Post Mortem: Hawks v Cards

[auroraave]

This game is exhibit A why I don't watch a lot of Football anymore; so many stupid people, doing so many stupid things. Those crushing penalties. A crushing interception. Utter ineptness on offense getting plays called and run. I must have said WTF! a hundred times today.

But I digress.

A win is a win and this was a hard fought win - and now Seattle leads the division thanks to a win vs the Cardinals, despite doing everything possible to lose this game. It was utterly painful to watch at times.

16-6? If Seattle's inept offense wasn't desperately aiming for death-by-a-thousand-self-inflicted cuts, I don't know what the literal fuck they were doing most of the time. This game should not have been close, period. Utter ineptness in offensive efficiency, inability to get plays called and run in a timely manner. Wasting timeouts while absolutely bumbling around like it's the first time you're played football. 11 games into the season and just the ineptness, play after play. This offense toys with the notion of being explosive, but just cannot get out of their own damn way. Just baffling.

Make no mistake, Seattle's defensive front won this game with Coach Macdonald's brass-balls to go for the kick in a rainstorm coming up a close second. Macdonald's defense looks fierce, although the secondary is living in the shadow of this suddenly electric front line. Just dominant.

The Bad: Geno, Geno, Geno. My Dude. Big Fan. But for the love of God would you RUN the FUCKING FOOTBALL when the moment calls for it? How many yards did he leave on the field - including the insanely stupid interception. Geno is one of the most explosive runners and for some unknown reason, just will not, cannot, absolutely refuses to run the ball when the situation calls for it - far too many times. It is absolutely maddening.

That personal foul after a beautiful punt - goes beyond excusable. That was a game changing play - crushing stupidity that gave the cards life outside the 2 yard line. You gave them life and they nearly made Seattle pay. I still think this is a ten win team - but they are not going anywhere until the self sabotage ends. It's one thing to line up and get beaten, but Seattle's unbelievable ineptness on offense is the only reason AZ was in the game - AZ D played well, but let's be honest; we shit the bed so frequently the stadium naming rights have been taken over by Depends.

What Seattle isn't; NR4PT. Not ready for Prime Time. Nope. Not until the self sabotage stops and Geno uses his entire tool box - he simply has to make defenses pay with his legs. As much as I think he has a beautiful arm, second to none, his refusal to use the legs appropriately will limit what this offense is capable of. Making defense account for him will open up more opportunities for everyone else. This seems like the most glaring example of common sense - but I guess he didn't get the memo. That interception - just unforgivable - that throw in the rain in that situation - when all you need is the yards sitting in front of you.

The running game got going at exactly the right time. Charbs was CLUTCH, is there anyone better than Walker?

I do believe the defense is transforming before our eyes, trading for Earnest Jones was a game changing move, maybe even season changing. This unit is quickly emerging as the strength of this team - they look like they're gonna be a problem.

Game ball to Macdonald for kicking the field goal - a very very tough decision at that moment in the game.
Game ball to Jason Myers for making that clutch kick, making up for shanking the extra point.
Game ball to the entire defensive line.
Game ball to the OFFENSIVE line. I swear there were plays Geno had 7 seconds to throw (and of course instead of accepting the secondary was covering everyone and taking off running - he'd take a sack or a brutal interception). Yeah, I thought the oline was a net positive.

Off to New York for the hapless Jets. Don't sleep on 'em.

6-5 and in a tie for first place. A game that was statistically draw in every category. I'll take the win but it left a very bad taste in my mouth.

go hawks...

[Sibelius Hindemith]

I agree with everything you wrote except with regard to the offensive line. Now admittedly i only was able to stomach watching the 1st quarter and part of the 2nd, but they were not good. Almost every run by Walker required him to either break tackles 3 yards behind the los or completely change direction. Maybe that has something to do with the playcalling as well but when almost every O lineman is getting pushed backwards on a run play something is seriously wrong. If they aren't individually deficient in talent and basic skills as linemen then Huff is doing a terrible job.

And Grubb is doing a terrible job. He doesn't seem to get that this isn't 2023 UW with a top 3 offensive line.

[maoling]

Great write-up aurora, as always. I'm trying to think of something I disagree with in what you wrote, and I got nuthin' lol.

What Seattle isn't; NR4PT. Not ready for Prime Time. Nope. Not until the self sabotage stops and Geno uses his entire tool box - he simply has to make defenses pay with his legs. As much as I think he has a beautiful arm, second to none, his refusal to use the legs appropriately will limit what this offense is capable of.

Yup. It's like Geno sees open yards in front of him in a mostly game-sealing moment, just what the doctor ordered, but instead pulls up and rifles a pick -- directly to some asshole opponent in the endzone. That shit will end our season unless he stops going full Tard-mode and ignoring freebies like that gimme today.

[trharder]

Brock Huard
@BrockHuard
·
5h
For a former OL Coach I’ve been really surprised at Ryan Grubb’s inability to adjust & call plays that protect that group. No boots, no movement of the pocket, minimal play action, very little creativity in the run game.

Make the OL job’s easier. That’s duty 1 of an NFL OC

[Sibelius Hindemith]

Earth to Grubb. Your O line is bad. Stop drawing up long developing pass plays and vanilla run plays where the D knows what's coming as soon as you line up.

[auroraave]

It should be noted that, despite the offensive shortcomings in this game, they also managed to make a handful of clutch plays at key times. If they could clean up the bumbling and if Geno will make better decisions about when to run, they could be a handful. There is talent on this team. They just play offense far too often with zero rhythm. The lumbering approach - just barf. I'll never understand the refusal to go up tempo and stress defenses.

[Pharmabro]

Always start with the positive the defense looked dominant.

I saw a lot of f-ups.

Geno got strip sacked and took us out of field goal range. This is a No-can-do error.
The personal-foul that took the punt from the 2-yard line and a possible safety out to near the 20.
K9 is explosive but he was dancing too much today. He'd bounce a 1-2 yard gain and go back and lose 1-2-3 instead.
The turnovers.

Leonard Williams was a stud today.

[douche]

Yup. It's like Geno sees open yards in front of him in a mostly game-sealing moment, just what the doctor ordered, but instead pulls up and rifles a pick -- directly to some asshole opponent in the endzone. That shit will end our season unless he stops going full Tard-mode and ignoring freebies like that gimme today.

Agreed. So frustrating. And what is it? Is Geno trying to do too much? Is he overthinking it? Or is he simply a deer in the headlights on certain plays?

We may never know.

[Donn Beach]

I would like to think it's more overly aggressiveness than deer in the headlights, and that can be a tricky thing to try and moderate

[D-train]

It should be noted that, despite the offensive shortcomings in this game, they also managed to make a handful of clutch plays at key times. If they could clean up the bumbling and if Geno will make better decisions about when to run, they could be a handful. There is talent on this team. They just play offense far too often with zero rhythm. The lumbering approach - just barf. I'll never understand the refusal to go up tempo and stress defenses.

Hey we went a whole game without snapping the ball over Geno's head or through his hands so that's a start. lol