What would YOU work on in these last 3 games?

Assuming the Seahawks make the playoffs, what are things you’d personally like to see the team fine tune? And/Or what are things you’d want to have on film for opposing teams to worry about?

Here’s a few of mine;

1) Continued growth from the passing game: I’m going to assume it was based on what the Eagles we’re showing and a defense which is front-heavy, but the Seahawks threw more and differently vs the Eagles. There seemed to be a broader variety of routes and patterns. Also, the Seahawks seemed to get back to running their play action with Russ under center (as it should be). It’d be really cool to keep ramping that up with specific incorporation of Norwood and Richardson. Richardson must be able to nab those jumpballs in practice, because Russ keeps trying it out.

2) Get Michael involved a bit more. It’d be really nice to empower Michael to flash a bit, via screens and delayed handoffs, to give DC’s fits in the playoffs. His speed and burst is unique. It’d be a very cool thing to get him a solid quarter and/or half, forcing the opposition to think twice about run blitzes or crowding the box. In theory Michael could conceivably keep defenses as honest as Percy would/could. The very simplest explanation of Percy’s role was to make teams pay for clogging Russ’s lanes, because Percy would get a TD should he get behind it.

3) Let Simon start an entire game opposite of Sherman. I know he kind of is, but, I’d like to get him hardened a bit more. Let him play as many snaps as he can.

4) Figure out the FB and/or HB position now that Tokafu will be in the DL rotation. If he’s in that rotation, and actually plays well, the Seahawks may be forced to go more one-back and/or HBack sets with Willson. Scotte mentioned to me how dynamic a CMike and Lynch backfield would be…maybe that’s a solution?

I really liked what I saw from the passing game Sunday actually. Russ was hitting guys like Moeaki and Tukuafu and I even saw CMike lined up at WR once on a touchdown play. The Norwood and Richardson catches also made me smile a bit. I think Bevell is trying to spread the passing game a round a bit more as we approach the playoffs. Just to see what options we might have going forward. That and we saw all three of our Running backs in this game. Again, just experimenting I presume. I guess if I had to pick two guys I want to see featured more it would be CMike and Moeaki. Headed into the playoffs we really need some TE support and Willson has struggled. Hopefully we get Helfett back and he and Moeki can help Willson out some. Using Michael as a Harvinesque type player could be interesting. I have been salivating for the very thing you mentioned last. The Michael, Lynch, Wilson RO. Could be awesome.

If I had one wish it would be for a resurgent return game. Not sure if we have the solution on staff at the moment to make this happen. Someone in another thread mentioned using Michael in this role. I would like to see it a few times at least.

The thing that amazed me the most this game is that we are doing this without so many key contributors from last year either by departure or injury. That makes me smile a lot for the days when we can get healthy 3M's back (Miller, McCoy, Mebane) as well as Unger (though Jeanpiere has been pretty good in his absence) and a few others. That has to scare a few people!

1. Special teams
2. Special teams
3. Special teams

Every time the ball's snapped on any area of the special teams now I get pangs of anxiety. Every snap of special teams shouldn't be the adventure it is now, gotta button it up before the playoffs, because it could cost us a game.

Punt and kickoff returns haven't been very well.

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

Clean up the dang procedural penalties. Get Jon Ryan laid or something. He needs to relax and go back to being the awesome punter he is. Receivers need separation (it's in the preparation after all) and I would like to see Wilson trust that arm of his and air it out down the field more.

hawkfan68":6dg9mr0n said:

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

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Russell did not have a good day. He got bailed out by some good catches. He was "off" mentally and physically for most of that game.

Yes I know his numbers (before anyone chimes in). It's my opinion it wasn't his cleanest game. If we went by stats Andy Dalton would be a top 5 QB.

Largent80":2v6d9r9t said:

Punt and kickoff returns haven't been very well.

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Coverage units haven't exactly been stellar all year either. In fact, they single handedly lost the Rams games.

pehawk":hmggb5ne said:

hawkfan68":hmggb5ne said:

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

Click to expand...

Russell did not have a good day. He got bailed out by some good catches. He was "off" mentally and physically for most of that game.

Yes I know his numbers (before anyone chimes in). It's my opinion it wasn't his cleanest game. If we went by stats Andy Dalton would be a top 5 QB.

Click to expand...

I didn't know whether you were fishing, but then you said that.

SomersetHawk":1c1n95b9 said:

pehawk":1c1n95b9 said:

hawkfan68":1c1n95b9 said:

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

Click to expand...

Russell did not have a good day. He got bailed out by some good catches. He was "off" mentally and physically for most of that game.

Yes I know his numbers (before anyone chimes in). It's my opinion it wasn't his cleanest game. If we went by stats Andy Dalton would be a top 5 QB.

Click to expand...

I didn't know whether you were fishing, but then you said that.

Click to expand...

Not fishing...Wilson was just off that game. He made the good throws when he had to, used his legs a bit. But still, he took a lot of odd sacks, had a pick 6 dropped, and struggled with the play clock a few times.

I like this thread. Lots of excellent suggestions. My two cents:

1. Russell is looking better than in mid-season, but somehow we've got to keep working on hitting his first read (he's the anti-Kaepernick). I made a point of watching this during the Philly game, and he would rarely do it, even if he had a window. Watch for it yourself sometime...it's weird, and it isn't all our "pedestrian" WR's fault, nor our inconsistent OL.

2. Pre-snap penalties. ACK! Am I right?

3. Special Teams fundamentals. This year we just lack focus and make a lot of dumb mistakes. I think these are a result of having to have guys play up into O or D, but they just have to know and stick to their assignments better. I'm not really concerned about Ryan at all, despite his dumb gaff, but other guys need to show more discipline and know where the hell they're supposed to be.

pehawk":1dwcyniv said:

hawkfan68":1dwcyniv said:

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

Click to expand...

Russell did not have a good day. He got bailed out by some good catches. He was "off" mentally and physically for most of that game.

Yes I know his numbers (before anyone chimes in). It's my opinion it wasn't his cleanest game. If we went by stats Andy Dalton would be a top 5 QB.

Click to expand...

I half agree. I would like to see Russell make quicker decisions and not hold onto the ball waiting for something better to open up seemingly on every snap.........and I think that's what Pete was telling him in the 3rd quarter when he tried to scramble a couple times, got sacked and knocked us out of FG range.

What makes Russell amazing also can make him frustrating sometimes. The ratio is 80% amazing and 20% frustrating, which I'll take EVERY week. But Russell's decision making on that 20% could certainly use some fine tuning.

I don't know, really. I agree about the special teams work, it's been sloppy the past few games. Can't have that.

On offense, I like that we haven't been 'showcasing' anyone in particular. Sure, Marshawn will get his carries, everybody knows that, but I like that so many people are getting reps and touches as the playoffs approach. That way, no team can look at our film and say, "We need to stop that guy." Sure, everybody says that about Lynch, but that's kind of a default statement. Almost every game, it looks like ML is 'stopped' through the first quarter or so, but by the end, he's piled up his 65-80 yds or more, and maybe had a couple of catches to boot.

So, I'm down with continuing to spread the ball around and keep everybody involved, because we'll probably need them all come playoff time, and I don't want any player to feel like he hasn't had the reps going in.

On defense, it's hard to ask for a lot more. I guess, kind of like the offense. Get as many players as possible involved and working with each other without risking the final outcome of games. Assuming Lane gets back, he'll need some reps to get up to LoB quality play.

pehawk":3tsd7bcw said:

SomersetHawk":3tsd7bcw said:

pehawk":3tsd7bcw said:

hawkfan68":3tsd7bcw said:

They were a bit better last Sunday, but the redzone offense could use improvement. Cutting down on the mental errors such as false starts, defensive offsides, would be nice. Also, taking sacks to take them out of at least FG isn't very smart. Russell has to be better in throwing the ball away quickly plus the line has to block better in these situations. I know there was a couple times they took themselves out of 3 points on Sunday. Got to make good on all scoring opportunities.

Click to expand...

Russell did not have a good day. He got bailed out by some good catches. He was "off" mentally and physically for most of that game.

Yes I know his numbers (before anyone chimes in). It's my opinion it wasn't his cleanest game. If we went by stats Andy Dalton would be a top 5 QB.

Click to expand...

I didn't know whether you were fishing, but then you said that.

Click to expand...

Not fishing...Wilson was just off that game. He made the good throws when he had to, used his legs a bit. But still, he took a lot of odd sacks, had a pick 6 dropped, and struggled with the play clock a few times.

Click to expand...

I can only recall a couple of sacks? And one was like a scramble where he got tackled out of bounds for a couple of yard loss I think. Granted, he probably should have thrown it away there but he's broken tackles for gains before.

I'm willing to put the near interception to Richardson fully on him. The wind would have played a role, but Wilson should have known it. The near pick six was a bad play-call, no need to throw in that situation. It looked like a feasible read at the time, but the db got a great jump and almost made a great play. All-22 would be great to see on that one.

I thought on the whole it was one of his better outings this season. Great read for the TD run, schooled the Eagles' D on that one and reached a gear I didn't know he had. Couple of really nice TD passes too, plus he didn't look to leave as many yards out there as in previous games.

Pass protection and special teams please.

SomersetHawk":nruprzpj said:

I can only recall a couple of sacks? And one was like a scramble where he got tackled out of bounds for a couple of yard loss I think. Granted, he probably should have thrown it away there but he's broken tackles for gains before.

I'm willing to put the near interception to Richardson fully on him. The wind would have played a role, but Wilson should have known it. The near pick six was a bad play-call, no need to throw in that situation. It looked like a feasible read at the time, but the db got a great jump and almost made a great play. All-22 would be great to see on that one.

I thought on the whole it was one of his better outings this season. Great read for the TD run, schooled the Eagles' D on that one and reached a gear I didn't know he had. Couple of really nice TD passes too, plus he didn't look to leave as many yards out there as in previous games.

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Fair enough. I'm lumping sacks in with the intentional grounding and borderline intentional grounding. Also, I remember in the 1st half how he appeared to be off with his accuracy. It just seemed sloppy in contrast to his 2012 and 2013 self. Maybe I'm off on that.

pehawk":2850v1uq said:

SomersetHawk":2850v1uq said:

I can only recall a couple of sacks? And one was like a scramble where he got tackled out of bounds for a couple of yard loss I think. Granted, he probably should have thrown it away there but he's broken tackles for gains before.

I'm willing to put the near interception to Richardson fully on him. The wind would have played a role, but Wilson should have known it. The near pick six was a bad play-call, no need to throw in that situation. It looked like a feasible read at the time, but the db got a great jump and almost made a great play. All-22 would be great to see on that one.

I thought on the whole it was one of his better outings this season. Great read for the TD run, schooled the Eagles' D on that one and reached a gear I didn't know he had. Couple of really nice TD passes too, plus he didn't look to leave as many yards out there as in previous games.

Click to expand...

Fair enough. I'm lumping sacks in with the intentional grounding and borderline intentional grounding. Also, I remember in the 1st half how he appeared to be off with his accuracy. It just seemed sloppy in contrast to his 2012 and 2013 self. Maybe I'm off on that.

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Yep, I'll grant you that, he took at least 3 points off the board which is rare for him. I can remember him sailing one ball to Baldwin, but the back blocked him off and it was difficult to know whether it would have been catchable had he got a clean route to the ball.

I thought he threw the ball away too much. He seemed to throw it away a lot in that game, and even if the receivers really weren't open he bailed a little early on a couple of occasions when there looked to be enough space for him to try some of that magic.

Lots of great suggestions, and all are needed areas for the team to work on.

Specifically, I think Seattle has relied way too much on the short passing game this season. Early last year, it seemed we had the opposite issue. Early in the year we executed a handful of successful bubble screens....but seemed to abandon the short game in favor of the mid range passing game outside the hash marks. This time last year I remember being frustrated that we had seemingly moved away from any short game / bubble screens / quick slants, and avoided the mid range middle of the field. Seems like we have over-used the short game this season, and neglected the mid-range outside the hash mark game. Would love to see the Seahawks stretch the defense by completing a long pass. The have tried a few, but I do not remember one completed long touchdown pass (shorter pass with YAC excluded)

I would also love to see Russ go back to the back shoulder throw, which again seemed like a staple in 2012. His fear of turning the ball over has made him almost too risk averse. A well timed back shoulder throw/catch, and even an occasional end zone corner fade, can help create "separation" for a WR when none exists

Winning.

Red zone