If not for the crappy DC turf, we would have Clemons vs. Atlanta and won that game. NFC championship game in SF would have been EPIC. Woulda Shoulda Coulda.

you are a hundred percent correct! I could not agree with you more!

Seems likely. Breaks of the game, though.

Maybe, but Atlanta is all about building 3 score leads and tanking them.

Actually, If I were the OC I would have taken a deliberate penalty on our last drive. Intentionally throw an intentional grounding for example. 5 yards, loss of down, 10 second runoff that can't be stopped by a timeout. Same thing that killed Brady at the end of the first half at the Clink. We just scored too fast with too little of a lead. Atlanta is also very good at nailing those last second FGs if you don't take a commanding lead.

I remember somebody running a thread before the game about how they weren't worried that Clemons was down. I was concerned.

No way am I giving up yardage to kill clock needing a TD and on the 1 yd line. The team had a timeout but in hindsight they needed to have Lynch's TD be a fumble. Would have taken a few more ticks off the clock and hopefully they can punch it in from the one.

Clemons hurt, but Hauschka did as well. The team could not afford to have that kickoff returned to the 30 yd line. And with Miller's foot injury, not sure how fit he would have been for the following week against the 9ers. Played his butt off with the injury against the Falcons, but just like Big Red, future performance could have been iffy. Time had run out on the season. Fate is fickle but karma changed sides.

It did hurt the team overall. But, the d-backs and linebackers should have been in position to not allow them to get into fg position.

At that point in the game, I had more faith in letting RW scrape out a TD or lose the game, then having our defense defend the late FG.

Matt Ryan dashed plenty of hopes doing exactly what he did to us, about 4 times in the regular season.

EPIC... Most overused word on this board.

Tech Worlds wrote:EPIC... Most overused word on this board.

Your post is epic.

While Clemons is an important piece to the pass rush, I don't believe that missing him for the Atlanta game is the sole reason the Seahawks lost. He would have helped but that doesn't guarantee a win. He was around for Arizona, Detroit, and Miami games. The Seahawks didn't win those games while having the lead late in those games too. Where was his impact on the pass rush in those games? Clemons had 11.5 sacks all year. Take out the GB game where he had 4 sacks, he only got 7.5 in the rest of the 15 games. While Chris is a good player, he's not the untouchable that many of you put on him. He's the best on the Seahawks but I feel they can do better. There is an upgrade to Clemons out there, just got to find it.

The Seahawks were one or two plays away from winning games they lost last year. All six of them. They just didn't get it done. Hopefully it's a learning lesson and they can correct that next year.

Plus, they dug themselves in that hole in the 1st half. You win as a team, and lose as a team.

brought to you by capt. obvious

Losing him certainly showed how badly the team lacked depth for pass rushers

Yeah, some major upgrades in depth on the D-Line is #1 priority

Seattle blitzed, and Jacquizz Rodgers picked it up and made a huge block. The game ends differently if our blitzer gets free.

I agree that the D-Line needs more depth, but sometimes the other guy just makes a play. Clemons might have been more crucial to our run defense that game. Remember, Atlanta was running all over us in the first half to build their lead.

Bigpumpkin wrote:.....killed us? Only on the last drive.

we got NO pressure on Ryan the entire game......what are you smoking

drdiags wrote:No way am I giving up yardage to kill clock needing a TD and on the 1 yd line. The team had a timeout but in hindsight they needed to have Lynch's TD be a fumble. Would have taken a few more ticks off the clock and hopefully they can punch it in from the one.

Clemons hurt, but Hauschka did as well. The team could not afford to have that kickoff returned to the 30 yd line. And with Miller's foot injury, not sure how fit he would have been for the following week against the 9ers. Played his butt off with the injury against the Falcons, but just like Big Red, future performance could have been iffy. Time had run out on the season. Fate is fickle but karma changed sides.

I liked the fact that he was able to run it out of the endzone.. we gave up 8 yards for 6 seconds.. worth it IMO.. Falcons had 13 seconds when they kicked the FG so even if they had the ball at the 39 instead of the 31.. plenty of time to do another play even without TOs.. sucked that they didn't wrap up Gonzalez at the 35-36 where he caught the ball....

Spilled milk we should not cry over says I.....

Largent80 wrote:Spilled milk we should not cry over says I.....

Sence he makes, agree I do

Clem will return and we had by god better get him some help! I'll be patient with Irvin for a while longer but after that there is a glaring hole in our pass rush and we better draft accordingly to fill it.

I didn't look it up nut I don't recall Clemons getting pressure on Ryan the two previous years we played them. I know there are different variables blah blah. Just sayin maybe they know how to adjust to what we do.

Besides we didn't have him and it's over.

You guys continually talk about the pass rush, but you're missing the more important piece of why Clemons absence hurt so much:

Dude is a staunch defender of the run, and Michael "Ploddington" Turner killed us on the ground. The Seahawks could afford to make the Falcons one-dimensional and play to their secondary strength, but without the ability to stop Turner, the defense had to spread out too thin. If Turner doesn't go for nearly 100 yards on 14 carries, and he wouldn't have with Clemons in the game, I think we win.

Young team makes young team mistakes. Clemons surely would have helped had he not got injured, but the D as a whole unit let us down. I'm sure the sting over letting teams drive down the field (late in the game) to take the game away will have a lasting impact on the future of how this D will defend in the future. When the D see's their QB giving his all to get points and the lead late in games, only to have the D come on the field and stink it up allowing the opposing team to regain the lead and thus the game, I'm sure the D having to look into RW's eyes when that occurs, is not someting that they as a unit will want to continue. The D coaches along with the leadership of this QB will straighten the D unit up. Count on it.

That and an ineffective Trufant. Watch him rush the passer on that final completion to Gonzalez. Jacquizz comes out to block him and he pulls up. No jumping in the air waving hands, no bowling him over, it was pull up and stop and place his hands on him

ivotuk wrote:That and an ineffective Trufant. Watch him rush the passer on that final completion to Gonzalez. Jacquizz comes out to block him and he pulls up. No jumping in the air waving hands, no bowling him over, it was pull up and stop and place his hands on him

Didn't Trufant have the only sack of the game?

candybars wrote:

ivotuk wrote:That and an ineffective Trufant. Watch him rush the passer on that final completion to Gonzalez. Jacquizz comes out to block him and he pulls up. No jumping in the air waving hands, no bowling him over, it was pull up and stop and place his hands on him

Didn't Trufant have the only sack of the game?

Watch when he rushes the passer, Atlanta doesn't even block him. Instead they block whoever the other rusher is.

edit: So yes, losing Clemons hurt when you have to depend on someone as slow as Trufant. I would have preferred one of the young guys in there instead.

I think Clem would have made a big difference in that game and without him I don't think the chances in SF are good the following week. It would just warm my heart if Clem comes back healthy and the Hawks have other options there. I am very confident team JS will handle the pass rush situation without Clem but it would be huge if he makes it back.

The ATL was winnable, there are a few factors in why they lost, any one of those would have changed the outcome.

That field had a massive impact on things. Imagine being a Skins fan. Griffin's future is still in question at this point.

loafoftatupu wrote:I think Clem would have made a big difference in that game and without him I don't think the chances in SF are good the following week. It would just warm my heart if Clem comes back healthy and the Hawks have other options there. I am very confident team JS will handle the pass rush situation without Clem but it would be huge if he makes it back.

The ATL was winnable, there are a few factors in why they lost, any one of those would have changed the outcome.

That field had a massive impact on things. Imagine being a Skins fan. Griffin's future is still in question at this point.

Word is Griffin is recovering well ahead of schedule. Clem went to the same surgeon, so my fingers are crossed.

HawKnPeppa wrote:

loafoftatupu wrote:I think Clem would have made a big difference in that game and without him I don't think the chances in SF are good the following week. It would just warm my heart if Clem comes back healthy and the Hawks have other options there. I am very confident team JS will handle the pass rush situation without Clem but it would be huge if he makes it back.

The ATL was winnable, there are a few factors in why they lost, any one of those would have changed the outcome.

That field had a massive impact on things. Imagine being a Skins fan. Griffin's future is still in question at this point.

Word is Griffin is recovering well ahead of schedule. Clem went to the same surgeon, so my fingers are crossed.

Man I hope that is the case, for both of them. I really like Griffin. Prior to the Huskies/Baylor Bowl game Tubbo (Softy) had RG3 on for one of his rare decent interviews. Griffin was very humble and extremely respectful on top of being an amazing QB. He was just lighting it up and I feel that in the right system, that Griffin could pass for 4000 yards without rushing a yard if he had to. I wanted a miracle to bring him to Seattle badly, knowing it wasn't going to happen.

It would be a tragedy if RG3 had complications from his knee injury. I didn't know that he already went under knee surgery prior to the NFL. That is where my concerns come from.

It would be a HUGE positive if Clem makes it back, he is just so solid. He would have been a major piece in that ATL game, or at least forced Ryan into Irvin. BI plays like an animal when Clem is out there.

I agree losing Clemons killed us against ATL.... still...

Why didn't we tackle their WR's at the line of scrimmage on that last drive, and take 3 or 4 5 yard penalties while running the clock down 20 seconds in the process? If we have Browner, Sherman, Guy, Kam, tackle Roddy White, Julio Jones, Tony Gonzalez at LOS (intentional hold), wouldn't that have worked out better? 5-6 seconds per play, 5 plays, they gain 20 yards, but it all comes down to 6 seconds left and one play that might use up the whole clock. Is there some reason that this "intentional fouling" strategy would have been a bad idea? It worked OK for NC State in the '83 NCAA championship game for the Wolfpack against Houston and Hakeem and Clyde Drexler for the unbelievable W at the buzzer. Does the NFL have "special penalties" for such intentional fouls that make this "intentional hold" strategy not feasible?

Tech Worlds wrote:EPIC... Most overused word on this board.

Always contributing the most EPIC fragmented opinions brah.