Are We Paper Lions?

[pittpnthrs]

Absolutely we are paper lions. We look eons better on paper than we really are. I blame it on the coaching. At the beginning of the season people were yammering about us ending up 14-2 to 12-4 and here we are sitting at 5-3 at the half way point. Same old script with the same old issues.

 

[adeltaY]

Yeah munn I'm pretty sure it's paper tiger, but the metaphor still makes sense I guess haha.

We do look good on paper but damn we aren't putting it together. I'd argue our only Tier 1 players are Wagner, Earl and Doug. I'd throw Wilson in there too, but he's been inconsistent. QB position is tough to evaluate so let's say he is a Tier 1. Lots of Tier 2. Some have noted Wright has been slipping so he might be headed to Tier 3. I don't think Britt has been playing as well as last year. He's been decent but not good/great. Part of that is probably the ankle injury though.

Thing is, I'm not sure what the average for blue chip/Tier 1 players in the league is? Look at the Pats. Their Tier 1 is Brady, Devin McCourty (having on off year), Gronk (injuries taking a toll), and maybe Marcus Cannon? What about the Saints? Drew Brees, Lattimore, and ??? The Eagles have Lane Johnson, F. Cox, Graham, Jenkins, and Wentz. These other team that are much better than us right now have fewer all star players from what I can gather and they can actually score points consistently. It's gotta be coaching.

 

[NJlargent]

The teams that make a deep run like the 05 steelers and 07 Giants and 11 Giants have a good running game and good OL. Plus coughlin was a great coach and got people to play. We have Carroll and who ran a once in a lifetime squad into the ground. He is far from what this board made him out to be. Harbaugh was a better coach too. The 2013 niners game was as close as it was because we got outcoached. And then in 49 we got outcaoched again even though we were the better team. We will be back when Carroll is gone and after a painful rebuild. He is taking us to the 10-6 or 9-7 arena again this year

 

[Natethegreat]

Paper tiger. TIGER!

 

[Scorpion05]

I think it's a decent list, but with all due respect I feel there is some over analysis going on here

I've been around long enough to see teams(and fans) declare that a player should be cut, coach fired, etc. At times, it involves a once great player who is either getting up in age, or is playing at a tier 2 level. The problem with that is, it is not very easy to replace those players. In fact, some teams flat out sink after that

Take some of the players on your Tier 2 list, for example. Sherman, Bennett, Chancellor. How many players at their positions can you argue is better than them, on a great team? Probably a few. But you can easily argue they're top 10. I get our standards are high, but until this defense falls to the bottom half of the league, that kind of production doesn't grow on trees.

I honestly don't believe Seattle fans give Pete/John enough credit. They make some huge blunders, but from a league wide perspective they are top tier. They've put together a team that has been to the playoffs 5 years in a row. I look around the league, and I just don't see too many teams that are better talent wise. What you CAN argue is that other teams have better coaching. Then we can talk. But this team has elite hall of fame talent all over the defense and a top Qb. But I sincerely think we need better coaching on defense and offense

 

[scutterhawk]

Whether you intended it or not, your categories are only likely to answer the question of how old we are, rather than how good we are. Otherwise, you'd eliminate age as a factor.

Bennett (6.5 sacks in 8 games), Brown, P-Rich, Britt (one of the league's top 5 centers), and Freeney are all playing at a consistently high level. One bad game shouldn't be enough to knock you out of that. I'd also bump Aboushi and Joeckel up to Tier 2.

100% agree.
Brown's first game as a Seahawk was top drawer.
Poor execution IN THIS GAME has been overlooked.
Kicker makes TWO of the THREE on those crap-kicks, and we're not sniveling about this loss.
EVERYONE has to share their fair share of blame here.
The players that we have are amongst the best in the League, the Coaching on the other hand?
They dialed up too much Vanilla, thinking that they needed to conserve their best for the Cardinals....Like it or not folks, I think they took the desperate Deadskins for granted, and it bit them in the ass.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Take some of the players on your Tier 2 list, for example. Sherman, Bennett, Chancellor. How many players at their positions can you argue is better than them, on a great team? Probably a few. But you can easily argue they're top 10. I get our standards are high, but until this defense falls to the bottom half of the league, that kind of production doesn't grow on trees.

It's a good philosophical football argument.

Football is a sport of violence, heart, and will. So can you have an "old" defense that while still talented has lost some of it's ferociousness? Especially for a unit that's soaking up the majority of our cap space?

That's my main criticism of Pete right now. He still thinks it's 2012 where he can pound the rock, keep the game close and rely on his defense to shut the other team down in the 2nd half of games and win close games.

Well..........that's fine when your D is getting turnovers, you have a good run game and your kicker is dependable.

Do we have ANY of those things right now?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Why do you even watch the game Pitt? If you assume the worst, and seem to enjoy the misery?? Just curious

 

[tmobilchawker79]

We can't be Lions, they busy beating GB.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Makes me think of the band White Lion.

 

[chris98251]

 

[WindCityHawk]

This team is crackling with potential energy, but until the coaches can pull it together, no one not sitting beneath a Seahawks hat believes this team is scary.

 

[12thbrah]

I would say there are a few players that have lost that competitive "edge". You rarely see a team like the Patriots lose focus and play as sloppy as the Seahawks did last Sunday. For a veteran group like this it is inexcusable.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Makes me think of the band White Lion.

When the children cry, let them know we tried.

 

[Seymour]

LOL at George Plimpton. :2thumbs:

I just used him in a joke a couple months ago, forget what but weird.

Hadn't even heard that name in years.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I would say there are a few players that have lost that competitive "edge". You rarely see a team like the Patriots lose focus and play as sloppy as the Seahawks did last Sunday. For a veteran group like this it is inexcusable.

There's two reasons for this:

1. The Patriots are cold blooded when it comes to players. They'll trade players in their prime if it means dumping salary and getting off the player before they start declining.

Why? Because they know they have a system that works + a scouting/drafting/acquiring process that also works. That's why they plug in just about any no name player and they thrive in their system. Takes some insane coaching and scheme, i.e. Belichick.

2. Pete is the opposite. For all his positives with managing players and allowing them to "be themselves," the downside is he's loyal to a fault and allowing players to act out, disrupt and be themselves means sloppy play on the field, i.e. penalties and dumb mistakes.

Which is what we saw Sunday, horribly sloppy unfocused play..........and in a tight game with no room for sloppy unfocused mistakes? We lost.

 

[Wartooth]

Look on the bright side guys...
If they don't make the playoffs, it will force some much needed changes either in the coaches or the players.
Pete should have already ran off a few of these coaches...
And, it's become pretty apparent that some players care a lot more about other things than football.
Hell, it might be refreshing to see it shook up, because what they have morphed into over the last couple of seasons isn't going to get it done.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Look on the bright side guys...
If they don't make the playoffs, it will force some much needed changes either in the coaches or the players.
Pete should have already ran off a few of these coaches...
And, it's become pretty apparent that some players care a lot more about other things than football.
Hell, it might be refreshing to see it shook up, because what they have morphed into over the last couple of seasons isn't going to get it done.

I think we'll make the playoffs, barring some serious injuries.

But just sliding into the playoffs at 10-6 at the wildcard or barely winning the division isn't what I was hoping for. With as much as our FO hedged our draft and cap situation with getting Richardson and now Brown, this is the kind of roster that needs to accomplish more than another 2nd round exit.

 

[Seymour]

Look on the bright side guys...
If they don't make the playoffs, it will force some much needed changes either in the coaches or the players.
Pete should have already ran off a few of these coaches...
And, it's become pretty apparent that some players care a lot more about other things than football.
Hell, it might be refreshing to see it shook up, because what they have morphed into over the last couple of seasons isn't going to get it done.

Ohh I'm already looking at that POSSIBLE bright side. One of the things keeping us from getting new blood in coaches here are the late finishes. An early finish would give us a shot at replacing Cable and Bevell (not that I think Pete won't go down with them).
At least a fan can dream.....

 

[Siouxhawk]

Continuity is what winning teams are about. And make no mistake, we're a winning team. Those wishing for change likely drink too much Mountain Dew.