Ruminations on the Bucs Game is a post-game thread for everyone on .NET to post their thoughts (ruminations) about the game.
It's amazing to me the contrast of offensive playcalling depending on how the opponent is playing/scoring. I knew after TB went down the field with ease, that SEA would come out with an aggressive attack to answer. They wouldn't have though, had TB not put up points. Pete is crazy. Maybe crazy like a fox, but he is still crazy. He should go full pedal on offense at the start of every game to give his squad the best chance to win. I think he now fully realizes his defense is very much in need of an overhaul at the end of they year. But in the meantime he is going to have no choice for the rest of the season but to do just that. The only way the Seahawks can have a special season this year is if Wilson wins the MVP. They are too flawed, in too many areas to win any other way.
Tical must be fuming! Wilson threw it 43 times, and they abandoned the run for long stretches. LMAO! They needed everyone of those tosses, or they would've been blown out.
Defensively the Seahawks have major issues. They finally didn't get chewed up by TE & RB screens, yay. They allowed Mike Evans and all Bucs receivers for that matter lineup in the slot and have free releases down the seam, was given easy inside releases when lineup outside into huge voids for easy catches. Mike Evans is a beast, I know, but you can't make it that easy. Mike Evans 1-on-1 w/ a free release against the Safeties & Jamar Taylor, giving 15 yard cushions is not sound design. The defensive players were consistently playing their technique's and assignments from what I could glean. This is a coaching issue, you can't have guys consistently that wide open without it being a coaching issue. Yes, there are personnel issues to boot, but coaching is the bigger factor. That late 4th qtr score by TB showed how disorganized, and unprepared they were, And that was coming out of a timeout. Very Nick Holt esque.
They started man'ing up more in the 2nd half and that helped, to tie into the fact they had to blitz more to bring pressure. They don't run a lot of games upfront. Which seems like it would be a good idea to create confusion, while not having to bring 5-or-6. Pete cleaned house on his offensive coaching staff after 2017. I think he is going to have to clean house on defense, after this year.
RANDOM PLAYER & COACHES NOTES
Kendricks is the best linebacker on the team by far.
Schotty with the nice RB screen design off of their typical deep playaction drop in the first series.
Jason Meyers... is one of the worst kickers in the league, but one of the highest paid. Good for him.
Marquis Blair needs to be good to infuse their defense with young cheap talent. So far it's looking like he is going to be a player.
Russell Wilson moves slower than Jameis Winston.
Jacob Hollister left 1-on-1 to block the guy leading the league in sacks, what could possible go wrong?
Winston with a terrible decision, and gets on of the luckiest TD's ever instead of a pick. But it also speaks to the lack of playmaking this defense has as well. That ball was in the air for what seemed like an eternity.
Ken "Nick Holt" Norton Jr.
David Moore can't win a 1-on-1 to save his life.
Russell Wilson missed Lockett for a 2nd TD, on a wide open playaction throwback. DK then didn't drag his backfoot for the conversion on 3rd down, then Jason Meyers missed the kick. Unbelievable.
Pete Ball on back to back Wilson sacks. Everyone going deep, with no one to dump the ball off to.
Ziggy "the Ghost" Ansah. You could put a cardboard cutout of him on the field and you wouldn't notice the difference.
Schotty with excellent misdirection design in the red zone on the 2nd TD drive.
Vita Vea is an animal. Along with Suh, no wonder teams struggle to run the ball against TB. Cool that Carson sprung one, but going back to that well consistently is fool's gold. Carson carried the ball like a loaf of bread and fumbled, luckily it went out of bounds. Carson again carries the ball like a loaf of bread and fumbled. This time it stayed in bounds.
Wilson hits Lockett on a nice scramble play, only he dropped it.
Wilson hits Lockett for the 3rd score through a very tiny window. You couldn't walk the ball out and place it any better.
Wilson to Lockett is a very special combination, stating the obvious.
Walk it to 'em Wilson to Lockett on the wheel route.
Meyers made a chip shot fieldgoal... barely.
I think Rasheem Green thought he had an easy scoop and score, I know he can run faster than that.
DK Metcalf might break that 8 TD prediction I had for him easily. If the ball is delivered within his frame on a deep ball oppurtinity no one is going to run him down. What a unique weapon.
Pete with another bad challenge. It wouldn't be a Seahawks game if he didn't do that, now would it?
Pete looking to burn all of his timeouts, so his MVP QB has no time to drive the field and win the game in regulation.
Ken "Nick Holt" Norton Jr. This team is ill prepared to play defense.
Pete balied out by Wilson again, engineering a nice drive with very little time, and the kicker misses, of course.
It must be nice to be a HC, and have Wilson as your QB. Wilson played a near flawless game, and they barely won.
The degree of difficulty is so high, and Wilson never flinches. Impressive.
FINAL THOUGHTS/LOOKING AHEAD
Wilson is the MVP of the league. Without him, the Seahawks would be in re-build mode, and one of the worst teams in the NFC. With him, they are contenders. Not major contenders mind you, but he gives them a chance.
It's been kind of like the quiet before the storm around here because we've been waiting for this 49ers game to come.
Well now it's here. Things are about to get real.
The Seahawks actually still control their own destiny. They have to beat the 49ers both times to do it, but with Wilson leading this team, he can make the daunting & impossible... possible.
MNF is for the Division crown for all intents & purposes. The Seahawks can make it a real race if they win.
It's amazing to me the contrast of offensive playcalling depending on how the opponent is playing/scoring. I knew after TB went down the field with ease, that SEA would come out with an aggressive attack to answer. They wouldn't have though, had TB not put up points. Pete is crazy. Maybe crazy like a fox, but he is still crazy. He should go full pedal on offense at the start of every game to give his squad the best chance to win. I think he now fully realizes his defense is very much in need of an overhaul at the end of they year. But in the meantime he is going to have no choice for the rest of the season but to do just that. The only way the Seahawks can have a special season this year is if Wilson wins the MVP. They are too flawed, in too many areas to win any other way.
Tical must be fuming! Wilson threw it 43 times, and they abandoned the run for long stretches. LMAO! They needed everyone of those tosses, or they would've been blown out.
Defensively the Seahawks have major issues. They finally didn't get chewed up by TE & RB screens, yay. They allowed Mike Evans and all Bucs receivers for that matter lineup in the slot and have free releases down the seam, was given easy inside releases when lineup outside into huge voids for easy catches. Mike Evans is a beast, I know, but you can't make it that easy. Mike Evans 1-on-1 w/ a free release against the Safeties & Jamar Taylor, giving 15 yard cushions is not sound design. The defensive players were consistently playing their technique's and assignments from what I could glean. This is a coaching issue, you can't have guys consistently that wide open without it being a coaching issue. Yes, there are personnel issues to boot, but coaching is the bigger factor. That late 4th qtr score by TB showed how disorganized, and unprepared they were, And that was coming out of a timeout. Very Nick Holt esque.
They started man'ing up more in the 2nd half and that helped, to tie into the fact they had to blitz more to bring pressure. They don't run a lot of games upfront. Which seems like it would be a good idea to create confusion, while not having to bring 5-or-6. Pete cleaned house on his offensive coaching staff after 2017. I think he is going to have to clean house on defense, after this year.
RANDOM PLAYER & COACHES NOTES
Kendricks is the best linebacker on the team by far.
Schotty with the nice RB screen design off of their typical deep playaction drop in the first series.
Jason Meyers... is one of the worst kickers in the league, but one of the highest paid. Good for him.
Marquis Blair needs to be good to infuse their defense with young cheap talent. So far it's looking like he is going to be a player.
Russell Wilson moves slower than Jameis Winston.
Jacob Hollister left 1-on-1 to block the guy leading the league in sacks, what could possible go wrong?
Winston with a terrible decision, and gets on of the luckiest TD's ever instead of a pick. But it also speaks to the lack of playmaking this defense has as well. That ball was in the air for what seemed like an eternity.
Ken "Nick Holt" Norton Jr.
David Moore can't win a 1-on-1 to save his life.
Russell Wilson missed Lockett for a 2nd TD, on a wide open playaction throwback. DK then didn't drag his backfoot for the conversion on 3rd down, then Jason Meyers missed the kick. Unbelievable.
Pete Ball on back to back Wilson sacks. Everyone going deep, with no one to dump the ball off to.
Ziggy "the Ghost" Ansah. You could put a cardboard cutout of him on the field and you wouldn't notice the difference.
Schotty with excellent misdirection design in the red zone on the 2nd TD drive.
Vita Vea is an animal. Along with Suh, no wonder teams struggle to run the ball against TB. Cool that Carson sprung one, but going back to that well consistently is fool's gold. Carson carried the ball like a loaf of bread and fumbled, luckily it went out of bounds. Carson again carries the ball like a loaf of bread and fumbled. This time it stayed in bounds.
Wilson hits Lockett on a nice scramble play, only he dropped it.
Wilson hits Lockett for the 3rd score through a very tiny window. You couldn't walk the ball out and place it any better.
Wilson to Lockett is a very special combination, stating the obvious.
Walk it to 'em Wilson to Lockett on the wheel route.
Meyers made a chip shot fieldgoal... barely.
I think Rasheem Green thought he had an easy scoop and score, I know he can run faster than that.
DK Metcalf might break that 8 TD prediction I had for him easily. If the ball is delivered within his frame on a deep ball oppurtinity no one is going to run him down. What a unique weapon.
Pete with another bad challenge. It wouldn't be a Seahawks game if he didn't do that, now would it?
Pete looking to burn all of his timeouts, so his MVP QB has no time to drive the field and win the game in regulation.
Ken "Nick Holt" Norton Jr. This team is ill prepared to play defense.
Pete balied out by Wilson again, engineering a nice drive with very little time, and the kicker misses, of course.
It must be nice to be a HC, and have Wilson as your QB. Wilson played a near flawless game, and they barely won.
The degree of difficulty is so high, and Wilson never flinches. Impressive.
FINAL THOUGHTS/LOOKING AHEAD
Wilson is the MVP of the league. Without him, the Seahawks would be in re-build mode, and one of the worst teams in the NFC. With him, they are contenders. Not major contenders mind you, but he gives them a chance.
It's been kind of like the quiet before the storm around here because we've been waiting for this 49ers game to come.
Well now it's here. Things are about to get real.
The Seahawks actually still control their own destiny. They have to beat the 49ers both times to do it, but with Wilson leading this team, he can make the daunting & impossible... possible.
MNF is for the Division crown for all intents & purposes. The Seahawks can make it a real race if they win.
