A horrible defensive team

[TriCitySam]

This is Pete's "D", but man is it bad. Resembles the version Norton ran with the Raiders. Simply pathetic.

[Aseahawkfan]

Been saying that all year. Defense is terrible. Total lack of depth We're being constantly out-called and outplayed.

Pete Ball doesn't work without a defense.

[Hawktawk]

Brutal. But in the end it was the offense with the ball and a chance to win. A delay of game, a lack of protection , a huge no
Call on a pi and a route run a yard short and it’s off to philly. At least they played hard.

[RiverDog]

The defense played well enough to win. We had the ball first and goal on the 1 with 22 seconds left and Beast Mode in the backfield, yet we can't even get lined up to spike the ball. I'm so fricking pissed I could explode.

[trents]

Hang that one on the defense. They gave up big play after big play. Actually, it's amazing that the game wound up being so close given that our defense didn't come even close to slowing SF's offense down. SF moved the ball at will.

Can't believe there was no interference called against SF on that play in the end zone during that last Hawk drive. That guy literally mugged Hollister? I think.

But some positives can be taken from the game on the offensive side.
1. Once Wilson got out of the pocket and started moving around he got into a rythm things started happening on the offensive side for Seattle.
2. Travis Homer had some nice touches both as a runner and a receiver.
3. Metcalf showed up again after being MIA the last couple of games.
4. Lynch had a few more carries than I expected and did some good things.

But I have a question. At the end there when the Hawks got that delay of game penalty, aren't the officials required to call a time out when a player is down on the field injured (Fant)? The camera didn't pan in that direction so maybe Fant was just hobbled and not actually down.

[Klanky]

Seahawks gave game away at the end, everything went against them in the last 30 seconds, on the last play if hollister ducks and stretches for goal line he’s probably in, but before that really screwed up after the great conversion to the 1 yard line, that’s probably where they made the biggest blunder on delay of game, therefore taking beast mode out of game, and of course hollister getting mauled in the end zone on a non call.... but they still had what 8 chances inside the 10 to score.... very frustrating

[NorthHawk]

It’s the 2nd or 3rd year of a full reset and we have very little quality depth. Most
teams are floundering at .500 or less but we’re competing for a div championship.
Considering the 1st team players that are out, it’s amazing we’re even in the hunt.

Most people at the beginning of the year thought we were a few players away from
legitimately challenging for a championship and it’s showing now. We may win in
Philly, but I doubt we get much further this year.

[Klanky]

Not having Diggs in the secondary is huge

[mykc14]

Defense was bad all night. Open receivers on almost every pass attempt created by a complete lack of pass rush- this need to be priority #1 in the off-season. First half offense ultra conservative again, which lead to a 2 score half-time deficit. We need to put a whole game together. Here’s to crossing my fingers and letting Russ air it out throughout the playoffs. Going to Philly and then to SF(probably) I like our chances as long as we are healthy! GI HAWKS!!!

[Klanky]

Ya true if hawks win at philly they could get sweet revenge against the Niners in 2 weeks...

[TriCitySam]

The defense played well enough to win. We had the ball first and goal on the 1 with 22 seconds left and Beast Mode in the backfield, yet we can't even get lined up to spike the ball. I'm so fricking pissed I could explode.

We played poorly. If the offense hadn't put up big 4th quarter drives, we would have never been close. In the end, we had a chance, but the delay is on the coach staff.

[obiken]

The defense played well enough to win. We had the ball first and goal on the 1 with 22 seconds left and Beast Mode in the backfield, yet we can't even get lined up to spike the ball. I'm so fricking pissed I could explode.

That's my take River, a delay of game! That's on RW and the coach! I thought this would be a category 5 blowout on us, but the guys played well enough to win. What a colossal mistake!

[mykc14]

That's my take River, a delay of game! That's on RW and the coach! I thought this would be a category 5 blowout on us, but the guys played well enough to win. What a colossal mistake!

I find it hard to put that on RW as they didn’t even break the huddle before the delay. That tells me that the coach didn’t get him the play in time or the personal wast out there on time, but I really find it hard to blame RW on that one...

[Klanky]

Then with all the indecisiveness or whatever they should have went with what they had and snapped it and just threw the ball away, then they would have still been at the 1 yd line instead of the 6

[trents]

The defense played well enough to win? I can't buy that logic. There was almost nothing good that could be said about the defensive play of the Hawks. The only thing that prevented the score from being run up higher on them was the fact that the 'Niners are not a quick strike offense but a ball control offense and their drives usually consume a lot of clock. That and the fact that the Hawks offense awakened in the 2nd half and ate up a lot of clock as well.

[RiverDog]

The defense played well enough to win? I can't buy that logic. There was almost nothing good that could be said about the defensive play of the Hawks. The only thing that prevented the score from being run up higher on them was the fact that the 'Niners are not a quick strike offense but a ball control offense and their drives usually consume a lot of clock. That and the fact that the Hawks offense awakened in the 2nd half and ate up a lot of clock as well.

The offense couldn't sustain anything in the first half, which despite getting the opening kickoff, yielded 3 punts and one turnover on downs. We never got past the 50 yard line until there was 2 minutes left in the half, then when we finally do get a scoring opportunity, we get stuffed on 4th and one. Yet despite all our woes on both sides of the ball and the Niners offense playing almost flawlessly (Garoppolo hit his first 11 in a row and wound up 18-22 with 0 INT's), the defense gave the ball to the offense with 2:27 left in the game down by 5 points, so yea, they played well enough to win.

If someone told you before the game started that you could fast forward to 2:27 left in the 4th quarter, down by 5 points and the ball on your own 27 and with two timeouts, would you have taken it or would you have opted to start from scratch?

There's a reason why our defense wasn't as dominant as they were in the first meeting. The Niners offense had two key players tonight that they didn't have the last time we played them: George Kittle and Joe Staley. Kittle is more than just a great receiving tight end. He's an excellent blocker, IMO the best all around tight end in the game today.

This ain't the Legion of Boom, folks. Without a credible running attack, we're taking away the defense's fig leaf.

[Zorn76]

I'm not sure what people were expecting...
-We had a complete make shift backfield, featuring a beloved Beast who's 33 yrs old (but did play well, along with Homer).
-Our defense without Q Diggs suffers mightily, because Lano Lamo Hill is terrible.
-Clowney gets props for trying, but he's not all the way back (nor is he worth re-signing at 18-20 mil per moving forward).
-We did our usual sleep walking in front of the home crowd in the first half (Wth is up with slow, drowsy starts at The Clink?)
-Pete and crew didn't have their act together (again) at the 1 yd line at the end of a game, which is among the easiest substitutions you can make. It's unbelievable how inept our coaching staff is in these situations.
-Maybe we're better off on the road, even if it means going to a balmy 20 degree Philly. I don't get how uninspired our team is in front of 12's to start off games. Been flat all year at home.
Go Hawks.

[Aseahawkfan]

On a positive note I think the team did better than most of us thought they would. If not for the severe spate of injuries at the end, we might have made a good run. I'm really like the WR corps. I did not hear many complaints about WRs this year. That group is better than it's been. Metcalf is a real find. And Lockett is still Lockett. We have some good TE depth. Prosise has to go. He's done as a project. I'm still not sold on our RB corps. We need some more guys. We have a lot of good pieces to build on. We're getting closer to truly competing. With New England looking done, Super Bowl is going to be last man standing from here on out.

[NorthHawk]

On a positive note I think the team did better than most of us thought they would. If not for the severe spate of injuries at the end, we might have made a good run. I'm really like the WR corps. I did not hear many complaints about WRs this year. That group is better than it's been. Metcalf is a real find. And Lockett is still Lockett. We have some good TE depth. Prosise has to go. He's done as a project. I'm still not sold on our RB corps. We need some more guys. We have a lot of good pieces to build on. We're getting closer to truly competing. With New England looking done, Super Bowl is going to be last man standing from here on out.

I agree, and before the game I thought there was a chance we would be embarrassed by the 9ers. That we came less than a foot short to win says a lot about the heart
of this team. I'm not sure we can come up with that type of performance next week, though but the Eagles are decimated by injuries, too so it might be a good game.

[RiverDog]

On a positive note I think the team did better than most of us thought they would. If not for the severe spate of injuries at the end, we might have made a good run. I'm really like the WR corps. I did not hear many complaints about WRs this year. That group is better than it's been. Metcalf is a real find. And Lockett is still Lockett. We have some good TE depth. Prosise has to go. He's done as a project. I'm still not sold on our RB corps. We need some more guys. We have a lot of good pieces to build on. We're getting closer to truly competing. With New England looking done, Super Bowl is going to be last man standing from here on out.

There was some 'good' news yesterday, and New England losing to one of the worst teams in the league and not having a first round bye was among that. I'd love to see Kansas City go all the way. They have a great fan base that's been starved for a long, long time. I was also glad to see the Eagles put a dagger in the heart of the Cowboys, my most disliked team, by winning the NFC East. But the Packers getting a narrow win was a big downer as it took us out of the possibility of a first round bye.

[Hawktawk]

There was some 'good' news yesterday, and New England losing to one of the worst teams in the league and not having a first round bye was among that. I'd love to see Kansas City go all the way. They have a great fan base that's been starved for a long, long time. I was also glad to see the Eagles put a dagger in the heart of the Cowboys, my most disliked team, by winning the NFC East. But the Packers getting a narrow win was a big downer as it took us out of the possibility of a first round bye.

Love the demise of the Pats. I could see Tannehill carving them a new one. I really like KC but if they go all the way it means we didn't. I give us even odds to get by a Philly team as banged up as us. Then the rubber match with the 9ers, likely with Diggs and Brown back and when is Woods eligible to return. Not likely but stranger things have happened. We already beat them there and were less than a foot from sweeping the HFA #1 seed.

THis is an 11 win team. U sayin we aren't capable of beating anyone on a given day? I'll pick my alternate when and if the Hawks are done.

[RiverDog]

THis is an 11 win team. U sayin we aren't capable of beating anyone on a given day? I'll pick my alternate when and if the Hawks are done.

Where did I say that? By saying that I'd like to see KC go all the way? If that's the case, then I'll add a qualifier.

I'm not taking down my #12 flag until we're eliminated. Perhaps I'll fly it upside down to signify that we're in trouble, but it stays right below Old Glory until our season is official over.