Poll: Will the offense slide?

I was listening to NFL Now and Nate Burleson (think it was Nate) listed Seattle as one of three "top" offenses teams that will take a step back slide in 2016.

Do you agree?

Personally, I think the offense has more potential than it ever has during Pete's tenure. Wilson, Rawls, Prosise, Baldwin, Lockett, Richardson, Graham (maybe)...

C'mon, man!

Edit: modified title and OP to more accurately reflect what the segment said (saw it while at work last night).

Laloosh":3e5xmrqq said:

I was listening to NFL Now and Nate Burleson (think it was Nate) listed Seattle as one of three "top" offenses that will take a step back in 2016.

Do you agree?

Personally, I think the offense has more potential than it ever has during Pete's tenure. Wilson, Rawls, Prosise, Baldwin, Lockett, Richardson, Graham (maybe)...

C'mon, man!

Click to expand...

I voted no.... BUT, I'm thinking long-term, all season. It's very possible it takes the offense a few games to figure things out, but not like last year. We basically operated without Lynch last year, and even when he was there, it wasn't the same guy we've seen the last few years. With Wilson at the helm, we are a good offense, period.

I am not sure how to vote because the biggest variable is coaching staff. What will Pete want and what will Bevel do. If they decide to be hard headed and go run first, predictable to try to prove something then yes a step back. If they keep like it was during the 2nd half of the season then no. Tough to say given how they did the offense in the Carolina playoff game.

Anthony!":3crnds0o said:

I am not sure how to vote because the biggest variable is coaching staff. What will Pete want and what will Bevel do. If they decide to be hard headed and go run first, predictable to try to prove something then yes a step back. If they keep like it was during the 2nd half of the season then no. Tough to say given how they did the offense in the Carolina playoff game.

Click to expand...

So... undecided? :17:

It's hard to say right now without seeing them in pads but I have very good feelings about our offense. Wilson is getting better and better, the WR's looked much better last year. Then we will have a healthier younger bigger OL that just needs to jell. Lynch carried the load when he was here but I think Rawls and company will be more explosive. Is training camp here yet?

Seems like a pretty easy no on this one. As a simple line of evidence, here's our points scored for the last 4 years.

Year Pt. Total PPG Ranking
2012 412 25.8 9
2013 417 26.1 9
2014 394 24.6 10
2015 423 26.4 4

Outside of 2014, our offense has steadily increased the number of points scored each year. With an additional year of seasoning and chemistry between Russ and the skill position guys plus a marked investment in the OL, I see no reason to foresee the offense taking a step back. In fact, the offensive explosion at the end of last year would portent that we'd actually see a big uptick in points scored. However, assuming the recommitment to the ground game goes according to plan, I expect any uptick in scoring to be limited at best thanks to our tried and tested, ball control, limited possession philosophy. That's not to say that our offensive ranking might go down, but we can only do our part in stifling all the other offenses in the league.

I don't see how it can go backwards with a new O-Line, and a huge stable of RB's with chips on their shoulders.

I don't see anyway it steps back.

Russ went from excellent to great last year, and is now the QB that he's going to be, if not better, going forward. Baldwin, Lockett and Kearse will only get better. The center position will be better out the gate, just by default. PRich could be a nice bonus. Prosise gives the Hawks a RB with receiving ability that they haven't had. Vannett brings back what Zach Miller offered as a blocker. A healthy Rawls would be tremendous, but this team can get an excellent running game out of whoever gets the touches. Anything from Jimmy is bonus.

And the schedule look like their are a lot of opportunities to eat. No being the defending champs/nfc champs should reduce the target at least slightly.

The run game + Russ's movement + passing options + field position provided by defense & Lock, could make for the best statistical offense in franchise history.

I went 'No" for a few reasons.

I know the OL is unsettled, and we had turn over and we're starting new guys (basically 2 rookies). It was unsettled last year as well. Thing is, we have a game plan for if the OL is terrible; we spread the field and throw it, using quicker passes and running out of spread sets. It was very effective to say the least. If our OL starts out weak, we won't have to wait until the bye week to switch up game plans.

Our schedule is the opposite of last year. Last year, we had all the toughest games and defenses front loaded. It gave a new(er) OL no real chance to get settled and get some game reps against league average opposition. This year, our tougher games look to be at the end of the year, and we don't face any real tough defenses in the first quarter of the year (last I looked). This will allow our OL to gel a bit and get on track for the last half of the year.

Our skill positions have never really looked better. No, we don't have a RB the caliber of Lynch, but the team of Rawls, Prosise, Michael and Collins will be very effective. This doesn't even count on all of our rookies to have unreasonable seasons. It also doesn't count on Rawls having to be healthy.

On the outside, we have Baldwin, Lockett, and Kearse. Kearse is a clutch WR, Baldwin made huge strides last year, and it stands to reason that Lockett can improve. Baldwin and Lockett were both top 10 in the NFL in catch rate. Another year of Wilson is going to make them better.

Wilson showed he can carry the team with additional reps, while not turning the ball over behind a terrible OL. Pete's philosophy is run heavy ball control, but he's never said he's been married to having to start out the game that way. As a matter of fact, he likes to pass it, but he just wants to close the game out on the ground in the 4th quarter (a paraphrase, but it IS a quote from him).

We have a lot more reasons we'll be status quo or (I think) better, than we have reasons we'll regress.

^ I think the Hawks have many reasons to be optimistic about the schedule, but off the bat regarding the OL, the Dolphins, Rams, and Jets have good DLs on paper.

I wouldn't be surprised if our offense is better than our defense. And our defense is going to be good.

Laloosh":v8zvn49q said:

I was listening to NFL Now and Nate Burleson (think it was Nate) listed Seattle as one of three "top" offenses that will take a step back in 2016.

Do you agree?

Personally, I think the offense has more potential than it ever has during Pete's tenure. Wilson, Rawls, Prosise, Baldwin, Lockett, Richardson, Graham (maybe)...

C'mon, man!

Click to expand...

Haters gonna hate. Seriously this is Wilson's 5th year and that is the year a good quarterback either gets it or not. If Andy Dalton can do it, and Cam can be dangerous and require respect regardless of his mental softness. I'm sure Russ is ready to show his real level.

In otherwords come out pass heavy and score fast like the Montana 49ers. Give Russell the keys to crush them. Then just run everyone into the ground while we are two scores up lIke Dallas under Jimmy Johnson.

"Will take a step back."

How cute. How wrong.

I like how 92% of 37 votes cast so far voted no. Rock on!

I don't think our offense is going to be as good as what we saw against the poor teams we played down the stretch.

I think it will be the same ole same ole try and grind it out and not turn the ball over.

Good enough to win, but frustrating at times.

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Tech Worlds":dgwefntu said:

I don't think our offense is going to be as good as what we saw against the poor teams we played down the stretch.

I think it will be the same ole same ole try and grind it out and not turn the ball over.

Good enough to win, but frustrating at times.

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Click to expand...

If Pete/Bevell will operate out of the spread approach the O will be better. If, like they reverted to against Carolina in the playoff game they do like Tech said then no, it won't be better.

hawksfansinceday1":z8i7vvhl said:

Tech Worlds":z8i7vvhl said:

I don't think our offense is going to be as good as what we saw against the poor teams we played down the stretch.

I think it will be the same ole same ole try and grind it out and not turn the ball over.

Good enough to win, but frustrating at times.

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk

Click to expand...

If Pete/Bevell will operate out of the spread approach the O will be better. If, like they reverted to against Carolina in the playoff game they do like Tech said then no, it won't be better.

Click to expand...

Or against the rams. Or against good defensive teams. When we lined up against good defenses the sledding wasn't as easy.

But then again it isn't for most teams.

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I think it matters on how the game planning and offensive play calling go.

I think they will be traditional Seahawks...Start slow and gain momentum later in the season.

I don't think it will take a step back at all.

But I don't think it matters.

What matters is whether the defense can return to form, specifically whether our secondary can be one of the top secondaries again.

Largent80":2m14cy80 said:

I don't see how it can go backwards with a new O-Line.

Click to expand...

That's exactly why it might go backwards.

I voted no, simply because Pete and Bevell can protect Wilson better with the short passing game if they need to.