Bolts Game

[NorthHawk]

Have we gone back to The old 4-3 under Defense the last couple of weeks?
I wasn’t thinking about it enough to look, but the pressure from the DL changed and they are playing more responsibly regarding
gap control. As well, the pressure is helping the DBs as they don’t have to cover as long.

[obiken]

You banged the drum loudest for O-line for years. They finally drafted two tackles that are starting off ridiculous.

Thanks man I did, I was like the proverbial broken record.

[Hawktawk]

Seattle has as good a shot as anyone . Defense suddenly live . On point . A consistent chain moving clock eating offense . And a qb who is in complete command of the line of scrimmage pre snap, maybe as much as any Seahawk qb I can remember . I feel like something good is going to happen and it usually does. Very entertaining season so far

[Aseahawkfan]

Bills and Chiefs still the cream of the crop.

Seattle part of that huge second tier filled with teams no one expected to compete and teams that were supposed to be good but aren't. Though we still have to see if the Eagles are for real and if the Rams can feast on the easier part of their schedule.

[RiverDog]

That was the best all around performance against a quality opponent (and no, HT, the Jags last year were NOT a quality opponent) that we've played in several years, perhaps since the Rams regular season game in 2020.

Jumping out to a big lead early was huge. Geno's performance, although not eye popping, was decent. With a few exceptions, like the little pitch to Eskridge that was slightly behind him and the tight window throw that got deflected and intercepted, his effort was good enough to win. The defense was up against a top 10 QB and they created enough pressure to keep him from going off. They did the best job against the run so far this season, although getting out to a 17-0 lead helped take some of that threat away. I'm really liking what I'm seeing out of our rookie corners. And Ken Walker...Wow! What was the name of that running back of ours that got injured?

And HT, your conspiracy theory took a bit of a hit yesterday. Can you imagine how many villains you could have exposed had a Charger gotten away with jerking Geno's face mask?

Plus, there was more good news around the league for us besides our win. The Chiefs beat the Niners and the Jets beat the Donkeys. Those two results did several things for us: The Niners loss gave us sole possession of first place in our division, every Denver loss is a win for us, and the Chiefs winning gave them a 3 game lead over the Broncos, who have now lost their last 4 in a row and makes it more likely that they'll be throwing in the towel on the season and having a fire sale by the trading deadline next week.

There were more upsets around the league. WTF is going on with the GOAT and the Weird Beard? A measly 3 points against a dead-from-the-neck-up Panthers team? 0-6 on third down against the Commanders for the horse de-wormer king? Russell isn't the only so-called elite QB that's struggling.

The NFL world keeps getting turned on its head.

[Hawktawk]

That was the best all around performance against a quality opponent (and no, HT, the Jags last year were NOT a quality opponent) that we've played in several years, perhaps since the Rams regular season game in 2020.

Jumping out to a big lead early was huge. Geno's performance, although not eye popping, was decent. With a few exceptions, like the little pitch to Eskridge that was slightly behind him and the tight window throw that got deflected and intercepted, his effort was good enough to win. The defense was up against a top 10 QB and they created enough pressure to keep him from going off. They did the best job against the run so far this season, although getting out to a 17-0 lead helped take some of that threat away. I'm really liking what I'm seeing out of our rookie corners. And Ken Walker...Wow! What was the name of that running back of ours that got injured?

And HT, your conspiracy theory took a bit of a hit yesterday. Can you imagine how many villains you could have exposed had a Charger gotten away with jerking Geno's face mask?

Plus, there was more good news around the league for us besides our win. The Chiefs beat the Niners and the Jets beat the Donkeys. Those two results did several things for us: The Niners loss gave us sole possession of first place in our division, every Denver loss is a win for us, and the Chiefs winning gave them a 3 game lead over the Broncos, who have now lost their last 4 in a row and makes it more likely that they'll be throwing in the towel on the season and having a fire sale by the trading deadline next week.

There were more upsets around the league. WTF is going on with the GOAT and the Weird Beard? A measly 3 points against a dead-from-the-neck-up Panthers team? 0-6 on third down against the Commanders for the horse de-wormer king? Russell isn't the only so-called elite QB that's struggling.

The NFL world keeps getting turned on its head.

The game was well officiated like many are . Some arent .

I agree with most although why do you bring up Jacksonville to eat more crow ? I said it at the time if you complete 80% of your passes with a 138 qbr against anyone it’s a great game , nfl starter quality . Yes sir and it wound up being the first of 3 games over 80% , second two being Denver and the 9 ers and we’ve seen they can play defense . Geno has played starter quality to excellent ball since coming in for Russ. He has 10 starts in Seattle now . In 9 he has completed over 70% with 16 touchdowns and 3 picks . Qbr well over 100 .

Ive been 100% correct about the man .

We can win it all with Geno . We can win it all with this team .

As for the pitch to eskridge being some blemish on Genos performance wow you’re grasping at straws . It’s not Dee Jay throwing a pass but what eskridge is doing there instead of Walker is beyond me - didn’t even look like Eskridge expected it I flew into a rage . How come fat guy on couch senses the flow of the game better then OC . If they can’t stop you why get cute and stop yourself . Waldron has been great overall but every now and then it’s like WTF . That was one . Just run thr plays . We gave a good enough offense to do it without smoke and mirrors .
As Mike Salk said a few minutes ago though “
Probably time to quit being surprised by Geno”

Nice to see the D clean up Genos mistake with the pick but it demonstrated Geno will throw into any window . Nice defensive play . We have a qb playing at a top 5 level while staples of the last 15 years are playing terrible . We can shock the world. We can surely go 10-7. We have a starter caliber qb.

[RiverDog]

The game was well officiated like many are . Some arent .

That's true, but the ones that aren't doesn't mean that a conspiracy exists, which is what I was eluding to.

I agree with most although why do you bring up Jacksonville to eat more crow?

I brought up Jacksonville because you had been trumpeting it so much. This was the first time we beat a contending team by more than two scores for quite a long time.

Ive been 100% correct about the man (Geno).

Would you please quit gloating! We've all given you genuine compliments on your insight to this subject, and I'll do so again if you're ego still needs some stroking, and I won't even bring up Manziel and Tebow so as to let you bask in the glory if that's what you want. But you're starting to sound like a narcissist.

As for the pitch to eskridge being some blemish on Genos performance wow you’re grasping at straws . It’s not Dee Jay throwing a pass but what eskridge is doing there instead of Walker is beyond me - didn’t even look like Eskridge expected it I flew into a rage . How come fat guy on couch senses the flow of the game better then OC . If they can’t stop you why get cute and stop yourself . Waldron has been great overall but every now and then it’s like WTF . That was one . Just run thr plays . We gave a good enough offense to do it without smoke and mirrors.

Yeah, it's easy to criticize a play that results in a turnover. That's the nice thing about being an armchair QB. We get to benefit from 20/20 hindsight. I have zero problem with Eskridge being in on that play. He's been a ball carrier before, on jet sweeps, and should be trusted to protect the ball. It wasn't a smoke and mirrors trick play, just one designed to give them a little different look, confuse them and make them think about what we were up to, throw them off their reads. The pitch was just slightly behind him, but he still should have caught it and secured the ball. 80% Eskridge, 20% Geno.

You're getting super sensitive about even the slightest criticism of Geno. You must have missed the part where I said "with few exceptions". No quarterback is perfect. Am I not allowed to offer any critiques of his play?

Nice to see the D clean up Genos mistake with the pick but it demonstrated Geno will throw into any window . Nice defensive play.

I really don't want to see Geno taking a lot of chances throwing into tight windows in the middle of the field like that. He's doing just fine playing within himself and taking what defenses give him.

And I thought you gave up on your 10 win minimum. Are you re-instating it again?

[NorthHawk]

Jumping out to a big lead early was huge. Geno's performance, although not eye popping, was decent. With a few exceptions, like the little pitch to Eskridge that was slightly behind him and the tight window throw that got deflected and intercepted, his effort was good enough to win.

I'm not sure that was Geno's fault. We don't know how the play was designed or practiced.
It could be that Eskridge was overexcited and was slightly out of position or jumped the gun by half a step causing the toss to be behind him.
That's a timing play and I can't remember them using it much if at all in any previous games. Then again, Geno might just have missed. We will never know for sure.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

Geno is playing much better than I expected. I am week-by-week losing that nagging feeling he’ll regress to his previous body of work. It was a far from a sure thing to bet on, but Geno clearly has turned a corner in his career. I love how he is just working the offense. Not playing hero ball or taking too many chances. Waldron has a qb instead of the other way around.

I fully expected a loss this week, so this was quite the welcome surprise. I couldn’t watch the game; didn’t anyone take notice of what was so different on defense? I know the play was better across the board, but why? I expected the chargers to make more plays and yards, even in the run game. I know the pundits said the chargers have no run game, but Eckeler feasted on some weak run defenses, which I would consider the Seahawks to have.

[RiverDog]

Jumping out to a big lead early was huge. Geno's performance, although not eye popping, was decent. With a few exceptions, like the little pitch to Eskridge that was slightly behind him and the tight window throw that got deflected and intercepted, his effort was good enough to win.

I'm not sure that was Geno's fault. We don't know how the play was designed or practiced.
It could be that Eskridge was overexcited and was slightly out of position or jumped the gun by half a step causing the toss to be behind him.
That's a timing play and I can't remember them using it much if at all in any previous games. Then again, Geno might just have missed. We will never know for sure.

That's true, we don't. But we also don't know to what degree Geno could have adjusted for Eskridge being slightly out of position, if that's what happened. Bottom line is that it was a fumbled exchange, and I'll stand by my 80/20 blame until I hear something definitive that makes me want to change my opinion.

Same goes for the interception. It wasn't that bad of a throw and I'm not saying that he shouldn't have given it a try. But it was a tight window in the middle of the field where things like that can happen, and we have to assign at least some of the blame on the guy that pulled the trigger. It was a calculated risk that just happened to turn up snake eyes.

But those are minor points not worth us quibbling over. Geno played a good game, and I'll leave it at that.

[RiverDog]

I fully expected a loss this week, so this was quite the welcome surprise. I couldn’t watch the game; didn’t anyone take notice of what was so different on defense? I know the play was better across the board, but why? I expected the chargers to make more plays and yards, even in the run game. I know the pundits said the chargers have no run game, but Eckeler feasted on some weak run defenses, which I would consider the Seahawks to have.

We got ahead early, taking a 3 score lead in the first quarter, which seemed to take the Chargers out of their game plan. The Chargers ran the ball just 12 times (less the 3 carries Herbet had), a run:pass ratio of 1 running play to every 4 passing attempts, or roughly 20% runs. For the season, the Bolts run the ball 45% of the time. I think that the Chargers gave up on the run way too early. Gotta give props to Geno and the offense.

The other thing that seems to have changed is our corners. Both seemed to have improved. Plus our pass rush seems to be more effective. Even when they didn't get home, they were batting down passes and harassing Herbert, who had one of his poorer games (I know, he's my FF QB ).

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

So was that a scheme change? Our corner play has been noticeable getting better every week, but the front seven has been struggling. Then here they are on the road and they stuff the run then apply pressure. I hope they can keep it up.

[Hawktawk]

Jumping out to a big lead early was huge. Geno's performance, although not eye popping, was decent. With a few exceptions, like the little pitch to Eskridge that was slightly behind him and the tight window throw that got deflected and intercepted, his effort was good enough to win.

I'm not sure that was Geno's fault. We don't know how the play was designed or practiced.
It could be that Eskridge was overexcited and was slightly out of position or jumped the gun by half a step causing the toss to be behind him.
That's a timing play and I can't remember them using it much if at all in any previous games. Then again, Geno might just have missed. We will never know for sure.

That's true, we don't. But we also don't know to what degree Geno could have adjusted for Eskridge being slightly out of position, if that's what happened. Bottom line is that it was a fumbled exchange, and I'll stand by my 80/20 blame until I hear something definitive that makes me want to change my opinion.

Same goes for the interception. It wasn't that bad of a throw and I'm not saying that he shouldn't have given it a try. But it was a tight window in the middle of the field where things like that can happen, and we have to assign at least some of the blame on the guy that pulled the trigger. It was a calculated risk that just happened to turn up snake eyes.

But those are minor points not worth us quibbling over. Geno played a good game, and I'll leave it at that.[/quote]


Regarding the Waldron brain cramp calling this pitch sweep to an injury prone 5’8 receiver this commentary makes my point . Pretty sure it’s the first time the play had been called on a second and 2 vs a team that wasn’t stopping us . And why send him in and immediately try the play ? The result was predictable due to a lack of practice and timing . Eskridge acted like he didn’t really expect it . Stick to jet sweeps and receptions which are improving under Geno but he’s not a tailback .

Overall just a great team win . Seattle is the buzz of the league . And no river I didn’t ever say we can’t win ten . I’m still on it . A couple more games like this one maybe I was a bit conservative .

And good for Pete Carrol . Talk about taking a beating for ten years because you held back Wilson , a sad sack washed up
Old has been coach playing out the string . Can’t draft or identify talent , game has passed him by blah blah blah blah . I think I had some predictions about that too . I’m in no hurry to trade our great coach for the next Nathaniel Hackett . And remember our defense improved immediately after mr Bruce Irvin entered the locker room .
HOF baby . Our coach is going after this year for sure .

[I-5]

Early on in the first couple gamers, both corners got penalized a LOT, but as one of the players said, that's how they're going to learn what gets called in the NFL...and now they are starting to get comfortable with the game at this level. Bryant doesn't get the spotlight, but he's showing his competitiveness, and both corners (including Jackson) have a nose for being around the ball.

[Aseahawkfan]

So was that a scheme change? Our corner play has been noticeable getting better every week, but the front seven has been struggling. Then here they are on the road and they stuff the run then apply pressure. I hope they can keep it up.

Seems the improved run defense has coincided with less play from Cody Barton. He was a weak link that compromised the defense. And the Chargers are a weak run team, but then again we were making no name RBs look amazing for a while there.

[RiverDog]

Early on in the first couple gamers, both corners got penalized a LOT, but as one of the players said, that's how they're going to learn what gets called in the NFL...and now they are starting to get comfortable with the game at this level. Bryant doesn't get the spotlight, but he's showing his competitiveness, and both corners (including Jackson) have a nose for being around the ball.

That's very true. But at this point, we don't have a large enough sample size to put a finger on a cause. Could this referee crew have allowed more contact than the others? Did our corners just happen to match up better with the Chargers receivers? Have they turned the corner, that their performance Sunday the start of a trend or was it just an anomaly?

[RiverDog]

So was that a scheme change? Our corner play has been noticeable getting better every week, but the front seven has been struggling. Then here they are on the road and they stuff the run then apply pressure. I hope they can keep it up.

I honestly couldn't tell you. The unfortunate thing about watching games on television, especially the way I watch games on Sunday mornings and afternoons, which is to multitask between watching the Hawks while I'm keeping tabs on the Red Zone, is that it doesn't offer much of an opportunity to make those kinds of kinds of determination. Once the play is over, my eyes pop back to the Red Zone. I'm busier than a one-armed ping-pong player with crabs.

[Aseahawkfan]

We'll see how this goes the rest of the year, but the Chargers are a good, not great team. They are the type of team to lay an egg against a team like Jacksonville losing 38-10, then beat someone else the shouldn't. So they are up and down. So this game is a hard to read game as to what it means in the morass of competition.

Now I want to see if the Giants are for real. 6 and1 Giants? I'm thinking smoke and mirrors and we can maybe shatter the mirror with the defense improving.

[RiverDog]

We'll see how this goes the rest of the year, but the Chargers are a good, not great team. They are the type of team to lay an egg against a team like Jacksonville losing 38-10, then beat someone else the shouldn't. So they are up and down. So this game is a hard to read game as to what it means in the morass of competition.

Now I want to see if the Giants are for real. 6 and1 Giants? I'm thinking smoke and mirrors and we can maybe shatter the mirror with the defense improving.

That same Jacksonville team that beat the hell out of the Chargers came within a yard of beating the Giants yesterday. That's what kind of whacky season it's been. I'm not sold on the Giants yet.

I'm not setting some sort of numerical standard as to when I think we're a legitimate contender. We were 12-4 and won our division just a couple of years ago, yet we were miles away from being a legitimate SB contender. I'll wait until I get that feeling, like I did in 2012 when we trashed the Niners in a late December regular season game. That's when I knew that we had something special.

[Old but Slow]

The most valuable player in the Chargers game was Neal. He was in a bunch of plays, got his young backfield into the right positions, and was a leader. He was exactly what the team needed. Without Jamal Adams, and with Diggs not playing as he has in the past, Neal was needed and he came through.

[Hawktawk]

The most valuable player in the Chargers game was Neal. He was in a bunch of plays, got his young backfield into the right positions, and was a leader. He was exactly what the team needed. Without Jamal Adams, and with Diggs not playing as he has in the past, Neal was needed and he came through.

Nailed it right there OBS. KJ said pre season the safety play would determine our defense and we suffered greatly losing Adams and having Diggs not himself . Neal has played balls out. Signing Irvin had to help , it’s why Pete signed him , leadership and experience . It looked like a different defense by a mile last 2 weeks winning big as underdogs , plenty good enough to win some playoff games if the offense keeps clicking . Lots of ifs but the week 7 snapshot is a team that’s going to be a tough out when we’re doing it with a brand new team in many ways . Pleased so far . Not shocked though .

[RiverDog]

The most valuable player in the Chargers game was Neal. He was in a bunch of plays, got his young backfield into the right positions, and was a leader. He was exactly what the team needed. Without Jamal Adams, and with Diggs not playing as he has in the past, Neal was needed and he came through.

Nailed it right there OBS. KJ said pre season the safety play would determine our defense and we suffered greatly losing Adams and having Diggs not himself . Neal has played balls out. Signing Irvin had to help , it’s why Pete signed him , leadership and experience . It looked like a different defense by a mile last 2 weeks winning big as underdogs , plenty good enough to win some playoff games if the offense keeps clicking . Lots of ifs but the week 7 snapshot is a team that’s going to be a tough out when we’re doing it with a brand new team in many ways . Pleased so far . Not shocked though .

I honestly don't think we lost that much when Adams went down. He was never much of a factor when he was healthy, especially in pass coverage where he was an obvious liability. He was a one trick pony. We are way better off with Ryan Neal in there, who as ObS has pointed out, had an awesome game, and he almost didn't play as he was supposedly "sick as a dog" a few hours before kickoff.

[Hawktawk]

I look at the play Adams got hurt where he was on Russ a second after the snap. Adams is a dynamic playmaker and we missed him greatly weeks 2 thru 5. We can debate he vs Neal and I hope you’re right he’s a better option . I know you’ve hated the trade from day one . But I love the kid , his attitude , his work ethic . Not having him on the roster doesn’t help the team , especially with what’s been paid in money and draft capital . But bottom line I’m a fan of the player and the personality .

Genuine as hell . I’ll never forget his post game comments after we clinched the division , so excited to get to play more , beat up from a hell of a year and record setting sack performance . I don’t judge his injuries any more than Penny or anyone else . Tragedy is too strong a word for sports but if we had those 2 guys healthy watch out . Watch out anyway . We have a top 5 rush offense , #9 scoring offense despite scoring 17 and 0 weeks 1-2. Our qb has the 4th highest total QBR in the league trailing only Mahomes , Allen , and Tua . Previous guy has sunk from 9 week one to 28 now . The last 2 games our D has looked as good as anyone .

Love to have Penny and Adams on this team . Like you say about your aunt …..

[RiverDog]

I agree completely that Adams has a fantastic attitude, is a great locker room guy, and that the team misses his presence. But those kinds of intangibles can only carry a player so far. With the exception of his first few games when our pass rush was so horrid and our defense was failing at a historic rate, he thrived in that vacuum. A good defense does not require a safety in order to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. Beyond those first few weeks in his first season, he hasn't done squat except get burned on passing plays and spent time in the hospital ward.

Take away that aspect of the game and it takes away Adams' fig leaf and exposes him as an ordinary to below average safety. Hopefully, Pete and John realize that and move away from him next season.

[Hawktawk]

[quote="RiverDog"]I agree completely that Adams has a fantastic attitude, is a great locker room guy, and that the team misses his presence. But those kinds of intangibles can only carry a player so far. With the exception of his first few games when our pass rush was so horrid and our defense was failing at a historic rate, he thrived in that vacuum. A good defense does not require a safety in order to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. Beyond those first few weeks in his first season, he hasn't done squat except get burned on passing plays and spent time in the hospital ward.

Take away that aspect of the game and it takes away Adams' fig leaf and exposes him as an ordinary to below average safety. Hopefully, Pete and John realize that and move away from him next season.[/quote ]


Great safety play makes a defense sound , almost more against the run then the pass. I agree with OBS having Neal step it up has helped the entire defense. The name Bob Sanders comes to mind. Safeties are the mop up crew, the backstop. I just dont agree the guy is below average. His pass coverage was improving and he had 2 picks when injured last year. Im sure Ill hear he missed a couple vs Denver. Whatever.
The trades been beat to death. Argument over. Adams is a guy the offense has to account for every play hes on the field. Hes just not there unfortunately. Im sure his career is over.

[Old but Slow]

In my fantasy life, Adams would be playing linebacker instead of Barton. Small for the position, but he is a hitter, and a smaller guy in the right place is always better than a bigger guy who hasn't a clue.

[NorthHawk]

[quote="Hawktawk"][quote="RiverDog"]I agree completely that Adams has a fantastic attitude, is a great locker room guy, and that the team misses his presence. But those kinds of intangibles can only carry a player so far. With the exception of his first few games when our pass rush was so horrid and our defense was failing at a historic rate, he thrived in that vacuum. A good defense does not require a safety in order to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. Beyond those first few weeks in his first season, he hasn't done squat except get burned on passing plays and spent time in the hospital ward.

Take away that aspect of the game and it takes away Adams' fig leaf and exposes him as an ordinary to below average safety. Hopefully, Pete and John realize that and move away from him next season.


Great safety play makes a defense sound , almost more against the run then the pass. I agree with OBS having Neal step it up has helped the entire defense. The name Bob Sanders comes to mind. Safeties are the mop up crew, the backstop. I just dont agree the guy is below average. His pass coverage was improving and he had 2 picks when injured last year. Im sure Ill hear he missed a couple vs Denver. Whatever.
The trades been beat to death. Argument over. Adams is a guy the offense has to account for every play hes on the field. Hes just not there unfortunately. Im sure his career is over.



He’s the master of the football off the face mask missed interception. He doesn’t have good ball skills and is too fragile to
play a hybrid LB/Safety. He made a name for himself rushing the passer, but that’s because the teams he’s played for
needed the help.
He’s really not that good of a Safety.

[Aseahawkfan]

I agree completely that Adams has a fantastic attitude, is a great locker room guy, and that the team misses his presence. But those kinds of intangibles can only carry a player so far. With the exception of his first few games when our pass rush was so horrid and our defense was failing at a historic rate, he thrived in that vacuum. A good defense does not require a safety in order to get consistent pressure on the quarterback. Beyond those first few weeks in his first season, he hasn't done squat except get burned on passing plays and spent time in the hospital ward.

Take away that aspect of the game and it takes away Adams' fig leaf and exposes him as an ordinary to below average safety. Hopefully, Pete and John realize that and move away from him next season.


Great safety play makes a defense sound , almost more against the run then the pass. I agree with OBS having Neal step it up has helped the entire defense. The name Bob Sanders comes to mind. Safeties are the mop up crew, the backstop. I just dont agree the guy is below average. His pass coverage was improving and he had 2 picks when injured last year. Im sure Ill hear he missed a couple vs Denver. Whatever.
The trades been beat to death. Argument over. Adams is a guy the offense has to account for every play hes on the field. Hes just not there unfortunately. Im sure his career is over.



He’s the master of the football off the face mask missed interception. He doesn’t have good ball skills and is too fragile to
play a hybrid LB/Safety. He made a name for himself rushing the passer, but that’s because the teams he’s played for
needed the help.
He’s really not that good of a Safety.

Jamal ain't Earl or Kam. A great safety helps make for a great secondary, but I'm still not sure what Jamal is or what Pete saw in him. Then again we have a really high bar at safety since we had one of the greatest safety tandems in NFL history. Earl and Kam were lightning and thunder. You want to throw into our secondary, you threw into a storm waiting to destroy you.

The trade Pete made had us all thinking we had the next Earl or Kam, but he isn't close to them. So it was disappointing.