Enjoy 2014, Because Things Will Never Be The Same

http://mmqb.si.com/2014/07/27/nfl-2014- ... mp-report/

Klemko is a solid writer, I don't think he's a hack. Maybe there is a little bit of Hawk fan baiting with some of his statements at the end, but I think I would agree with most of what he said had he phrased it a little smarter.

It is interesting seeing an outsider's perspective. Being used to watching other teams, he probably thinks Seattle's breakneck pace in practice is out of a sense of urgency. Actually it's like that all the time, but I guess it shows that outside of Seattle Pete is still a misunderstood coach.

I thought the preseason started?

Who cares what this guy pens. Most of what he said was very positive. It WILL be hard to rePETE, always is. If and I say that knowing full well it takes some luck, if the Hawks win another the national media will be drooling over the Hawks / Pete / John. They want a new team to put up as superior. It brings in ratings. 95% of the country HATES that team because the media rams them down your throat. Then you watch games because your sick of hearing about how good they are, you just want them to lose and lose big. AKA Jets, Pats, Giants, Dallass.

Saw that yesterday and thought the same re: the writer misunderstanding the pace of practice and the sense of mission--for lack of a better word--that emanates from Pete and the guys.

He didn't lie. But he lacks a fundamental understanding of Pete & John. And he obviously doesn't know the Hawk roster.

I read this and the similar piece Sando wrote. If what he states about Wilson is true, then are all the teams with young QBs who are about to get paid or have just got paid on a shorter window? I look to the south and their starter just got a decent contract. I see Newton is up for a new one, so will be Luck.

Will he be penning their pending demise as well? This is another one of those articles that you just have to file away until a later day so you can either ridicule it (Jeff Chadiha) or marvel at its insight.

Weird path he takes to get to the conclusion he gets to. We're not even sure yet if Marshawn is slowing down, and if he is, there is a decent chance that we don't lose a ton of production. Is that what he's basing our demise on?

It brings up thoughts I've had lately about whether or not it is worth it to give that kind of money to our quarterback, but it is a pretty worthless debate to have since there is a 100% chance they sign him.

drdiags":swm8y3w7 said:

I read this and the similar piece Sando wrote. If what he states about Wilson is true, then are all the teams with young QBs who are about to get paid or have just got paid on a shorter window? I look to the south and their starter just got a decent contract. I see Newton is up for a new one, so will be Luck.

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That part annoyed me as well. Seemed like he was reaching for reasons to doubt Seattle the whole article. Which is high praise in its own kind of way.

By dissing our pedestrian receiver Doug Baldwin he showed typical national media ignorance.
Baldwin was the only receiver who consistently got open last year against all opponents. Baldwin has the most *quickness* of any player on the team, possibly except for Percy Harvin, coupled with great route-running and a Vulcan mind-meld with Russell Wilson. How else to explain that *crazy* sideline catch against Carolina last year?

Thing is, I don't disagree with any of his detractions at the end. Quinn most likely is gone. Can Norton carry the torch ? Wilson is going to get paid, but jettisoning Lynch's contract will balance that out. We also have the cap moving upward, so as long as Wilson doesn't go for elite top dollar, we can survive the signing.

I disagree that the author doesn't know our roster, I just don't think he applies the knowledge quite correctly. How many people mention Mebane as a strong point of the defense (outside of Seattle)? My question is simple: when we sign Wilson, who are we going to lose/not be able to sign ? Maybe Avril, but it looks like we have Marsh, Mayowa, Schofield, etc. waiting in the wings. There will be some drop off, but as the rookies season, they'll get better.

You have to look at trends when judging a returning SB champion. Typically, the trend is that the team loses vets to FA when people poach the roster. We lost one starter: Clemons. Bryant platooned, McDonald was rotational, Thurmond was our 3rd CB but younger guys are stepping up and I don't see a big drop off.

Our trends seem to be JS finding great talent in mid to lower rounds, and Carroll coaching it up and utilizing said talent correctly. They put players in positions to succeed. It seems that so many of the teams in the league want to forge a hard team so they set their younger guys up to fail. We have an interesting dichotomy: literally anyone can steal someone else's job, yet we have a positive nurturing environment where players get all the support they need, while engaging in Mortal Combat to keep their roster spot.

We have a deep, young team. We manage the cap as well if not better than any team in the league. We draft well, we develop well, we have arguably the best facilities in the league, and the best HFA in the league. I'm not worried about our window closing.

It's a reasonable article from an outsider but it is clear he hasn't been following the team very closely when it comes to some of his comments.

Quinn's departure: Quinn did a great job for us last year and I would love to see him get a head coaching opportunity. If that happens our next DC will also preside over Pete's stellar defense and may also get an opportunity for a head coaching job out of it; does that sound like an attractive job opening or what? We will have our pick of candidates. That being said, worrying during training camp that any coordinator will leave for a head coaching position the following off-season is putting the cart before the horse a bit.

Lynch's age: Seattle does not have a strong running game just because we happened to trade for Lynch. We have a strong running game because Pete puts a high priority on it. Lots of people have cause and effect backwards on this one but if Lynch does slow down there will be competition waiting and Cable will shore up the running game even if it means mediocre pass protection.

Wilson's contract: Obviously we will lose a major benefit here but the advantage to Wilson playing so well so quickly is that our FO has seen this coming for a while now. We will have the cap room to extend him and quite a few Super Bowls have been won by teams that are paying a lot of money to their QB. I guarantee you that most of the favorites in 2015 will also be paying their QB well.

HOW THIS TEAM CAN GO 4–12: It would take a beyond-epic collapse. Two out of the four members of the Legion of Boom would have to suffer season-ending injuries, and even then, Wilson and Lynch are probably still worth seven wins behind that offensive line

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Because our offensive line is our real strength if injuries wreck our defense.:sarcasm_off:

I realize the author wrote this based on just a couple of training camp practices but I don't see how you credibly make record predictions without at least mentioning Seattle's HFA once.

I shall enjoy 2014, I shall also enjoy 2015 On a side note, it's great to hear how everyone, and I mean everyone, is astonished at Harvin's speed--despite the man having this as his trademark anyway.

I tend to agree but not for the reasons stated. Assuming Lynch is brought back into the fold, this could be the most talented collection of players of the salary cap era. All the young players on this team are getting even better. Lynch was at the top of his game last year, IMO the best back in the league, but he is expected to regress after he turns 30 next year. Avril and Bennett and now Kevin Williams give them an impressive assortment of veteran pass rushers. Avril might be the best pass rusher on the team, and I fully expect him to do some insane things during this contract year. Can we afford to re-sign Avril and extend Wilson? What about Wright and Smith and Maxwell? Definitely enjoy this year's ridiculous assortment of talent. I fully expect them to continue to draft and sign and develop well, but a collection of talent like this doesn't come along very often.

A writer who isn't trolling Hawk fans for once.

But still is wrong in his conclusions.

At the heart of his wrongness is the same thing that plagues other writers. As an ex agent, the guy thinks Pete and John have hit on a bunch of players. There is no acknowledgement that they have developed those players and can continue to develop those players.

drdiags":2s4k0yth said:

I read this and the similar piece Sando wrote. If what he states about Wilson is true, then are all the teams with young QBs who are about to get paid or have just got paid on a shorter window? I look to the south and their starter just got a decent contract. I see Newton is up for a new one, so will be Luck.

Will he be penning their pending demise as well? This is another one of those articles that you just have to file away until a later day so you can either ridicule it (Jeff Chadiha) or marvel at its insight.

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I also disagree with the article, and feel that if you have a QB like Wilson you will always have a shot. Not to mention a front office that knows what they're doing. In the Panthers case, their fired GM from 2012 did draft Newton and Kuechly but his long list of epic gaffs are still hampering the team, who will lead the league in cap dead money this year by a significant margin. While Newton and eventually Kuechly will add a significant cap "burden", cap relief will also be coming in a myriad of ways.

The Seahawks formula for continued success is locking up their core elite players while churning the rest of the roster with cheap, young talent and developing them into productive players. If they're successful at doing that they will be competitive for years to come. If they aren't, they won't. Not easy to do but so far there's no evidence that Carroll and Schneider aren't up to the task. There's no window that's going to suddenly start slamming shut the minute that Wilson signs a big comtract.

A lot of these writers never saw the 2014 train coming either, so really they are still in the dark and just going off of recent history rather than going out on a limb.

Is this thread a complete troll or joke? So, let me get this straight. The DC will leave and the building will crumble? While that is high praise for Dan Quinn (and Gus Bradley)... there is no one else that will be at all qualified to do the job?

The Seahawks are not the trend setting franchise others are looking to emulate for success? No other team signs a core group of players/leaders and builds around them?

The "separation is in the preparation" and "comPETE" mantras will be replaced with "why bother" ? "Bigger, Stronger, Faster, Louder" will be revised and pitched to the fans as "Had it, lost it, we're supposed to slow down so you may as well sit down and quiet down" ????

I don't care how it's packaged in the middle. The title and summary are both speculative rubbish.

Scottemojo":3s6a1rxv said:

A writer who isn't trolling Hawk fans for once.
But still is wrong in his conclusions.
At the heart of his wrongness is the same thing that plagues other writers. As an ex agent, the guy thinks Pete and John have hit on a bunch of players. There is no acknowledgement that they have developed those players and can continue to develop those players.

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Nailed it.

No understanding that Pete has just moved his college player recruitment and development model to the NFL and the salary cap, with the difference that in the NFL they can pay extra to keep the *really* good players more than 4 years.

Yup, it's just dumb luck that Pete and John have had a run of luck getting players like Richard Sherman, Russell Wilson, Kam Chancellor, Doug Baldwin, Byron Maxwell, Malcolm Smith, KJ Wright, Jerome Kearse, Breno Giacomini, Brandon Browner, etc., etc., virtually for free. (leaving out higher round picks and well-paid free agents)

Pretty soon this lucky streak will run out, the well will run dry for Pete and John, and things will be back to backwater outpost as usual for Seattle, after all, they're still basically an expansion team, and we can get forget this annoying gimmicky new age coaching bullshit and get back to covering the REAL teams, in New York, Chicago, LA, San Francisco, and so forth, and real, old-school, non-touchy-feely, non-gimmicky coaches. Hey, I think Ditka's available. Oops, LA still doesn't even have a team, never mind a real team, strike that part.

In watching espn and nfl.network, I've been a bit surprised by the lack of Seahawks coverage after the usual after-Super-Bowl glow of about a week. It falls in line with Olyfan's remarks about the importance of other franchises in the mind of the east coast centered media.
However, weren't we all pretty thrilled by the pre-XLVIII snubbing of the Seahawks winning of the toughest division in the league in order to hype the big numbers of an offense that didn't deal with high-powered defenses during the regular season? Didn't this play into what we knew about a defense that had a chip on their collective shoulders and still do?
One thing to remember, though, is that despite the media's fickle attention, the rest of the league will not overlook the talented team that was dominated by defensive results but is not more balanced on offense and defense and special team play. Klemko might have been more relevant with one additional point: This will be a difficult year because the league players will see a champion's target on the Seahawks' jerseys and will be on their A game. :les:

I honestly see Quinn leaving, and I do think it affects us a little. Every guy has his strengths; when Holmgren was giving Zorn advice about being a HC he basically said "go with what you're strong at, and hire people that are better everywhere else" which in Zorn's case was QB development.

Quinn's forte is the DL. When he leaves, our DL might get a bit worse. Thing is, Pete fosters a competitive enviroment, but he also nurtures his assistants and prepares them for promotions. This means Pete will always get the brightest young minds because they see upward mobility. You don't need to look much farther for how well Pete is respected as a coach in the league's inner circles than Alex Gibbs. It had to be tough to get a guy like that to come up here at his age, yet he came when Pete was just coming back into the league.

The other big fallacy is that Lynch is aging and it will hurt. While he IS aging, I don't think it will hurt him as much as a lot of other RB's. Lynch's strength is breaking tackles and making 3-5 yards out of nothing, while blowing through 2 DLmen and trucking a LB. He doesn't do this with elite side to side quickness or elite top end speed.

Lynch has an unconventional running style, and sheer brute strength. As long as he keeps strong and uninjured, I don't see him losing a step as really affecting him much. He'll break less 25+ yarders, but he'll still get the 10-15 yarders that our offense lives on.