Random Thoughts on the Dallas game

I think we just saw the defining game of the 2014 NFL season. Not a passing of the torch per se, but a reminder that every NFL season is a new year and that you should never trust preseason predictions too heavily.

Dallas came into one of the hardest places to play in NFL history. They had a punt blocked for a TD. They had two turnovers. Those three plays basically spotted Seattle 17 points. The Cowboys had some brutal penalties too. They had two holding calls that wiped out big plays, (the second of which was overcome with a game altering 3rd and 20 conversion). And they had another penalty at the very end of the game that gave Seattle a last gasp they should have never had.

Seattle was relatively mistake free. Penalties were basically around their season average, and they didn't turn the ball over for the first 59 minutes.

And the Dallas Cowboys still won by a TD despite all that.

I don't know what it is that I hate the most about NFL fandom. But if I were to make a top five list, somewhere on that list would be fans complaining about playcalling after a loss and then calling coaches geniuses after a win. It's often pretty dumb and unfailingly annoying. There are, occasionally, moments when playcalling really truly was a big reason the Hawks lost, and today was one of those days.

Bevell has been trying too hard for some time now, and finally against a well prepared team it finally bit him in the ass. It felt like a game like this on offense was coming for some time, despite the effectiveness of the offense in previous games. You can only be cute on offense for so long before a well coached team solves it.

I would really hope that this game forces Pete to look in the mirror and get the offense back to the fundamentals. Lynch had just 2 carries at halftime, and just 10 carries for the game. Lynch averaged 6.1 yards per carry, over a yard more than Russell Wilson averaged per pass attempt. If that doesn't scream for a meat and potatoes offense, I don't know what would.

I don't want to blame Harvin. To the eyeball test, he looks just fine. But the results this year have been mostly awful. He can't even get kickoffs to the 20 yard line.

I think it's fine to hit the panic button on Seattle's secondary, especially with Maxwell having a high ankle sprain. This pass defense just hasn't been the same under the new rules emphasis, as was widely predicted. I applaud Carroll for putting Sherman on Dez after the Maxwell injury. Unfortunately, the move exposed Sherman as a player that is now clearly having a down season.

It also appears in my highly amateur analysis that pretty much every NFL team seems to have solved Seattle's cover 3 at this point. Even the teams that lost to Seattle were running cover 3 beaters pretty effectively.

But at the end of the day, I think Seahawks fans have largely been guilty of underestimating what very well might be the NFC's best team in 2014. They have an elite RB, a very efficient QB, a true #1 WR, a good TE, the consensus best OL in the NFL, and a vastly improved pass defense. Make no mistake, the Cowboys stunk before 2014, and they might stink in 2015, but in 2014 they are a powerhouse in the NFC landscape. In the NFL, a lot can happen in any given season.

Even if you disagree and still don't buy into Dallas (I don't know what it would take to convince you, but anyway), you have to give their coaching staff a ton of credit for attacking the weaknesses of Seattle's defense and having the perfect game plan to counter Seattle's triple threat offense. In particular, I was very impressed by the play of their secondary. It seemed as if every Wilson pass was to a well covered target. Now, part of that is Wilson visually missing open receivers (and at least a few times today, that was a problem). That said, I suspect that the all-22 won't show a ton of Seattle receivers being wide open in this game. It seemed like Dallas just ran with man coverage, spied the QB with a LB, and did a great job of it.

It's rare that I'll put most of a loss on the coaches, but this was one of those rare times. Even though the score was a lot higher, this game reminded me a lot of the Arizona loss last year. Arizona dominated and barely won thanks to a ton of turnvers, and they dominated because they won the coaching battle so decisively. Pete and his staff have a lot to answer for after this game no doubt. But I am thankful that this is a fairly uncommon occurrence, and I think the Dallas coaching staff deserves all the praise they get this week. Hell of a job by them.

Last year, there were four games that felt like a loss the whole way. At Houston, At St. Louis, Tampa, and Arizona. Seattle was 3-1 in those games. Which is a miracle.

This year they've had two of those kind of games that felt like a loss the whole way. San Diego and Dallas. Seattle is 0-2 in those games.

I have a theory for this discrepancy. Last year, Seattle could lean on their defense to win games. This year, they simply cannot, and their offense, while pretty good, is not currently built to score on command. Seattle had three chances to win or tie in both losses at the end of those games, and failed to produce almost any offense on any of those possessions.

The part about being unable to score on command is yet another reason why I think Seattle needs to get back to the fundamentals. Run the ball. And take shots a little more often in the passing game.

As long as Seattle strays from the fundamentals and plays pourous pass D, I can't see this team being any better than 10-6. These concerns are not new, and if the whole season plays out without things changing, I would honestly welcome a wildcard berth.

kearly":2hp18dbe said:

I applaud Carroll for putting Sherman on Dez after the Maxwell injury. Unfortunately, the move exposed Sherman as a player that is now clearly having a down season.

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Uh.. what? Dez had two catches against Sherman.. one of them was an amazing grab.

If this is indicative of a "down season" ... Sherman is fine.

I do agree though that depth is a major concern right now. Feel bad for Burley and Terrell for being thrown in the fire. Maxwell is down for at least a couple games you have to believe.. we need Simon back ASAP.

And no, the Cowboys are not the best team in the NFC.

Short week hurt on top of the lack of an experienced defensive line rotation and injured secondary. Dallas came to play and it always stings when it's on your home turf.

There is no one solution here. We as fans like to look for a single solution, because it gives us a feeling of control, like we just need to address one issue. But a multitude of breakdowns in every unit is not what anyone wants to hear.

Well, that's what happened today. Seattle was not mistake-free, Kip. Pass rush evaporated for too long (absent for the first half, then Irvin whiffed twice on a sack at the end). Offensive line struggled in pass pro, and it when it didn't, Wilson either didn't find anyone open, didn't trust them, or watched them drop the ball (though credit Dallas DBs for forcing the drops). Route trees in this dojo are nonexistent. Lynch wasn't used (probably concerns about O-line personnel). Defense overpursued and missed tackles on Murray. We couldn't spring Harvin except once.

There were little mistakes all over the place, and they added up. Simple as that.

And even then, it took a patient and complete game from a fine QB and defense to beat us in our house. I'll take that.

Being out coached by Garrett is frightening.

Personally, I think the problem stems from a line problem - that the D-line over achieved last year and the O-line cannot stay healthy.

Also, no Miller was a bigger deal than expected. Willson is not the answer.

Wilson seems to me off. His passes don't have the same velocity. His last pick was not long enough. His yard per pass is way down. My conclusion ? Wilson is not right and they are trying to hide it with swing passes and short dump passes. lol at his completions over 10 yards ....

Agree with Hasselbeck that Sherm played well.
Also agree with you that this team may well be no better than 10-6. I'm very discouraged this evening.

Hasselbeck":2ry8d6a1 said:

kearly":2ry8d6a1 said:

I applaud Carroll for putting Sherman on Dez after the Maxwell injury. Unfortunately, the move exposed Sherman as a player that is now clearly having a down season.

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Uh.. what? Dez had two catches against Sherman.. one of them was an amazing grab.

If this is indicative of a "down season" ... Sherman is fine.

I do agree though that depth is a major concern right now. Feel bad for Burley and Terrell for being thrown in the fire. Maxwell is down for at least a couple games you have to believe.. we need Simon back ASAP.

And no, the Cowboys are not the best team in the NFC.

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This is one thing I also disagreed with. Better word could've been used instead of "exposed". But it was a good game from Dez, he got about 60 yards about 35-40 of which came from Sherman on two catches and caused a PI, but far from the expense of an exposure of Sherman.

EDIT: One of those catches was a nice play by Dez. Sherm had good coverage all night.

Let's just remember that as bad as the Sseahawks played today, they probably win the game if not for that 3rd and long to Williams by Romo

Lot of things to fix for sure, but this team will win 10+ games.

We had the same issue in the SD game.

The funny thing is that I believe Wilson is a good enough and accurate enough passer that he can drive down the field. But he still needs to have the right plays to do it.

As I stated earlier, our defense last year not only held but converted opponent possessions into turnovers. Regularly. One in four. We not only aren't playing the same way, we are backing off instead of forcing the hand of the referees.

And our offense is killing us. We are literally relying on the "Russell runs around like a crazed leprechaun and then, while running the opposite direction, throws across his body to a wide open TE for the first down" as our offense. Shockingly that is not sustainable.

I don't mind losing if the other team makes a great play (for instance the 3rd and 20 play was just a phenomenal play on their part just like ADB's tiptoe catch in Carolina) but I mind losing a winnable game because of outright stupidity. Bevell has been playing with fire for weeks, it finally burned him.

This offense has one of the fastest WRs in the league so we use him for passes that get 4 yard gains.

The Cowboys out physicalled this team. They beat them up and made them bend to their will. But again, only because the playcalling sucked our players so dry they had nothing left at the end.

To me, The Cowboys are better and so are the 49ers. I think we get destroyed by the 49ers at their place and then we limp into the Eagles and get shelled because of the combination of travel/weather/and other issues. I don't know if we can even count on beating the 49ers at home because they look better than us - by a lot.

That isn't even pessimism. We clearly are nowhere near the best team in the league right now. Maybe the top 5 but some of the expectations were just not tied to what should have been evident by reviewing a few of the early games.

We make the playoffs but games like this are why we will be on the road for the playoffs and why we will likely struggle to win in them.

Maxwell dropping that pick 6 was a dagger, they scored seconds later. In fact Maxwell looked lost all day.

It is not looking much rosier on the corners with Sherman looking well...pedestrian.

Our tackling was DREADFUL, and I mean BAD. Taking high angles, whiffing, just abysmal.

The offensive play calling had my blood pressure way up to the point I started a fire Bevell thread which of course they won't do. At some point Pete needs to be held accountable for his coaches.

Home field advantage just got nuked, I'll bet SF fans are giddy right now because WE look like paper tigers now.

dontbelikethat":38c2nbko said:

This is one thing I also disagreed with. Better word could've been used instead of "exposed". But it was a good game from Dez, he got about 60 yards about 35-40 of which came from Sherman on two catches and caused a PI, but far from the expense of an exposure of Sherman.

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One of them, Dez just beat Sherm on a slant in the slot.. the other.. very few WR's make the catch, Dez is just a different animal.

He had his way with Maxwell (and dropped a TD on the play Max got injured) .. not Sherman. Far from it actually.

And the 3rd and 20 came from a guy we traded a 6th rounder for, and a practice squad DB/S. We're playing with a razor thin secondary right now between the corners and Kam playing hurt.

That will take its toll on any defense. No matter how well coached they are.

For the life of me I'll never understand the tendency to go spread/pistol/empty set with ZBS/grappling offensive lineman, Lynch, and a scrambling QB. It makes NO sense.

Speaking of the OL, they've actually played well (excluding the penalties). They're always going to be the types in need of the advantage of play-action and misdirection, because, of who they are. They aren't meant to be the Bronco's OL. But even with that, they gave Wilson ALOT of time today.

The OL is too easy a whipping "boy" on this board.

Hasselbeck":e5e66w44 said:

kearly":e5e66w44 said:

I applaud Carroll for putting Sherman on Dez after the Maxwell injury. Unfortunately, the move exposed Sherman as a player that is now clearly having a down season.

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Uh.. what? Dez had two catches against Sherman.. one of them was an amazing grab.

If this is indicative of a "down season" ... Sherman is fine.

I do agree though that depth is a major concern right now. Feel bad for Burley and Terrell for being thrown in the fire. Maxwell is down for at least a couple games you have to believe.. we need Simon back ASAP.

And no, the Cowboys are not the best team in the NFC.

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I didn't think Sherman got "exposed". I think Dez is one of the best receivers in this league. Not to mention.....Sherman had a few PI calls against him that don't show up in the stats. I won't say "exposed" but its clear there's not much depth there at corner behind Maxwell.

papashango":1n7act7z said:

I didn't think Sherman got "exposed". I think Dez is one of the best receivers in this league. Not to mention.....Sherman had a few PI calls against him that don't show up in the stats. I won't say "exposed" but its clear there's not much depth there at corner behind Maxwell.

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Absolutely.. and I think it's something a lot of Seahawk fans are overlooking right now because of the offensive struggles.

Dallas played the style of game the Seahawks banked on to get to where they got last year. I will continue to be ambivalent about adding Harvin, not so much because of anything he has done but what it is making the Seahawks do to justify bringing him here. Fly Sweep is fine once in a blue moon but the team has moved on from its identity with Lynch.

I guess we will cool the elite QB debate for a week. Romo did in a hostile environment what our guys couldn't. You have to be able to answer that 80y d drive and to not even make it to mid-field was disappointing. That and the whole giving up another 80 yd drive late at home.

If you looked at how the season has gone so far, this loss was not a shocker. But it is disappointing.

I had to suffer through tonight's loss with my brother-in-law, a stereotypical Cowboy fan. On this night, I had to regretfully admit that the Cowboys were the better team. They dominated in all phases except special teams. Om offense, they run-blocked to perfection, they avoided pressure and found open targets. And, on defense, holy crap, they owned Russel Wilson for most of the game. Every receiver was well-covered, and while there were many drops, most of the missed passes were misplaced by Wilson. I, too, echo the frustration about the play calling. It might be a good idea to go vertical instead of horizontal on our passes once in a while. This was one game where RW didn't look like himself. Next week, I have faith we'll get it right. This is a long season and this wake-up call is overdue.

How did Dez expose Sherman? He had 2 catches and one was a great throw and catch against tight coverage? Did I read that wrong?

The thing that concerns me the most is we had the early punt block and a 10-0 in our house. Given our history at home, that should have ended it. Instead we continued to essentially play a mistake free game and we were flat out beat. We also got flat out beat by SD which is also a better team.

If we get an average pass rush, we probably make the playoffs and make some noise. All other problems existed last year. Our O-line was not good last year, receivers could not get separation and we had the same OC. It sucks we are not dominant at the moment, but maybe it will make us hungry again soon.

Agree that Pete & Co. were badly outcoached today as well.