Not A Blowout, But...8-3

Sure it would have been sweet to wipe the floor with a terrible Eagles team on national TV tonight but the name of the game is winning, by any means necessary. Every game, coaches approach the game plan differently. While nobody would have kicked a 45-0 @sskicking out of bed, I think they just wanted to control the game with solid D, healthy pass/run mix and call it good.

23-17 is definitely not what I expected and the game really was never as close as the final score for sure, but man oh man, 8-3 sounds pretty fantastic doesn't it?

First place in the NFC West by a full game.

2nd Seed in the NFC.

Giants, Jets, Washington next? Sign me up.

Sure, have your comments about all that went wrong tonight but allow yourself to enjoy we are in fantastic position to control our destiny the rest of the way.

That stupid hail mary took the lustre off of this very good defensive performance. Not to mention the refs, or this could have looked really convincing.

This game went prett y much as I expected. It "feels" like when everyone ahead of the Hawks lose in a particular week, Seattle struggles to take advantage and win ( they usually do win unconvincingly). IF-IF, the Rams had won, I fully expected Seattle to kick the Eagles ass. For some reason in the last few seasons, Seattle refuses to take full advantage when their division/conference rivals collectively lose on a given week. THANK GOD, they secured the win this week.

I think there's truth to that, both TypeSly and OrangeGravy.

This is one of those classic games where the fan's desire (DESTROY THE COMPETITON) and the coaches' desire (Manage the game, just come out on top in the end) show their true dichotomies. WE fans wanted, and even expected for us to kick the sh*t out of the Eagles tonight. I just don't think it's that simple when it comes to game planning and scheming. It was crystal clear in the 4th quarter that Pete went conservative. Not once did I feel like we let Russ "Cook".

Run the ball, let the clock run. Yardage wasn't the priority. Kind of reminded me of Holmgren Ball. Nurse the clock, try to run it until there's not enough time left for the opponent to mount a comeback. We can forget about MVP for Russell, simply because these next three games are going to look very similar. There's no need to let Russ cook, chucking it for 350+, 3TDs+ when you can simply manage the game with a healthy dose of runs.

I'm okay with yet another year where Russ doesn't win MVP. The only thing that matters is victories, not awards.

My 15-year-old daughter is becoming a Mini Me. Neurotic mess on gameday. Takes it personally if they don't look their best on national TV, lol. I had to tell her that you take a win no matter what. Of course we would all love blow outs, and looking like perfection to the country, but that's not reality. Wins are hard to come by, so ALWAYS enjoy them, no matter the warts.

I agree, had the Rams and Cardinals won yesterday, I think this game looks entirely different. Game plan would have been far more aggressive and unforgiving. I think we would have seen that 35-17 game we expected.

Make no mistake, with DK sniffing 200 yards passing, this offense is still elite. Hopefully they are saving the best for last (in January and perhaps February).

Great win. Any win in the NFL is a great win. Especially on the road on the other side of the country. Also I dare say the Eagles were maybe a little underrated. They are definitely bad, but maybe not as bad as everyone seems to think. They hung in there with the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens. There are worst teams in the league. The Legion of Babies will cry any time the Seahawks don't win by 21+.

Always appreciate your positivity Aros

Do we fans have the "right" to spew our disappointment when the Hawks do not play up to their potential?

Welshers":7mnh1zjo said:

Great win. Any win in the NFL is a great win. Especially on the road on the other side of the country. Also I dare say the Eagles were maybe a little underrated. They are definitely bad, but maybe not as bad as everyone seems to think. They hung in there with the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens. There are worst teams in the league. The Legion of Babies will cry any time the Seahawks don't win by 21+.

Always appreciate your positivity Aros

Click to expand...

Thanks man...

That was one of my thoughts tonight. Sure the Eagles aren't going to be mistaken for the Chiefs or Saints this season. But they are still a prideful, professional NFL team are they not? So we really shouldn't have been all that surprised that we didn't waltz in there and score 50 on them. Especially - regardless of their record - that they are still very much alive for their division title.

I expect a similar battle these next few weeks. Giants, Jets, Washington...They are ALL going to give us fits here and there. We were lucky tonight that our somewhat conservative approach didn't bite us in the @ss. I am hoping we can look at this film and realize the best method against inferior teams is to put them away early and leave no doubt.

If Pete isn't careful, playing conservative could absolutely bite us in the @ss.

Go. For. The. Throat.

If we aren't 11-3 in three weeks I will blame coaching.

If someone told me they'd be 8-3 at this point at the start of the year, I would have taken it without question. The game was closer than expected but I never really felt it was in "danger."

As for the next 3 games, I don't think it's as easy as it looks on paper. Giants have played some good teams tough and that Washington defense seems legit. Don't think the conservative approach will be a trend... it was probably influenced by those early failures on 4th and short.

I really don't get why NFL fans expect blowouts in situations like this. It almost never seems to go that way.

As someone who has lived in other NFL markets, this just isn't a Seattle thing.

That TD that Philly scored at the end was actual garbage not the "garbage time" TDs the defense had been giving up heavily that forced Wilson to have to go out and score more TDs in the fourth quarter before.

The Seahawks were in control of this game and the defense had them locked down. They finally gave up less than 20 points and it really should have been less than 10.

It just seems like everyone is upset because the offense didn't go crazy. They scored 23 points. These last two weeks have been the best complete game they've played all season, but since they didn't score all the TDs it's horrible.

I'll take what happened last night every week. That'll win playoff games. 30-40 point shootouts? Just a crapshoot.

Aros":iir5p0o2 said:

Welshers":iir5p0o2 said:

Great win. Any win in the NFL is a great win. Especially on the road on the other side of the country. Also I dare say the Eagles were maybe a little underrated. They are definitely bad, but maybe not as bad as everyone seems to think. They hung in there with the Steelers, Browns, and Ravens. There are worst teams in the league. The Legion of Babies will cry any time the Seahawks don't win by 21+.

Always appreciate your positivity Aros

Click to expand...

Thanks man...

That was one of my thoughts tonight. Sure the Eagles aren't going to be mistaken for the Chiefs or Saints this season. But they are still a prideful, professional NFL team are they not? So we really shouldn't have been all that surprised that we didn't waltz in there and score 50 on them. Especially - regardless of their record - that they are still very much alive for their division title.

I expect a similar battle these next few weeks. Giants, Jets, Washington...They are ALL going to give us fits here and there. We were lucky tonight that our somewhat conservative approach didn't bite us in the @ss. I am hoping we can look at this film and realize the best method against inferior teams is to put them away early and leave no doubt.

If Pete isn't careful, playing conservative could absolutely bite us in the @ss.

Go. For. The. Throat.

If we aren't 11-3 in three weeks I will blame coaching.

Click to expand...

Agree with both of you. I’ll take a win any week no matter what it looks like. With Pete’s mantra of you can’t win the game in the 1st, 2nd or 3rd quarter but in the 4th quarter or something to that affect, it really is part of his game plans. I’m beginning to think that Pete really likes to play a game of cat and mouse. If you’ve ever had cats, you know what I mean. A cat loves the hunt, and doesn’t just stop when the mouse is caught. A cat will play with their prey for as long as they can or until they get bored, then and only then will they finish them off and devour them. Or lay them at your feet as some are prone to do.

Pete is all about competing. He preaches this to his players as they compete for positions and compete in games. Because of this competition, I’m thinking Pete doesn’t want to blow teams out. He might just be addicted to close games. Addiction takes root in the brain because dopamine levels become elevated. Whatever a persons addiction is, they crave that feeling. History has shown us that Pete’s team can play with anyone. How many games was it that they went without losing by double digits before the Rams broke that streak? In the last 10 years, how many times have they lost by more than 10 points?

Playing games close creates a sense in the players that they are never out of any game. Russell has 34 4th quarter or OT comebacks that leads the league since he was drafted. They know how to win. They know how to come back if needed. Pete most likely prefers close games. His dopamine levels demand it. The only problem with this, is that like with the cat and mouse analogy, occasionally the mouse gets away.

At the end of the day, the Seahawks are 8-3, 1st place in the NFC West and #2 Seed in the NFC. I’ll take it and enjoy the win just like I enjoy every time they post a W. It’s all good 12s. Enjoy the ride.

Bigpumpkin":2dzgnbpl said:

Do we fans have the "right" to spew our disappointment when the Hawks do not play up to their potential?

Click to expand...

Perhaps their potential is not the same thing as your expectation. :229031_shrug:

A convincing win is a convincing win.

I don't think anybody could possibly make a case that this game was ever in doubt.

I wasn't happy with another game where we let a bad team hang around until the end, but 8-3 is 8-3.

To be fair, Philly has a tough defense, so some of the offensive struggles putting the ball in the endzone is understandable........although IMO some really bad red zone playcalling. Not Schotty's best game.

But who cares, this is the NFL, style points don't matter.

The strategy works.

Especially against below .500 teams.

The problem is it doesn't work against the better teams.

So we are going to stumble forward barely winning games until we get a reality check by the Rams and 49ers. Hopefully we can win one of those games.

We might wake up in time that we can be competitive in the playoffs. I don't think Carroll is a good enough gameday coach to beat a good team in the playoffs as he will additionally be saddled with Noron as DC.

The hope was we could hone our offense to be ready for the playoffs. But it looks like instead we just want to do the bare minimum to win these easier games, be OK with losing 1 of the remaining 2 of the NFC games and hope we can win a Divisional game anyway.

As long as I don't see Hyde getting meaningful carries in the playoffs, I think we can still pull it off. But we don't look like a team that can even beat a Bucs or Packers Divisional matchup right now. Maybe a Saints team w out Brees though. We can win that one or an NFC East Div Champion.

TwistedHusky":zrhi5h2n said:

The strategy works.

Especially against below .500 teams.

The problem is it doesn't work against the better teams.

So we are going to stumble forward barely winning games until we get a reality check by the Rams and 49ers. Hopefully we can win one of those games.

We might wake up in time that we can be competitive in the playoffs. I don't think Carroll is a good enough gameday coach to beat a good team in the playoffs as he will additionally be saddled with Noron as DC.

The hope was we could hone our offense to be ready for the playoffs. But it looks like instead we just want to do the bare minimum to win these easier games, be OK with losing 1 of the remaining 2 of the NFC games and hope we can win a Divisional game anyway.

As long as I don't see Hyde getting meaningful carries in the playoffs, I think we can still pull it off. But we don't look like a team that can even beat a Bucs or Packers Divisional matchup right now. Maybe a Saints team w out Brees though. We can win that one or an NFC East Div Champion.

Click to expand...

You don't think Seattle can beat the Bucs???

Have you watched them at all over the last few weeks?

I know that negativity towards Seattle in the playoffs is kind of your thing, but cmon.... 8)

Its a win.

Sgt. Largent":17gqhweb said:

I wasn't happy with another game where we let a bad team hang around until the end, but 8-3 is 8-3.

To be fair, Philly has a tough defense, so some of the offensive struggles putting the ball in the endzone is understandable........although IMO some really bad red zone playcalling. Not Schotty's best game.

But who cares, this is the NFL, style points don't matter.

Click to expand...

Was looking for this take before posting. I was surprised at how good Philly's D was. I have n to seen any of their games, nor read about them. Stout up the middle made running hard and this was not Russ's bet game. So a tough Philly D and a a few stumbles by the O, made this a much closer game than I expected, though as others have noted it wasn't as close as the final score might indicate. But a win is a win, and was a good way to cap a day i spent at the dentists getting a couple of fillings, no novacaine, like a real man!

Go Hawks

Hawkpower,

Negativity towards the Seahawks in the playoffs??

The Hawks have done nothing past the wildcard for 5 years running. It isn't negative to expect a team that consistently underproduces in the playoffs given the strength of the roster will continue to do so when the coaching staff is the same or worse. Just rational.

And yes, the Packers and Bucs would wax us.

(Have you watched the Bucs? That defense is better than the Eagles, and Brady might have lost the long ball but he hits the short and med stuff fine. And we give free passes on short and med stuff all day. Brady would Feast on Norton.

Finally the Bucs losses were to the Saints, Rams, and Chiefs. Rams and Chiefs by a FG. And they beat the Packers. Every one of those teams would beat us by over two scores. The Chiefs would likely beat us by 21, if not more.)

sutz":gac6wnb5 said:

Bigpumpkin":gac6wnb5 said:

Do we fans have the "right" to spew our disappointment when the Hawks do not play up to their potential?

Click to expand...

Perhaps their potential is not the same thing as your expectation. :229031_shrug:

Click to expand...

LMAO!!!!

LTH

Let's wait until the playoffs before condemning the team to losing then. There are still 5 games for both the O and D to come together. I don't know that it'd be sure thing to expect L's to the Packers or the Buccaneers

I thought Pete took points off the board by both those 4th down fails when the team was in position to put up points. I completely hated the possession where the team ran three times for negative 7 yards and had stopped play design for two of the runs which failed. Sometimes his common sense is replaced by his exuberance, and when it is it sure is tough to watch.

I thought the D played well and the DLine looks as if they are starting to regularly get some pressures. 6 sacks against Philly's porous OLine is certainly a good stat but truly nothing to be bragging about. That said Dunlap has made the interior Dline more effective and Adams is a blitzing force. The D is starting to come together and soon there will be more depth.

The Hawks D played well for most of the game and the O looked to be somewhat out of sync.

All that said ugly or not the W looks sweet on the scoreboard and 8-3 and now with a full 1 game divisional lead you can't be unhappy. Of course we all wanted to see a 40 burger and total domination but we shoudn't forget that Philly has a good D.