They Changed the Recipe..

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

jhern87":2w08qm6u said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

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Unger was going to be a cap casualty, see, be cut, so he wouldn't have been here either way.
Its up to the OC an how he uses Graham, his biggest mismatch, so far he has failed that task miserably.

Sports Hernia":2vpt5jj7 said:

jhern87":2vpt5jj7 said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

Click to expand...

Unger was going to be a cap casualty, see, be cut, so he wouldn't have been here either way.
Its up to the OC an how he uses Graham, his biggest mismatch, so far he has failed that task miserably.

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So even though the OC tries for ways to get Jimmy the ball and Jimmy drops two big passes that likely would've been touchdowns, it's the OCs fault? Mesmerizing.

If they had cut Unger, cap casualty or not, that would have been stupid.

And they would be to blame for the problems now.

Choosing to trade for a player you cannot use, because you were going to throw away an important piece to your success is not a mitigating factor.

The problem is the FO inability to assess important pieces to the team success and the relative value they provide vs the market cost for their continued service.

We are going on 3 years now with really bad FO trades and FA signings, to the point where moves by the FO almost have to be judged as a failure until they prove a success. The years we got Avril + Bennett are several years past and the other successes were before that.

I don't trust the ability of this FO to judge trades or FA signings at all.

I do trust their draft and UDFA assessment ability.

I just thought about how amazing Seattle has been in the draft but how terrible they've been in FA

Let's call a spade a spade. They have had to go out and overpay for Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham to try to mask the fact that they can't find a legit #1 WR. BMW is the closest thing they've had. They paid big for Rice, Harvin and Graham, and all have failed miserably. Allen Robinson is the one that got away. We got Paul Richardson instead.

Harvin trade has set us back immensely. Loss of pick, dead money till next year, probably Tate and a team divided that might not have disappeared last year or started a precedence to do so.

Saying Unger was going to be a "cap casualty" is exactly the kind of thinking that got us into this situation. Everyone used to bitch about our receivers but the fact is having "great receivers" is pointless in our offense if we're not getting it done up front. We've actually had some pretty solid games running the ball (Cinci) however our pass protection has been so bad that we haven't been able to take advantage of it. Spending 10M on a TE, without an offensive line in our offense is like buying rims without a car. We need to get back to what made us great.

jhern87":pkgx85r0 said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

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It's not the JG trade ! It's to justify the huge mega outstanding over-the-top money that Russell Wilson is getting paid to pass the football you know like a quarterback does . JG was supposed to cure our red zone woes that's why he's here

hawkfannj":31k7ab7h said:

jhern87":31k7ab7h said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

Click to expand...

It's not the JG trade ! It's to justify the huge mega outstanding over-the-top money that Russell Wilson is getting paid to pass the football you know like a quarterback does . JG was supposed to cure our red zone woes that's why he's here

Click to expand...

We won the Superbowl... If it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe paying RW did confuse our FO as to how they needed to use him but taking cash away from the line and using it on skill position players was a huge mistake.

jhern87":1kh4t0yn said:

hawkfannj":1kh4t0yn said:

jhern87":1kh4t0yn said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

Click to expand...

It's not the JG trade ! It's to justify the huge mega outstanding over-the-top money that Russell Wilson is getting paid to pass the football you know like a quarterback does . JG was supposed to cure our red zone woes that's why he's here

Click to expand...

We won the Superbowl... If it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe paying RW did confuse our FO as to how they needed to use him but taking cash away from the line and using it on skill position players was a huge mistake.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I just said ? RW is playing a skilled if not the most skilled position?

hawkfannj":2k7eknfa said:

jhern87":2k7eknfa said:

hawkfannj":2k7eknfa said:

jhern87":2k7eknfa said:

It's easy to see that this team is different from last year and I think it has everything to do with the Graham trade. We've tried to turn into a "pass first" offense since acquiring him and it has completely blown up in our faces. We've always been a read option team that sets our passes up with the run but after getting rid of Unger and allowing O-lineman to leave we've completely lost our ability to run the ball. I can't help but wonder what his team would look like if we kept Unger and had invested more into our O-line instead of spending so much on Graham.

Click to expand...

It's not the JG trade ! It's to justify the huge mega outstanding over-the-top money that Russell Wilson is getting paid to pass the football you know like a quarterback does . JG was supposed to cure our red zone woes that's why he's here

Click to expand...

We won the Superbowl... If it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe paying RW did confuse our FO as to how they needed to use him but taking cash away from the line and using it on skill position players was a huge mistake.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I just said ? RW is not playing a skilled if not the most skilled position?

Click to expand...

Yes, BUT you need a good QB to win. With a good defense you should be helping them by running the ball. Something we've sacrificed for bringing in Graham.

We won the Superbowl... If it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe paying RW did confuse our FO as to how they needed to use him but taking cash away from the line and using it on skill position players was a huge mistake.[/quote]
That's exactly what I just said ? RW is not playing a skilled if not the most skilled position?[/quote]

Yes, BUT you need a good QB to win. With a good defense you should be helping them by running the ball. Something we've sacrificed for bringing in Graham.[/quote]
I respectively disagree with you .We over paid RW could have had him play out his rookie contract still got Graham and still would have had space to help the Oline . It was really that simple and hindsight says it should've happened .

hawkfannj":3jhzutcq said:

We won the Superbowl... If it aint broke don't fix it. Maybe paying RW did confuse our FO as to how they needed to use him but taking cash away from the line and using it on skill position players was a huge mistake.

Click to expand...

That's exactly what I just said ? RW is not playing a skilled if not the most skilled position?[/quote]

Yes, BUT you need a good QB to win. With a good defense you should be helping them by running the ball. Something we've sacrificed for bringing in Graham.[/quote]
I respectively disagree with you .We over paid RW could have had him play out his rookie contract still got Graham and still would have had space to help the Oline . It was really that simple and hindsight says it should've happened .[/quote]

Yeah, maybe that works for one season but Seattle realized they were going to have to spend the money anyways and they might as well re-sign him while they had the leverage of this season's deal and before the salary cap continues to climb. That's fine that you disagree. All we know is JG was brought it, the O-line was downgraded and this team's struggles have been largely O-line related.

I don't see a recipe change, Pete and Bevell would LOVE to run the ball like the old days, but between this horrificly bad O-line and Lynch aging 10 years before our very eyes, there have been more 3rd and 16's than 3rd and 2's.

Graham wasn't brought in to change our offensive philosophy, he was brought in to correct our terrible Red Zone issues.

Tical21":2kqqvt5z said:

Let's call a spade a spade. They have had to go out and overpay for Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham to try to mask the fact that they can't find a legit #1 WR. BMW is the closest thing they've had. They paid big for Rice, Harvin and Graham, and all have failed miserably. Allen Robinson is the one that got away. We got Paul Richardson instead.

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Wouldn't exactly call a dude who's on pace for ~80 receptions and 900 yards, 'failed miserably'

The problem has been how we've used him, how many targets he's gotten, etc. He had a couple drops yesterday, but beyond that he's been a valuable target for us. You can nitpick anybody in the league like that.

A lot of our snaps are out of the shotgun, pretty rough to get a great run game going when you are that far back before you even hit the LOS.

Lynch might be aging but a good run game keeps you in games. And it keeps your defense fresh.

No, they did change the recipe. And it should have been clear from how incompetent the offense was in preseason, that was stupid. In game #1 of reg season they had all the confirmation it would not work - they kept at it in anyway.

It could also be argued that the JG trade was a sign, they were willing to give up some run game assets to get some pass assets. For a team that relied on the run game for success (including teh QB success!) that was terminally stupid.

And whatever they paid Unger, he clearly earned, because when he was healthy we ran the ball better. Instead, we screwed ourselves (and Wilson's brand) by trying to go all in on turning Wilson into Aaron Rodgers. Ick.

TwistedHusky":26wcfdgq said:

A lot of our snaps are out of the shotgun, pretty rough to get a great run game going when you are that far back before you even hit the LOS.

Lynch might be aging but a good run game keeps you in games. And it keeps your defense fresh.

No, they did change the recipe. And it should have been clear from how incompetent the offense was in preseason, that was stupid. In game #1 of reg season they had all the confirmation it would not work - they kept at it in anyway.

It could also be argued that the JG trade was a sign, they were willing to give up some run game assets to get some pass assets. For a team that relied on the run game for success (including teh QB success!) that was terminally stupid.

And whatever they paid Unger, he clearly earned, because when he was healthy we ran the ball better. Instead, we screwed ourselves (and Wilson's brand) by trying to go all in on turning Wilson into Aaron Rodgers. Ick.

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PREACH my man. Thankfully I think it's relatively quick fix that could be addressed in the off-season. Trade Graham for either a pick or a player (or both) and re-invest in the line. RW is much more effective when we're able to run the ball and when he's given time to make plays with his feet. I honestly think this team should just use guys on rookie deals or vets willing to take less to win at WR and TE.

Sgt. Largent":16qghlqk said:

I don't see a recipe change, Pete and Bevell would LOVE to run the ball like the old days, but between this horrificly bad O-line and Lynch aging 10 years before our very eyes, there have been more 3rd and 16's than 3rd and 2's.

Graham wasn't brought in to change our offensive philosophy, he was brought in to correct our terrible Red Zone issues.

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I was referring to their personnel makeup and salary allocation as their "recipe". Graham wasn't brought in to change anything but in doing so we moved to more of a pass offense vs run.

Tical21":3swldcdy said:

Let's call a spade a spade. They have had to go out and overpay for Percy Harvin and Jimmy Graham to try to mask the fact that they can't find a legit #1 WR. BMW is the closest thing they've had. They paid big for Rice, Harvin and Graham, and all have failed miserably. Allen Robinson is the one that got away. We got Paul Richardson instead.

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Boy, is he ever. With every great game he has this season I hate Paul Richardson more and more. Same with Martavis Bryant and Donte Moncrief and Jordan Mathews (who was available in the 2nd in 2014 before the hawks traded down). It's not P.Rich's fault they drafted him, but I just hate that fact that they have refused to invest draft capitol in a top level big, athletic WR when they've had plenty of chances.

2014 was THE WR draft, and they came away with skinny Paul and Kevin Norwood. Pathetic.