football.

The Eagles were playing for their division title. They were going to give it their all, and their defense certainly did that. That is why I felt that this game was perhaps going to be a trap.

Seattle did what it needed to do to avoid that trap. They didn’t turn the ball over, they played efficient at quarterback, they played with enough balance on offense, and they did what they needed to do, defensively. That’s winning football.

Sure, Seattle won a match that proved to be a tougher out than some would think. I predicted a 31-17 win in my preview, and I got the 17 right. That said, as tough as the Eagles played on defense, it is fair to be reminded that Seattle left several points on the field. DK Metcalf dropped a touchdown pass that he should have caught. Carlos Hyde had a nifty rushing touchdown called back by a silly hold from their backup right tackle. Seattle went for it twice in field goal range on fourth down and failed.

It’s very likely that this final score could have been closer 31-17 that I predicted than it ultimately was. This is why I am not concerned about the state of the offense. This is still a unit capable of scoring a lot of points against good defenses.

That said, get ready for Seattle to maybe gut out a few more tougher outings against struggling NFC East teams. The Giants and Washington Team, as bad as they are, are still very much in the hunt to win their lowly division, and Seattle will play both in the next three weeks. You can be certain that both clubs will be giving it their all, just as Philly did. While it is very probable that Seattle beats both clubs, it might not be in the prettiest of ways. Both teams have relatively tough defenses that can rush with four and that is what you want to do when playing against Russell Wilson.

I’m saying this now because I think we have gotten a bit too caught up in the Let Russ Cook thing. It is obvious that Pete would rather have Russ play efficient ball over airing it out all over the place. I personally think that is fine, especially when they play against teams that don’t have good offenses. Seattle can win this way. They have proven that two weeks in a row against teams playing for their division titles. Be efficient, be smart, and be balanced.

For Pete Carroll, I think this is the way.

Go Hawks.

If the 2020 Seattle Seahawks want to be considered true Super Bowl contenders, they must soundly beat these 2020 Philadelphia Eagles this Monday Night. They have to.

The Eagles are a struggling team, to put it very nicely. Their expensive quarterback is playing his worst football, but he hasn’t been helped by the fact that he is stuck behind a bad offensive line, and he has very little receiver help outside of his two tight ends and a couple nifty running backs. Teams know how to defend him more easily these days, as he hasn’t been able to handle pressure situations much at all this year.

As bad as bad as they have been offensively, they actually have a fairly competent defense, and that is the main reason why they are in second place in the horrid NFC East Division (a division of professional football that appears to be historically bad). They have a defensive front that can still get after a quarterback, and that is probably the team’s saving grace.

The good news for Seattle when facing this defense is that they are getting Chris Carson back to further aid the run game. For as good as the Eagle front is at getting pressure, the Eagle defense has not been great stopping the run this year. This is a solid match up for Seattle to further lean into their run game to aid Russell Wilson’s abilities to pass off of play action (which might be his best traits as a passer). A healthy mix of Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde mixed with a quick passing attack by Russ should be enough to guide Seattle past a desperate Eagle team that will be giving it their all in this match up.

But make no mistake about it, if Seattle plays sloppy on offense, and if they revert back to blown assignments on defense, this is a game that they can lose. The Eagles are likely to be playing desperate ball. A win against Seattle will put them back in first place in their division. A win against Seattle will prove that Ferndale kid turned Super Bowl winning NFL head coach Doug Pederson can finally beat his beloved Seattle Seahawks (something that he has yet to do as a head coach despite the amount of times these two clubs have played each other). There is a lot riding on this game for this team.

Seattle must smell that trap, and they must match the Eagles with equal if not more determination to put them away, as they are fighting tooth and claw themselves for their own divisional crown (the NFC West being best division in football). If Seattle does this, it is highly likely that they win this game, and probably even win it relatively handsomely.

Seahawks win this game by..

Establishing a run game that forces the Eagle defenders to honor it, and that allows Russell Wilson to continue the efficient quarterback play he enjoyed against the Cardinals over a week ago. This is probably the biggest key to the game, and it is something that Seattle should be able to do. It hurts them a bit that they will be playing without their starting right tackle, but the best way to help his backup out is for them to be run blocking a fair amount. Also helping him out is Russell getting the ball out quickly like he did against the Cardinal defenders. This could be a big game Tyler Lockett to catch quick hitters if the Eagles are looking to take DK Metcalf away. This could also be a game where we see tight ends and running back catch more. If Seattle hangs onto an early lead going into the second half, we could see more signature deep balls off of play action as the game wears on.

The Seattle Seahawk defense picks up where it left off against a talented Cardinal offense, and they continue playing sounder football together. This is honestly wear my expectations are the highest in this match up. Seattle is now finding their pass rush with Carlos Dunlap, and the Eagle offensive line is horrifically bad. Seattle should be able to pass rush with four, and send extra pressure at different points to further rattle and confuse a struggling Carson Wentz. With Shaquill Griffin returning at left corner, and the Eagle receivers not being very good, it will likely be up to the linebackers and safeties playing against tight ends and running backs well. Guess what? The sharpest teeth of the Seattle Seahawk defense are middle linebacker Bobby Wagner and strong safety Jamal Adams. If these two play well, this could be a night where Seattle’s defense dominates.

Seahawks lose this game by..

Reverting back to turning the ball over on offense, and the defense reverting back to poor fundamentals and lack of assignment sound ball. This is how Seattle loses games in 2020. If the defense gives up easy yards and points, and Russell Wilson turns the ball over in the passing game, it makes winning considerably more difficult.

At this point of the season, there is no excuses for this to happen. The Seahawk defenders should know what their responsibilities are, and they should execute them. Russell Wilson should know not to chase plays that aren’t clearly there, and he should know to be patient with the opportunities that the game with present for him.

Against a bad ball club, they should just be able to play smart, and that should be enough to win. They are a significantly more talented club than the Eagles. If Seattle loses this game, it won’t be for lack of talent. It will be for lack of brains. Seahawks must play smart and in that, play together.

My Prediction

The Eagles are going to give this one a fight, but the Seahawks have too much going on for them offensively, and their defense is looking to come together at the right time. Seahawks win this one, 31-17.

The Eagles defense is going to look at get after Russell Wilson, and with Cedric Ogbuehi starting at right attack, expect the Eagles to put Brandon Graham on that side to bring heat on Russ. Graham is a really good pass rusher. So Seattle might try to win this one playing things a wee bit closer to the vest, offensively, just like they did against the Cardinals. Look for them to try to control clock, establish the run, and set up play action for Russ not be a sitting duck in the pocket against Graham and Fletcher Cox.

This could be a really big game for Chris Carson both as a runner and a pass catcher. On way to neutralize the pass rush is to get the ball on to the running backs in space.

Defensively, this is where I am leaning towards Seattle really cooking. They know that Wentz is struggling and I think they are going to play in this one like hungry tiger sharks smelling blood in the water. Both tackle spots on the Philadelphia offensive line are in complete disarray. Carlos Dunlap could easily have another big night. Benson Mayowa, and Alton Robinson could also have a night. Expect Seattle to occasionally send Jamal Adams and Bobby Wagner for good measure. Defensive tackles Poona Ford and Jarran Reed could also get home on Wentz in this one.

If Seattle wants to be more than a playoff level team this year, if they want to win their division, and be a true Super Bowl contender, well then, this is a prime time game of football to show the whole wide world what they can really be in 2020. I think they are looking forward to doing just that.

Go Hawks.

There are much bigger names on the Seattle Seahawk defense than Poona Ford. Jamal Adams, Bobby Wagner, and Damon Snacks Harrison have all been All-Pro players in the NFL. Carlos Dunlap, Shaquill Griffin, and KJ Wright have been pro-bowlers. Quandre Diggs, and Jarran Reed are more or less fringe pro-bowl talents.

So, if you look at the title of this ditty, and chuckle, I won’t blame you. I get it.

On the surface, it can be a challenge to take a player such as Poona Ford seriously. For one thing, the very name “Poona” isn’t likely to strike fear into the hearts of opponents and fans (certainly not like a Karl, or a Lawrence, or say, a Cortez would). It can also be a challenge to take seriously a player that went un-drafted by all 32 teams in the league a few years ago (even though he was a highly productive defensive tackle for the University of Texas).

Perhaps the biggest reason to be skeptical of a player named Poona is the fact that he stands at the very average human height of 5-11, and frankly, very few defensive tackles that have been sub 6-0 have had much success in this league. Seeing Poona Ford on the field and standing next to a KJ Wright, or a Carlos Dunlap can look a bit silly to the eyes. He’s quite short for a position that is supposed to take on multiple interior blockers and cause havoc in the backfield. The thing is, though, that is exactly what Poona Ford does.

Quietly, the Seattle Seahawks have been using Poona Ford more on passing downs in their attempts to generate more pressure over the past month, as they have been moving him around their defensive line to take advantage of certain situations. So, far so good with that.

Perhaps no longer to be considered just a run stuffing nose tackle, over the past month, Poona Ford has climbed towards the top of the list of NFL interior pass rushers in terms of generating quarterback pressure, according Pro Football Focus. In fact, he has climbed just been behind LA Ram star Aaron Donald, who just so happens to be another undersized defense tackle, and yet arguably the best defensive player in the league.

Now, I am not writing this piece to try to convince you that Poona is suddenly going to become the next Aaron Donald for years to come. What I am suggesting, though, is that Poona is probably Seattle’s best version of Donald, and we should probably expect to see more of him as part of their pass rush moving forward.

Like Donald, he is a short defensive tackle who is blessed with unusually long arms. This physical makeup, mixed with quickness and strength, allows Poona to win the leverage battle against blockers and to shake past them to make plays in the backfield. Since coming out of Texas, he has always shown the ability to make the splash play against the run behind the line of scrimmage. Now in his third year, he is showing a knack for getting into the backfield to effect the quarterback.

Against the Cardinals last Thursday night, Poona jumped off of the television screen getting instant pressure on Kyler Murray. He was credited with five quarterback pressures in that game, and mixing him along with veteran edge rusher Carlos Dunlap, Murray did not have the kind of game that he was likely envisioning. This was a dramatic difference between how this defense decided to play Murray from the last time they played a month ago, and Poona played his part.

Over the last couple games against quality offenses, it feels like Seattle is figuring out its defense in 2020, finally. It feels like they are figuring out how to best utilize the talents that they have, and some young cream is starting to rise to the top, such as Poona Ford.

This is a good thing.

Here are some of my further thoughts on Seattle fixing their defense moving through the rest of their 2020 season.

Ken Norton Junior deserves credit for stepping up at defensive coordinator

While we are only two games removed from the abysmal dumpster fire performance against the Buffalo Bills in which Seattle’s defense surrendered the most points ever in a game in the Pete Carroll era, I am breathing a bit easier about how the Seattle defenders have recently played against the Rams and Cardinals. I think a lot of credit should go to the very person many fans (including myself) have been wanting fired, and that is defensive coordinator Ken Norton Junior.

Seattle’s game against the Rams a couple weeks ago started rough as they quickly surrendered 17 points and well over 200 yards, but something happened in that game that started giving me hope. As the game went on, they started to effect Jared Goff and they started to get him off his game.

Poona Ford and Jamal Adams especially had inspired efforts in that effort to settle down the defense. Seattle could have won that game if not for their super star quarterback Russell Wilson having his worst game of the season. It was a frustrating loss because of Wilson, but it oddly gave me fresh hope because of this slightly under-looked defensive effort.

Against the Cardinals, when Russell Wilson played his more usual smarter game (also aided by a solid run game), and the Seahawk defense dished up a good overall game against perhaps the most explosive offense in the league. The defense played fast and decisive. Most importantly, though, they look varied between how they rushed and how they covered. They looked like, dare I say it, a competent NFL defense.

Credit Ken Norton Junior for finally settling this mess of a defense down. According to Pete Carroll, it was Norton who sat the defenders down earlier in the week and asked each player what their responsibilities were for each scheme. This was his attempt to get all his players on the same page and to hold accountable in front of their teammates. The results against the explosive Cardinal offense was impressive.

With a softer looking schedule approaching, there is now hope that Norton can further hone these defenders in, and get them playing better as a team. Whether or not that happens remains to be seen, but I, for one, have hope where a couple weeks ago I had zilch. I credit Ken Norton Junior for that.

Younger players are starting to emerge out of defense.

Poona Ford isn’t the only youngster that has been stepping up for the defense. There have been others and this probably gives me the best hope for this defense moving forward.

DJ Reed has been playing steady ball stepping in for injured left corner Shaquill Griffin, and listening to Pete Carroll’s praise over the youngster, Reed appears to have earned a role on this defense even with the return of Griffin. Even though he is much shorter than what Carroll prefers at outside corner, he has shown an ability to hold up outside, and I suspect that he is going to bring serious competition at nickel corner that has been held by Ugo Amadi (another young player that has been looking splashy). Suddenly, Seattle looks impressively deep at nickel corner, and that could give them more flexibility against passing teams.

Another player that looks like he is stepping up is second year defensive lineman LJ Collier, and this is a good thing. As a run stuffing defensive end, Collier is not the flashiest of players, but has has shown to be stout enough against the run. Where Collier looks to maybe be gaining some traction is as an interior pass rusher, and this is interesting.

Recently against the Cardinals, Collier was credited for a sack early in the game, but outside of the game ending sack by Carlos Dunlap on fourth and ten, I thought he had the play of the game much later on by badly beating JR Sweezy with an interior rush move that drew a holding call in the Cardinal end zone, which led to a key safety. That play was a huge turning point in the game, and his explosive swim move made it happen. There is reason to think that with Poona Ford and Jarran Reed, Collier can give Seattle a nice interior pass rush moving through these final six games. This is what Collier was drafted to be; a run stuffing defensive end who converts inside as a pass rushing defensive tackle on passing downs, a la Michael Bennett.

Rookie first rounder Jordyn Brooks is playing fast at WILL linebacker, and that is allowing Seattle’s defense to play much faster, which is a really good thing. He is making his presence felt against the run, and in the second half of the losing effort against the Rams, he laid a hit on an LA receiver that was very Kam Chancellor-esque. I’m excited to see what happens when the game slows down for him, when he is into the offensive playbook more like his linebacker mates KJ Wright and Bobby Wagner. This is perhaps the area where Seattle’s defense can really take off.

Finally, you might want to rub your eyes after reading this, but much maligned right corner Tre Flowers has quietly been playing fairly decent ball over the last month in place of injured Quinton Dunbar. Yes, he will still give up some cushion on shorter routes, and yes, he did miss a tackle against the Cardinals, but he also helped to hold star receiver DeAndre Hopkins to 50 yards, and he deserves credit for that. Flowers is not a flashy player, but he is playing outside corner the way Pete Carroll wants them to play. He is being physical enough, and he is no longer getting beat for big gains. He’s going his job.

Bringing Back the NASCAR Pass Rush Package, Finally (Hopefully)

This is probably the area of the defense that will excite fans most if we start to see more of this. With the addition of Carlos Dunlap and the emergence of youngsters such as Poona, there is now some reason to hope that we now start seeing some resurrection of the NASCAR pass rush Seattle once had when they were Super Bowl teams back in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.

During those Super Bowl years, the Seahawks rushed with four on passing downs by putting their fastest defensive linemen on the field in a rotation. Those rotations generally consisted of Michael Bennett inside with Clinton McDonald/Jordan Hill, and Cliff Avril on the edge and book ended by Chris Clemons/Bruce Irvin.

Seattle was able to win with rushing four by being faster than the players that were blocking them, and that cracked the code for their defense to truly be great. Yes, the Legion of Boom secondary was a huge determining factor, but their NASCAR pass rush completed the defensive circle for them. That should never be overlooked.

Seattle hasn’t been able to do that for a few years now, and especially wasn’t able to do that last year because they didn’t have a true Leo rush end, even with Jadeveon Clowney. Seattle hasn’t been able to do this through 2020.. until they traded for Carlos Dunlap.

Dunlap gives them a solid veteran pass rusher who can truly be the focal Leo. Benson Mayowa and rookie Alton Robinson probably have just enough abilities to mix in on the other side opposite of Dunlap, and it sounds like they might be finally getting rookie edge rusher Darrell Taylor available for the last final set of games (a player that Carroll is high on and who the team traded up for in the most recent draft).

A couple relatively “big ifs” here, but if Dunlap stays healthy, and if they do get Taylor active, Seattle could suddenly look much deeper with their edge rush than they have in some time. Dunlap is the glue that holds this hope together, and it is vital that he stays healthy for Seattle.

Rushing from the inside, it suddenly feels like Seattle has several options. There is Jarran Reed who is a proven every-down defensive tackle, and there is, of course, the emergence of Poona Ford. There is also the upsides of LJ Collier and Rasheem Green moving inside from their five technique end positions. To be honest, Poona, LJ, and Green are all much quicker athletes than Jarran Reed is, and it wouldn’t surprise me if we start to see possibly some transition away from Reed to these quicker athletes inside (at least when the defense is in more obvious passing downs). This is something to watch for moving forward.

It is possible that Seattle’s best NASCAR package could be something like Dunlap/Collier/Ford/Taylor down the final stretch. If this happens, this could become a massive win for Seattle in 2020, and even a bigger win beyond, as they will have cheap club control on Ford for one more season, and they will have Collier and Taylor playing on cheap rookie contracts for several. This is how you ideally want to build your roster. I’m excited about that potential.

Finally, running the ball fixes everything

This is the sub heading that might have some from the Let Russ Cook movement raise their defenses a bit, but their is no reason for the pass happy folk to feel threatened. Russell Wilson plays at his best when defenses has to think about the run as much as they have to think about the pass.

And further more, in very general football terms, if a team can consistently run the ball well, it tends to play better defensively. In 2020, it is true for the Los Angeles Rams, and the New Orleans Saints, both teams that mix explosive offenses that feature the run with stronger defenses, and are also coincidentally in very solid playoff contention.

One reason for Seattle to return back to a more balanced offensive by mixing in the run more with Russell Wilson’s arm talent is not just to take more pressure off of Wilson, but to also give Seattle’s defense more breathers. This doesn’t mean that they now have to run more than they pass, and I don’t expect Seattle to now do that, but I do expect them to mix it in more.

Running the ball helps to control clock, and in that, it helps keep defenders more fresh to defend. If you can control clock with a lead in the second half of games, you force the opposition’s offense to have to throw more to climb back into the game. This is how the offense connects with the defense, and that is how you get your defense successfully playing with a NASCAR pass rush.

In the games remaining on Seattle’s schedule, the Jets, Eagles, and Washington Team all look like teams that have struggled to stop the run. All this adds up to reasons why Seattle should get back to their offensive DNA a bit more.

This is a great time to get Chris Carson back, and maybe perhaps Rashaad Penny to mix in with Carlos Hyde. This is what the schedule is setting for.

Personally, I’m looking forward to seeing more of that power run game. I’m sure that there is more than a Seahawk defender looking forward to it, as well.

Will this defense improve enough for the 2020 Seattle Seahawks to have an extra special season?

I don’t know. Possibly. I mean, through these last couple games, I like a lot of things that I see.

A lot will hinge on Dunlap staying healthy, young players like Poona and DJ Reed continuing step up, and Jamal Adams to continue settling into this club and Seattle using Adams in ways that become less predictable. There is reason to believe that as Adams understands Bobby Wagner better, and Quandre Diggs better, they will become more connected on the field. If that happens, yes, I think that this defense can turn itself around enough for 2020 to become an extra special year for the Seahawks.

Will it happen?

I think it might!

Go Hawks.

In my preview leading to this game, I felt confidence that the Seattle Seahawks were going to right their ship, and beat the Arizona Cardinals. I predicted a final score of 38-31.

I can put a feather in my cap that I got the winning team right, and I can put another feather in it for getting the final point differential correct. Where I obviously got things wrong was in my feelings that Russell Wilson and Kyler Murray would both be cooking a bit more.

On paper, looking at this final score, if one were to not have watched the game, one would likely not think anything odd about it. On paper it looks like the Seattle Seahawks beat Arizona by a touchdown difference; Seahawks scored four, and Arizona scored three. Simple as that.

Well, the story-line to how Seattle reached 28 points was a bit more unconventional. They scored three touchdowns and missed an extra point, which mathematically leads to twenty points, but they also scored two field goals which would bump the score up to twenty six.

How they achieved those two extra points might actually have been the play of the game if not for Carlos Dunlap busting through blockers at the end of Arizona’s final drive and sacking Kyler Murray on fourth and ten. A couple series before that, Seattle had backed up Arizona a yard away from their own end zone when Jamal Adams forced Murray into an intentional grounding call. The next play, Arizona chose to pass and defensive lineman LJ Collier got an interior rush that drew a holding call in the end zone that gave Seattle an automatic safety which lead to the two points needed for Seattle to ultimately reach twenty eight after Jason Meyers connected on the ensuing field goal.

That interior rush by Collier was instrumental to Seattle finishing this game with the final score that they fought for and earned. No doubt that this was a rather weird unconventional way to get to twenty eight points, but this is exactly the type of play you want to see from a player that was taken at the bottom of the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft. If not for the Dunlap sack at the end, this would be my play of the game.

This was a weird game in few other ways, as well, as both clubs deserve credit for fighting through their adversities. Seattle was forced to start rookie guard Damien Lewis at center due to injuries at the position, and at times, it looked like a rookie right guard was playing center. For Arizona, they were forced to play without their entire starting defensive and it showed with their inability to ultimately stop the run.

It’s often a weird game whenever both these teams play, and this one was no exception. Perhaps the weirdest thing about it for me was the amount of illegal procedure and false start calls against both offenses in a crowd-less Covid era stadium.

But hey, who am I to complain when Seattle ultimately wins it 28-21 in a weird path to get there? I will gladly take it.

Here are some further thoughts.

The Good

This game should be remembered in the 2020 Seattle Seahawk season as a return to Pete Carroll football, and thank the maker for that. For over the past month, I have been craving this sort of ball like nobody’s business. This game was won off of stingy defense, effective running, efficient quarterback play, and solid special teams. This is the sort of overall team effort that fits Pete Carroll’s model for winning football in that all three phases of the game complete each other. Make no mistake, this game was a return to this organization’s DNA over the last decade. They were physical in ways that were sorely missed in the whole Let Russ Cook thing, and most importantly, they did not turn the ball over. I am ready to see more of this going through these final games of the season.

Bravo to Ken Norton Junior for calling a solid defensive game. Seattle’s defensive coordinator has been feeling the heat immensely over the last few weeks. There has been growing outcries from fans on social media and on sports radio for Pete Carroll to fire him (even though it is highly unlikely Carroll would do so in mid season). Quietly, Norton had his defense play well enough in a losing effort in the second half of the game last week against the Rams. In this game, Norton had his much maligned defenders playing well all throughout. He did a good job mixing pressures with coverage against a Cardinal offense that wasn’t missing much weapons. Norton deserves a lot of praise for this one. There is some reason to think that this defense could be turning the corner now.

You know who I have really been missing over the past month? Efficient Russell Wilson. It was really nice to see him return for this game. This offense was severely undermanned at center, and the Arizona defense was primed to take advantage of any Seattle attempt to let Russ cook. Instead, Seattle dialed up just enough of a steady run game for Russell to do what he does best, and that is to work off of the run with efficient passing that spreads the ball around. While his passing yardage wasn’t Peyton Manning-esque, he completed 23 of 28 passes for two touchdowns and zero interceptions. He also ran for 42 yards on ten carries. That’s high level efficiency at the quarterback position, and honestly, this is what Russell Wilson does best when he is at his best. This was a great bounce back game for him.

How happy are you now that Seattle has a healthy Carlos Hyde to help run the rock? Great game for the veteran runner, and a much needed one at that.

The player of the game for me is the other Carlos, though. Carlos Dunlap provided Seattle the ability to rush Kyler Murray with four players in this game (something that they didn’t have in the first game against Arizona), and in the final play for the defense, he beat his blockers when Seattle rushed with only three and played coverage. This was a massively positive effort and a huge boost for the defense. The trade for Dunlap looks like another genius move by GM John Schneider more and more with each passing game.

The Bad

Penalties hurt Seattle’s ability to more comfortably win against the Cardinals, and they were plagued by penalties on both sides of the ball. A Damien Lewis hold negated a deep completion to DK Metcalf who beat Patrick Peterson in coverage and it cost Seattle a scoring opportunity. Safety Quandre Diggs drew a roughness call against DeAndre Hopkins on third and long when Kyler Murray threw an inaccurate pass that Hopkins couldn’t haul in, and that penalty kept Arizona’s drive alive for a would be touchdown.

For as inspired of an effort on both sides of the ball, there was still too much slop. Going down the stretch run of the season, I would love for Seattle to start cleaning more things up, and just play cleaner games. There is a favorable schedule lining up now for them to do this, so there is little excuse for not to further right their ship. They could have smoother sailed in this one, and they didn’t.

The Ugly

For me, the ugliness that I noticed didn’t actually come out of this game, but rather the ugly that came out of some fans this week. Fair warning, I’m going to do a bit of shaming and schooling here.

I have heard way too much chatter this week about firing coaches. Even worse, I have read from a well established blogger who has long followed this club that Jody Allen should fire Pete Carroll, as he is now running this team into the ground.

For goodness sake? Really?

Seattle drops two road games in a row against two pretty good clubs, and now it is all about how the game has caught up and passed Pete Carroll. Well, Seattle just beat a pretty good Arizona club playing Pete Carroll football.

A word of advice to those who follow the Seattle Seahawks and occasionally listen to the national broadcast of Colin Cowherd. Stop listening to his blowhard takes.

Colin Cowherd lives inside Russell Wilson’s jockstrap. He lives there, he eats there, he showers and goes to sleep inside there. They are also friends who share the same entertainment agency. Cowherd is so pro-Russell Wilson that he has the uncontrollable compulsion to over-credit Russell Wilson for everything that Seattle does to win a game, and then over-blame the organization for everything whenever they loose. For Colin Cowherd, the sun shines out of Russell’s butt every single day, and at ridiculous levels.

So, just gonna say this now. Whenever Seattle loses an odd game or two in a season, don’t tune into Cowherd.

With all empty calories in an conviction that he can muster during a segment, he will exhaust all breath talking about how Pete Carroll has lost his way, how Seattle hasn’t drafted well in recent years, how they aren’t doing enough to support their star quarterback. He is the ultimate Russell Wilson apologist whenever he plays poorly, which usually happens for a game or two each season (news flash; Russell Wilson is human and shit happens).

This week, he went on this predictable sort ramble in regards to the Rams game in which Russell played badly when the defense actually had a fairly decent game. He somehow shifted all blame onto the organization to take it off of his buddy. It was as stupid of an example of broad stroked babble as you will ever find. It was bullshit.

Don’t get caught up into the Cowherd bullshit.

Pete Carroll is a good football coach. Pete Carroll is a hall of fame level good football coach, and John Schneider is a good general manager. Russell Wilson is a good quarterback, Pete Carroll is a good coach, and John Schneider is a good GM. They are all good, and we has Seattle Seahawk fans should be so lucky as to have them all here.

If you are calling for John Schneider and Pete Carroll to be fired, you are free to do so. I am also free to not take you seriously as a fan, or take you seriously as someone who writes on the internet following this club.

So maybe let’s just stop with the histrionics and enjoy that fact that we get to experience winning football annually each Fall. It is something that most fans throughout the league don’t get to enjoy as much.

Maybe they get to the Super Bowl this year. Maybe they don’t. We shall see, but Pete Carroll isn’t going anywhere, so I wouldn’t waste your breath on it. Let Cowherd do that for you.

Moving Forward

Seahawks get to enjoy a much needed ten day breather as they prepare for their final stretch run towards the playoffs and a possible NFC West division crown. It will be much needed to further improve the defense and to get key starters back on the offense.

Ah, what joy a win brings in that.

With this win, Seattle now sits on top their division at 7-3 with a seemingly softer schedule than the Rams, Cardinals, and 49ers. When after the loss against the Rams, it felt like 10-6 was maybe the ceiling for this club, now it feels possible that 12-4 (or better) could well be in reach.

Seattle was wise in this game to go back to Pete Carroll football against the Cardinals. It was a good way to beat that club that was looking vulnerable against the run. As much as it has been fun to watch Russ cook at various stages this season, I think this mentality (to be more balanced) will better serve this club moving forward.

Running the football should not be taken as any criticism against Russell Wilson as a passer. Being able to run the ball should be seem has making him more efficient as a passer, and it should be seen as being helpful for the defense to stay fresher. They need to run the ball more.

Running the ball completes the circle of Pete Carroll football, and with Chris Carson coming back, and possibly Rashaad Penny finally coming back, I would expect more of this effort. It’s going to help this club get back to the playoffs again, and it’s going to help them to perhaps finally win back this competitive NFC West division.

And it will make Russell Wilson even better at quarterback. I’m looking forward to that.

Go Hawks.

One team came into the season with expectations of advancing further through the playoffs than it has in recent memory while letting their star player cook. The other team came into 2020 with the idea of building off of the positives they were establishing with their talented young quarterback with the hopes of making the playoffs for the first time in a few years.

As it stands, both clubs enter this game with 6-3 records and a chance to further take over their division. Last time around a few weeks ago, the upstart Arizona Cardinals narrowly beat the Seattle Seahawks in over time down in the desert. This time around, Seattle will be looking for revenge in a very determined way while the Cardinals will be feeling all confidence after a thrilling last second hail Mary win against the Buffalo Bills, another team that recently beat the Seahawks.

This should be one of the better Thursday Night Football games we see all year. I’m looking forward to this one.

Seahawks beat the Cardinals by..

Russell Wilson returning to efficient and smart decision Russell Wilson. The last two weeks have been rough for our star quarterback. He has turned the ball over ten times in two games since coming off of a solid and efficient game against the 49ers. In this game, he needs to get back to playing that style of ball. It is likely that he will, and he will be helped by a more determined run game, and plays that will have him move outside of the pocket instead of being the sitting duck that he has been for two weeks. He needs to take it to a banged up Cardinal defense instead of letting that defense take it to him. He will be extremely determined to right his wrongs that have plagued him recently.

Seattle commits more to the run but only so far as to return to a balanced attack. You think that the Seattle defensive line has problems? The Arizona D line is without every single one of it’s projected starters. If ever there is a time to run the rock it is in this game. Seattle just has to not get too predictable running. They need to run enough to soften a defense that will be trying to attack Wilson, and they need to run it enough to get Wilson doing what he does best, and that is rolling outside the pocket on bootlegs for either keepers or play action passes. If they can establish the run against a weakened Cardinal defensive front, expect to see some big pass plays to tight ends. This could be Jacob Hollister’s night.

Defensively, they don’t play passive against Kyler Murray. Seattle needs to scrap the playbook that they used against Murray a few games ago. In that match, they brought little pressure and used their fastest linebacker, Shaquem Griffin, as a spy on Murray. The result was a horrid defensive effort that was hard to watch. They were reduced to using run stuffing defensive tackles (Jarran Reed) to contain Murray, and they were relying on a one handed special teams player to make plays against him (Griffin). Playing without their two starting corners for the second straight game, they really need to bring it to Murray. They need to attack him with defensive backs and linebackers, and they need to ocassionally be able to rush with four pass rushers. Last time they played, Seattle had not traded for Carlos Dunlap, and they did not have Jamal Adams healthy enough to play. This game, will be different. A player to watch is Poona Ford who quietly has been having a very solid month as an interior pass rusher. If Carlos Dunlap and the other edge rushers can get Murray to step into the pocket, Poona might be there to feast.

Seahawks lose this one by..

Russell Wilson not being able to correct his game enough and the turnovers keep happening. To be honest, it’s hard for me to imagine this happening, but if the Cardinals jump up early like the Bills did a couple weeks ago, Russ might start feeling the weight of the world again, and in that, he might press like he has done in back to back weeks. A huge key to the game is for Russ not to get stuck doing this again.

The defense still finding little answers to stopping Murray even with bringing pressure. In this scenario, even if Russell has one of his better games, the Seahawks will be in danger losing another shootout. Stopping Murray might even be too tall of an ask. The more realistic scenario might be do enough to slow him down enough so that Russell can win this shootout. This might be the key to the game.

My Prediction

Enjoy this game, Twelves. Russell Wilson and the Seattle Seahawks right their ship.

Seahawks get revenge and win, 38-31.

While Seattle gets back to it’s meat and potatoes DNA on offense a bit more by running the ball, the big beneficiary of that will be Russell Wilson. Expect a big game out of him. Expect him to get everyone involved from the running backs to the tight ends to his star receivers.

Defensively, expect Seattle to have a better effort this time around on Kyler Murray. They won’t stop him, but they can harass him enough into just enough mistakes to help Russ win this shootout this time around. Like with Russell, there is pride on the line for key defenders like Bobby Wagner and Jamal Adams. They will want to wash the taste out of their mouth from the last two weeks badly in this game. Expect inspired efforts out of these two and expect other defenders to feed of that. Just a big hunch that I have.

This is the way that I see it, anyways. I just don’t see Russell Wilson losing three straight games, even with this maligned defense.

Go Hawks.

Poo Poo.

I could end this whole review of this game by simple leaving it all right there. Instead, allow me to offers some notes and thoughts.

The Good

After having another predictable rough start to the game, Seattle’s maligned defense actually put together a decent effort against a more rested Ram offense, largely due to the inspired play of safety Jamal Adams. He did everything that he could to will this team to a win. He was sticky against the run, and he harassed Ram QB Jared Goff into sacks and turnovers and bad throws. He did this while playing on a bad shoulder. For the first time this season, Jamal Adams truly impressed me and made me see why this team traded so much to get him. It was an inspiring effort.

Defensive tackle Poona Ford and nickel corner Ugo Amadi also played inspired and made plays. Each game, when these two youngsters are on the field, they almost always do something splashy. With Ford, it’s often dropping a running back for a loss or forcing a fumble, and lately he has been making his presence felt as an interior rusher, and in this game he finally gathered a much deserved sack. With Amadi, it’s often using his ability to close in fast on receivers and ball carriers like a missile, and in this game he had a gorgeous tackle for loss on a screen play doing just that. There has been a lot wrong with Seattle’s defense this season, but these two young players have not been part of the negative issues.

Rookie linebacker Jordyn Brooks also made his presence felt on the defense. It feels like he might be starting to turn the corner as a starter and this is a good thing for the defense.

It was nice to see Alex Collins back in a Seattle uniform and looking effective running the ball.

Jason Meyers hit a 61 yard field goal and set a franchise record, and that was AWESOME.

The Bad

“With great power comes great responsibility.”

Most of us know that quote from Spider-Man when a young Peter Parker is being guided by his Uncle Ben as to how to properly move forward with his new found superpowers. This applies to Russell Wilson, especially if he wants to continue to cook.

I will be blunt about my ultimate assessment of this game. Russell Wilson lost this game for Seattle. Sorry Let Russ Cook crowd, but you can’t hide from this truth.

He turned the ball over three times in a game that had critical meaning for winning the NFC West. He threw as stupid of an interception as I have ever seen him throw when he decided to heave the ball twenty yards down field to the corner of the end zone to tight end Will Dissly when he had two defensive backs in his area, instead of tucking the ball and running for what might have been a twenty yard touchdown score because there was no defender in front of him. That is bad football. In fact, that is really, really bad football.

I’m not going to get much into the other pick where he decided to thread the needle to another tight end covered against a corner, and I won’t bother with the fumbled snap because it was a bad snap from center (but Russ needed to still secure it). I’m just going to say that in two games, Russ has turned the ball over seven times, and that is unacceptable.

Last week, you could lay blame on the defense and maybe some play-calling, but not in this game against the Rams. The defense turned around and played inspired enough for Seattle to win this one, and Brian Schottenheimer drew up some inspired plays. No, this was all on Russ.

If Russell Wilson wants to continue to cook through 2020, he has to get back to playing much, much sharper for Seattle to have any chance of winning their highly competitive division. He has to do it starting this Thursday night against a talented Arizona Cardinal team that already beat them a few weeks ago.

He needs to make better decisions, and he needs to go back to making an effort to protect the ball. Cooking does not mean dishing up interceptions when chasing passing yardage and passing touchdowns while in an MVP hunt. At this juncture, cooking means taking what defenses are giving him, and in this case against the Rams, that Ram defense offered miles of green grass to scamper towards an end zone when they chose to blanket that end zone with coverage.

In three of the last four games, Russell Wilson has not being playing MVP worthy ball. He has been playing either mediocre to bad ball, and I sense that head coach Pete Carroll is getting tired of it. Good. He should. Turning the ball over like this on offense completely cuts against every grain of what he preaches as a head coach.

If Russ want to cook, if he wants the key to the car, then he has to show that he can drive it better. No excuses. No blaming the defense. No blaming play calling. He has to play better because that is what a true MVP candidate would do.

The good news is that I firmly believe that he can, and that he will. But he needs to do it now.

The Ugly

See everything that I just wrote above in The Bad section. Russell Wilson lost this game for Seattle. Period. End of story.

Moving Forward

Play better football, Russ.

You wanted to cook. You wanted the keys to the family car from Dad. Okay, well then, you need to drive it better. You need to show that you are responsible enough to make the right decisions behind the wheel.

In the last two weeks, you have been driving recklessly, and if you continue to do that against this Thursday against the Cardinals, I think Dad is going to take those keys away, and the whole Let Russell Cook thing will be toast for the rest of 2020.

Dad is all about protecting the ball. You, above everyone else on the team, should know this.

In all honestly, this is what you’ve been best known for in this league. It’s not been the flashy scrambling, and all the wow plays with your arm. It’s been your smart decisions coupled with your physical talents. It’s been your efficiency as a passer. That is what has always set you apart.

For the last month, we have not see nearly enough of that. Your play has become something closer to that of Jay Cutler than anything Aaron Rodgers, and that is not you.

So, get back to being you. This team needs that more than anything else if 2020 is to be anything special. It’s all on you.

Play better.

Go Hawks.

No team has given the Pete Carroll/Russell Wilson era Seattle Seahawks more problems than the Los Angeles Rams. They gave this team fits when they were a pathetic basement dwelling NFC West franchise in St Louis, and they have given this team considerably more fits since they moved back to Los Angeles to become a title contender.

The best way to defend Russell Wilson is to keep him inside the pocket, and then get inside pressure on him. No team in football does this better than the Rams. They play 3-4 defense with speed and athleticism on the edges, and they have the best pass rushing interior defensive linemen in the game in Aaron Donald. They also have a very pesky secondary that can cover to keep Russell hanging onto the ball a lot longer than he should against Donald and the rest of the Rams front.

The Rams also have an offensive minded head coach that appears to have Pete Carroll’s defense well figured out, and more often than not, Sean McVay has dismantled the effectiveness of that defense with the greatest of ease. He knows how to attack the zones with the pass, and he knows how to attack the perimeters with the run.

For Seattle to win against this team, the have to be patient with the offense, shrewdly mixing the run with pass. The best way to slow down Aaron Donald is to run at him and Seattle has an offensive guards that can push him around a bit.

Also for Seattle to win against this team, they need to get to Ram quarterback Jared Goff and force him into mistakes. This is likely why they traded for Jamal Adams and Carlos Dunlap. Getting to Goff enough can cripple McVay’s offense.

Heading into this game, Seattle might well play their third straight game without there two best running backs, which would not be good, and it is a mystery who will be the starting corner opposite of Tre Flowers because both Shaquill Griffin and Quinton Dundar will not suit up. To make matters even more in favor of the Rams (who have no fear playing Seattle) is the fact that they will be well rested off of their bye week, and Seattle will be coming off of a tough road loss against the Buffalo Bills where Russell Wilson was hit early and often.

To put is simply, for Seattle to win this game, they will have to do a lot of things right coming off of a game in which they did a lot of things wrong in all phases of the game.. and they will have to do this without key starters at corner, at center, and very possibly at running back.

This is a game that should scare even the most optimistic Seahawk fan.

Seahawks beat the Rams by..

Successfully mixing the run game with the pass game, and not putting everything on Russell Wilson’s shoulder like they did against the Bills. This is easier said than done, especially if Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde will not be playing, and the load falls back on the shoulders for rookie runner DeeJay Dallas. One positive is that Dallas did run better against the Bills than he did against the 49ers, but one negative is that the Rams’ run defense is much better than the Bills’. Seattle doesn’t need to necessarily run all over the Rams, but they do need to be effective enough so that the Rams don’t key all game long on Russell Wilson.

Russell Wilson playing much smarter and sharper will help Seattle sneak out a W. One thing in Seattle’s favor is that Russell usually follows a poor outing with a much better one. Perhaps no quarterback is better in the league than Russell at this. Getting Russell moving out and hitting receivers could neutralize the Rams pass rush has effectively as a run game. The real key is to not have the Rams going after Russell as a sitting duck in the pocket. Russell moving around forces defenders and defensive coaches to think more. Russell needs to get these defenders thinking.

Seattle’s defense responds to the lousy effort against the Bills with a much better one against the Rams. After watching the Seattle defenders last week, this would almost seem like an impossible task. However, it is possible that Jamal Adams shakes off more rust, and Carlos Dunlap gets more settled into his primary pass rush role. Seattle also holds a bit of a mystery as to who starts at left corner, or if the lack of depth there has them changing up their scheme a bit. There is a small chance that this could catch the Rams off guard.

Seattle loses to the Rams by..

Staying too one dimensional on the offense, and Russell Wilson get rattled to making the same kind of mistakes as he did against the Bills. The Rams defense already has his number more than most other defenses do. If they can take away the threat of the run, and force Russ to beat them from the pocket, this would almost certainly guarantee a Ram victory. This is not the defense that would want to be one dimensional against, and this is not a defense that a short quarterback wants to stay inside the pocket passing against all game.

The Rams take advantage of the lack of depth at corner for Seattle, and they take the same approach the Bills did in that they just stay with the pass game because Seattle chooses to play soft as a result. Seattle almost certainly have to get pressure on Goff, and if they play soft, it probably means that they won’t be getting pressure. The Rams are a better running team than a passing one this season, but this is a game that they might abandon the run if they have early success with the pass that the Seahawks don’t have answers for. Seattle needs keep that from happening.

My Prediction

Practically all logic says that the Los Angeles Rams hand Seattle its third loss of the season this Sunday. Seattle’s struggling defense, on paper, looks even more vulnerable with lord-only-knows-who is going to play at left corner. If both Chris Carson and Carlos Hyde don’t play in this game, that is going to force Seattle to lean into DeeJay Dallas who I am positive that no Ram defender fears.

If Seattle can’t run, and if they can’t stop the pass, there is very little chance that they pull out a win. It feels like a given Seattle is going to drop this game.

However, I am going to go against logic in this one. I predict that Seattle pulls out a gutsy road win against an over confident Rams team that has shown chinks in it’s armor this season, especially on offense with inconsistent play at quarterback. The Seattle Seahawks win, 27-23.

Russell Wilson has a gritty gut check game, and does just enough to put Seattle in the lead and stay there. I like his chances to play a sharp and efficient game against this defense similar to what he did against the 49er defense recently.

I also think Seattle is going to go after Goff and force him to beat them with an aggressive game plan, just like they did against Jimmy Garappolo a couple weeks ago. How they go about it might surprise. Look for Seattle to be less predictable with their blitzing, especially with Jamal Adams. Look for Seattle to send players that haven’t been sent that often. Goff is a quarterback that you can confuse, and Seattle does just enough of that.

This is the biggest homer pick that I will likely make all season. Most metrics say LA should win this game, but I have also noticed that when most metrics say that, often times the underdog surprises. There is some legitimate to having your backs against the wall and having that motivate, especially when it is a team fighting for their division.

Seattle will definitely have their backs up against it in this one, and that is why I am predicting a Seattle Seahawk victory. Call me a homer all you like.

Go Hawks.

Anyone following this blog is aware that occasionally I huddle together with my expert panel to discuss a broader topic. It’ almost always related to something Seahawks, as a blog called 12th Life would lead you to expect.

For example, every NFL mid season, we offer our mid season grades to position groups and coaching of the Seattle Seahawks once the team has played through eight games, which they now have, and which we are doing now. It’s a fun reflection, and we hope you enjoy it.

My expert panel includes myself, along with my tabby cat Earl, and my long haired black cat Kam.

Here are our grades.

Quarterback: A-

Curtis: For the most part, Russell Wilson has been cooking pretty well. This offense is a high scoring machine built off of his arm talent. He’s on pace to shatter franchise records for passing yardage and touchdowns, but he is also on pace to throw more interceptions that he ever has, which is a likely blemish that comes with passing more.

Kam: Russ cooking makes me purr and roll around on the floor and play bite your hand. I love Russell Wilson. I just hope that he doesn’t cook so much that the team gets him killed when defenses now decide to send the kitchen sink at him.

Earl: I don’t get the whole Let Russ Cook scene. This team used to be about balance, and now they are out of balance. Yes, he is their best player. Yes, the offensive attack should now go more through him. I get all that, but sometimes you want to grind a little clock, especially help give a struggling defense a bit of a breather. Russell is now on pace to throw sixteen interceptions, which is very Jay Culter-esque, and I worry now that defenses are figuring out how to rattle him more with blitzing. Therefore, I am the lone dissenter. I say little Russ simmer just a bit.

Running Back: B

Earl: Chris Carson is the guy that I’d like to see cook a bit more, and I would also like to see him signed to a long term extension. I know he gets banged up, and misses a few games, but look how much better this offense is when he is cooking with Russ than when he misses time. Pay the man.

Curtis: I would like to see Carson extended, as well. For my money, he’s running style blends perfectly with Russell’s passing attack. I think he’s a tone setter, as well. His presence was missed the last couple weeks. Short sample size, but there are things that I like about rookie DeeJay Dallas.

Kam: Chris Carson plays running back like a Marvel character. My problem is the depth behind him. Carlos Hyde pulling his hammy has hindered this team. Obviously, they don’t trust Dallas enough to carry more, otherwise they would have kept with him more against the Bills, and Travis Homer is not a threat to run the ball. This team needs Rashaad Penny back. Hard to grade this group higher than a B when Carson predictably misses a few games.

Wide Receiver: A+

Curtis: For my money, this is the position group on the team that I feel best about. I feel best about it now, and I feel even better about it moving forward in the future. DK Metcalf should be a super star for years. Compare him to Megatron all you want, or Terrell Owens. I compare him to Seattle Supersonic legend Shawn Kemp.

Earl: DK Metcalf is a motherfudging beast, but for my cheddar, Tyler Lockett is the man. This dude out shakes all defenders constantly, and he fricking catches everything. For a little guy, he even hauls in the contested stuff. He’s the man.

Kam: Watching DK Metcalf abuse corners makes me roll around on the floor, and play bite. If I were play-calling, I’d line him up everywhere. I’d play in inside, outside. I’d play him at tight end on occasion, and I’d even line him up at running back, BUT I”M CRAZY LIKE THAT!

Tight End: B-

Kam: Tight ends haven’t been used as much as I thought they would, but I love me some Will Dissly and Jacob Hollister. Anyone see where Greg Olsen is? I’m cute.

Earl: If they are going to continue down the whole Let Russ Cook road, I want to see the tight ends used more. Defenses are starting to take away the deep moon balls to DK and Tyler. Russ has got to give them something else to think about, and they have too much talent here to under use this group. Jacob Hollister has been really good lately.

Curtis: I agree about getting the tight ends more involved. Going two tight end more also makes the offense less predictable in terms of defending the pass and run. I’ve been underwhelmed with their use of them, but it also might be a situation where they have been going to the hot hands more with the receivers.

Offensive Line: B+

Curtis: This has been the surprise group for me. Damien Lewis has been a stud at right guard, and Brandon Shell has been really good at right tackle. Ethan Pocic at center is the biggest surprise player on the team this year, though. This is the guy that I think that the team might want to lock into a long term contract.

Earl: Duane Brown is a fricking stud. God, I hope that he doesn’t retire anytime soon. Like, I hope that he plays until he’s forty. Please God. Pretty please.

Kam: I can’t wait to see Chris Carson back because, I can’t wait to see guys like Damien Lewis blocking more downhill again. This is the best pass blocking line Pete Carroll has ever put together in Seattle, but let these dogs eat. I’m cute.

Defense Line: C-

Curtis: We are being generous with this grade, and in all honesty, the seven sack performance against the Bills bumped them up to this C- grade. Up until they trade for Carlos Dunlap, they were working on an incomplete.

Kam: Jarran Reed has been decent at defensive tackle, but he’s had no reliable edge rush help. Funny that the addition of Dunlap on a field last Sunday coincided with 2.5 sacks for Jarran in that game. Not to say that he suddenly turns into Aaron Donald, but I like Jarran Reed. People who don’t are dumb.

Earl: Terrible. That’s the only word that I can use to describe this line. No ability to consistently rush with four players has lend to the team blitzing more, and that has left their secondary and linebackers exposed in coverage. Why hasn’t they activated Snacks Harrison yet off of the practice squad yet?! That fricking drives me nutz and I wanna poop on your pillow because of that. Maybe Dunlap helps this squad, but right now, I grade them as suck ass.

Linebacker: C+

Earl: Bobby Wagner seems slower. If they would fricking get Snacks Harrison actually playing in front of him, maybe that will finally free him up more to make more plays. KJ Wright has probably been the better player overall. I haven’t seen rookie Jordyn Brooks enough to make a call on his play, but I know that I don’t need to see much more of Cody Barton. Give me Snacks!

Kam: Give me more Jordyn Brooks. His speed on the field is instantly noticeable. Also, I agree about getting Snacks Harrison in at defensive tackle. Bobby and KJ deserve to be able to play cleaner. They need better space eating defensive tackle play in front of them. Give me Snacks! I’m cute.

Curtis: Bobby Wagner had a stellar game against the 49ers when he was cut him loose to make plays. Against the Bills, they had him covering receivers who are tops in the league. It was hard to watch. This unit is suffering for two reasons, as I see them. One, they are suffering because of the defensive line play in front of them, and two, they are suffering because Pete Carroll and Ken Norton Junior have not fully defined what this defense is. Are they an aggressive attacking defense, or are they a soft zone defense? For me, they are caught in a no man’s land in between, and it’s frustrating to watch.

Secondary: D

Curtis: It pains me to say it, but this has been the most disappointing area of the team, by far. The trade for Jamal Adams was supposed to make this an area of strength. Yes, injuries have been an issue, but injuries happen everywhere. Yes, lack of quality pass rush has hurt a bunch, but for my eyes, I see this group using poor technique and fundamentals all the time. The safeties miss too many tackles. The corners are using crappy technique. These are fixable things, but they have to fix them now.

Kam: I’m embarrassed by this group. It’s embarrassing to watch them right now. What is Jamal Adams, anyway? Seems to me like he is more of a rush linebacker than a safety. That’s terrible. This defense needs Kam Chancellor to step in an teach these guys how to play together on the back end. Gimme Kam!

Earl: I’m so angry about the state of this squad, I’m going to poop on your pillow. W.T.F

Special Teams: B+

Kam: Michael Dickson has been a freaking stud of a punter. The kicker guy has been steady. If it weren’t for allowing that big return at the start of the game in Buffalo, I’d give this squad on A, but then that play happened.

Curtis: Special teams has been pretty good all year. Dickson has been an all-pro.

Earl: If you think that I am going to talk about special teams and the kickers, I am going to poop on your pillow.

Coaching. B-

Earl: Pete Carroll is a master at building a positive culture, and he is showing an ability to now adapt to a pass happy league with the Russell Cooking thingy. However, this is his defense, not Ken Norton’s. This defense is lousy. He needs to fix it, or they ain’t going anywhere in the playoffs.

Curtis: Brian Schottenheimer has been doing his best coaching, and bravo to Pete for letting him open up the offense for Russell Wilson. Their defense is broke, and for Pete Carroll being a defensive minded head coach, it’s hard to reconcile that. They have time to fix it, but they have got to do it now.

Kam: Kam Chancellor would help fix that defense. I know that he’s my namesake, but I’m being real here. The player would listen to him. Hire him Coach Carroll. Hire him today. He doesn’t have to take over the play calling for Ken, but he can cleanup the fundamentals in the secondary. I’m happy as pie about the offensive coaching, but a big part of the problem on the defense is lack of fundamentals and it’s tough to argue that isn’t on the coaches. Gimme Kam! I’m cute.

Closing Thoughts.

Curtis: The second half of the schedule is going to soften up for this team. They are sitting at 6-2, and are on pace to go 12-4. It’s doable. If they can at least split these two tough games coming up against the Rams and Cardinals, they will be in good shape for that. If they can’t, well..

Kam: Well, the they should’ve hired Kam Chancellor to fix that secondary because that will have been the likely reason why they didn’t split those two games.

Earl: Let’s be real. With this defense, they are a 10-6 wildcard team. Russ will pass for more yards and touchdowns than he ever has before, but he will likely also throw more interceptions than he ever has. That’s the whole reality about letting him cook. Yeah, with the soft looking second half schedule they might well win more than ten games, and they might even win the division, but if this defense doesn’t improve, don’t expect any deep playoff run. At least, I am not. I’m just keeping it real.

Curtis: But if they do manage to fix the defense?

Earl: Then maybe, just maybe, you can get excited about some championship talk. But if that happens, and they still fall short, expect a stinker on your pillow.. because that’s the way I roll. Go Hawks.

Let me share with you this text exchange that I had with my older brother following Seattle’s horrific defensive effort against the Buffalo Bills last Sunday.

“How is it you sack the quarterback like 8 or 9 or 10 times and still get burnt for a bunch of points?..”

“Horrible. I’ve lost faith in Ken Norton Junior as a play caller but we’re stuck with him the rest of the year.”

That was my response to my brother’s question, and it’s true. I have lost faith in Ken Norton Junior as Seattle’s defensive coordinator. Since he was hired to take the place of Kris Richard in 2018, I have witnessed this defense get worse each season, and this season, they are on pace to shatter records in terms of passing yards allowed. They are a million miles away from what a Pete Carroll defense is supposed to be.

A Pete Carroll defense is supposed to be able to pass rush with four defensive linemen, and they can’t. They have to send an extra defender and that leaves their coverage exposed.

A Pete Carrolll defense is supposed to only give up short passing yards, and they give up intermediate to deep yardage all the time with the soft coverage that they feel forced to play.

A Pete Carroll defense is supposed to feature sure tacklers at all three levels of the defense, and they miss tackles at all three levels.

Finally, a Pete Carroll defense is supposed to be fundamentally sound in technique, and their technique appears out of wack often.

The only thing that you can say this defense does that a Pete Carroll defense is supposed to do is slow down the run, but let’s be real about that. Because they offer so much yardage through the air, most teams that they are facing aren’t running the ball as much. Buffalo barely ran against this defense. They didn’t need to.

So, yeah. I’ve lost faith in Ken Norton Junior, and I say that knowing that this defense has not consistently been playing with all of it’s parts. I know that it’s rebuilt secondary has barely played with each other due to injuries to Jamal Adams and Shaquill Griffin. I know that their pass rush took a hit by not having Bruce Irvin or second round edge rusher Darrell Taylor mixing in with Benson Mayowa. I know first round pick Jordyn Brooks has missed a few games due to a knee injury. All this doesn’t matter to me. There are too many other veterans and starters who have been playing out of wack.

Bobby Wagner has had only one great game this season, and it was against an injury ravished 49er offense. Jarran Reed signed a big two year contract extension to provide pass rush inside, and there have been many times that he has not won one on on battles (granted maybe that changes now that Seattle has finally added a legit edge rusher in Carlos Dunlap as he had a great game against the Bills). KJ Wright has had some great moments this season, but he has also missed tackles that, frankly, he should not miss. Quandre Diggs has not lived up to the promise that he showed last year at free safety. When Jamal Adams has played, he’s done well rushing the passer, but has been quite spotty in coverage.

Don’t get me wrong, there are major talent issues that explain partly why this defense has been bad. Seattle did a lousy job building its pass rush over the off-season. They went cheap to add where they most needed to add to make this defense better, and it bit them in the butt big time. Maybe Dunlap fixes things, but it never should have gotten to having to make a mid season trade. They should have fixed it months ago.

But saying all that, even with talent deficiencies, there is no excuse for established veterans to be playing with poor fundamentals. This, to me, is on the coaching. Fundamentals have likely not been emphasized nearly enough.

Now, it is quite possible that Covid interrupted their ability to properly hammer fundamentals over the off-season. Defenses have struggled league wide. This is very true. But Seattle’s defense is historically struggling and that is the big distinction. Huge, actually.

To make matters worth, I have lost faith that Norton has even the ability or willingness to put his best players in the best positions to have success. Bobby Wagner should not be covering Stefon Diggs down field. He is not a nickel corner, he’s a middle linebacker, and Diggs is one of the very best receivers in the league. Jarran Reed is Seattle’s best interior pass rusher, and it fricking drives me nuts seeing him drop back into coverage on third downs. His job is to pass rush and run stop, that’s his job.

So, yeah. I’ve lost faith in Norton. Doesn’t mean that it can’t be earned back, but I am not holding my breath on that.

So should Pete Carroll fire Norton now at the mid season point?

It would be a bold move that might light a needed spark in his defense. It could also be a bold move that could backfire. We have no idea if it would work, but many are now contending that at least it would be something, and that’s fair.

From my point of view, Pete Carroll shouldn’t be concerned whether or not he will lose the locker room. He just signed a contract extension that makes him head coach through 2025. Players know who’s team this is.

It’s very possible that star middle linebacker Bobby Wagner would be hugely upset by firing Norton, and probably his best friend KJ Wright would be right there with him. Norton is like a big brother to them, and they rejoiced a couple years ago when Norton was brought in to replace Richard.

Seeing how they have never really had much of a chance to acclimate Jamal Adams to the defense due to injury, nor did they give much of a chance for Norton to work with new edge rusher Dunlap, they would indeed have some high grounds to make a big stink about that if Carroll dumps their big brother now. There is a very real chance that a Norton firing would alienate two of Carroll’s best veteran defenders to dangerous levels.

The thing that I see with both players, though, is that both of them are highly stand up and professional types. While they might protest heavily at Norton being fired, they might ultimately put it aside for the sake of the defense.

We just don’t know what direction it would go with them, and we also don’t know who Carroll would even replace Norton with. That’s the bigger issue in my mind.

Who on this coaching staff would step in? Clint Hurtt is a good defensive line coach, but I don’t think he has ever play called before.

Would Carroll do it all by himself? That’s a big burden to put on himself when he also likes to be involved with the offense on occasion.

Fans will bring up bringing in Dan Quinn now that he’s been fired from Atlanta as their head coach, but does he want to step in mid season to deal with the hard task of fixing Seattle’s defense? Or does he just want to take the year off and have a breather? I kinda think he’d lean towards the latter.

Kris Richard would be the other obvious outside option with ties to the team. But does he want to return to where he was essentially fired a few years ago?

I just don’t think Carroll is going to fire Norton now, even if he should

Pete Carroll is very loyal to his coaches, and I think he is looking at the fact that they have never really had the defense playing together as it was intended to be, and he is no where near firing Norton at this point. He’s going to want to play this out.

He also knows that he has too many key defenders that will want him to do that in Wagner and Wright, and he won’t want to shake their moral.

So, I just don’t see a firing happening now. They will let this play out. They will have more patience than fans.

I think there is an outside shot that they could bring someone in from the outside to advise, but I don’t know who that person is.

It’s possible that they fix this defense enough to make Seattle a true Super Bowl contender in a Let Russ Cook kinda year. It’s also very possible that they won’t be able to do enough, and Seattle falls short of those expectations.

If that happens, I think changes are likely to be made next off-season.

At least, that is what I would hope.

Go Hawks.