Is anyone making excuses for the offensive line?

[Hawkpower]

We also have to look at our roster.

We have so much money invested in other places, its just natural that certain areas of the team are going to be weaker.

Its apparent (duh) that the o-line is that place for us.

If we were to put the money into the line that was needed to make it a force, then we couldnt pay monster money to Russ, Wags, etc.

There is only so much coaching up one can do.

 

[LoneHawkFan]

Walter Jones isn't walking through that door.

The O-line is what it is, and these guys aren't beating the Von Millers of the world within 4 weeks. This situation isn't getting any better by practicing harder. I can't even blame the players. The talent isn't there. There is almost no money or draft capital along that line. That's not the players' fault. I'm sure they're trying. More than anything, it's probably a result of hubris on Cable's part. And maybe Pete and John have a little too much faith.

You basically have to pay Okung at this point. Are you kidding me? I'm not even saying he's elite, but you don't fix the problem by replacing the best guy with yet another college D-linemen.

+1 on this every word.

 

[Tech Worlds]

we will get better. I aint trippin

 

[AgentDib]

My initial reaction was similar but I have yet to watch the broadcast. Here's my stab at optimism anyway: week 1 of the preseason is important and it should be a bigger excuse for this line than for many others.

First, consider how many young players we have who are inexperienced with their position and inexperienced in working with their teammates. We cycled through three different centers and the protection assignments were bound to be rough. From the stands it looked like a couple of those interior pressures could have just been completely blown. We simply haven't had a chance to develop continuity yet and as the battles resolve themselves in future weeks having a consistent center and starting five should benefit the protection scheme.

Second, the Broncos rushers were not staying disciplined like our opponents will need to do in the regular season. Our offensive coaching staff gets zero respect from the fan base but they do a lot to keep the opponents off balance. What we saw last night was extremely vanilla but there were numerous times that TJack and Archer could have taken off if our goal was to win the game instead of to practice passing plays against a real opponent. It sucks to watch our offense look inept for 60 minutes but we really shouldn't read too much into it.

Finally, failing in a preseason environment and having those failures on tape can be extremely valuable for a young unit. This may be discomfiting for us as fans as we wonder if they will be ready for St. Louis or not, but the actual outcome really wasn't bad yesterday. There were plenty of lessons learned, which is the real purpose of the preseason, and the team is better today for having had that experience yesterday.

 

[seatownlowdown]

we need to go get a right tackle asap. currently we dont have one on the roster. and it most definitely shows.

 

[nepahawk]

What upsets me most about the o line is all the conversion projects.

Cable is supposed to be and is a great line coach but, why the projects?

What would he be able to do, if he had natural o lineman to train up?

I can see taking a flyer on a player once in a while.

But, why gamble on potential conversion upside ALL the time?

Imo, we don't have the time and convience to get these guys where he wants them to be.

Keep your head on a swivel Russ, good luck!!

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

It's preseason.

Yes, it is. Even by preseason standards, it was a terrible, terrible performance. Denver's line was also playing their very first preseason game, and the differences between the two were stark and terrifying.

I didn't see any low snaps.

The center(s?) had one terrible snap, and a few more that were hurried and sloppy. Several times I noticed on camera angles facing the line that the snap came out sloppy and off, like the center was hurrying to block even before completing the snap. It reminded me of a wide receiver who tries to start into his route before catching the ball.

Yes, I realize that Okung and a lot of the other starters weren't starting. Let's hope there's a vast Grand Canyon of difference between their play and what we saw last night, because we're gonna need it.

Some of it is Russ, and I'll never dispute that... But the numbers were worse than I thought.

The problem I have with the constant line of thought that "it's Russ because he holds the ball too long" is that he also saves a lot of plays from becoming sacks--at least as many as he causes by holding onto the ball a split second longer. He's ducked and dodged his way out of so many should-be sacks it's become an Internet meme. One doesn't do that this consistently and still be on the hook as the cause of a lot of the sacks. Sure, he holds the ball too long occasionally and is at fault for a sack, but I think we can safely say by now that's the exception, not the rule.

Yes, we'll get better. We have to, right? I mean, there's no place but up to go, right? Please tell me that's the case! That's the good news. The bad news is that Denver's offensive line is kind of the control group in this little experiment, and in comparison, things looked... well, let's just say they're probably going to have a very interesting meeting today about how things looked.

 

[seatownlowdown]

What upsets me most about the o line is all the conversion projects.
But, why gamble on potential conversion upside ALL the time?

Imo, we don't have the time and convience to get these guys where he wants them to be.

agreed. our window is now. maybe have 1 or 2 "projects" for long term, whether it be low round/undrafted guys or even physical specimens (sweezy, sokoli) ... but in no way should these type of projects be expected to compete for starting roles off the bat or even taking good snaps away from starters. having the worst oline the last 3 years in a row is basically playing russian roulette with your qb and your season. its frustrating cuz we could have had collins from lsu, who would have been an upgrade at either LG or RT. boneheaded stance by management

 

[LymonHawk]

we will get better. I aint trippin

This.

 

[Chawker]

seahawk sailor, that terrible snap was a great play by whom ever was playing at the time. Basic 101, if a defensive person jumps you snap the ball. free 5 yards ! where the ball goes is irrelevant.cheers

 

[Chawker]

Seahawk Sailor, that terrible snap was a great play by whom ever was playing at the time. Basic 101, if a defensive person jumps, you snap the ball. free 5 yards ! where the ball goes is irrelevant.cheers

 

[Seahawk Sailor]

seahawk sailor, that terrible snap was a great play by whom ever was playing at the time. Basic 101, if a defensive person jumps you snap the ball. free 5 yards ! where the ball goes is irrelevant.cheers

There was a defensive penalty on that play, wasn't there? Still, doesn't excuse the rest of what I saw. And the center had better be absolutely sure the defense jumped first if he's gonna snap the ball fifteen yards behind the quarterback's head and cause a free-for-all fumble recovery pile.

 

[Chawker]

Correct, it was a off-sides penalty, which the center by snapping the ball got us a free 5 yards. Its one of the first things they teach you when playing the position. I thought it was a great play.

 

[Jazzhawk]

Someone, anyone, just help me relax about this - and avoid reminding me that this is preseason. We all know that. But we have a three year sample of results and it's not pretty, and I don't see how it won't continue to regress with the group we have now.

Last three years.... Playoffs, Super Bowl Win, Super Bowl loss. All three years, one of the top running game offenses in the league. I don't see that much of a problem.

 

[Rob12]

N

 

[King Dog]

I'm not going to pretend to know a lot about offensive lineman, but it seems like it would not be too difficult to put together a mediocre offensive line just by plugging in guys on the cheap like Chris Myers at C who have proven they can play in this league over the years.

I thought Bailey looked slow footed last night on the interior. I wouldn't mind seeing Glowinski inserted there and just roll with him through the growing pains.

It's kind of sad that I can look at videos of a guy like Poole in college and wonder wth the FO was thinking when they drafted him. I'm not a talent evaluator and it looks pretty obvious that he isn't good even to a guy like me.

 

[ImTheScientist]

Its just preseason.

 

[Sports Hernia]

I didn't see any low snaps.

I saw one when Russ was in and think it ended in a sack if I remember correctly.

 

[cheese22]

I'm a big fan with minimal background of playing football. And watching the first half of last nights game I was amazed at how good Denver's DL was playing. It seemed like every time RW dropped back, a different Bronco was all over him. And then their second unit started to do the same.

And then I realized, our OL was horrible. I mean we got run over, run around and I even saw a few plays where guys got away with blatant holds that didn't get called.

The one thing I've noticed about Pete's time here is that we are as vanilla as possible in preseason. I'm hoping that some of what happened last night was expected because of play calling and blocking schemes. But then I also realize we have a huge investment back there that is too important to dangle as bait.

I really hope this situation gets figured out quick or our D will have to be other worldly...and our special teams may have to score more than the O.

 

[LTH]

And listen to them whine...Did anyone really expect to see more than what we saw last night in the first pre season game? I got news for you guys its not going to get any better any time soon... its gonna take a while to get these young guys going...but here is the good news... the SB odds are going to go up because the hawks are going to start off a bit slow... just a blessing to make a bit of cash later....



LTH