Official Seahawks vs Carolina Playoff POST Game Thread

[savvyman]

Well you got to hand it to Carolina - They pulled the fast one with creating a field that would completely neutralize our team biggest strength - Our Speed - and by the time the Hawks had adjusted the hole was way to deep.

However - Props to Pete and the players who battled back to almost be in a position to win. I think they call this "Grit".

[mykc14]

Can't spot a team 31 points regardless of the field. The pick 6 Wilson threw was the worst play of his career so far.

[obiken]

Can't spot a team 31 points regardless of the field. The pick 6 Wilson threw was the worst play of his career so far.

That says it all guy!

[Uppercut]

Good Season despite the injuries and drama..been two years playing in February time to take it easy and relax play the pro bowl and get it together for next season like the Pats do year after year.

[EmeraldBullet]

I cant get over this awful taste in my mouth. We were deplorable in the first half. Sucks I have to look forward to the mariners and hope the joke of a GM can create some magic.

[NorthHawk]

The first half, the Panthers dominated the LoS on both sides and handed us our hats.
That's really too much to come from behind against a very good team.
I'm proud of their effort, though. They could have folded but made it very interesting.
Now to look at possible draft picks.

[zackole]

Wilson............................

[Hawk Sista]

We were dominated in the 1st 1/2 on both sides of the LOS and then dominated in the 2nd half. Carolina not giving up a turnover was big and obviously the two INTs leading to 10 points really mattered. We were a better team than showed up early.

Disappointed, but proud.

[savvyman]

I am quite certain that over the next three hours you will see comments about the field and comments how the seahawks probably adjusted\changed their shoes or cleats to adapt.

It was obvious to me that the players shoes were not suitable for that crappy field to start the game. Check out the game thread - I commented on that after the second play of the game.

Note - I am not blaming the field entirely for the loss - I am blaming the field for the Seahawks falling behind 21 - 0....... Which contributed as a cause for the loss more than any other "Factor" in this loss.

[Hawk Sista]

Be mad at Russ if you must. We wouldn't have scored 24 points w/o him.

[savvyman]

Be mad at Russ if you must. We wouldn't have scored 24 points w/o him.

How can anyone be mad at Russell for this loss? If there was any doubt nationwide that he is only a 'Game Manager" this was all erased after his second half performance.

[obiken]

Not to sound like Dickens but it was the best of seasons, it was the worst of seasons.
HOME GAMES matter. For all the beating I took from Huey, that's why rested teams with the home field usually win the SB.
Starting out 4-5 was just B A D. Period. You just cannot sugar coat it now. This game was a microcosm of our season. Gross beginning but nice recovery only to lose.

[mykc14]

Be mad at Russ if you must. We wouldn't have scored 24 points w/o him.

Yeah, wouldn't want anybody else QBing my team. Proud of my hawks overall. Reminds me too much of that falcons game. Gave away way too much early. D played great 2nd half but couldn't get a 3 and out when we needed it. Great 2nd half crappy first half. The question is who to root for now??I guess our only option left is to root for the broncos, Payton manning winning one in his swan song?

[Seahawks4Ever]

"We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time" -Vince Lombardi

We wouldn't have ran out of time though if Wilson & Co. would have had some sense of urgency. Oh, and clock management by Wilson was really suspect for much of the season. Pete needs to work on his clock management too, he also needs to have someone he trusts so he won't waste challenges and time outs when he loses them.

Note to Pete, TAKE THE FG MAN!!! Coming away with ZERO points at the end of the 1st. half HURT US BIG TIME, today and last week too.

This was a winnable game, but a few players and coaches didn't show up in the first quarter. Bevell and Wilson cost us the game in the first few minutes, it is ALL on RW.

It is going to take me awhile to calm down over this fiasco.

Anyway, Go Panthers, I want the Panthers to go get their first Lombardi!!!

[obiken]

"We didn't lose the game, we just ran out of time" -Vince Lombardi

We wouldn't have ran out of time though if Wilson & Co. would have had some sense of urgency. Oh, and clock management by Wilson was really suspect for much of the season. Pete needs to work on his clock management too, he also needs to have someone he trusts so he won't waste challenges and time outs when he loses them.

Note to Pete, TAKE THE FG MAN!!! Coming away with ZERO points at the end of the 1st. half HURT US BIG TIME, today and last week too.

This was a winnable game, but a few players and coaches didn't show up in the first quarter. Bevell and Wilson cost us the game in the first few minutes, it is ALL on RW.

It is going to take me awhile to calm down over this fiasco.

Anyway, Go Panthers, I want the Panthers to go get their first Lombardi!!!

NOT me sorry, I cannot stand Cam Newton. Not gonna happen anyway. Cards win. I just have NE getting 2 in a row. We'll see.

[NorthHawk]

It's not all on Wilson. He deserves some of the blame, but it was a team issue early.
Inconsistencies stop teams from producing. A team can't only play 30 minutes and expect to win
We saw the inconsistencies this year and this game.
Like said above, it was like a microcosm of the season.
Too bad we are going to lose maybe a few good players this off season and it's going to be difficult to replace some of that talent, but the OL has some experience playing together and with some additional talent, they might even improve.
Losing Okung in FA might set us back, though.

[mykc14]

Great season hawks, enjoy your offseason and get rested up for next year. You've earned these next few weeks off!

[savvyman]

I am quite certain that over the next three hours you will see comments about the field and comments how the seahawks probably adjusted\changed their shoes or cleats to adapt.

It was obvious to me that the players shoes were not suitable for that crappy field to start the game. Check out the game thread - I commented on that after the second play of the game.

Note - I am not blaming the field entirely for the loss - I am blaming the field for the Seahawks falling behind 21 - 0....... Which contributed as a cause for the loss more than any other "Factor" in this loss.

Yep - Here it is.

https://twitter.com/gbellseattle/status/688850012852367361

To borrow a line from one of the Great Movies "Snatch"............ Sneaky F@ckin Panthers.........

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-konSUS_TA

[NorthHawk]

Sherman talked a little about it and said he changed cleats.
Most of the players should have figured it out by the end of the 1st quarter.

[Hawktown]

You would think the players AND coaches would be aware of the field conditions well before game time???

[monkey]

Agreed that the staff needs to make the correction to the field conditions, MUCH earlier.

Points scored in 1st halves of playoff games under Wilson.
at WSH – 13 points
at ATL – 0 points

vs. NO – 16 points
vs. SF – 3 points
vs. DEN – 22 points (9 points off D/ST)

vs. CAR – 14 points
vs. GB – 0 points
vs. NE – 14 points

at MIN – 0 points
at CAR – 0 points

Seattle didn’t lead in the first halves of 7 of those games.
IMO this points to an unwillingness or inability to adjust to the inability to run the ball. I get that we are always TRYING to establish the run, but being stubborn about it, to the point where you are consistently having to dig yourself out of points deficits, is maddeningly silly.
Also, there's simply no reason to insist on slow developing pass pas, (5 and 7 step drops, and deep play action routes) when the run isn't working, and or the offensive line isn't giving enough time, and yet Bevell INSISTS on calling those kinds of plays to start virtually every game.
Drives me up a freakin wall.

[NorthHawk]

Aren't the first 10 or 15 plays scripted?
If so, and they aren't working, that's the first 3 or more drives.

[Agent 86]

Agreed that the staff needs to make the correction to the field conditions, MUCH earlier.

Points scored in 1st halves of playoff games under Wilson.
at WSH – 13 points
at ATL – 0 points

vs. NO – 16 points
vs. SF – 3 points
vs. DEN – 22 points (9 points off D/ST)

vs. CAR – 14 points
vs. GB – 0 points
vs. NE – 14 points

at MIN – 0 points
at CAR – 0 points

Seattle didn’t lead in the first halves of 7 of those games.
IMO this points to an unwillingness or inability to adjust to the inability to run the ball. I get that we are always TRYING to establish the run, but being stubborn about it, to the point where you are consistently having to dig yourself out of points deficits, is maddeningly silly.
Also, there's simply no reason to insist on slow developing pass pas, (5 and 7 step drops, and deep play action routes) when the run isn't working, and or the offensive line isn't giving enough time, and yet Bevell INSISTS on calling those kinds of plays to start virtually every game.
Drives me up a freakin wall.

Wow, that is an average of 7.3 points in the first half for those 10 games. That is kinda shocking. I think this will be a real point of emphasis in the off season. And with Wilson's progression, another year with Graham in the fold (hopefully he is back for the start of the season), and BeastMode likely gone, it should add up to a more aggressive attack.

I would love to research the stat you provided for regular season games as well, but off the top of my head, pretty sure it's a trend that would be the same.

Ya know, for a 4-5 start this season ended up with some hope going forward. The D is still mostly intact, and the O should be better if the O-line can start off the season on the right foot. I believe the window is still wide open, Pete and John are going to have to draft well and sign the right FA's to keep this thing going. A big key will be when to let go of certain players. New England has always shown the ability to let go of players 1 year too early rather than 1 year too late.

[mykc14]

Ya know, for a 4-5 start this season ended up with some hope going forward. The D is still mostly intact, and the O should be better if the O-line can start off the season on the right foot. I believe the window is still wide open, Pete and John are going to have to draft well and sign the right FA's to keep this thing going. A big key will be when to let go of certain players. New England has always shown the ability to let go of players 1 year too early rather than 1 year too late.

I agree with the optimism of this post, but really I also see it as a missed opportunity. Anytime you are good enough to win a championship and don't it is a year you can't get back. I am proud of the way we finished this season and understand that you can't win every championship you 'could' but this feels like we left something big on the table. I think we have successfully moved away from the need for the beast and can comfortably go into next season fully building around Russell, which is a plus, but we gave away games this season that we didn't 'have' to and in the end that led us to having to go Minnesota and playing in -7 degree weather and then going to Carolina at 10 AM and playing on a crappy field. Hopefully they let their bodies rest this offseason and come back next year as hungry as ever.

[Hawktawk]

Well you got to hand it to Carolina - They pulled the fast one with creating a field that would completely neutralize our team biggest strength - Our Speed - and by the time the Hawks had adjusted the hole was way to deep.

However - Props to Pete and the players who battled back to almost be in a position to win. I think they call this "Grit".

Savvy if you look at the official game thread I called the field about post 5. As the quicker team I knew it would affect us more and its simply horseshit to have an NFL field in a billion dollar industry look remotely like that.I manage a golf course and have to create playable conditions on about 90 acres of turf. It astounds me how bad some of these 2 acre fields are with whats available in terms of technology and the advances in agronomy.I could make it look like a pool table in my sleep. The NFL should have an agronomist who evaluates these natural turf fields much the same as the USGA polices courses that hold PGA events. If they aren't right control should be seized by the league.Players health is on the line as much as the competitive advantage I will volunteer. Between these guys and the redskins Its as bad as I have ever seen.

[obiken]

Savvy if you look at the official game thread I called the field about post 5. As the quicker team I knew it would affect us more and its simply horseshit to have an NFL field in a billion dollar industry look remotely like that. I manage a golf course and have to create playable conditions on about 90 acres of turf. It astounds me how bad some of these 2 acre fields are with what's available in terms of technology and the advances in agronomy. I could make it look like a pool table in my sleep. The NFL should have an agronomist who evaluates these natural turf fields much the same as the USGA polices courses that hold PGA events. If they aren't right control should be seized by the league. Players health is on the line as much as the competitive advantage I will volunteer. Between these guys and the redskins Its as bad as I have ever seen.

That's why they call it HOMEFIELD HT. Their circus, their monkeys. They can whatever they want folks.

[Zorn76]

Well...there you have it.

What bothered me the most is how the early scores found our guys in complete panic mode, even though there was still 11 minutes or so left in the 1st quarter, down 14-0.

Yes, we're down 2 TD's, things are going terribly, but there's still practically an entire game left to be played! They never regrouped the rest of the 1st half, and 31-0 is too much for anybody to come back from, (save for the '92 Bills).

And while it may not have changed the outcome, I would've liked to have seen a timeout called and a team huddle on the sideline by Pete, just like in basketball when an opponent has gone on a quick double digit run. This is the playoffs, so doing something out of the norm couldn't have hurt in that capacity.

That said, I am very proud how hard they fought after intermission. This could've Easily turned into SB 48, with us playing the role of the Broncos. The Seahawks battled to the point where there was even a slight glimmer of hope during the final minutes.

The Panthers came to play today, and they deserved the win. They cruised pretty much the entire 2nd half, but managed to get some key first downs late to make our task even more difficult.

Beyond that, some changes should be coming. We are a good team, but like others we have some glaring flaws. It starts up front with this mediocre (at best) OL, and goes from there. We're fortunate to have a good GM and staff that can get it fixed, and really are forced to address it more than ever now.

I'm curious to see if this ends up being 2012 repeating itself. We've been the hunted the last couple of seasons in our conference. There's every chance that 2015 will help raise the bar for this fall.

[burrrton]

That's why they call it HOMEFIELD HT. Their circus, their monkeys. They can whatever they want folks.

How about if they seal the edges and have the game played in 2 feet of water?

[Hawktawk]

Absolutely

How about if they seal the edges and have the game played in 2 feet of water?

Absolutely. It isnt 1970 anymore. There is no excuse for a field being that bad.I haven't seen field that bad in decades and it was way worse than it has usually been. That baby was getting more than rainfall the past 2 weeks.

GO ARIZONA!!!!!

[RiverDog]

I agree with Monkey's comment about the slow developing plays. Note that when Russell was given plays where he got the ball out of his hand quickly, we began to move the ball. That has been a pattern all year, with slow developing screens, 7 step drops, and looking for the big play. If protection would allow it, that works, but with the center of the line being gashed by the defensive line, it makes no sense. It can work only if mixed in with a few quick hitters.

Again it was frustrating to see how slowly we get plays called and how many delay penalties and unnecessary times out we incur. Bevell can be very good, but when he's bad, he's really bad.

No kidding about the play calling. I've never seen a Hawks team have so much difficulty getting plays in. It's embarrassing to have to spend your timeouts on a 3rd and 18 to avoid a delay of game penalty. You can't be doing that when you're behind by multiple scores and are almost certainly going to need those timeouts if we were to have any chance at all of coming back and winning.

Russell's penchant for holding onto the ball too long on the 7 step drops is the flip side of all those amazing Houdini escapes and ad lib plays. We can't have it both ways, on the one hand complaining about Russell holding onto the ball too long while on the other hand lauding him for his scrambles and extending plays.

[mykc14]

No kidding about the play calling. I've never seen a Hawks team have so much difficulty getting plays in. It's embarrassing to have to spend your timeouts on a 3rd and 18 to avoid a delay of game penalty. You can't be doing that when you're behind by multiple scores and are almost certainly going to need those timeouts if we were to have any chance at all of coming back and winning.

Russell's penchant for holding onto the ball too long on the 7 step drops is the flip side of all those amazing Houdini escapes and ad lib plays. We can't have it both ways, on the one hand complaining about Russell holding onto the ball too long while on the other hand lauding him for his scrambles and extending plays.

I completely agree with this. The TO on 3rd and 18 was brutal. Those time outs in The second half are gold when you are down by multiple scores. The sack RW took to put us in 3rd and 18 was also brutal. That was the drive where we wasted the fake punt, right. Great play but all it did was cost us five minutes. So many points/opportunities left on the field. If RW hits Doug on that long TD pass it saves us 5 minutes as well. Not to mention if we could have gotten 1 more 3 and out...

[savvyman]

Savvy if you look at the official game thread I called the field about post 5. As the quicker team I knew it would affect us more and its simply horseshit to have an NFL field in a billion dollar industry look remotely like that.I manage a golf course and have to create playable conditions on about 90 acres of turf. It astounds me how bad some of these 2 acre fields are with whats available in terms of technology and the advances in agronomy.I could make it look like a pool table in my sleep. The NFL should have an agronomist who evaluates these natural turf fields much the same as the USGA polices courses that hold PGA events. If they aren't right control should be seized by the league.Players health is on the line as much as the competitive advantage I will volunteer. Between these guys and the redskins Its as bad as I have ever seen.

Yep good call. Absolute bush league tactics and if the NFL had anyone with Talent running it they would put a stop to this type of behavior by teams in order to get an edge on their opponents.

[NorthHawk]

The Cards are faster than us on Offense, and their Defensive backfield is pretty quick, too so if it happens again you might have a point.
If the field is good, then I would doubt your suspicions.

[Hawktawk]

It will be bad. Its so bad they cant make it better in a week unless they cut it up, scrape off the layer of goo and sod it wall to wall with some really thick rolls of excellent sod.

[obiken]

How about the You tube vid of Cam grabbing a 12 man flag and throwing it in the dirt??
I never liked him now I never will!

[savvyman]

Well you got to hand it to Carolina - They pulled the fast one with creating a field that would completely neutralize our team biggest strength - Our Speed - and by the time the Hawks had adjusted the hole was way to deep.

However - Props to Pete and the players who battled back to almost be in a position to win. I think they call this "Grit".

Lets just put to rest any silly contrary opinions that the "Intentionally" lousy field had zero impact on the outcome of this game:

http://deadspin.com/the-seahawks-warned-the-cardinals-about-carolinas-turf-1754475044

[monkey]

I was just going to post that Savvyman.

The tale of two halves can be at least PARTLY blamed on the field conditions. Now obviously, it shouldn't have taken that long for the staff to figure it out and make the corrections necessary.
Live and learn I guess, next year we just need to wrap up home field throughout again, so field conditions won't be a problem.
I for one, cannot wait to see the fire these guys play with next year after the way this season went. No more Super Bowl hangover, just a feeling like they had after the Falcons playoff loss.
If I had the money, I'd already be looking to buy Super Bowl 51 tickets, because I truly believe the Seahawks will be there.

[RiverDog]

The Panthers would have played the 2nd half differently had the score been 10-10 rather than 31-0.

I agree that the field conditions tended to favor the Panthers as they seemed to be a little better prepared for it than we were. But then again, they earned HFA by posting one of the best regular season records in the history of the game while we were busy blowing 4th quarter leads, so it's a little difficult for me to cry about the field conditions.