Biggest obstacle standing in our way to repeat.

[nanomoz]

I chose "schedule," but what I really wanted to choose was "the incredibly physical division we play in." We have no fewer than six extremely physical battles on the schedule. If the Hawks' build a dynasty, it'll be more impressive than the Pats' recent success which benefited a bunch from oft-hapless Bills, Jets, and Dolphins teams.

 

[Tical21]

Who foresaw defensive coordinators completely solving our offense after it was #1 in DVOA without Harvin the year before?

Not to be a bragging jerk, but I did once we knew Percy was gone most of the year before the season started. I was even iffy about it before news of needing hip surgery came.

We haven't seen anywhere near enough games with Harvin yet, but I suspect that Harvin is the key to Bevell's play-calling heart. Simply having Percy even suiting up on game day has altered some of our offensive tendencies while Percy is not even on the field for some plays or a series. It seems like Bevell's a happy kid with a great toy (I don't mean that as insulting as it sounds, I'm just using it strictly as an analogy) and everything's improved because of it, in a manner of speaking, lol.

Small data sample set to be saying that, I know, but it APPEARS to be true in my opinion. If we're bolder and less predictable on offense now going forward, my concerns are toast. I look forward to finding out.

I don't know that I agree with this statement. Our offense was most ineffective when teams were lining up with 8 in the box, playing press and sending pressure. Not exactly a chess match. As a playcaller in that scenario, you've only got a few options. If your players aren't capable of executing some of those options, you're in big trouble.

 

[Scottemojo]

Who foresaw defensive coordinators completely solving our offense after it was #1 in DVOA without Harvin the year before?

Not to be a bragging jerk, but I did once we knew Percy was gone most of the year before the season started. I was even iffy about it before news of needing hip surgery came.

We haven't seen anywhere near enough games with Harvin yet, but I suspect that Harvin is the key to Bevell's play-calling heart. Simply having Percy even suiting up on game day has altered some of our offensive tendencies while Percy is not even on the field for some plays or a series. It seems like Bevell's a happy kid with a great toy (I don't mean that as insulting as it sounds, I'm just using it strictly as an analogy) and everything's improved because of it, in a manner of speaking, lol.

Small data sample set to be saying that, I know, but it APPEARS to be true in my opinion. If we're bolder and less predictable on offense now going forward, my concerns are toast. I look forward to finding out.

I don't know that I agree with this statement. Our offense was most ineffective when teams were lining up with 8 in the box, playing press and sending pressure. Not exactly a chess match. As a playcaller in that scenario, you've only got a few options. If your players aren't capable of executing some of those options, you're in big trouble.

Fact. Our receivers got their panties in a wad about being called pedestrian, but the fact is that they were in several games when they couldn't get off press and teams were run blitzing the gaps.

 

[RolandDeschain]

You're definitely right, Tical; and as I said, small sample size. It's more of a suspicion I have. I did anticipate offensive woes, (which we had despite our rather high offensive PPG ranking) and said so a number of times leading up to the start of the season, though.

If we can pass a bit more, and more importantly mix up formations a bit and perhaps not run up an A gap such a high percentage of the time, as well as have a healthier O-line...We will finish with the #1 offense and the #1 defense this year.

 

[Tical21]

I do concede that there were times that another screen here or there might have helped alleviate a bit of the pressure, but I don't think you get better by putting on band-aids like that. Maybe the former coach in me always likes to stick up for the coaches as well. I don't watch film anymore, but I give Bevell the benefit of the doubt in knowing what to call to beat press coverage and the blitz. Should be pretty remedial stuff, and I doubt there is a coordinator in the game that doesn't install the basics of how to counteract that strategy. That is a mano-a-mano game that is designed to shut ya down or give up the big one. We just could very rarely burn it for the big one. They try that against Percy and Richardson, they're chasing a really fast guy 80 yards.

You know why you run up the A-gap 100 times?

 

[RolandDeschain]

I know, play-action passes are our bread and butter. Predictability is death in the NFL, however, and you can only get away with being predictable if you have amazing execution on a regular basis.

You know how many games our team would win if our defense was ranked 16th/17th, strictly league average? We wouldn't have sniffed 13 wins from a mile away last year.

I don't like just how much we rely on our defense to never make mistakes.

 

[hgwellz12]

My superstitions won't allow me to play :141847_bnono:

:13:

 

[scutterhawk]

I answered O-Line, and for the simple fact that they were indeed the weakest link last Year.
Early in the Season, Russell Wilson's options were cut down because of poor play there.
The rest of the Defenses in the NFC WEST were targeting our flimsy O-Line protection, Pete is usually astute at solving issues like that, and I'm pretty sure he'll get them up to respectability in the next couple of Months.
Seahawks are young, hungry, they're still the ones to beat, and they're not going to give an inch...It'll have to be taken. :thirishdrinkers:

 

[Tical21]

I know, play-action passes are our bread and butter. Predictability is death in the NFL, however, and you can only get away with being predictable if you have amazing execution on a regular basis.

You know how many games our team would win if our defense was ranked 16th/17th, strictly league average? We wouldn't have sniffed 13 wins from a mile away last year.

I don't like just how much we rely on our defense to never make mistakes.

You run 100 times up the A-gap, because screw them and feed 'em fishheads, that's why.

 

[Blitzhawk]

This thread. Thnx a lot of jinxing us, I blame you......JK

I would have to seriously say injuries and just "any given day any team could win would be our biggest problems."

 

[loafoftatupu]

I would vote for Kaepernick. In the NFCCG, he seemingly got over a hump and is no longer intimidated enough to be freaked out by his own shadow. Injuries of course are #1 with every team in the NFL, but the 49ers are still really darn good.

I don't think that he actually played that great. He just didn't make his mistakes until later. He had a couple good designed runs, but his long one was just a breakdown that included some uncharacteristic missed tackles. The score to Boldin was a great pass, but even that followed a strip sack that Kaeperchoke kicked forward. In that final drive the Hawks went for shutdown defense, that was until the Niners scraped out that 4th down. They immediately played to keep the ball in the middle of the field. When that drive started CK had 85 yards passing.

He was comfortable because the Niners had a 10 point lead as a result of the rare RW turnover and the big run. Kaeperchoke didn't "look" troubled, but he crumbled under pressure. The Hawks took the lead and Kaeperstank fell to pieces. Heh.. the Hawks were so close to stopping that 4th down play too. Without it though, we would not have "the Tip".

Whatever confidence CK was feeling that day, it was ripped out of his chest and stuffed back down his throat. He is not coming back to the Clink in comfort.

 

[Tical21]

I actually thought CK's turning point was that drive that ended with the Sherman tip and Smith int. We were not going to stop him from marching down the field. He got antsy and challenged Sherman and it killed him. He may not have played like Joe Montana, but it was a far cry from his first go-round at the Clink.

 

[kearly]

I agree with Tical. Kaepernick seems to get a little more comfortable with each start against Seattle. I'm not saying he's good against our D, but if he can learn to stop making overly macho throws he could actually be a tough opponent for us.

 

[General Manager]

I agree with Tical. Kaepernick seems to get a little more comfortable with each start against Seattle. I'm not saying he's good against our D, but if he can learn to stop making overly macho throws he could actually be a tough opponent for us.

We split with them last season and the NFCCG came down to a 4rth quarter drive in Seattle that was decided on the last play , I think CK already is a tough opponent for us.

 

[RolandDeschain]

I wouldn't say he improved in round two, Kearly. He knew full well what to expect and still looked like a 3-year-old lost in a Safeway looking for mommy. He looked significantly better in round three, (NFCCG) there's no doubt about that, but I'd say he was even more lost as far as being a supposed NFL-caliber quarterback goes in his second trip to the Clink. I'd have to check the stats, but I'm pretty sure he had a worse night statistically in early 2013 than in late 2012. I'd be curious to know what the reasoning is behind thinking he was more comfortable the second time.

 

[chris98251]

Keep them coming, things are taking shape.

Oh and take your Kaep debate to your own thread guys

 

[Tokadub]

My 3 votes were:

1) Injury bugs. This is probably the biggest concern of every team but I'm particularly concerned about Harvin. If he get's injured I'm not sure if we'll be able to secure home field advantage. What would our offense look like without Golden Tate AND Percy Harvin? That's the main reason I freaked out when we lost Tate, I thought we needed to have either him OR Harvin on the field to repeat.

Admittedly, we have done a much better job then I anticipated with drafting wide receivers. My expectations for Kevin Norwood are actually higher than for Richardson. I don't watch a lot of college football so I could be wrong, but my first impression after watching some videos of Norwood is that he already has extremely solid technique and the ability to make huge plays. I can see Norwood jumping right into the NFL without missing a beat which is very rare for a wide reciever. He seems like the dream receiver for Russell Wilson, a consistent smart and very skilled/reliable player who Wilson may be more comfortable to pull the trigger for even when he's not wide open.

Paul Richardson has some great potential as well, love his speed but I think his size and style could lead to less targets than Norwood in their rookie seasons.

I am paranoid about Sherman getting injured but I won't get into that since I know I'm pretty much the only one who feels that way.

2) Is Talent, with a great emphasis on the Offensive Line.

I'm just not confident at all that our O-Line will improve, in fact I wouldn't be surprised if they are even slightly worst than last year which is hard to imagine since it's so scary.

This causes me some concern with our running game. Our yards per carry weren't that great last season and our RB's got hit in the backfield many times. If our O-Line run blocking gets any worst it could really make things difficult for our offensive philosophy. And of course if our pass protection remains so awful Wilson is at risk to be injured and we'll REALLY need Harvin to carry us with quick throws and a variety of running screen plays which he makes look so easy and almost impossible to defend.

I have always been very confident that Christine Michael was gonna be very good. But I'm not sure if he can do it if our O-Line is terrible. I think Lynch is the only guy we have that can still average 4.2 yards per carry even with a terrible O-Line. I'm worried about Christine Michael and Turbin being able to make something out of nothing, but perhaps Michael's crazy explosiveness could balance out even if he gets stuffed for small gains most the time.

It almost makes me want to somehow pay Lynch a little more and try to keep him for next season, but we'll have to see how this season plays out first I might just be thinking about the worst case scenario for our running game.

3) Bad Calls. I don't know if I'll ever be able to recover from our first Super Bowl appearance. I will always worry about bad calls and refs favoring other teams.

I think the calls were very fair for us overall last year even though we were the most penalized team... so that's saying something about what kind of penalties I consider "Bad".

I'm a little worried that now that we have won a Super Bowl maybe the refs or NFL will feel that they made it up to us for the 2005 Super Bowl which was embarrassing how bad the refs were. So if they feel they made it right for us could we once again become the "Southern Alaska" team that they could make a lot more bad calls now?

I guess my view leans a little bit towards the "Conspiracy Theory" choice. I don't necessarily believe that everyone's out to get us, but all it takes is one game of Bad Calls to potentially kill our chance to repeat.