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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until then, just breathe.

Go Hawks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Play to your strengths and minimize your weaknesses.

Claim your identity and then own it. Do it.

Run the fucking ball!

Go Hawks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Onto Baltimore.

Go Hawks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It just had that old special Kingdome feeling.

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

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

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

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

Go Hawks!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

And let’s be honest about another thing.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Hawks!

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

Different people will see this game differently.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Hawks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Maybe.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Go Hawks.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here are my very quick thoughts on both.

Trade DK Metcalf? Are you shitting me?

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

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

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

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

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

So let’s be real.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

But give me Michael Penix Junior.

Go Hawks.

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.