So after preseason game three, how do you like our chances?

[SeAhAwKeR4life]

I have to say, I always find Russell's performance pretty lousy in preseason games one and two. He's a great, but he's never been any good at coming out with any rhythm when he will only be playing one or two series. It's almost like his mentality, is just get out there and survive it. Preseason game three though shows he's still the same old DangerRuss!

I think in many ways we have a better team than last year. I don't expect an impenetrable offensive line, but I think these guys will do a much better job than last year and a I certainly hope for less injury. I think we have better depth even so. I was very much in favor of letting Okung move on, because he has never been good for a full season of work and such problems are never likely to get better over time. That said though, Wilson is the kind of QB who can thrive with an above average, yet not great offensive line.

I think the big area of improvement is in the run game. I mean we have Russelll and we have receivers very capable of serious production and passing is where today's game is at, but with all the talent and depth in the running game, this is sure to improve the passing game by keeping teams a lot more honest. As much as I will miss Marshawn, we have guys who are capable of some serious running attacks this year and three very solid ones instead of just one. We can even stand an injury, God forbid and still put up a serious run attack.

As far as defense, I don't think this staff will ever field anything less than a very good defense. I have my concerns about the usual things, pass rush and run defense, but I have a feeling once the season gets rolling, we're gonna see what we're used to, a defense that is very difficult to score touchdowns on, one that limits other teams to a lot of field goals.

Overall, I think we are probably a more solid and well rounded team than we've ever seen fielded in Seattle, and now is the time when Russell Wilson has a chance to show last year's brilliance was no fluke. I think it might be our year again and her's hoping that's so. I guess that's why the games are played though, cuz we will soon see.

I like our chances. :mrgreen: :irishdrinkers: :mrgreen:

 

[Sports Hernia]

I'm going to sound like a broken record but I think the success depends on the playcalling on both sides of the ball.
The Hawks tend to play their best when they are aggressive on both sides of the ball.

When they call the always failing bubble screens or horizontal pass plays that never seem to work the offense goes nowhere and drives are killed. When they get aggressive and throw the ball downfield they have success.

Same goes for the defense. When the sit back and play their "soft zone" the other team moves the ball at will. When they bring the pressure on the opposing QB they are usually successful.

If they stay aggressive with the play calling, and they can avoid major injuries I think they'll be having a parade in Seattle in February with the players holding a shiny silver trophy.

 

[JustTheTip]

I'm going to sound like a broken record but I think the success depends on the playcalling on both sides of the ball.
The Hawks tend to play their best when they are aggressive on both sides of the ball.

When they call the always failing bubble screens or horizontal pass plays that never seem to work the offense goes nowhere and drives are killed. When they get aggressive and throw the ball downfield they have success.

Same goes for the defense. When the sit back and play their "soft zone" the other team moves the ball at will. When they bring the pressure on the opposing QB they are usually successful.

If they stay aggressive with the play calling, and they can avoid major injuries I think they'll be having a parade in Seattle in February with the players holding a shiny silver trophy.

This is because of the always compete philosophy. This is the one thing that has baffled me about Pete since he has been here. You select your players by their desire to compete. That is the type of player that is going to be demoralized by being forced to play "soft zone" and run bubble screens. These are the type of players that want to bring everything they have on every play. You can see the frustration of players like Sherman, ET and Baldwin build as the game goes on and they aren't allowed to do what they know they can do until it is almost too late.

While I wouldn't give up what Pete has done with this team since showing up, I also believe they could have done a lot more over that time had the play calling philosophy matched more closely to the team philosophy (and also if the coaches been held to the same always compete standard that the players are.)

 

[andyh64000]

I think we will be 5-0 heading into the Arizona game and I think they will be 6-0. If we win that game we will go to the Super Bowl.

 

[blue 22]

I'm going to sound like a broken record but I think the success depends on the playcalling on both sides of the ball.
The Hawks tend to play their best when they are aggressive on both sides of the ball.

When they call the always failing bubble screens or horizontal pass plays that never seem to work the offense goes nowhere and drives are killed. When they get aggressive and throw the ball downfield they have success.

Same goes for the defense. When the sit back and play their "soft zone" the other team moves the ball at will. When they bring the pressure on the opposing QB they are usually successful.

If they stay aggressive with the play calling, and they can avoid major injuries I think they'll be having a parade in Seattle in February with the players holding a shiny silver trophy.

Amen. We got the pieces. Just up to the chess players to make the right calls. I wish pete would live up to his nickname BBP and be more assertive all throughout the game.

 

[FlyingGreg]

I'm going to sound like a broken record but I think the success depends on the playcalling on both sides of the ball.
The Hawks tend to play their best when they are aggressive on both sides of the ball.

When they call the always failing bubble screens or horizontal pass plays that never seem to work the offense goes nowhere and drives are killed. When they get aggressive and throw the ball downfield they have success.

Same goes for the defense. When the sit back and play their "soft zone" the other team moves the ball at will. When they bring the pressure on the opposing QB they are usually successful.

If they stay aggressive with the play calling, and they can avoid major injuries I think they'll be having a parade in Seattle in February with the players holding a shiny silver trophy.

Amen. Hugely concerned with Richard and I hope he gets more aggressive.

Why don't we pick off more passes? Turnovers and this D used to go hand in hand.

We have elite talent. If they play with a chip on their shoulders and with a killer instinct, we have a chance.

 

[Atradees]

I need more information.

1. The preseason hype about the capabilities of the Oline has been fun. Lets see how they fare against the Dolphins.
My impression of the Dolphins is that they are just a generally poorly managed front office that swapped out some good youth for similar more veteran players. If they dominate us in the trenches....I predict a familiar slow start.

2. Logjam at running back.....More is not necessarily good. Lets see Rawls claim the number one. Can Michael be a comfortable two and CJ be the upgrade developing as a pass catching back? Lynch was gettin long in the tooth. We will see how durable Rawls can be. CJ is likely more explosive and younger than before. I think its important to settle these positions right away. Get regular reps to the starters or take half a season subbing in some young "potentials".

3. Defensive Line-Awesome to have Tony back. For me it comes down to QJ and Jarran. Can they bring the upgrade?
Bennett and Avril are still good. I want to see Siliga(sp?) in the rotation. Its can be an exciting line. A top ranked group.

4. We upgraded at QB and will save on cap space.

I guess these are my main concerns.

 

[Seafan]

The OL was the big question mark heading into camp and it's still a work in progress but isn't the concern that is was.

Play calling will definitely be the difference in every game.

The schedule doesn't look as difficult so barring injury this team is capable of having a great season. It's up to the play callers.

 

[dogorama]

To tell you the truth I haven't seen anything in preseason that really tells me anything. There have been some good points made here though, Sports Hernia's point about bubble screens and horizontal passes is well taken but I also can't help but wonder if that isn't part of series play calling where you are trying to set a team up. Also, his point about being aggressive, but only to a certain point, get too aggressive and you can get burned bad.

Also Altradee's point about having a logjam at RB. Running backs can be like QB's where they need to get into a rhythm, we'll have to see how Rawls and C-Mike respond to being platooned. He also mentioned the defensive line coming down to how well our rookies Reed and QJ play and I would agree w/that and add that Clark needs to get more time this year.

Then, several of you mentioned play calling, always a serious point of contention among Seahawk fans. Good Bevell - Bad Bevell, whatever, we have to quit being so g-damned predictable; if you have an offensive line like Dallas does you can get away w/that, we cannot. The run will set up the pass and vice versa but only if the defense is uncertain what we are up to.

So, how good do I think we will be? I could throw something out there, but it would just be for the sake of doing so. I just don't know.

 

[mrt144]

I think we're still an 11-5 or 12-4 team.

 

[kearly]

I'm worried about a few things.

-Bradley Sowell getting eaten alive by quick pass rushers. He faces one of the quickest in the league in week 1. Seattle needs to prepare for the worst and get the ball out FAST. Either that or glue a TE to Sowell's left hip.

-Bevell getting back into "guru mode": poorly utilizing personnel for the sake of surprise.

-Britt vs. the Rams interior pass rush.

-Our pass defense against zone killer QBs, and our pass rush against top-tier offensive lines.

-Our run defense looked pretty bad against the Chiefs and Cowboys starters. Kam was out for the former and Reed was out for the latter, but that shouldn't be an excuse IMO. You're going to have players miss time in the NFL in real games.

-Depth is a bit scary at DT, LB, CB and S. The offense looks pretty deep though.

-Worried a little about Kam. He struggled in 2015 and he looked bad in his first action last Thursday. In fairness he had barely practiced before the Dallas game. Sometimes players peak early and decline early, hopefully Kam isn't one of them.

-The offense continues to shoot itself in the foot too often. There isn't another top 10 offense in the NFL that gets in it's own way half as often as Seattle does.

-The 2016 team lacks that feel of dominance that the 2012 and 2013 teams had. Our RBs are fast and do damage, but they aren't soul crushers like Lynch was. The passing game is very good overall, but can be hot and cold. Feels like a bit of a finesse team in relation to the 2012-2013 era.

Still, the schedule gods have been kind this year and if Seattle can cut down on the mistakes, they have a very real shot at 13+ wins. If Seattle plays their best, stays healthy, and learns how to hold onto late leads, I'd expect them to win 14 games. More realistically, probably 11-13 wins. Really anything more than 11 wins for ANY team comes down to being lucky or having a charmed season, so a 12 win season this year shouldn't be seen as a failure.

 

[Natethegreat]

Kearly I'm curious why your concerned about our Safety and corner depth. Mcray seems like a very capable back up and corner is one of the deepest positions on this team. I fully expect the cuts at those positions to be picked up by other teams. I feel we are in a much better spot at both positions than last year.


I do share your concern at linebacker depth though. I feel our D line will be solid once again this year.

 

[Jimjones0384]

It is a great feeling that the o line really isn't the biggest concern heading into the regular season.

 

[drdiags]

Not feeling real positive about our WR corp along with TE group. OL looks like they can be a functional group, so that is a positive. Don't like Wilson refusing to give up on a play after the OL has given him more than enough time to find a target or throw it away. Do not like the look of the defense against the run when the opponent has a quality back and OL. Elliot looked as if he would have broken 100 yds if he had played through the midway point of the 3rd quarter.


I think the team will be in it but I will not be shocked if they falter. Just a feel thing right now. I am most likely not getting a good read on the team, I may have been distracted this off-season.

 

[dogorama]

Not feeling real positive about our WR corp along with TE group.

Wow, you just named two of the groups I am most comfortable with.

Different perspectives.

 

[Smelly McUgly]

I am really worried about Kam. He looks quite slow out there now. He has such a violent style of play that I wouldn't be shocked if his body was starting to break down a bit. He looks like he still has the instincts, but his body won't do what his brain is telling it to.

McCray is a nice player, but not a starting-caliber player, so that safety position could be tricky this year, too.

 

[andyh64000]

For anyone wringing their hands about how we have looked at specific points this preseason...have you watched any of Arizona's games? Holy crap do they look bad. Carson Palmer looks worse than he did in the NFCCG.

It's preseason so does it mean anything? I don't know but if it does I will definitely take our performance.

 

[theENGLISHseahawk]

I think it's gone about as well as can realistically be expected. I don't think we're near 2013 levels though as was suggested a little bit at the start of camp.

I still want to see this O-line functioning in the regular season. I want to be absolutely sure we're not going to have six weeks of growing pains again. That doesn't mean shutting out two really tough opponents in weeks 1-2 -- it just means the offense being able to function in a way it couldn't vs Detroit in week four last season (for example).

I want to see the running game and what kind of rhythm it can find with the passing game. Last season there was so much going on -- Lynch's injury, the whole drama about getting Jimmy Graham involved in the offense, the O-line, Wilson's play. I want to go back to this offense at it's best -- which was running the ball well, simple pass concepts mixed in with some RW magic. Graham's injury takes away some of the pressure to feature him ala 12 months ago but I want to see this team run the ball consistently well post-Lynch and see Rawls come back from his injury.

I want to see if this team can rush the passer without total over reliance on Bennett and Avril. I also want to see if we do a better job covering TE's and whether we can FINISH games because these were major issues last season and cost us at least a couple of games that would've otherwise been comfortable wins (Cincy A, Carolina H).

But most of all I want to see this team be the bully again. I'm not totally convinced we're there yet to be honest, at least based on what we've seen in pre-season. We're a really good, tough football team littered with talent. But Carolina smacked people in the face last year and were the top dogs -- the most physical team in the NFC. If we want to be the best again we need to regain that place at the top. I'm just not sure we're that kind of team any more. We've lost a lot of the people who created that (Lynch, Irvin, Big Red, Clemons, Browner if he's cut, Okung, Mebane).

 

[pmedic920]

After watching the Cards play the Texans today, I'm breathing a little easier.

:{)

 

[hawksfansinceday1]

I am really worried about Kam. He looks quite slow out there now. He has such a violent style of play that I wouldn't be shocked if his body was starting to break down a bit. He looks like he still has the instincts, but his body won't do what his brain is telling it to...........

Feel exactly the same way about Chancellor. Also worried about pass rush only rushing 4. Worried about Richard playing too much soft zone. Worried about the offensive tackles.