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The good:

1. Our offensive tackles look like pro bowlers in the making. Cross and Lucas definitely look like they can play in the NFL.

2. Penny was productive, though I think they should run him outside more. With his speed, up the middle just seems like a waste of his speed. Penny needs to see more open space.

3. Defense looks more aggressive than in recent years. They are fired up and ready to punish.

4. Tariq Woolen makes covering receivers look easy because he is so damn fast. He is definitely going to the Richard Sherman school of touchy, grabby play as he learns to be physical and get the refs used to his handsy play. As Sherm said years ago, "They can't call a penalty every down."

5. Geno played about as good a first half as Geno can play.

6. Red Zone defense was as good as we've seen it in years.

7. Game plan for containing Russell worked beautifully.

The concerns:

1. Did Boye Mafe play? He did not record a stat line.

2. Run defense gave up 5 yards a carry. Denver is a really good running team, but that is concerning.

3. Geno Smith in the second half is not going to win us a lot of games. You can't let up trying to score.

4. Lost Jamal Adams to another injury. Gonna make the safety depth shallow.


Observations on Russ:

1. Looks like the same old Russ. Great arm. Keeps the offense moving. Can still escape pressure. Throws a few desperate or careless balls a game he's lucky we didn't pick. Russ still looks like a high performing, elite QB.

2. Denver's receivers need to learn to catch balls in the back corner of the end zone when the ball hits their hands and get their feet in bounds when Russ leads a receiver to a TD only they can catch along the edge of the end zone. They convert either of those and we're taking the L.

3. Russ can run the WCO. Russ can perform screen passes and use his check down. Seems Russ can run a different offense. Only thing that seems the same is Russ will extend plays when he can, but that's not the Russell Wilson offense that's just Russ doing what makes him a special QB.

4. Russ looks like he'll do well enough in Denver if he can get his receivers better in the red zone.

5. Denver isn't going to a Super Bowl or beating the Chiefs and Chargers and maybe not even the Raiders making the mistakes and playing the way they did Monday. That could be real nice for us in next year's draft.

I haven't had a chance to re-watch the game, but Cross looked like he struggled some against Chubb in the 2nd half. Offensively there was a big difference in general between the first and second halves. But overall, I loved how our OL held up.

I liked Will Dissly. He made some nice catches, including a TD. Parkinson finally made some contributions. Tight end looks to be a strong position group. Geno did a great job of spreading the ball around.

As far as the defense goes, with the exception of our performance in the red zone, it's pretty hard for me to paint a smiley face on 433 yards of total offense. Had it not been for the penalties (12 of them on the Donkeys), two goal line fumbles, and gross incompetence by Denver's coaching staff, we would be having an entirely different conversation.

RiverDog wrote:I haven't had a chance to re-watch the game, but Cross looked like he struggled some against Chubb in the 2nd half. Offensively there was a big difference in general between the first and second halves. But overall, I loved how our OL held up.

I liked Will Dissly. He made some nice catches, including a TD. Parkinson finally made some contributions. Tight end looks to be a strong position group. Geno did a great job of spreading the ball around.

As far as the defense goes, with the exception of our performance in the red zone, it's pretty hard for me to paint a smiley face on 433 yards of total offense. Had it not been for the penalties (12 of them on the Donkeys), two goal line fumbles, and gross incompetence by Denver's coaching staff, we would be having an entirely different conversation.

Yeah. True. This game doesn't change anything for me. It was one great win Pete had the team ready for at home. This is the NFL, you gotta prove it every week.

I did like some of what I saw.

My observations...
Rookie tackles did great for first pro game
Liked the defense intensity...need to wrap up runners. Way to many yards given up. Linebackers missing in action to much...
D-backs need to learn systen... a few missed assignments/wide open receivers
Our backs need to run north/south. To much juking around rather than hitting the line. Would like to see Dallas in the mix...he runs straight and tough

Russell... i don;t care...

zackole wrote:My observations...
Rookie tackles did great for first pro game
Liked the defense intensity...need to wrap up runners. Way to many yards given up. Linebackers missing in action to much...
D-backs need to learn systen... a few missed assignments/wide open receivers
Our backs need to run north/south. To much juking around rather than hitting the line. Would like to see Dallas in the mix...he runs straight and tough

Russell... i don;t care...

Wow, a new/old poster! Welcome back!

I, too, expected to see more of DJ Dallas. He looked terrific in preseason and has never lost a fumble in his career. We didn't try to run the ball very much last night, with just 13 carries to our RB's, quite a surprise considering that this is Pete Ball and it was a close game.

Overall a good analysis. My biggest concern is our run defense . It was the key to Russels numbers . I will say Russ looked a half step slower then I remember although he was effective . The hate was very real among the 12s . I think the deafening crowd was certainly the difference . We are a young fast explosive team with a veteran point guard who is one of the most accurate passers in the league . And a HOF coach with a chip on his shoulder .

Barring major injury this will only get better .

I saw Luke Willson talking about the game and he said Pete's one of the best at getting a team up for a game.
I think they played as well as they can on Monday night but they won't have that same emotional level of performance for 17 games.
I think they will get 5-7 wins this year. Teams often start out hot (or cold) the first game but find their true level as the year wears on.

NorthHawk wrote:I saw Luke Willson talking about the game and he said Pete's one of the best at getting a team up for a game.
I think they played as well as they can on Monday night but they won't have that same emotional level of performance for 17 games.
I think they will get 5-7 wins this year. Teams often start out hot (or cold) the first game but find their true level as the year wears on.

My 10 win prediction looks a bit conservative after what I saw. We won as a 6.5 dog, now we get a run around basically a rookie in Lance. Their defense isn't much better than Denver although both are very good. You have to say we are facing a significant downgrade at QB this week. We are young and PC says its the fastest team hes ever had.
And as you point out, Pete is a master at motivation and coaching up young players. I attended Beast Quake when we shocked the world as a 14 point dog and Lynch gave us something to watch forever. Id say the environment Monday rivaled that.
I think its a win that will propel a young team that will only get better as the season progresses.

Get excited 12s

A squeaked out gift win against an unprepared opponent isn't exactly grounds for huge excitement. There were some good showing by young players, though.
The clock is closer to midnight than you are letting on or perhaps know.

NorthHawk wrote:A squeaked out gift win against an unprepared opponent isn't exactly grounds for huge excitement. There were some good showing by young players, though.
The clock is closer to midnight than you are letting on or perhaps know.

This forum is an amazing collection of negative energy , people who want to argue their team sucks , their QB sucks , they have no chance even though the worst we can be is tied for the division week 2 . And I’ve kinda heard enough about all the excuses for boy genius coach and quarterback who were 6.5 faves . Playing a qb you say sucks .

Would you share your prediction ? I guess I’ll look it up . Anyone who picked Seattle to lose sounds ridiculous making excuses why they won.

I knew a lot more then you about this team so far but keep rooting to fail to win an Internet argument.

NorthHawk wrote:I saw Luke Willson talking about the game and he said Pete's one of the best at getting a team up for a game.
I think they played as well as they can on Monday night but they won't have that same emotional level of performance for 17 games.
I think they will get 5-7 wins this year. Teams often start out hot (or cold) the first game but find their true level as the year wears on.

Pete is one of the best at getting a team up for a big game. That's why our Super Bowl against Denver was a blow out. I figured we would win the Monday night game against the rook coach.

Main coaches that can match Pete all things being equal I've seen are Bill B, McVay, Fisher, Andy Reid, Tomlin, John and Jim Harbaugh, and mostly the proven vet coaches.

Frisco is very beatable. Hawks will be loading up with blitzes and pash rush schemes to rattle Lance who seems not to need much help with that.

trents wrote:Frisco is very beatable. Hawks will be loading up with blitzes and pash rush schemes to rattle Lance who seems not to need much help with that.

Lance completed 48 % with 1 pick and no TDs . Yeah it was a bad rainstorm . Genos worst start was in a rain start and he completed 60% with a 65 yard TD to Dk vs the #3 scoring defense in the league . No turnovers and without meyers missing 2 we win . We own the 9 ers anyway having won 4 of 5 . Pete matches up well with mobile scramblers and we just got 4 quarters against still 10 times Trey Lance. And of course we are a huge dog again . ESPN was so impressed they moved us to 23 from 24 after the big win .
I love it . The longer they talk crap about Seattle and disrespect us the easier it’s gonna be for us.

Hawktawk wrote:This forum is an amazing collection of negative energy

Understatement there.

trents wrote:Frisco is very beatable. Hawks will be loading up with blitzes and pash rush schemes to rattle Lance who seems not to need much help with that.

Trey Lance is very beatable. He doesn't impress me. I don't see him as clearly better than Geno, nor Frisco better than Seattle. This is a winnable game.

If were playing against Jimmy at QB this Sunday, I'd say we lose. But against Trey Lance, we definitely have a chance. We haven't seen the 'good' Lance yet....and I'm not sure who or what that looks like. I can only imagine at how Niner fans are feeling.

I-5 wrote:If were playing against Jimmy at QB this Sunday, I'd say we lose. But against Trey Lance, we definitely have a chance. We haven't seen the 'good' Lance yet....and I'm not sure who or what that looks like. I can only imagine at how Niner fans are feeling.

Yeah, Lance hasn't shown squat. That's one of the reasons why I'm picking them to win. He's due. Odds alone suggest that he's going to have at least a decent game. And with the Niners' defense and running game, they don't need him to win games with his arm.

Every game is winnable, especially this time of the year when we haven't gotten a good look at all the teams. I'd hate to bet on this one.

It was nice to see the offensive line provide Geno a real pocket to pass. Our new center Blythe looked good, which was a position of doubt. Maybe less so now.

While the defense had some problems, we got some quality play from Nwosu (defensive play of the week) and Michael Jackson. Where was Mafe? Al Woods is nearing the end. He can have an impact at times, but he seems to need more rest than in the past. His rush on the second goal line fumble was epic, so I am thinking that he will be good this season, buy it may be his last.

I was hoping to see something special from Darrell Taylor, but he has to learn to contain. Too bad about J Adams, as I was hoping to see some good play under this new coaching scheme.

Old but Slow wrote:It was nice to see the offensive line provide Geno a real pocket to pass. Our new center Blythe looked good, which was a position of doubt. Maybe less so now.

While the defense had some problems, we got some quality play from Nwosu (defensive play of the week) and Michael Jackson. Where was Mafe? Al Woods is nearing the end. He can have an impact at times, but he seems to need more rest than in the past. His rush on the second goal line fumble was epic, so I am thinking that he will be good this season, buy it may be his last.

I was hoping to see something special from Darrell Taylor, but he has to learn to contain. Too bad about J Adams, as I was hoping to see some good play under this new coaching scheme.

I really liked Michael Jackson during the preseason. I think he's a real find. The guy plays with his balls out.

I saw Mafe pop his head into the TV frame a time or two, but never in any plays. He was hurt towards the end of preseason, didn't play against the Cowboys. Not sure what the deal is with him. He's the one defensive player that I had the highest hopes for.

We're going to have to tighten up our defense between the 20's. We can't count on getting bailed out with two goal line fumbles. It's the first time in over 10 years that a team fumbled twice inside the 10 in the same game.

RiverDog wrote:Yeah, Lance hasn't shown squat. That's one of the reasons why I'm picking them to win. He's due. Odds alone suggest that he's going to have at least a decent game. And with the Niners' defense and running game, they don't need him to win games with his arm.

Every game is winnable, especially this time of the year when we haven't gotten a good look at all the teams. I'd hate to bet on this one.

When you say 'he's due', do you mean he'll turn into a competent or at least serviceable QB? His throwing issues aren't going to change from Week 1 to Week 2.

I-5 wrote:When you say 'he's due', do you mean he'll turn into a competent or at least serviceable QB? His throwing issues aren't going to change from Week 1 to Week 2.

My buddy said passing during the weather conditions in Chicago impossible. He's a hardcore Seattle fan who thinks we will beat Frisco. But even he told me not to judge Trey off that Chicago game. He said they were playing in a torrential downpour and the field was a slip and slide. So I guess we'll see.

I-5 wrote:When you say 'he's due', do you mean he'll turn into a competent or at least serviceable QB? His throwing issues aren't going to change from Week 1 to Week 2.

Aseahawkfan wrote:My buddy said passing during the weather conditions in Chicago impossible. He's a hardcore Seattle fan who thinks we will beat Frisco. But even he told me not to judge Trey off that Chicago game. He said they were playing in a torrential downpour and the field was a slip and slide. So I guess we'll see.

What ASF said. I watched some of the Bears-Niners game via Redzone. The conditions were even worse in the 2nd half, when the Niners struggled the most. You couldn't even see through the camera lens, it was coming down so hard. I want to see what Lance can do under normal conditions. Even Russell played like chit in bad weather. Some QB's can handle it, some can't, and it's not necessarily a reflection on their overall ability.

I don’t understand the notion Denver was unprepared. They had the same amount of time that Seattle had to be prepared. That they didn’t execute and has coaching miscues doesn’t diminish the win. These guys are pros too with all the modern resources of pro football at their disposal.

Didn’t like all the bend I saw in the defense but they came up big when it mattered. Woolen definitely got grabby but the one that saved the touchdown was worth it. The ensuing fumble recovery wouldn’t have happened.

Most maddening to me was the dump offs behind the blitz that Denver went to with regularity. Seattle better find an answer to this tactic, or they’ll have trouble getting the defense off the field.

Otherwise, happy with pretty much everything else others have stated. Lot of potential on this team. Look out if they land the legit QB prospect next draft.

MackStrongIsMyHero wrote:I don’t understand the notion Denver was unprepared. They had the same amount of time that Seattle had to be prepared. That they didn’t execute and has coaching miscues doesn’t diminish the win. These guys are pros too with all the modern resources of pro football at their disposal.

Didn’t like all the bend I saw in the defense but they came up big when it mattered. Woolen definitely got grabby but the one that saved the touchdown was worth it. The ensuing fumble recovery wouldn’t have happened.

Most maddening to me was the dump offs behind the blitz that Denver went to with regularity. Seattle better find an answer to this tactic, or they’ll have trouble getting the defense off the field.

Otherwise, happy with pretty much everything else others have stated. Lot of potential on this team. Look out if they land the legit QB prospect next draft.

When they say unprepared, they are going by no preseason play for the starters and a rookie coaching staff preparing for his first game as head coach and looking lost with all the penalties and problems with clock management and play calling.

We’re a playoff contender this year . Our ceiling is far higher then 17 points and surrendering 400+ yards . I laugh when the doomsayers predict a 17 point loser offense all year . Wait till Sunday . And just you all stop making excuses for Denver . You sound like me a few days after the schedule was released now but you picked us to get smoked so stop it .

MackStrongIsMyHero wrote:I don’t understand the notion Denver was unprepared. They had the same amount of time that Seattle had to be prepared. That they didn’t execute and has coaching miscues doesn’t diminish the win. These guys are pros too with all the modern resources of pro football at their disposal.

Didn’t like all the bend I saw in the defense but they came up big when it mattered. Woolen definitely got grabby but the one that saved the touchdown was worth it. The ensuing fumble recovery wouldn’t have happened.

Most maddening to me was the dump offs behind the blitz that Denver went to with regularity. Seattle better find an answer to this tactic, or they’ll have trouble getting the defense off the field.

Otherwise, happy with pretty much everything else others have stated. Lot of potential on this team. Look out if they land the legit QB prospect next draft.

Aseahawkfan wrote:When they say unprepared, they are going by no preseason play for the starters and a rookie coaching staff preparing for his first game as head coach and looking lost with all the penalties and problems with clock management and play calling.

Yup. That was blatantly obvious. I didn't think it was possible due to the reasons that Mack states. But there's no other explanation that fits all of the facts. Denver had the better talent, but they were woefully mismanaged. And to our team's credit, we were a lot more prepared, especially when you consider all the new blood on the OL. The difference on Monday was the coaching.

Well, they had every chance to be prepared. If they couldn’t be bothered to put in the work to be ready for one of the toughest environments to play in, then I have no sympathy for them. I suspect y’all don’t either. This is the NFL; no excuse for not being ready for opening day.

Edit: Not that y’all are defending them. I don’t want to take away from the win when the Seahawks came to play.

MackStrongIsMyHero wrote:Well, they had every chance to be prepared. If they couldn’t be bothered to put in the work to be ready for one of the toughest environments to play in, then I have no sympathy for them. I suspect y’all don’t either. This is the NFL; no excuse for not being ready for opening day.

Edit: Not that y’all are defending them. I don’t want to take away from the win when the Seahawks came to play.

They did. It was a great win. I feel like they made those goal line turnovers happen. They smashed Denver's RBs in the face on the goal line and they coughed up the rock.

Aseahawkfan wrote:My buddy said passing during the weather conditions in Chicago impossible. He's a hardcore Seattle fan who thinks we will beat Frisco. But even he told me not to judge Trey off that Chicago game. He said they were playing in a torrential downpour and the field was a slip and slide. So I guess we'll see.

Justin Fields played in the same weather conditions during that game. Fields' QB rating was 85.7 and Lance's was 50.3. And SF's rushing attack outgained that of the Bears 176 yd. to 99. That should have helped Lance.

trents wrote:Justin Fields played in the same weather conditions during that game. Fields' QB rating was 85.7 and Lance's was 50.3. And SF's rushing attack outgained that of the Bears 176 yd. to 99. That should have helped Lance.

I got no clue how that game went down. I saw a short clip and it looked terrible. My buddy kept track of the game closer and said those conditions will not be replicated in Frisco, so don't count on Lance not being able to throw much. Not sure why Justin Fields threw better. He threw less times and I'm not sure if the pass was short and the receiver ran the TD in. I just know the weather was very nasty and that will not be the case in Frisco this weekend.

MackStrongIsMyHero wrote:Well, they had every chance to be prepared. If they couldn’t be bothered to put in the work to be ready for one of the toughest environments to play in, then I have no sympathy for them. I suspect y’all don’t either. This is the NFL; no excuse for not being ready for opening day.

Edit: Not that y’all are defending them. I don’t want to take away from the win when the Seahawks came to play.

Of course, both teams had the same opportunities to be prepared, and there is no excuse for not being prepared. That's the entire point of what some of us are arguing: Seattle did a much better job of being prepared than did the Broncos.

IMO some of the difference between the two teams' preparedness can be traced back to how much action their starters saw in preseason. Although if they had their druthers, the Hawks probably would have sat their starter like most teams did, Geno played in all three games. Russell didn't take a snap. Back when there were 4 preseason games, all of the starters saw action in the first 2 PS games then played in at least half of the third game. They got the 4th game off, but they saw work in about 6-8 drives. It makes a difference.

I'm not discounting the victory. A win is a win. But you'd be in total denial if you don't recognize the extraordinary circumstances in how that win came about. They won't repeat themselves.

That FG try at the end almost made it. If it had, how would we be looking at this game?

I always try to look at our games like they were between the Panthers and Jaguars. I don't know too much about those teams and don't get excited about who wins.
In this case, the Broncos had 3 1st and goals. They were called on at least 3 critical times for Defensive penalties. Seattle scored no points in the 2nd half. Denver
carved out big gains on 1st downs on a regular basis. Seattle Defense caused 2 fumbles on the goal line.
We saw a Denver team that was critically unprepared and it showed up at the most important moments.
So, was it a Seattle win or Denver loss? We get the 2 points, but it was handed to us on a platter and we almost dropped it at the end.
It's nothing for us to crow about because our performance wasn't very good.

Given all the advantages we had going into Monday nights game, we normally blow the opponent out. Hell, Pete and the defense had ten years of film and experience on Denver's QB. Pete had Sherm come in and personally coach Woolen and the secondary on how to beat Russ.

https://www.foxsports.com/stories/nfl/do-pete-carroll-seahawks-have-beef-with-russell-wilson

Apparently Pete went way above and beyond to beat Russ and squeak out that 1 point win. Brought in all the old players he's implying didn't like Russ in his interview. Pete took this game very personally.

It was a great win. But Pete was as focused on winning against Russ like as he was about winning that first Super Bowl. This was everything to Pete and he pulled out all the stops.

Now he doesn't have the same motivation or momentum or information on the opposing QBs of the rest of the teams or many other advantages. He hasn't won anything worthwhile without Russ. So let's hope Pete don't let up because Russ isn't going to let up.

In this fight, the old man pulled out all his tricks to win the first round, but we get got 17 more rounds to go. We're all watching this fight play out.

Just like some Seattle fans turned on Russ and Bobby Wagner and Sherm with everyone conveniently forgetting how many Seattle fans turned on Sherm when he went to Frisco specifically to go against Seattle and Wagner went to the Rams to go against Seattle, the fans will turn on Pete Carroll if he don't get this ship turned around. To the fans it's always what have you done for me lately.

Pete will let up the day he he hands in his keys to VMac . Not before . I’ve been telling you all since the day the trade went down he has no intentions of being the fall guy for a tank job tearing the roster apart and starting from scratch . He’s got something to show this league . And for you Asea , he did win without Wilson . He beat the defending world champs in a wild card game with a 7-9 division winner . They clinched the division with a stiff named Whitehurst throwing a TD to a bust named Mike Williams with a #1 draft pick Bradford on the other team . Pete won a playoff game with New England as a huge underdog starting a backup qb. Weird stuff happens on Pete Carrol teams / win an NFC title with the worst statistical winning performance by a quarterback in the super bowl era. Russ was great in the end but he didn’t “ win that one which is maybe why the old school guys like Sherm and KJ and especially Baldwin were so salty Monday night . So now we got lucky again with 2 fumbles on the goal line . Unheard of . Mmmmm.
Happy birthday BTW coach Carroll , the youngest 71 year old guy I ever saw , physically and mentally . I’ve got twice the respect for the guy I had a year ago .
GO HAWKS!

Read an amazing stat today . As most know I was there . We were on the goal line Seahawks sideline on 100 level . Cool seats to see DK signing autographs in a muscle T. I’m never fighting that guy . His arms are abnormal looking . Might be bigger then some linemen .unreal
But I digress . It’s hard to see the field and harder after 3 hours of sluggers but I saw this huge number for Russ, 344 I think . It didn’t seem like it at all , seemed he was dinking and dunking . Well he was . He had over 230 YAC and targeted backs and tight ends more than almost any game in Seattle . In 10 years he had only completed 12 passes to a back twice in Seattle . Our defense did quite well on deeper stuff other than the TD .

This wasn’t about Pete’s offensive philosophy I don’t think . I saw the same guys open here .

But the bottom line we better clean up the yac and start tackling better then that