Official Seahawks vs Dolphins POST Game Thread

[savvyman]

I think the Seahawk's won this game because of one factor - GRIT - This was a gritty victory by a gritty team.

[obiken]

Yeah but we were lucky. They ran out of gas on their DL. C-Bob over the last umpteen years, has taught me 2 things about a win. 1. There is no ugly win. 2. You don't argue with a win. But I will say we have to do better going forward. We were 11 point faves. Man, what an anemic offense. We have all kinds of weapons and only found enough juice to put up 12 points???

[Zorn76]

So...that wasn't stressful or anything...

Geez - this is what happens when you F*** around all day with an inferior team. I give the 'phins credit for hanging in there and nearly pulling this off - and they really should've - but we could not get out of our own way this afternoon, either, even in the context of a week #1 game.

Thank God.

Go Hawks!!!

[curmudgeon]

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Very Lucky......heads were elsewhere...social injustice versus job assignment.....

[FolkCrusader]

We certainly should have played better but I'm not sure that Miami D will be overlooked again on the betting front for a while. Once Williams went out they were pass rushing on one leg, but before that they looked very good.

[Seahawks4Ever]

Our Defense really came through. They were fast fast FAST!!! With RW hurt our running game was just as good as they needed to be. The passes that needed to be caught today were caught. I am soo glad we started at home, no way we play this bad and still win this game if we are on the road. We can build on this and clean up what we need to clean up.

[Hawk Sista]

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Very Lucky......heads were elsewhere...social injustice versus job assignment.....

Luck? The data... these stats:

1. Uhhhhh. The score

2. QB w/ sprained ankle

3. Total Yards
Hawks - 352
Fins - 224

4. 1st downs
Hawks - 21
Fins - 11

5. Time of possession
Hawks - 34.32 minutes
Fins - 25.08 minutes

6. Special teams block (even after allowing too many return yards, Marsh comes though)

is that luck, or GRIT??

#goHAWKS

[Hawk Sista]

D-line = players o' the game. Marsh too

[Zorn76]

Gritty Luck:)
There was definitely a measure of both today.

[RiverDog]

My thoughts about the game...

The good: Courageous performance by Russell. Nice game from Doug Baldwin. Great drive at the end of the game to score our only TD. Marsh had his best game of his pro career. Good pressure on the QB. Shut the running game down. Very appropriate and respectful pregame demonstration, big thanks to ADB.

The bad: As expected, the OL was horrible. Earl Thomas whiffed on at least 4 tackles (3 mentioned by the commentators) and let Stills get behind him for what would have been an easy TD. Probably should have taken the FG attempt late. Russell made a couple of really bad decisions (miss the Anthony excuses).

I was withholding hoisting my #12 flag until I saw what the pregame demonstration was all about. I'm happy to report that it's now flying proudly over the River Dog kennel.

[curmudgeon]

“Luck? The data... these stats:

1. Uhhhhh. The score

2. QB w/ sprained ankle

3. Total Yards
Hawks - 352
Fins - 224

4. 1st downs
Hawks - 21
Fins - 11

5. Time of possession
Hawks - 34.32 minutes
Fins - 25.08 minutes

6. Special teams block (even after allowing too many return yards, Marsh comes though)

is that luck, or GRIT??”



Others seem to think we were lucky as well:

"Yeah but we were lucky. They ran out of gas on their DL. C-Bob over the last umpteen years, has taught me 2 things about a win. 1. There is no ugly win. 2. You don't argue with a win. But I will say we have to do better going forward. We were 11 point faves. Man, what an anemic offense. We have all kinds of weapons and only found enough juice to put up 12 points???
“Yeah but we were lucky. They ran out of gas on their DL. C-Bob over the last umpteen years, has taught me 2 things about a win. 1. There is no ugly win. 2. You don't argue with a win. But I will say we have to do better"

We have to do much better.....

[savvyman]

Lucky, Lucky, Lucky, Very Lucky......heads were elsewhere...social injustice versus job assignment.....

I was thinking the same earlier this week.

If they win then their pre-game gesture would be viewed very positively by the fans locally and nationwide.

However - if they lost - the fans would be all over them for being distracted and not focused on the task at hand - winning football games.

Some things are so easy to forecast.

[jshawaii22]

I don't know about the "social injustice" angle. The player responsible for the whole deal, Doug Baldwin, was arguably the best player on the field today.

[HumanCockroach]

Surprised there was criticism for the O-line today. The game I watched, seemed pretty apparent that the line was the most cohesive and effective unit on the offensive side of the ball.

Plenty of time afforded the QB, solid pocket, few penalties facing a really good front 7...

[Agent 86]

My thoughts about the game...

The good: Courageous performance by Russell. Nice game from Doug Baldwin. Great drive at the end of the game to score our only TD. Marsh had his best game of his pro career. Good pressure on the QB. Shut the running game down. Very appropriate and respectful pregame demonstration, big thanks to ADB.

The bad: As expected, the OL was horrible. Earl Thomas whiffed on at least 4 tackles (3 mentioned by the commentators) and let Stills get behind him for what would have been an easy TD. Probably should have taken the FG attempt late. Russell made a couple of really bad decisions (miss the Anthony excuses).

I was withholding hoisting my #12 flag until I saw what the pregame demonstration was all about. I'm happy to report that it's now flying proudly over the River Dog kennel.

The bolded part, about Earl Thomas, this seems to be a little concerning to me. Because I noticed he got beat last year more times than I remember seeing the previous few years. He just comes so hard all the time, but I feel with how much speed he is coming with if he doesn't take the perfect angle, he is now getting beat (juked). I love Earl as much as anyone, but he needs to shore things up with his tackling and stop trying to put the other player into the hospital. There is always going to be a time for those kinds of hits, but it can't be everytime.

I have little doubt that Earl is going to get this corrected after watching tape on today's game. We all know his passion for the game, I think sometimes that passion causes him to try and do too much at times.

[savvyman]

Surprised there was criticism for the O-line today. The game I watched, seemed pretty apparent that the line was the most cohesive and effective unit on the offensive side of the ball.

Plenty of time afforded the QB, solid pocket, few penalties facing a really good front 7...

Yeah I thought so too and commented in the other game thread. I recorded the game and will try and watch it later this week and focus more closely on the O-line play.

Bruce Irvin graded out as the highest Defensive player on the Raiders today and it looks like he had a significant impact.

[RiverDog]

Surprised there was criticism for the O-line today. The game I watched, seemed pretty apparent that the line was the most cohesive and effective unit on the offensive side of the ball.

Plenty of time afforded the QB, solid pocket, few penalties facing a really good front 7...

I dunno, HC. It sure seemed like Russell was under pressure a lot, play calling was limited to short, quick passes because of the pressure, one turnover was a direct a result of our LG wearing roller skates, we were only 5-16 on 3rd downs with most of the successful attempts coming in the waning minutes of the halves when the defense was playing loose, and we barely rushed for 100 yards. Plus take away the last minute of each half and we only scored 3 points. It was a pretty sorry offensive performance, especially when you consider that we were at home and up against a 6-10 team with a defense that finished last season ranked 25th in total defense.

So who bears the cross for all of that if not the OL?

[Zorn76]

The OL topic in general is tiresome, but at least there is a new twist to it this year, and that is we Finally moved on from Okung and Sweezy. Things were sketchy today up front, but I also kept in mind that we were absent of Ifedi, and Webb just isn't going to factor into long term plans.

seeing poor OL last season was especially frustrating, since it involved players who should've been much more effective. Newer guys like today, I'm willing to cut more slack. Give it time. I think we're moving in the right direction, even if it looked like the same ol' song and dance this afternoon.

[RiverDog]

The OL topic in general is tiresome, but at least there is a new twist to it this year, and that is we Finally moved on from Okung and Sweezy. Things were sketchy today up front, but I also kept in mind that we were absent of Ifedi, and Webb just isn't going to factor into long term plans.

seeing poor OL last season was especially frustrating, since it involved players who should've been much more effective. Newer guys like today, I'm willing to cut more slack. Give it time. I think we're moving in the right direction, even if it looked like the same ol' song and dance this afternoon.

What's tiresome is the requests for patience. That's all I ever heard last season, that "we have to give this group time to gel". We spent 9 games last year waiting for the line to gel before we gave up and re-invented our offense to compensate for it, and in the meantime, we lost any chance for HFA and any reasonable chance to win the division, and nearly missed the playoffs entirely. We are a SB contender, and as such, we don't have a lot of slack to give.

One of the assurances that Pete gave at the end of last season was that we were going to upgrade the OL, and so far, I don't see a heck of a big difference between this unit and last year's stiffs. It's only one game for sure, but as I said above, we need them to get their act together quickly.

Sorry for the rant, but my expectations for this team is Super Bowl, and it ain't happening unless this OL gets their act together and does so quickly.

[Zorn76]

Actually, we had given last year's OL - and particularly the aforementioned Okung and Sweezy - several seasons to see if they were worth keeping, and clearly they were not.

That's the key difference. The jury is still out on Britt, but he was/is still worth another season of evaluating. The fact that he could end up being a serviceable center helps his cause.

Webb is a band aid. That's it.

Ifedi may play week 4, then has the bye to mend further.

[RiverDog]

Actually, we had given last year's OL - and particularly the aforementioned Okung and Sweezy - several seasons to see if they were worth keeping, and clearly they were not.

That's the key difference. The jury is still out on Britt, but he was/is still worth another season of evaluating. The fact that he could end up being a serviceable center helps his cause.

Webb is a band aid. That's it.

Ifedi may play week 4, then has the bye to mend further.

Webb wasn't signed as a bandaid. He was brought in here to be our starting RT and allow Gilliam to move to LT. We whiffed on him, at least so far, and Gilliam isn't blossoming like we had hoped. Ifedi looks to be the real deal if he can stay healthy, and Britt appears to have found a home at center...FINALLY, after two failed experiments at tackle and guard. Plus don't forget the failed experiment at center with Soloki. We spent a #1 and #4 plus trade away our starting center for a tight end that blocks like a bullfighter on a run first team that depends on their tight ends to support their weak bookends.

I can understand not keeping players that we deem weren't worth the bucks they could get on the open market. But we've seemed to have a lot of OL's that we've let go because we've deemed them as not being worth it...Okung, Sweezy, Breuno, Carpenter, and McQuistran. Somebody thinks those guys were worth it. The old saying that "you get what you pay for" seems to ring true, as we spend the least amount on the OL than any other team in the league.

It's frustrating, especially when the HC pledges an upgrade.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

the patience mantra is tired, but what else can you expect this year? They made a commitment to change the o-line, and only Gilliam is in the same spot as last year. No reasonable person should expect a brand new o-line to come together by Week 1. It sucks to continue to have to wait on some consistency, but that's just where this team is. I mean the Pats last night started two rookies; their o-line hasn't had the same guys on it from year to year in long time. We aren't the only team having to deal with this in the salary cap era. The Seahawks have an expensive defense and a franchise quarterback. Something has to give somewhere.

[RiverDog]

the patience mantra is tired, but what else can you expect this year? They made a commitment to change the o-line, and only Gilliam is in the same spot as last year. No reasonable person should expect a brand new o-line to come together by Week 1. It sucks to continue to have to wait on some consistency, but that's just where this team is. I mean the Pats last night started two rookies; their o-line hasn't had the same guys on it from year to year in long time. We aren't the only team having to deal with this in the salary cap era. The Seahawks have an expensive defense and a franchise quarterback. Something has to give somewhere.

It's one thing to start a couple of rookies, but it's another to have a complete tackle-to-tackle shake up like we've had. Usually teams have a core of 2 or 3 players that return at their position then they fill in the gaps with rookies, FA's, or backups when they lose someone, but we don't have a core. I don't know of too many teams that has a new starter at every position along the OL or moved players around like chess pieces like we have.

I wasn't expecting it to come together by Week 1, and never implied that. What got me going was that we had a couple of posters that seemed to be satisfied with the performance of that unit. I'm not at all satisfied and I expect an improvement. I'm not saying when, but what I am saying is that we can't afford to wait until Week 9 like we did last season.

[HumanCockroach]

Perfection from any unit is foolish. Beyond that, if people saw a subpar performance against a pass rush featuring 3 all pro players, I don't really know what to say.

Yes the guard was beat, no that turnover wasn't entirely his fault. A QB needs to know when to eat the ball on a blown play, not still attempt to make some silly flip.

Overall, Wilson had more time yesterday than the majority of any game last season. Anyone who missed that isn't looking for improvement, but perfection, which isn't attainable.

Last season against a far less talented line in week one, Wilson was hit 18 times and sacked 7, anyone claiming, 6 and 3 it's just as bad, has an axe to grind and nothing more..

[NorthHawk]

Considering the personnel on the Dolphins DL is pretty good, our OL didn't do too badly.
The sad fact is it takes time for any OL to get their timing right and with today's CBA, that time is limited so we will have to suffer through some inconsistencies with a group of guys not used to playing together.
Compared to last year, this group seemed to be far ahead of them, but it was only the first game.
We'll see how well they do next week against a DL that always matches up well against our OL.
By the time the Bye week is upon us, we will know if the OL has substantially improved. What our record will be by then is anyone's guess.

[Hawk Sista]

The OL topic in general is tiresome, but at least there is a new twist to it this year, and that is we Finally moved on from Okung and Sweezy. Things were sketchy today up front, but I also kept in mind that we were absent of Ifedi, and Webb just isn't going to factor into long term plans.

I, for one, wish we had kept Okung. I think Okung, Glowinski, Britt, Ifedi and Garry would be a pretty damned good NFL OL, especially after a few weeks. As you all already know, or you just plain ol' don't get it....the Hawks have several very expensive core players (RW, Sherm, ET, Kam, Bobby, KJ, Doug, Graham - hell, you know the ones who eat up the lion share of the cap space). What is TIRED to me is that you guys want all of the aforementioned core players and the Dallas Cowboy O-line. It doesn't work that way folks. Each team only has X amount of cap space.... and, AGAIN, we have chosen to spend it on the best Defense in football along with one of the best QBs in the game.

As frustrating as it can be to have to wait a few games to gel, or to wait out an ankle sprain... answer me this. "How many trips to the super bowl (even Playoffs) have these terrific O-lines been to recently? Denver's super bowl winning line last year was not that much better than ours (in fact, now they upgraded at LT in Okung - your castoff). They Pats O-line the year before was no great shakes and we won the year prior.

I swear.....You guys are smart enough to see not just WHAT Pete and John are doing, but WHY............. perhaps one day it'll catch up to us and we will stop losing. Until it does, I'm not wringing my hands playing the what if game...I'll be down in Cali celebrating every W we get.

[RiverDog]

I swear.....You guys are smart enough to see not just WHAT Pete and John are doing, but WHY............. perhaps one day it'll catch up to us and we will stop losing. Until it does, I'm not wringing my hands playing the what if game...I'll be down in Cali celebrating every W we get.

We went 10-6 last season, our worst record since 2011, came within a freakish 1-in-100 missed chip shot FG of being one and done in the playoffs then lost in the next round, so one could argue that we've already started losing.

But I won't make that argument as there's good reason to be optimistic, and even though it might not look like it, I am celebrating this win. As North Hawk said, even an ugly win is beautiful.

[Hawk Sista]

All due respect, my man..... But Kam's holdout, injuries in the offseason, coming off that brutal SB loss etc....were EVERY BIT THE factor that the shitty o-line was. Every bit. Please don't forget that the last 4 years (including the horrific 10 & 6 you speak of) have been the winningest stretch of years in franchise history. (That means in forever) and the winningest record in the NFC. So, perhaps PC & JS know a teensy bit more than y'all.

[NorthHawk]

Not so sure about that, Sis.
There were at least 2 wins there for the taking that didn't happen because the Offense couldn't move the ball late in the game.
12-4 might have made all the difference.

[obiken]

All due respect, my man..... But Kam's holdout, injuries in the offseason, coming off that brutal SB loss etc....were EVERY BIT THE factor that the shitty o-line was. Every bit. Please don't forget that the last 4 years (including the horrific 10 & 6 you speak of) have been the winningest stretch of years in franchise history. (That means in forever) and the winningest record in the NFC. So, perhaps PC & JS know a teensy bit more than y'all.

Great points. However, RW was able to adjust to less time and get the ball out quicker, which made our season. How much he can do that with our OL this year is a huge question.
I think we should have spent big on atleast a Left Tackle to protect him, but thats just me.

[RiverDog]

Perfection from any unit is foolish. Beyond that, if people saw a subpar performance against a pass rush featuring 3 all pro players, I don't really know what to say.

Yes the guard was beat, no that turnover wasn't entirely his fault. A QB needs to know when to eat the ball on a blown play, not still attempt to make some silly flip.

Overall, Wilson had more time yesterday than the majority of any game last season. Anyone who missed that isn't looking for improvement, but perfection, which isn't attainable.

Last season against a far less talented line in week one, Wilson was hit 18 times and sacked 7, anyone claiming, 6 and 3 it's just as bad, has an axe to grind and nothing more..

You're comparing the two openers and not taking into account the change in our offensive scheme to the short passing game that wasn't present until the second half of the season last year. Most of our passing attempts last Sunday were of the short variety to compensate for the lack of being able to control their pass rush. Besides, pass protection was just one factor. Our running game wasn't up to par and we did a poor job of converting on 3rd downs. The offense as a whole scored just 12 points, and although Miami had a top notch DL, their overall defense ranked 25th last year. Plus we were playing at home. The game shouldn't have been that close. A good part of that responsibility has to fall on the OL.

Wilson doesn't have eyes in the back of his head, so there was no way he could have anticipated getting tripped. He had his arm extended when he got hit from behind. I'd have to look again to see if he had enough time to pull the ball back, but my impression was that he was past the point of no return, falling down and with very little chance to pull the ball back and eat it. In any event, the root cause was Glow getting eaten alive. That doesn't happen and Wilson completes the handoff.

You can rationalize the OL's performance all you want, but the fact is that we scored a mere 12 points, and despite our defense, that's not going to win many games. I'd grade our OL performance as a D or unsatisfactory. It has to improve.

[burrrton]

Assuming RW is truly OK, I'm almost less worried about our O than our D.

The final numbers were nothing to be ashamed of, but Ryan fcking Tannehill gave them the lead late with a long TD drive, and they dropped another sure TD with no defender within 15 yards of the receiver.

Our offense started 5 new o-linemen, shuffled the lineup even further mid-week, and our QB played on a sprained ankle half the game.

I'm betting both units get more 'right' than we saw on Sunday, but there are more excuses for the O's shakiness.

[jshawaii22]

If the Rams play like they played tonight, we have a pretty good chance of being 2-0 coming home against the suddenly tough looking 49'ers.

[RiverDog]

Assuming RW is truly OK, I'm almost less worried about our O than our D.

The final numbers were nothing to be ashamed of, but Ryan fcking Tannehill gave them the lead late with a long TD drive, and they dropped another sure TD with no defender within 15 yards of the receiver.

Our offense started 5 new o-linemen, shuffled the lineup even further mid-week, and our QB played on a sprained ankle half the game.

I'm betting both units get more 'right' than we saw on Sunday, but there are more excuses for the O's shakiness.

The fact is that our D held Miami to 7 points below our lead leading PPG from a year ago. Even if you give them the dropped TD pass, that's still right on our average from last season (actually 3 tenths below). If you're dissatisfied with that performance, then I'd suggest that you're the one expecting perfection.

I'm not looking for excuses. Excuses doesn't put points on the board. Heck, we moved the ball better after Russell got hurt than we did before so I'm not accepting that as an excuse, either. I expect SB quality performances. We're a SB contender but we didn't play like it on Sunday, and by far the biggest wart on this team is the OL. We can't be satisfied with this "at least they didn't look as bad as they did in the first game last season" rationalization. That's a loser mentality, the type of argument coaches in places like Cleveland use when they're trying to justify keeping their jobs. We have to get better, and do so rapidly, not wait 9 weeks like we did last season.

But a win's a win, so I'm ecstatic.

[RiverDog]

If the Rams play like they played tonight, we have a pretty good chance of being 2-0 coming home against the suddenly tough looking 49'ers.

I'm not at all encouraged by the Rams lackluster performance last night. We always match up poorly with them, even when the rest of the league treats them like rag dolls. If we win, it's usually by a very close margin. I expect a very competitive, low scoring game this Sunday, very similar to the Miami game. And not that it will make any difference on the field, but this is going to be the first regular season home game in LA in over 20 years. There's going to be a lot of buzz surrounding this game.

[HumanCockroach]

I don't have to rationalize anything. Wilson was hit less than in 85% of the games last season, the offense put up 360 yards, Wilson had a LOT of time ( despite your claims to the contrary) they ran the ball at a 4.5 yard clip, had 75 offensive plays, and was with the exception of scoring moving the ball well.

If the crux of your argument continues to be a poor running game ( which is wasn't) or lack of time in the pocket ( which there wasn't as a whole) and a single play where a guard got beat, I'm not entirely sure what to say RD.

Anyone that was disappointed with that lines performance against 3 all pro players, has unattainable expectations.

[obiken]

I'm not at all encouraged by the Rams lackluster performance last night. We always match up poorly with them, even when the rest of the league treats them like rag dolls. If we win, it's usually by a very close margin. I expect a very competitive, low scoring game this Sunday, very similar to the Miami game. And not that it will make any difference on the field, but this is going to be the first regular season home game in LA in over 20 years. There's going to be a lot of buzz surrounding this game.

Isn't that the truth! Not only that they were embarrassed last night, and they are going to be pissed.

[HumanCockroach]

As long as Seattle has 1 more point at the whistle who cares? Lackluster, blow out, lucky.... A win's, a win's, a win...

They are all beautiful in the end, and the idea that teams just steamroll everyone is ridiculous.

[NorthHawk]

I was disappointed in the Rams performance last night, but I think one of two things will happen.
Either they come out with fire in their eyes and fully focused, or they get caught up in the atmosphere of the first home game and it overwhelms them.
We have enough players who have been to the Super Bowl for us to be caught up in that hype, but they may be overamped enough to have another poor performance.
I'm hoping for a poor performance from them.

[burrrton]

If you're dissatisfied with that performance, then I'd suggest that you're the one expecting perfection.

Not so much dissatisfied, but I don't think it's expecting perfection to be worried about our secondary, supposedly clicking on all cylinders, having a guy running completely free for a sure TD.

Again, I agree they'll be fine- things like that happen- and I agree about excuses (bad choice of words). Maybe think of it more as this: if I'm having a watercooler discussion with a coworker about the game, I can find ways to defend the slow game from the O more easily than I can explain the specific breakdowns on defense (except to say look at the final numbers, which is valid).