One game does not define a season or a team

Win lose or tie! We are Seahawks fans who hold our heads up high after EVERY GAME.

We are not anywhere near as bad as we played yesterday, I know, I know a liot of emotions are running high. Mine included. But we were very hungry last year, we clawed our way back into games we were losing. we over came most every obstacle that stood in our way, we refused to let up on our pursuit of victory.

We looked lost and confused yesterday. Not a lot different than in SD a few weeks ago. We seemed to be on different pages and lacking defined direction. We didn't look ready, we didn't play sharp, we lacked aggressive confindence.

We sucked. For "A GAME". Actually not the whole game, we had our moments, but we never really owned the game, we suffered a tough loss. But take it easy, we are still a very good team, with great talent, a great future, and we will overcome this GAME, and next week we will play with a much more familiar appeal and make plays and win.

A lot of time left and a lot of games remain. We will finish strong and make the playoffs. We will!

Glass half full, I like it.

How about giving credit to the other team?

They played a helluva game.

They DID! I will agree, but we have still beat teams even playing BETTER than the Cowgirls played yesterday.

We just seemed complacent, unenthusiasticly, like it was just going to be a win by us being there. We needed a kick in the ass. Not high temperature to blame. Just a mirror and a mission.

Dallas played well yesterday. This is another lesson in 2014 season for the world champs....every team is going to bring their "A" game against the Seahawks. It's the price you pay for being the top team in the league. Seahawks don't play well the next Sunday after a MNF games. They had the same issue last year, the opponent was the Bucs and they came out flat. Luckily it was the Bucs and the Seahawks were able to pull it out for a win. This year it happened to be the Cowboys and the result was different.

Agreed that one game does not define us, and we're still sitting at 3-2 with 11 games left to play. We have as much a chance as anyone to get into the postseason and do our damage there.

With that said, we've got 2 games in a row now where our offense has sputtered more or less. Much of yesterday's game looked like the 3rd quarter against Washington. I think it's valid to have a discussion about what we see going wrong and what we think are the best steps to fix it.

Of course, when I say "discussion," I mean an honest, objective debate about the actual issues. I don't mean a bunch of gnashing of teeth and wailing that we suck and that everyone should be fired. Nor do I mean a discussion that is drowned out by a chorus of people saying that Seahawks fans are spoiled or don't understand the game or are fairweather just because we're voicing concerns.

I'd like to believe that such a discussion is possible at .NET.

We played well yesterday and was able to get the W. Anyone, including Cowboys fans, who thinks this means anything in regards to how Seattle is going to play the rest of the year is crazy.

THey're not the defending champs for nothing. I fully expect them to be there right at the end of the season again this year.

If Dallas for whatever reason happens to make it to the NFC Championship game this year I fully expect them to be having to face the Seahawks again.

volsunghawk":1bzzvrjs said:

Agreed that one game does not define us, and we're still sitting at 3-2 with 11 games left to play. We have as much a chance as anyone to get into the postseason and do our damage there.

With that said, we've got 2 games in a row now where our offense has sputtered more or less. Much of yesterday's game looked like the 3rd quarter against Washington. I think it's valid to have a discussion about what we see going wrong and what we think are the best steps to fix it.

Of course, when I say "discussion," I mean an honest, objective debate about the actual issues. I don't mean a bunch of gnashing of teeth and wailing that we suck and that everyone should be fired. Nor do I mean a discussion that is drowned out by a chorus of people saying that Seahawks fans are spoiled or don't understand the game or are fairweather just because we're voicing concerns.

I'd like to believe that such a discussion is possible at .NET.

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Well said. One thing that come to my mind is I'd like to see Russell rolling out with the ball to make passes maybe to a tight end or someone sprinting across the field about 10 yards down the field.

Last year we lost to the Colts, and very nearly to the Titans and Bucs.

The idea that this was some unstoppable juggernaut was only because of how they played in the SB.

That said, the team was build on a system that worked like a series of overlapping scales.

Our offensive line concentrated on the run, that tires out pass rushers. Our run game systematically wore down teams as well. Our QB was good for a few scrambles per game that also exhausted the other team's DL and LBs.

On the other side, our defense is actually undersized by weight but very fast. Because they could count on long sustained drives, they could go balls out on defense not needing to worry about conserving energy. We also rotated heavily. Guys like Bennett only played 60% of the snaps and he was the star.

Finally our WRs were fantastic at catching the balls in traffic or getting position when covered, so they still made the catch.

This year, the defense doesn't have the depth and so loses the effectiveness as it tires. The injuries exacerbate this and further reduce effectiveness. Our defense ends up producing at close to average.

This year, the whole read option works like this - Percy runs with the ball, or Lynch runs with it, or Russell runs with it. The alternative is that Russell throws a short pass and one of our WRs tries to get 6-7 yards. This means the defense only needs to really focus on covering the first 10 yards. Everyone can and should be at the LOS, and consequently it is harder to run then. And in many instances this seems to be our primary offense.

Now losing Miller hurt us, but this was a problem before that. We saw it in San Diego but made excuses because of the heat. Then in Washington this team struggled to be consistently effective on offense, but we blamed it all on the referees.

The past few games, this is a team that looks poorly prepared, mentally unfocused, and in some ways overmatched. The top NFC teams (in no particular order) are: 49ers, Eagles, Packers, Cowboys, and maybe, MAYBE us. In that list, I am not sure we can beat any of those teams away from home, and there is no way that this team is getting HFA this year.

We won the SB with a team that had found some natural advantages and exploited them. But it looks like the book on how to handle the Seahawks is being written right now. Those natural advantages have been offset. Which means the team is still good, but likely not in the top 5 NFL teams right now.

BraveHeartFan":2nqqny4v said:

We played well yesterday and was able to get the W. Anyone, including Cowboys fans, who thinks this means anything in regards to how Seattle is going to play the rest of the year is crazy.

THey're not the defending champs for nothing. I fully expect them to be there right at the end of the season again this year.

If Dallas for whatever reason happens to make it to the NFC Championship game this year I fully expect them to be having to face the Seahawks again.

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Class post, miles apart from the cowboys fan i've come across. Congrats on the win.

I hope next time we can make it more competitve.

Sell your tickets for 10x the face value... HOORAHH!!!

Yesterday was definitely a combination of two factors: our poor play and Dallas' excellent play. That Dallas O-line, oh man, I want it. They made holes big enough to drive a herd of cows through.

I find that every year we have a game or two where we get, for lack of a better term, too cute. We veer away from the things that have been successful for us. And this year that's been Lynch pounding the ball, Harvin on sweeps, and using that run threat to spread the defense, then let Russell pick them apart. It feels like we didn't even try that.

Also, Russell did not look good yesterday. And I get it, everyone has a bad day. No worries. I'm sure he'll bounce back. He may have not slept since the game he's been watching so much film. But some of those passes showed a judgement that wasn't like him. I love that he scrambles, extends plays, etc, but I worry that he's starting to put too much on himself to make something happen every time. Throwing the ball away is OKAY sometimes.

And kudos to Williams and Romo on that 3rd and 20. I was mad at Burley for camping 20 yards off like that, but that was as beautiful catch, no way you can defend it when even the WR has just enough toe on ground to brush the turf

I believe that one game CAN define a team.

I think the Chicago game in 2012 in many ways defined the team. I believe the Eagles game in 2005 really was a defining moment. I think a 24-7 loss at home against the Bucs defined a Jim Mora coached team about 5 years ago.

I don't think this is one of those games. I truly feel we haven't adjusted yet to personel changes from last year. We have beat two of the best teams in football already this year, and lost to two of the best. I believe the primary issue is in pass protection, but hopefully that will improve as the year goes on. There is some adversity to overcome, and two games on the road now will really test the heart and desire of this team.

I'm pretty sure the Super Bowl defined the team last year.

The sad part is Dallas played far from a prefect game, giving us plenty of gifts, but we're so much more sound in their game plan and focused than is that it didn't matter.

Ah, rational thought. Good thread to wake up to this morning.

The Super Bowl was a fantastic gift to all of us long time fans. And after game 1, I was thinking this would be almost too easy to repeat. It's a tough fall back to reality. If you look at our team with objective eyes, and don't compare them to the super bowl winning performance, we still have a strong chance of beating anyone this year. There are no opponents to take for granted though. We have plenty talent on both sides of the ball, but we don't have the same identity.

Like others are saying, we need to get back to run-first offense. Take shots down the field and trust our receivers to make some contested catches. Harvin can be an important and useful part of this system too, but cut out the Harvin-centric plays that every team is cued up to stop. The thing that has been most enjoyable about the last 4 seasons is watching Lynch run against teams that KNEW he was coming and couldn't do anything about it. Make the defense focus on stopping Lynch, and let him somehow punch through the pile every 3 plays for 10 or more yards. Then take your shots down field on occasion to keep up the explosiveness possiblity.

It looks like the entire league spent the off-season figuring out our passing defense. There is a lot of space in the middle where the LB are off coverage to stop the run. Our pass rush is definitely down. and our secondary is depleted. We also know that Chancellor has lost a step or 2 due to injury. Add to that the rule changes and the fact that we seem intent on never getting a PI penalty and we have a real problem. I don't know the answer here, but we will need to adjust or keep getting gashed on 3rd and long.

Remember life before Chicago 2012? I'll take this over that any day :th2thumbs:

daveca5150":utq0dk5v said:

Ah, rational thought. Good thread to wake up to this morning.

The Super Bowl was a fantastic gift to all of us long time fans. And after game 1, I was thinking this would be almost too easy to repeat. It's a tough fall back to reality. If you look at our team with objective eyes, and don't compare them to the super bowl winning performance, we still have a strong chance of beating anyone this year. There are no opponents to take for granted though. We have plenty talent on both sides of the ball, but we don't have the same identity.

Like others are saying, we need to get back to run-first offense. Take shots down the field and trust our receivers to make some contested catches. Harvin can be an important and useful part of this system too, but cut out the Harvin-centric plays that every team is cued up to stop. The thing that has been most enjoyable about the last 4 seasons is watching Lynch run against teams that KNEW he was coming and couldn't do anything about it. Make the defense focus on stopping Lynch, and let him somehow punch through the pile every 3 plays for 10 or more yards. Then take your shots down field on occasion to keep up the explosiveness possiblity.

It looks like the entire league spent the off-season figuring out our passing defense. There is a lot of space in the middle where the LB are off coverage to stop the run. Our pass rush is definitely down. and our secondary is depleted. We also know that Chancellor has lost a step or 2 due to injury. Add to that the rule changes and the fact that we seem intent on never getting a PI penalty and we have a real problem. I don't know the answer here, but we will need to adjust or keep getting gashed on 3rd and long.

Remember life before Chicago 2012? I'll take this over that any day :th2thumbs:

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Post of the day right here.

edogg23":p5hdt80j said:

The sad part is Dallas played far from a prefect game, giving us plenty of gifts, but we're so much more sound in their game plan and focused than is that it didn't matter.

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One thing I will point out, in complete agreement with here, is that Dallas stuck with it's run game.

Murray wasn't ripping off big chunks early on. But as the game wore on, as is usually the case in any football game, we wore on them and Murray started getting bigger runs and more often. I felt we wore them down in that regard.

It's why you absolutely have to stick with the run, which I don't have to tell Seattle fans because ya'll know this as well as any fans in the league with Beast Mode.

Three words though:

Home field advantage!

Losing games nows will make it so we have a worse run in the playoffs. H.F.A. is our only shot as far as I am concerned.

tom sawyer":17z90i2w said:

Win lose or tie! We are Seahawks fans who hold our heads up high after EVERY GAME.

We are not anywhere near as bad as we played yesterday, I know, I know a liot of emotions are running high. Mine included. But we were very hungry last year, we clawed our way back into games we were losing. we over came most every obstacle that stood in our way, we refused to let up on our pursuit of victory.

We looked lost and confused yesterday. Not a lot different than in SD a few weeks ago. We seemed to be on different pages and lacking defined direction. We didn't look ready, we didn't play sharp, we lacked aggressive confindence.

We sucked. For "A GAME". Actually not the whole game, we had our moments, but we never really owned the game, we suffered a tough loss. But take it easy, we are still a very good team, with great talent, a great future, and we will overcome this GAME, and next week we will play with a much more familiar appeal and make plays and win.

A lot of time left and a lot of games remain. We will finish strong and make the playoffs. We will!

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^^, What He Said ^^ :th2thumbs: