Don't Get the Michaels Criticism

[MrThortan]

I just don' think he is the future. Serviceable backup.... but like others have said he leaves a lot of yards on the field. I am watching Murray, Gordan, and Henry atm and thinking... damn I wish the Hawks had one.

 

[nash72]

He does leave yards on the field and its frustrating that he wont take contact for those extra yards. Its downright aggravating when he leaves us short of the first down and forces us into a 3rd or 4th down situation, because we all know that most NFL backs fight for that and usually get it. I think he has horrible field vision and he's dumb as a rock. How long has he been with us now and Wilson still has to point and move him into the right position. On the positive, he has a quick burst. Really good blocking back. Also he has damn good hands when catching the ball.

Anyways, CMike is here now because we have nobody else with Rawls hurt (going to be a reoccurring situation with him I'm afraid), and the other backs being young and inexperienced. Once one of the rookies gets his head on straight and gets a feel for the game, Michaels will be good as gone.

 

[hburn21]

The frustration with him is he leaves a ton of yards on the field. As good as he's playing now he could be so much better by just staying on his feet and understanding where the 1st down marker is.

I don't think you're taking the O-Line play into consideration, they have been coached to give more pass protection, and less clearing the way for the Run game, like they did for Marshawn Lynch.
Cable has been charged by Carroll to make those changes, so I think it's a little unfair to twerp Michael's for not beasting out more yardage.

It's not the initial part of his runs I have issue with, he does a good job of getting what's available at the 1st level but he has a real weird habit of getting so low he can't maintain his balance and he has to dive forward. I don't have any issues with the production he gives us but he could really be a lot better if he could just stay on his feet instead of getting so low he stumbles and just being smart with his location on the field compared with the 1st down marker

 

[scutterhawk]

The frustration with him is he leaves a ton of yards on the field. As good as he's playing now he could be so much better by just staying on his feet and understanding where the 1st down marker is.

I don't think you're taking the O-Line play into consideration, they have been coached to give more pass protection, and less clearing the way for the Run game, like they did for Marshawn Lynch.
Cable has been charged by Carroll to make those changes, so I think it's a little unfair to twerp Michael's for not beasting out more yardage.

It's not the initial part of his runs I have issue with, he does a good job of getting what's available at the 1st level but he has a real weird habit of getting so low he can't maintain his balance and he has to dive forward. I don't have any issues with the production he gives us but he could really be a lot better if he could just stay on his feet instead of getting so low he stumbles and just being smart with his location on the field compared with the 1st down marker

Maybe it's just my take, but we have an O-Line that's been schooled to making Pass Protection their #1 priority, and the Run game has taken to the back burner....Now, try as he may, Michaels' legs cannot churn out the finishing yards that Lynch was doing, but then again, Lynch had the impeccable timing and nasty to blow holes where none existed.
We also need to put things in perspective....Towards the end of the Lynch time here, he wasn't getting all the yards that were there for the taking either, as the O-Line wasn't getting the necessary push for him....I think he saw the neglected attention paid to the O-Line and that's why he opted out.....retirement.
My point is...Christine Michaels is NOT the ground pounder that some of y'all are wanting him to be, and like it or not, until the Seahawks can find a suitable replacement for Marshawn Lynch, Michaels is our feature back.
I like Troymaine Pope, and believe that he just might be a Thomas Rawls 2.0...Hopefully he'll see some play time and reward/renew our enthusiasm in the run game.
Maybe it's just my take, but to me it seems like we are in a tumultuous transition.

 

[Optimus25]

For me it's like he's always on the verge of coughing up the ball, and he seems to go down like someone grabbed his shoelaces, but on replay there was no-one grabbing his shoelaces. He just sort of ends up falling over.

I just want the old rawls back, but yeah, i guess i kinda see your point. He's not the worst option all things considered.

 

[Bigpumpkin]

I just want the old Rawls back

We all do! It would appear that Pete must have a good runner to have a successful Offense. Christin started this year looking like he was "on fire", but it has not lasted. Until we can get a good running game, we are doomed to watch "piss poor" mediocre football.

 

[vin.couve12]

http://www.nfl.com/videos/seattle-seaha ... ne-Michael

 

[SpokaneHawks]

Who's Michaels?

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Al Michaels?
Mike HolGRUM
Matt HasselBACK

etc.

 

[hawker84]

Oh look the spelling police are back, yaaaaay....

I think CMike has been very serviceable since taking over, I really have no complaints, is he Lynch, or Rawls in prime condition, no but he's a good back, and with a decent O line he could be very effective. Not crazy about his mental side, maybe that'll come around with a little more maturity?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I get it.............he runs out of bounds, he trips and tackles himself, he has to have a clean lane to gain yards, he has a hard time breaking tackles................... and Russell has to constantly get him in the right spot and protection.

There you go, explained.

Bottom line, Michael is not a good RB for the bruising pounding physical style of runner Pete wants in this offense. Michael might make a serviceable change of pace back, but again not here. Our change of pace back is like Prosise, twitchy, quick with good hands. Michael is none of these things.

 

[scutterhawk]

I get it.............he runs out of bounds, he trips and tackles himself, he has to have a clean lane to gain yards, he has a hard time breaking tackles................... and Russell has to constantly get him in the right spot and protection.

There you go, explained.

Bottom line, Michael is not a good RB for the bruising pounding physical style of runner Pete wants in this offense. Michael might make a serviceable change of pace back, but again not here. Our change of pace back is like Prosise, twitchy, quick with good hands. Michael is none of these things.

So who do you see as Michael's replacement at this juncture?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I get it.............he runs out of bounds, he trips and tackles himself, he has to have a clean lane to gain yards, he has a hard time breaking tackles................... and Russell has to constantly get him in the right spot and protection.

There you go, explained.

Bottom line, Michael is not a good RB for the bruising pounding physical style of runner Pete wants in this offense. Michael might make a serviceable change of pace back, but again not here. Our change of pace back is like Prosise, twitchy, quick with good hands. Michael is none of these things.

So who do you see as Michael's replacement at this juncture?

Rawls is hopefully his replacement in 2-3 weeks. In the mean time I think you're gonna see more Prosise and more series for Collins, and less Michael.

Pete is rarely outwardly frustrated, but you can tell he's very frustrated with Michael the past 3-4 weeks, and IMO the reason for Pete saying things are going to change for the offense. To me that translates to more Prosise and more Collins.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Procise hopefully will take over for Michael. Then once Rawls gets back, they can be more set at RB with that combo.

 

[OkieHawk]

I'd rather have Spiller replace CMike with Prosise playing 3rd downs and in hurry up offense. That is of course until Rawls comes back.

 

[chris98251]

I'd rather have Spiller replace CMike with Prosise playing 3rd downs and in hurry up offense. That is of course until Rawls comes back.

Spiller can't stay healthy or he would have been playing, nobody has an issue with what he can do, it's how often he is able to do it.

 

[fridayfrenzy]

There seems to be a lot of crazy-talk people in here.

People talk about leaving yards on the field, yet don't mention the fact that he falls forward on virtually every run and gets an extra 1-2 yards as well. He turns a 1 yard gain into 3 yards consistently. He gets hit in the backfield which many RBs would take a loss on and gets back to the LOS.

Does he fall forward after breaking through the first wave of defenders and instead of getting 20 yards he only got 8 yards? Yes. My belief is that the coaches have talked to him and are ok with him missing out on that extra 12 yards because they rather him get positive yardage on each run and making the down and distance more manageable than focusing on homeruns runs.

He is doing an absolutely awesome job at pass protection.

4.2 YPC as an NFL RB is 19th in the NFL. I think that is commendable behind this OL and at a time when the threat for Wilson to run is no longer there. If Wilson was healthy and the threat for him to run was real, that YPC would be higher. Michael is essentially seeing an extra man in the box compared to when Wilson is healthy and a LB/DE has to contain him.

My question to the haters is what more were you envisioning with another RB? Not every team can have an All-Pro RB that is getting 5.0 YPC behind some monster OL.

 

[fridayfrenzy]

Stats aren't the only thing that makes a back good. Helping your team win is what matters. In that area he falls short. He's just not a 'difference maker' IMHO. He doesn't have the 'It' factor for me. There, I said it.

How many RBs are actually difference makers in the NFL?

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Stats aren't the only thing that makes a back good. Helping your team win is what matters. In that area he falls short. He's just not a 'difference maker' IMHO. He doesn't have the 'It' factor for me. There, I said it.

How many RBs are actually difference makers in the NFL?

I don't care about other places, I care about here. In this offense with how this team is built, we NEED a difference maker.

In other places that throw it all over the field they don't need a difference maker. But that's not the Hawks.........and sorry but Michael ain't it.

 

[Largent80]

Our offensive line has turned into a pass blocking line to protect RW, it's easy to see. Blaming it on one RB is lazy analysis.