Rebuilding Year

[PNW Hawkster]

It appears the Hawks have returned to their early season difficulties for allowing the highest defensive scoring in the league. With the exception of the 49er loss, all others\ losses were against teams with losing records which does not give me confidence against the upcoming Rams with a 3-8 record. Geno has performed better than anyone expected league wide with a very young team. Scoring 34 points offensively and still lose is not Geno's fault, nor was it also against Atlanta and New Orleans, all winnable games. So far, the Seahawks have over performed during the first half. They still may have a chance to make the playoffs if they can resolve their issues with the defense. But, at this point, even if the Hawks miss the playoffs by seasons end, Geno has proven to be a seasoned and high performing QB and Hawks should give him at least a 3 year contract to build this young team into a championship team.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Still better than expected, but let's see how they do these next couple weeks. If they don't win these 2 games, I can't see them sneaking in to the playoffs. And honestly, this run defense is a massive issue on this team. Can't stop the run, good luck being a winning team.

 

[Seahawk_Freak]

I honestly had little expectations coming into the season to start with. Not knowing how Geno would perform, and relying on so many rookies at key positions was slightly scary. Even though we have lost games we probably should've won, I'm still excited for what we have done, and could accomplish this season. Nobody expected us to be in this spot to begin with so we're playing with house money.

We have a top 3 pick right now (Plus our own pick) for 2023. With another solid draft (This draft was beyond amazing) we could be sitting pretty in the division.

I'm excited about the rest of this season, but even more excited about this team next year and beyond!

 

[RiverDog]

5.5 wins was the over/under for us in the preseason, and we've already beaten that. But who cares about beating expectations? That just don't float my boat.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Just keep winning. None of this tank for better picks crap.

 

[renofox]

I had written this season off before it started, and was just looking for a few signs of hope for 2023.

1. Get snaps for the rookies and see some progression in their play- HUGE SUCCESS.

2. See if Geno or Lock were as good as PC said they were, and if the Offense could be respectable - SUCCESS.

3. See if the Defense could start the season in the top 20, and build to top 10-15 - UTTER FAILURE.

2 out of 3 ain't bad, but the Defense has sucked for years, so maybe I was asking for too much.

 

[RiverDog]

Just keep winning. None of this tank for better picks crap.

Oh, I agree completely. I'm reminded of the locker room scene in "The Natural" where the shrink is counseling the team: "Losing is a disease." You never, ever, want to intentionally lose a game.

 

[PNW Hawkster]

I want to thank those that have responded and continued this thread to my initial comment as a newbie to the site, which has inspired me to follow up with another comment on this thread. Like most of you, I was presently surprised by the performance of Geno so far this season, and have to give credit to the rookies in the OL to give Geno the time in the pocket to make his accurate throws. The obvious issue is their defense, and break down of the Hawks defense in the 4th qtr allowing the Raiders to tie it up at the end, and then that run right up the gut by Jacobs in OT was a flat out embarrassment due to a blown defensive call. It appears the defense ran out of gas in the 4th and it certainly showed in OT. Does anyone know why the Hawks went from a 4/3 defensive scheme to 3/4 scheme? I think they are still trying to figure it out and it is costing them a lot of points.

 

[Hockey Guy]

We have to use the upcoming draft to get pieces to help the defense, that is abundantly clear.

I'm still hopeful we can make the playoffs this season but I'm very optimistic for next season & seasons to come if we can hit it out of the park again at the draft.

 

[Own The West]

I want to thank those that have responded and continued this thread to my initial comment as a newbie to the site, which has inspired me to follow up with another comment on this thread. Like most of you, I was presently surprised by the performance of Geno so far this season, and have to give credit to the rookies in the OL to give Geno the time in the pocket to make his accurate throws. The obvious issue is their defense, and break down of the Hawks defense in the 4th qtr allowing the Raiders to tie it up at the end, and then that run right up the gut by Jacobs in OT was a flat out embarrassment due to a blown defensive call. It appears the defense ran out of gas in the 4th and it certainly showed in OT. Does anyone know why the Hawks went from a 4/3 defensive scheme to 3/4 scheme? I think they are still trying to figure it out and it is costing them a lot of points.

I believe they went to the 4-3 to get more pass rush options. The issue seems to be that the 4-3 requires D linemen to catch-and-hold (2-gap) vs just crash a gap (1-gap). We started out 2-gapping, were horrible, switched to 1-gapping, got better; now have switched back and are struggling again.

So what’s the answer? Stick to 1-gap? Maybe, but to get the anticipated dynamism to the defense the LBs/CBs need to learn the fit and reads of 2-gapping as well. Also, we don’t have the personnel to go back to a 4-3 right now. The 4-3 OLB need to cover in space, while 3-4 OLB are more like rush ends that may only cover the flat or short curl.

 

[PNW Hawkster]

I believe they went to the 4-3 to get more pass rush options. The issue seems to be that the 4-3 requires D linemen to catch-and-hold (2-gap) vs just crash a gap (1-gap). We started out 2-gapping, were horrible, switched to 1-gapping, got better; now have switched back and are struggling again.

So what’s the answer? Stick to 1-gap? Maybe, but to get the anticipated dynamism to the defense the LBs/CBs need to learn the fit and reads of 2-gapping as well. Also, we don’t have the personnel to go back to a 4-3 right now. The 4-3 OLB need to cover in space, while 3-4 OLB are more like rush ends that may only cover the flat or short curl.

Thanks OTW. Well, the last two games, they never really touched Brady or Carr. It was like pitch and catch on third downs and their run defense was hard to watch. The Rams have always been a thorn in the Hawks side, even though they are 3-8, hopefully this week their defensive scheme is corrected to make the Rams 3-9.

 

[Seahwkgal]

Still better than expected, but let's see how they do these next couple weeks. If they don't win these 2 games, I can't see them sneaking in to the playoffs. And honestly, this run defense is a massive issue on this team. Can't stop the run, good luck being a winning team.

Yep. We gotta get a replacement for Cody Barton. He’s pathetic and a glaring weakness on the defense. It reminds me of the Kelly Jennings days.

 

[Maelstrom787]

Does anyone know why the Hawks went from a 4/3 defensive scheme to 3/4 scheme? I think they are still trying to figure it out and it is costing them a lot of points.

They didn't.

They were already running bear fronts in base, which looks more akin to a 3-4 than a 4-3. The 4-3 under itself shares a ton with a 3-4 and doesn't look like a traditional 4-3 over stack. You've got the SAM playing at the LOS - 5 up front, 2 linebackers behind.

This all stems from Clint stating that they're going to be moving further into 3-4 territory, but it wasn't the change people here are making it out to be. It isn't "they were 4-3, now they're 3-4." It's a continuation of what they've already been running. The bigger difference is that they're trying to get linemen to do read and react, 2 gap kinda stuff.

A lot of their worst stuff this year has actually been in a 4 man front. They've run a good bit of 4-2-5. I don't have charting but it is likely they've actually run MORE 4 man fronts this year.

 

[SantaClaraHawk]

Yep. We gotta get a replacement for Cody Barton. He’s pathetic and a glaring weakness on the defense. It reminds me of the Kelly Jennings days.

This goes back to Shaquem Griffin, who was second in the depth chart to kJ. When KJ got hurt they had bbk and Barton. Now there’s just Barton, who let’s face it would have filled The special teams ace position occupied by Shaquem while we found someone who could actually play d

 

[Spohawks]

We have to use the upcoming draft to get pieces to help the defense, that is abundantly clear.

I'm still hopeful we can make the playoffs this season but I'm very optimistic for next season & seasons to come if we can hit it out of the park again at the draft.

Half of the reason why this last draft was a homerun was because of the huge holes that needed filled.

The Hawks would have Travis Homer as the starting RB and absolutely nobody as starting DBs.

The upside for next draft is we still have many holes to fill...which will automatically make next years draft look amazing again.

 

[AgentDib]

To add onto Maelstrom's point, alignments change a lot within a game depending on personnel, situation, and just trying to keep the offense off balance.

Take a look at the alignments for the Raiders game. Evens are two gap and everything else is one gap. Mostly bear front but lots of variation within that.

 

[PNW Hawkster]

I get the strong feeling that Brady and Carr in the last two games were able to read the Hawks defensive alignments so well that the results speak for themselves. With such a young team it may take a while for them to properly disguise their defensive schemes.

 

[PNW Hawkster]

I think Geno proved in that final drive that he is no doubt the team leader and should be given at least a three year contract to take the Hawks to the next level. Assuming they remain in the playoff hunt, they really have to do some major changes to their defensive schemes if they want to get past the first round. If their defense steps up, there is no doubt the Hawks can compete with the Vikings. They are beatable.

 

[FattyKnuckle]

I had written this season off before it started, and was just looking for a few signs of hope for 2023.

1. Get snaps for the rookies and see some progression in their play- HUGE SUCCESS.

2. See if Geno or Lock were as good as PC said they were, and if the Offense could be respectable - SUCCESS.

3. See if the Defense could start the season in the top 20, and build to top 10-15 - UTTER FAILURE.

2 out of 3 ain't bad, but the Defense has sucked for years, so maybe I was asking for too much.

How is 2 not also a HUGE success?

 

[Rainger]

Changing year? Yes. Transition year? Yes. Rebuilding year? NO.

Only people calling it a rebuilding were the media because they dumped, ME3. And a bunch on .net. Pete didn't think so he was merely moving on from a QB that was holding the team back.

Read this. Never once did you hear PC or JS or anyone associated with the team say they were "rebuilding". You only heard it from "fans" and lazy journalists .

The Rebuilding Phase..the biggest cop out in sport. - WG COACHING

In professional sports where teams are subject to a "draft" system, it is common to talk about a "window of opportunity", i.e. a year or two when the team has the realistic opportunity to win the title owing to the talent, maturity and experience of their players. For many teams "outside the...

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