Not as bad as it looks...

[Welshers]

The only reason we weren't "exposed" against the Bills, is because that happened like two months ago. Either we are going to win a shootout, or we're not going to win at all. Schneider and Carroll have a big job ahead of them in the offseason. Jamal Adams is really, really damn good, but he's only one starter out of 11.

6-2 begs to differ

 

[Appyhawk]

One game does not make a season. Not for the Seahawks and not for the Saints. But it's a 'what have you done for me lately' crowd, so Saints will rule this week and Buffalo is on the rise.
We'll see what next week puts on the table.

 

[bmorepunk]

One game does not make a season. Not for the Seahawks and not for the Saints. But it's a 'what have you done for me lately' crowd, so Saints will rule this week and Buffalo is on the rise.
We'll see what next week puts on the table.

I think eight weeks of terrible defense starts to look like a season.

 

[pittpnthrs]

I think it was every bit as bad as advertised.

 

[Crizilla]

I think it was every bit as bad as advertised.

lel this

 

[themunn]

Earlier this week all I was reading was that Brady's Bucs are the best team in the NFC, and this game proved it.

And then Brady's Bucs were blown out and scored 3 points AT HOME.

We lost to a 7-2 team, at 10am on the road. The 10am hoodoo might be gone, but it's still a difficult game to play, against a good team, on the east coast.

There's room for improvement, but we got 7 sacks, so pressure is finally getting there. We scored 34 points despite 4 giveaways and 0 takeaways.

The Cardinals lost so we still top the division. Our loss came against a non-conference team, so despite everything we are STILL the number 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams and 49ers are up next and if we can squeeze past them we have the easiest 4 game run of just about any team in the league beyond that.
We have Carson, Hyde, Penny out and when the get back it should help take a huge load off of Wilson who has been uncharacteristically turnover prone when playing with 4th and 5th string running backs who either can't run or can't protect.

When Shaquille Griffin comes back hopefully we can tighten up a bit again - since he went out against Arizona we have been absolutely dreadful at LCB, with Murray, Mullens and now Allen have abused the replacement there - it might not make our defense world beaters but would hopefully be enough that our offense at least can keep us winning

 

[hawks85]

The problem is not the players or the injuries.

The problem is we have a DC that is not smart enough and does not have the brainpower to hold the position.

Throughout NFL history there have been some terrible teams. There have been some terrible coaches.

It takes much to literally be the worst DC in NFL history. But Norton is closing on that achievement.

There have absolutely been worse rosters (including rosters with injuries) in NFL history. To somehow imply that our roster is responsible for this misses the boat. You need to be a special type of terrible to get near historically bad numbers.

Our roster is not historically terrible.

Our results are.

That leaves one culprit and it is not the players.

You are 1000 percent correct. Look at our F'ing secondary, we have Pro Bowlers back there. I dont care what anybody says on this forum, we will not win a playoff game let alone a SB with this current D, and you wont convince me otherwise. If a change isn't made this week then the season is done. There are many teams with far less talent on D than ours and they have a better D. Adams played better with the freaking Jets than he is with us. That alone tells you we are not using him correctly or its the wrong scheme, I say its both. Petey boy most likely isn't going to do anything.

 

[hawks85]

Earlier this week all I was reading was that Brady's Bucs are the best team in the NFC, and this game proved it.

And then Brady's Bucs were blown out and scored 3 points AT HOME.

We lost to a 7-2 team, at 10am on the road. The 10am hoodoo might be gone, but it's still a difficult game to play, against a good team, on the east coast.

There's room for improvement, but we got 7 sacks, so pressure is finally getting there. We scored 34 points despite 4 giveaways and 0 takeaways.

The Cardinals lost so we still top the division. Our loss came against a non-conference team, so despite everything we are STILL the number 1 seed in the NFC. The Rams and 49ers are up next and if we can squeeze past them we have the easiest 4 game run of just about any team in the league beyond that.
We have Carson, Hyde, Penny out and when the get back it should help take a huge load off of Wilson who has been uncharacteristically turnover prone when playing with 4th and 5th string running backs who either can't run or can't protect.

When Shaquille Griffin comes back hopefully we can tighten up a bit again - since he went out against Arizona we have been absolutely dreadful at LCB, with Murray, Mullens and now Allen have abused the replacement there - it might not make our defense world beaters but would hopefully be enough that our offense at least can keep us winning

This isn't about this 1 game. That's what people don't F'ing understand. We are 8 games in and nothing has gotten better. Hell we are 2 years in if wanna include last year and the year before.

 

[themunn]

We are 8 games in and we are 6-2 and hold the lead for the #1 seed in the NFC.

Yes our defense is bad but our offense is also historically good. I know it's frustrating not to have the all time best offense and all time best defense every year, but nobody does, and so far, we are ahead of the rest of the pack in the NFC at least - which is all we need to be to make it to the Superbowl.

If we go 6-2 the rest of the way (and given our 4 week stretch against the NFC Least + Jets who between the 4 teams have a combined 7 wins, the same as the Bills team we played yesterday, that doesn't sound unreasonable) then we have a very very good chance to hold the #1 seed, a first round bye, and HFA throughout the playoffs.

I know for some that probably still won't be enough. But for some it never will be. The boo boys were out in force during our 2013 season too until the final game.

 

[NJlargent]

Yes we are going to have a good record padding it with the soft schedule coming up. And yes we are at the moment the 1 seed. But my concern is that yesterday showed that we didn’t have a bad game like Tampa or the other contenders, but rather we were soundly beaten because we have a bad defense and cannot sustain a good run against playoff caliber opponents. Some good coach in the divisional round will come out throwing and we will get bounced. This team is solely the Russell Wilson show.

 

[hawker84]

This team is as one dimensional as it gets and it showed big time yesterday. It's even affecting RW, where he's making mistakes trying to carry this team. We'll be lucky to even win a divisional crown this year under this coaching staff never mind a SB...

 

[bmorepunk]

30.4 PPG allowed. Only Jacksonville (30.9) and Dallas (32.2) are worse.

Over the last 3 games, Seahawks are the worst with 36 PPG allowed. At this point giving up less than 30 is a miracle.

 

[themunn]

Yes we are going to have a good record padding it with the soft schedule coming up. And yes we are at the moment the 1 seed. But my concern is that yesterday showed that we didn’t have a bad game like Tampa or the other contenders, but rather we were soundly beaten because we have a bad defense and cannot sustain a good run against playoff caliber opponents. Some good coach in the divisional round will come out throwing and we will get bounced. This team is solely the Russell Wilson show.

I don't know how you can look at Tampa getting blown out 38-3 and say "they just had a bad game" but look at our game which we kept within touching distance until the 4th quarter and be more concerned about us than them. We had a bad game in all 3 phases of the game. Big kickoff returns allowed. 4 giveaways AND 0 takeaways. 16 QB hits (at least) - the most by any quarterback in a single game in 2020. AND of course the defense was unable to stop Allen on top of that (although they did get pressure and 7 sacks). Buffalo had 2 drives start within 6 yards of the endzone in the 4th quarter that they scored 10 points off of. Another FG in the 2nd half off of a fumble by Wilson too in Seattle territory.

We can hope for the return of both Griffin and Amadi to help - we had hoped the same for Adams and Green and while that definitely got us some pressure (we got 7 sacks!) there were simply too many easy completions because the secondary didn't play their part. Dunbar was clearly carrying an injury and was abused all game. And typically mental mistakes cost us - Jamal Adams tripping penalty on what would have been our 8th sack on 3rd down when score was still 27-20 changed the game, a PI penalty and a TD later it's 34-20, and then an inteception 3 plays later and the game is 41-20 when for all we know it could have been 27-27 if we avoid that penalty.
But these are margins which cost us the game when we played poorly all game. We've got our top 3 running backs out that can come back and improve us. We've got our top CB and top nickelback corner to come back.
But what do Tampa have, for example, that they can look forward to? They just signed Antonio Brown and scored nothing for 3 quarters until they got a FG in the 4th. They were pretty much at full strength for the game against the Saints with just one player declared out for the game, they don't have any key players on IR/PUP that they can hope to return later on in the season. They were not competitive against the Saints, but at least we were against the Bills and Cardinals (a game we should have won). I'll take that any day over being blown out.

 

[classicaaron]

I don't think its any worse then anything else we have seen this year. I mean they played how they have the previous 7 other games. its just the 4 turnovers made the score slightly worse.

Pete keeps saying they will get it figured out. hes been saying it 8 weeks now. its not going to happen. I mean he said the same thing about the offensive line for like 3 years straight until it finally came true. so this D will not improve this year. They can still win the division but cant see them winning more than one playoff game this season.

on the bright side every team is lackluster. Packers looked like hot garbage last week against the Vikings. Bucs got annihilated. Cardinals lost. Even the Chiefs struggled. so they are no different than any other team but they certainly have some major issues. but also having Carson available would have made a major difference especially on those 3rd and 4th and shorts that they couldn't convert. We saw how it played out last year in the playoffs with no running back. We need these guys healthy in order to have a chance.

 

[RCATES]

It’s pretty bad to be honest. There is no way Russ and company could stay on this pace. He’s a career 2 td a game Qb. The defense is just historically bad and there’s really no quick fix outside wholesale changes in the offseason. Hate to say it but we’re headed for a bad stretch with this current squad. Rams are going in dry with 2 weeks to prepare.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Sometimes you just get outplayed, yesterday was one of those days.
Two of their TD's were after turnovers (one on Russ, one on horrific pass blocking that created the fumble) that gave them a short field. Earlier, the Hawks had 3rd and 1 in the Red Zone and they call a draw play to Homer?? BRUTAL.
Two other plays that would have been sure TD's, Russ gets blasted as he's throwing it.
He def. wasn't on his A game, but that Pass Defense was horrid, and that's putting it mildly. Getting hit 16 flippen times??? What QB isn't going to start feeling pressure at that point? All of them.
Shoot, Flowers actually played well in back to back games, and Dunbar had no business being out there. He was clearly playing hurt. It was bad for sure, but the Hawks certainly had their chances.
You flat out can't turn the ball over 4 times against a good team.
Learn from it and move on to next Sunday. No need to sugar coat it, Hawks got dominated yesterday.
I can't argue one bit if I see negative takes from yesterday. Other than 7 sacks, and how Carlos Dunlap looked....it was a crap sammich.

 

[bmorepunk]

so they are no different than any other team but they certainly have some major issues.

The Bucs and Cards are allowing less than 23 PPG this season.

The Packers are allowing over 25 PPG, and they've at least been able to hold other teams to 20 points or less in three games.

The Seahawks are significantly worse on defense than any other team actually poised to make the playoffs. Buffalo and Pilly are the first two teams that actually likely will make it this year, and they're giving up 26/27 PPG. All the other teams that are likely to get in range from 18 PPG to 23 PPG, save for New Oreleans and Green Bay who are sitting in the 25 PPG region.

The Chiefs are allow 10 PPG less than the Seahawks on defense. They have allowed 20 PPG or less in seven of their nine games.

The Sehawks are very different. The defense is awful. Straight awful. I'm not convinced they could keep the Jets under 20 points on a good day.

The Seahawks have given up over 36 PPG in the last three games. It's getting worse, not better.

 

[Elemas]

The problem is not the players or the injuries.

The problem is we have a DC that is not smart enough and does not have the brainpower to hold the position.

Throughout NFL history there have been some terrible teams. There have been some terrible coaches.

It takes much to literally be the worst DC in NFL history. But Norton is closing on that achievement.

There have absolutely been worse rosters (including rosters with injuries) in NFL history. To somehow imply that our roster is responsible for this misses the boat. You need to be a special type of terrible to get near historically bad numbers.

Our roster is not historically terrible.

Our results are.

That leaves one culprit and it is not the players.

Well said. I didn't want to place the blame on KNJ at first. There's so many dynamics to consider. But, we now have a good enough sample to clearly identify the problem. And like it's said in this post, it's not 100% on the players.

When players are highly rated in other systems (take Dunbar for example) and they come here and fall off the map...that tells you a little something.

 

[Elemas]

Defensively, we're setting records. Not the good kind. With the players we have, it shouldn't be this bad.

I agree that it puts additional pressure on RW. You should try to score everytime you get the ball. But, that's different than knowing you HAVE to score everytime or you'll find yourself in a hole that you can't dig yourself out of.

 

[Fade]

Dunlap and Adams balled out,and they looked even worse.

Goff is going to look like Joe Montana against this defense.