The Seattle Seahawks
have a big game tonight against the 49ers on the road. Both teams have 2-4
records, and it is important game for the Seahawks and 49ers. The winner will
still have a good chance to make the playoffs while the loser though not out of
it will have hard time making it.
The 49ers started the
season playing awful, and now are playing better ball while the Seahawks are
going the other direction. Actually the Seahawks are playing OK for three
quarters of a game it is the fourth quarter they are having problems closing it
out. In the games the Seahawks lost they had at least ten point lead in the
fourth quarter when the opposition came back to win.
The problem lies on
both sides of the ball. The defense is giving up big plays especially at the
end of the game while the offense is unable to convert on third downs. For
example, the end of the last game against the Panthers the Seahawks gave up a
touchdown with less than a minute remaining in the ball game. It looked like
the Panthers would settle to tie the game with a field goal instead threw a
ball to their tight end Olsen who was wide open, and just had to walk in for
the touchdown. After the game found there was a communication problem between
Richard Sherman and the two safeties. Actually the safeties thought Sherman was
going to play the same way as on the previous play; however, he let Olsen go
for the safeties to cover. It wasn’t Sherman’s fault because he was following
the play the coaches called on the sidelines while the safeties missed seeing
the call. The other problem on the offensive side is the Seahawks converted
only four out of fourteen plays on third down. In fact, on the two turnovers
the defense made were on the Panthers side of the field and the Seahawks only
made field goals in both situations because they could not move the ball.
We all know the
offensive line is not doing their job protecting Russell Wilson. He is being
sacked more often than any other quarterback in the NFL. At this point the Seahawks need to take
advantage of Wilson’s talent. In other words they need to set up plays where
Wilson rolls out to pass the ball. Of course, they still will need for him to
go back in the pocket but I would keep at a minimum until the offensive does a
better job protecting him. On sports radio a couple days ago they were talking
about whether the Seahawks offense is being too predictable. It is a very good
question to ask because the other teams are able to stop the Seahawks in a
manner they were unable to in the past, and the problem maybe more than the
offensive line.
In the last game
against the Panthers the Seahawks were finally able to use Jimmy Graham in the
way they were hoping to when they acquired him from New Orleans. I would use
him in different formations to take advantage of his height.
We can hope the
Seahawks will correct things this week against the 49ers though it is a short
week of practice. I am not sure who is favored; however, the Seahawks still
have more talent than the 49ers they just have to use it. In his weekly press
conference Pete Carroll seemed dumbfounded, and did not have any answers. We
can only hope the players will find out the answers for themselves. No matter
what the coaches say it is still up to the players. Let’s go guys and bring
back Seahawk ball.
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