scutterhawk":10whyalz said:
In my non-expert opinion, I think that we were light in offensive personnel, not enough receiving targets for Wilson to get into a "Just Sling It" mode, and I believe Pete + Schotty + Solari knew that, and that is why they got hot & heavy in the Draft at bringing in all those Receivers, and bolstered the O-Line.
I don't think that Pete is distrustful of Wilson's capabilities, quite the contrary, I just think he knows that Russ needs more targets to throw to.
When your targets are having a problem getting freed up, your options are limited, so, like it or not, you have to pound the rock, to set up the pass.....IF you want "Balance", you have to build it.
I've somewhat forgotten the injury specifics, but Sweezy and Fluker were both gimpy for that game and we'd had no Jordan Simmons for several weeks. So our inside running guard play wasn't getting the needed push to create holes and have more yards before contact for the RBs. On one hand, this scenario is foreseeable during the preceding week for Schottenheimer, and a ready-to-go Plan B would have been in order. On the other hand, what offensive scheme CAN you run successfully with a gimpy OL? They're gonna suck in Pass Pro also. All that was also Mr. DBevell's problem here for years, except Bevell had a crap OL more than an injured OL and sometimes both. Well, about the only thing that's ever worked in those conditions is to put the ball in Russell's hands and let him figure out how to avoid unblocked pass rushers and do his Houdini act, and change that up by handing the ball to Marshawn Lynch every other play or so and let him drag tacklers for a few yards. That was when Russell was younger and a little faster, enough to mix in some Read-Option, and somehow that offense got us to two Super Bowls in a row. Oh yeah, that, and our #1 historic defense.
Carson couldn't quite replicate playoff Lynch in that game, gimpy OL and all, and throwing on 3rd down was failing miserably.
Receiving targets?
Baldwin and Lockett were the only two Seahawks receivers the few seasons that could create separation consistently, even against teams with good DBs... DMoore and JBrown, not so much as Baldwin and Lockett. Kinda like Jermaine Kearse had to get schemed open, didn't get a lot of separation on his own. And we know Russell is very reluctant to sling it to a target who isn't clearly open, with limited exceptions for some types of deep throws with single coverage. But we did have both Baldwin and Lockett available. The Cowboys wildcard game scenario is where a DK Metcalf could have been a game-changer.
To me the real issue was that the offense gave the defense so little rest that the defense was worn out from late 3rd quarter on. That was when our offense needed to produce, get some yards, get the D some rest. The Cowboys OL and Zeke took over the game from that point on, with a couple long drives, against our gassed defense.
Pete, John, and Brian clearly took the lessons from the playoff loss to the Cowboys into the draft and free agency. Their off-season moves seem like the kind that will turn a L like the Wildcard game to a W. G Phil Haynes? Great pick! Mike Iupati? Hope he's got something left in the tank. Don't forget our road-grader man Jordan Simmons. Can't wait to see what DK Metcalf can do in this offense. But he only runs 3 routes!! Who cares, those 3 routes will terrorize opposing defenses. We'll see what Gary Jennings and maybe even John Ursua can do. More targets who can get separation? Yes please!!
Really, the problem was the Seahawks just weren't good enough overall, deep enough overall, offense and defense*, to beat a decent Cowboys team on the road, much less beat the Rams at all. Looks like Pete and John, no doubt with input from Schotty, are doing their best to fix the offense AND the defense, and build quality depth across the board like our SB48-49 years. OL depth cost us that game, and possibly DL and LB depth, and relative lack of pass rush when it mattered.
Think about it... our two Super Bowl L's were heavily influenced by DB depth issues. Etric Pruitt? (2005); Tharald Simon? (2014), plus losing Cliff Avril to concussion. A couple better players available to step in, and we are discussing our 3-rings-so-far tradition. Front office matters so much. Carroll leaving Marcus Burley off the SB49 game-day actives list, in favor of Simon? Insanity, after Jeremy Lane went down.
Our offensive game plan, our scheme, overall was good enough to win that road Wildcard Playoff game.
Our available healthy players weren't good enough. Our defense wasn't good enough when it mattered. Even so, we had a 4th quarter lead on the road. One stop, one drive. Really, 2 plays away from a W. Pete and John, with input from Schotty and Norton, have already given us their answer by what they've done in the draft and free agency.
Can we just get started with training camp already??!!
