Official Seahawks vs Lions Playoff POST Game Thread

[savvyman]

A nice victory with big positives from the ground game and an excellent performance by the Defense. Still worrisome about Russell's inconsistency and the slow starts from the offense. Some really bone-headed play calling tonight by Bevell. On to Atlanta for what will be a Major test of the Defense against the best pure passer in the NFL right now.

[burrrton]

RW looked tentative at times, missing wide open receivers with underthrows.

I have sinking feeling that Ryan will throw for 700 yards against that secondary and pass rush.

[HumanCockroach]

Same plan for Atlanta, best way to limit a potent offenses chance is to run the ball, run the ball, and then run the ball.

So......... I predict Bevell has a 85/15 pass to run ratio next game...

[burrrton]

Same plan for Atlanta, best way to limit a potent offenses chance is to run the ball, run the ball, and then run the ball.

So......... I predict Bevell has a 85/15 pass to run ratio next game...

Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Also won't surprise me if Ryan actually takes a pull off a water bottle during one of his dropbacks.

[Anthony]

23/30 76.6% complt, 2 tds 224 yards 119 Qb rating, 0 TOs he played great.

[Zorn76]

Final score wasn't quite indicative of how game went overall, but finally did put it away in the 4th.

- The Lions got to RW 3 or 4 times tonight for sacks, coming in as the lowest in the league in that category.
- RW's gotta get rid of it quicker a bit more. I know it's a trip for him to actually have a pocket to stand in, but his clock is running too slow at times. Get rid of it.
- Unbelievable game in terms of circus catches. Richardson...amazing, and ADB too.
- Great to see Rawls get off to a nice start.
- The early success of our rushing game helped offset some of the mistakes, and added some pep to our offensive step. Early momentum is key for anybody, but especially us.
- On to Atlanta...tough matchup, but we'll see how it goes. We have a shot. Very interested, too, in who prevails tomorrow between GB and G-men, with winner on to Dallas.

[Hawktawk]

I agree 100 % Zorn. The game was a 4 point game going to the 4th quarter and Seattle only led by 7 with less than a quarter to play. Russ was inconsistent early and the new miss is low. We had 100+ rushing yards and 7 points at halftime .
Russ threw a few in the dirt and was not consistently throwing guys open for a chance at yac.

Also he took at least one sack taking us out of fg range.
That said he is possibly the hottest 4th quarter qb in the league.
I loved his downfield block, something no other guy in the league would do.
Overall it ended well and Russ was lights out late in the game but the sluggish starts are maddening.

I don't want Anthony to ream me but for Seattle it isn't about getting to the second round. It's about a Lombardi and if they go in and put up 10 points in the first 48 minutes of the game they will get blown out of the water by Atlanta.

The 6 points on defense is a bit decieving as well. How many wide open balls did Lions receivers drop? 4 or 5? They better clean that up by Saturday or plan on scoring 40 plus or it's the offseason .

Way closer than the score but we will certainly take it.

overall great win and GO HAWKS!!!!!!

[RiverDog]

Final score wasn't quite indicative of how game went overall, but finally did put it away in the 4th.

- The Lions got to RW 3 or 4 times tonight for sacks, coming in as the lowest in the league in that category.
- RW's gotta get rid of it quicker a bit more. I know it's a trip for him to actually have a pocket to stand in, but his clock is running too slow at times. Get rid of it.
- Unbelievable game in terms of circus catches. Richardson...amazing, and ADB too.
- Great to see Rawls get off to a nice start.
- The early success of our rushing game helped offset some of the mistakes, and added some pep to our offensive step. Early momentum is key for anybody, but especially us.
- On to Atlanta...tough matchup, but we'll see how it goes. We have a shot. Very interested, too, in who prevails tomorrow between GB and G-men, with winner on to Dallas.

That's very close to how I saw it. It's the classic glass half empty and glass half full proposition. Detroit shot themselves in the foot, a couple of dropped passes (Tate) and some bone head penalties (Boldin) killed them. Despite our statistical dominance, it was a one score game going into the 4th. The Lions showed their hand on a key 4th and one. Hauschka missed another XP.

But on the other hand, Rawls was fantastic. That was the 'good' Rawls, and it was nice to see him jumping up and down after runs, full of piss and vinegar. Although as Zorny pointed out that Russell didn't do a great job of managing the pocket early, he played his designated role as a game manager very well, no turnovers, and for the most part made good decisions. The offense committed very few penalties and none that you could call drive killing. Our defense not only kept the Lions out of the end zone, they didn't even allow them inside the 30.

This was a good win, but it doesn't justify any of us doing back flips. Detroit was reeling, had come off of 3 straight losses to end the regular season and their quarterback, who was having an MVP type season a month ago, had an injured middle finger on his throwing hand. Our "vastly improved" offensive line had the best matchup they could possibly get against a defense that ranked DFL in quarterback pressures. We won a game at home against a team that was undeniably the worst playoff team in the conference.

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

Atlanta does concern me, when compared to Detroit, for a couple of reasons:

1. Atlanta WRs probably won't have the drops that the Detroit WRs had.
2. Atlanta is a dome team that gets to play in their dome.

Great to see a win, though, especially with the running game showing up.

[Agent 86]

Was anyone else a little surprised that Hutch raised the flag last night? Don't get me wrong, he deserved it, but given how he left here, my first thought was he should have done that in a regular season game, not a playoff game. I am sure there were a few fans there who when they saw Hutch was doing it, their thoughts went to "poison pill" and not of all the dominating years Hutch provided.

I don't know, just thought that was strange timing for him to raise the flag.

[burrrton]

I am sure there were a few fans there who when they saw Hutch was doing it, their thoughts went to "poison pill" and not of all the dominating years Hutch provided.

We don't have to re-litigate it, but I confess to being one of these fans.

[Hawk Sista]

I was pissed to see him raise the flag and I know I need to get over it - it's been 11 years or so. But when I saw him, my first thought was huck futch. Immature I know. I also was worried he'd bring weird poison pill mojo.

[burrrton]

Final score wasn't quite indicative of how game went overall, but finally did put it away in the 4th.

Yes, and there are lingering worries (in my mind) about our offense.

Anyone remember RW scrambling forward then underthrowing an open Graham? It's uncharacteristic of what I've come to expect from Russell, and I can't tell if he's tentative or was just trying to be extra fine with it (as in: "my guy may not catch this, but I KNOW the defenders won't").

Another example: the last TD that ADB 'stole' from Kearse- it worked out, but why in God's name do we have two receivers on top of each other? We've got guys running the wrong routes at the end of the 17th game of the season?

I'm probably being too hypercritical, but I thought the offense, outside of a running game that looked more like an anomaly to me than a resurgence, still looked shaky.

[Uppercut]

I had those thoughts about Hutch but too had a thought he should suit up and play.

[monkey]

Wouldn't surprise me a bit.

Also won't surprise me if Ryan actually takes a pull off a water bottle during one of his dropbacks.

That would absolutely shock me because the Falcons o line is really awful.
The Falcons can run the ball, unlike Detroit, and have a much more potent offense, our defense will be put to its biggest test this year. Our one big advantage is their o line stinks.
Our offense though, should have its way with the Falcons defense that has trouble stopping the run. This could be the best, closest and most exciting game of the whole post season.

[Hawktawk]

Ryan sharts himself in the postseason. 1 and 4 and the only win had more to do with PC and Bradley's f ups than anything heroic he did.

I'll reserve judgement. My guess is Atlana is peeing down their collective pants leg looking at this matchup against the most battle tested and successful playoff team left in the tournament .

I'm not going to be shocked by either outcome but I like this game better than playing Carolina in a mudhole with 6 inch long turf where there was grass left .

Russ likes domes too.
Keep the faith brothers and sisters .

[MackStrongIsMyHero]

I will say that this time in Atlanta, as opposed to Wilson's rookie year, the Seahawks have all of their top pass rushers. Not relying solely on Chris Clemons this go 'round.

[Anthony]

I agree 100 % Zorn. The game was a 4 point game going to the 4th quarter and Seattle only led by 7 with less than a quarter to play. Russ was inconsistent early and the new miss is low. We had 100+ rushing yards and 7 points at halftime .
Russ threw a few in the dirt and was not consistently throwing guys open for a chance at yac.

Also he took at least one sack taking us out of fg range.
That said he is possibly the hottest 4th quarter qb in the league.
I loved his downfield block, something no other guy in the league would do.
Overall it ended well and Russ was lights out late in the game but the sluggish starts are maddening.

I don't want Anthony to ream me but for Seattle it isn't about getting to the second round. It's about a Lombardi and if they go in and put up 10 points in the first 48 minutes of the game they will get blown out of the water by Atlanta.

The 6 points on defense is a bit decieving as well. How many wide open balls did Lions receivers drop? 4 or 5? They better clean that up by Saturday or plan on scoring 40 plus or it's the offseason .

Way closer than the score but we will certainly take it.

overall great win and GO HAWKS!!!!!!

I am not going to ream anyone, I have gotten used the few in here who feel the need to point out every little flaw with Wilson. Last I checked a game is 4 qtrs, so I will wait to see the over all stats not just say well Wilson missed a wide open Wr for the 8th time in the last 1 second of the 2nd qtr when 3 wr are on the field or some stupid crap like that again 23/30 76.6% complt, 2 tds 224 yards 119 Qb rating, 0 TOs he played great. those are facts and they say he played a great GAME. I actually laugh at them how eager they are to point out and go into detail about a bad qtr or whatever and then how little they say how great the rest was. Well I laugh at the ones I have not foed yet that is.They talk about a few in the dirt or whatever, but hey let's forget the 2 drops. Its so pathetic it is laughable. Every Qb misses a few every game, every QB throws some high, some low in every game. Every Qb makes mistakes even Brady, Rodgers everyone. Its laughable. Pathetic but laughable. But hey whatever makes their day. Me I will just laugh and remind them 23/30 76.6% complt, 2 tds 224 yards 119 Qb rating, 0 TOs he played great.

[Hawktawk]

He played excellent late in the game without a doubt. It's just the brutally slow starts that get the team behind the 8 ball. It's not his fault entirely but your 2 drops were extremely low throws to wide open guys. I know if you can touch it you should catch it but the throws were not good. And why the love affair with kearse?
Get him off the field so Russ can't target him at all.

I love Russ but you can't have over 100 + rushing yards at halftime and 7 points. You can't have the defense hold a team to 6 points and have a 4 point lead in the 4th quarter. It worked against Detroit but it likely wil not from this round on.

His stats and rating were even better against Az but when he finally turned on the jets it was just too late which is why we are not the 2.
The team will have a hell of a time advancing further if this slow start pattern on offense continues. It's as much on Bevell and the rest of the players on offense as Russ but it has to improve.

[Anthony]

He played excellent late in the game without a doubt. It's just the brutally slow starts that get the team behind the 8 ball. It's not his fault entirely but your 2 drops were extremely low throws to wide open guys. I know if you can touch it you should catch it but the throws were not good. And why the love affair with kearse?
Get him off the field so Russ can't target him at all.

I love Russ but you can't have over 100 + rushing yards at halftime and 7 points. You can't have the defense hold a team to 6 points and have a 4 point lead in the 4th quarter. It worked against Detroit but it likely wil not from this round on.

His stats and rating were even better against Az but when he finally turned on the jets it was just too late which is why we are not the 2.
The team will have a hell of a time advancing further if this slow start pattern on offense continues. It's as much on Bevell and the rest of the players on offense as Russ but it has to improve.

Agreed on slow starts but how much of that is the play calling, how much is those stupid scripted plays, how much was 3rd and long, how much is Rw not knowing what his oline will give him, they said on ESPN last night Wilson was under pressure on 67% of his drop backs in the 1st half. Yo know PC has said they use the first half to probe and then adjust in the 2nd, That lends itself to slow starts deal with it. Now as to the drops, hmm so while it should have been caught as the announcers said, reality they should have been caught period. You do know sometimes it's thrown low for a reason, The one Baldwin dropped was thrown low, If you relook at it had he thrown it normal Baldwin would have taken a huge hit, by throwing it low he lets Baldwin catch it and avoid the hit, Sometimes a throw is made to protect your WR as well. So again as I said we are talking about how he played in the game which was great. Not how he played on a few isolated plays. I mean how anally stupid are some people where not only do we want to win, but we have to win a certain way, and not only does a QB have to complete 76% of his passes, throw for 2 tds and a qb rating of 119 but he has to do it in a way that passes some idiots eye test. Like I said pathetic but funny. FYI we had 10 at halftime not 7. But hey thanks for the laughs

[Hawktawk]

Yeah ok they had 10'starting the 4th quarter too. Anthony you make excellent points and I really agree on most of it but you discount momentum completely. Had Detroit recievers squeezed about 5 accurate throws when wide open and shead doesn't get a gift on an obvious tackle of a receiver deep in our territory it would have been a different story.

You need to do a little comprehensive reading. I pointed out problems on both sides of the ball not just Wilson. I love the guy and would not trade him for another guy in the league but I will analyze every aspect of this team without such a man crush on Wilson I'm blind. That's what you do.

Thanks for the laughs indeed
GO HAWKS!!!!

[c_hawkbob]

That was NOT a close game, even when it was close on the scoreboard.

We were doing virtually everything we wanted to do defensively and in the running game a even though he was off early Russ wasn't doing anything to hurt us despite was getting killed with their pass rush. Then in the second half the fact that we'd been so dominant running the ball in the first half is what opened up the play action game and the score opened up just as anyone that knew what they were watching had to expect it to ... It would have taken a fluke second half for us to have lost that game.

[c_hawkbob]

That was NOT a close game, even when it was close on the scoreboard.

We were doing virtually everything we wanted to do defensively and in the running game, and even though he was off early Russ wasn't doing anything to hurt us despite was getting killed with their pass rush. Then in the second half the fact that we'd been so dominant running the ball in the first half is what opened up the play action game and the score opened up just as anyone that knew what they were watching had to expect it to ... It would have taken a fluke second half for us to have lost that game.

[burrrton]

and shead doesn't get a gift on an obvious tackle of a receiver deep in our territory it would have been a different story.

This is one of the things wearing me out about Conventional Wisdom around the Seahawks lately. That was not a gift- it was typically ignored call.

Exhibit 2 is Richardson's facemask- Twitter lit up and Collinsworth/NBC mentioned it and replayed it every 10 minutes for the rest of the game, but did you hear a *word* about Richardson having a similar uncalled facemask committed against him later? No.

I could go on for virtually every "unfair" call.

Games aren't turned by shitty officiating, which happens all the time now- they're turned by *one-sided* officiating.

[HumanCockroach]

Games aren't turned by shitty officiating, which happens all the time now- they're turned by *one-sided* officiating.

Uh huh...

[burrrton]

That was NOT a close game, even when it was close on the scoreboard.

Fair, but it seems to me like the GB/SEA NFCCG a couple years ago- if GB had gone on to win, many would be saying what you do- SEA hadn't done much, yeah the score was close but one team had dominated, etc, so it wasn't *really* that close a game.

But a close score is a close score- doesn't matter who was dominating the stats any more than a Presidential election cares about the popular vote totals.

[Hawktawk]

Yeah hindsight is 20 20 but a 4 point lead with 14 minutes to play is way too tight. Detroit was a team with an NFL record 8 comebacks in the 4th quarter. And our d in the first half didn't stop Stafford from expertly avoiding sacks and dropping dimes on wide open recievers who dropped at least 4. I think it's a bit disengenuos to say it wasn't nerve racking until the final few minutes.

A reminder about how slow starts affected the current group of players in the upcoming round.

How did 2012 in Atlanta go being shut out in the first half ? How about Carolina last year? MOF The 2014 conference championship worked out only due to an incredible day by our defense and an even more incredible day by our ST units.Russ took full advantage of his chance at redemption to be fair.

Even in the super bowl season the anemic offense vs the saints in the second round meant they held on for dear life after the saints recovered an onside kick with a chance to tie late. They trailed the game 10 zip in the Nfc title game and won by converting a touchdown on 4 th and 7 and barely withstanding a furious last minute rally and the famous tip pick mediocre reciever play.

It's the NFL. A one score game in the 4th quarter is one play from being tied I don't give a damn who you are playing.

[savvyman]

That was NOT a close game, even when it was close on the scoreboard.

LOL - OK - Interesting way of interpreting facts.

I would not be surprised if head coaches throughout the NFL start quoting your wise words to calm their teams when they are ahead in close, tense, high stakes ball games.....

[Hawktawk]

Yeah lol.^^^^^^what about 2 blown 17 point 4th quarter leads last season. In the bag right?

If Seattle has the field position and down and distance to score 40 I'd prefer it to 26. I think this offense if consistent could lead the league in points. Hopefully they blow the lid off from here on out.

[Zorn76]

To put it another way...we should've been up 21-6 or so entering the 4th.
That's the kind of team that we used to see more often in these (playoff) circumstances.

Detroit had No business being in the game in the 4th quarter.
None.
But, there they were, because our team - while good - simply doesn't close out games the way they should.

That said, I absolutely believe they have a good shot in Atlanta.
This is the Falcons biggest game in several years. They should be fired up for this, but so will we.

Rawls is the key. Get him going early, but maintain some kind of balance. I would love to see us dink and dunk more passing wise, particularly in the 1sht half, to get RW some rhythm. There is still enough team mojo to pull this one off, though it should be close.

[RiverDog]

To put it another way...we should've been up 21-6 or so entering the 4th.
That's the kind of team that we used to see more often in these (playoff) circumstances.

Detroit had No business being in the game in the 4th quarter.
None.
But, there they were, because our team - while good - simply doesn't close out games the way they should.

That said, I absolutely believe they have a good shot in Atlanta.
This is the Falcons biggest game in several years. They should be fired up for this, but so will we.

Rawls is the key. Get him going early, but maintain some kind of balance. I would love to see us dink and dunk more passing wise, particularly in the 1sht half, to get RW some rhythm. There is still enough team mojo to pull this one off, though it should be close.

Absolutely true. We were no doubt the better team and were playing the better game. But we have to put opponents away instead of letting them hang around like we did against Detroit. All it would have taken was some whacky play that went Detroit's way for them to get back in it. The NFCCG vs. the Packers is a classic example of a team dominating 3.5 quarters yet letting their opponent hang around.

Agreed about Rawls, too. He's the difference maker.

[Hawktawk]

Last year vs Detroit Seattle was seemingly in control of a low scoring slug fest. Russ gets stripped and its returned for a TD. Uh oh!!!
We remember the finish don't we? Its a loss without an incredible play by Chancellor inches from the goal and a blown call on a batted ball by KJ.

Look I had a heart attack last thursday. I cant take this cardiac kids routine. I need some relaxing blowouts.

[NorthHawk]

Re: Saturdays game against the Lions:

This game, the Offense showed up and especially the OL in the run game.
I read a report yesterday that Cable had the OL out on the field a few hours prior to kickoff and went over the assignments to reinforce what they wanted to do.
It also said they took out (or limited) some of the side to side ZBS concepts in favor of more straight ahead drive blocking. I think this is something a young line full of aggressive players needs to do more.
Not only is a ZBS more complicated in that better timing is required, but it takes more practice to get it to work properly. That's time the CBA minimizes.
So for young players learning how to play in the NFL (who according to Cable don't have the proper training at the College level anymore), it might be better for them to go to a simpler blocking system where their power can be used to its best advantage.

[Hawktawk]

I hate zone blocking. I like combination blocks and traps and pulls and as you say straight ahead mano e mano.

[Mo the Toe]

Glad your feeling better and got to watch the game HT. Your not joking though sometimes this game can affect the body and soul. If Hawks D can plays like it did the first 3 quarters of their last meeting they should take care of business. The playoffs are a different intensity and the Hawks have the experience to use that to they're advantage. Stay healthy bud! Go Hawks

[Anthony]

Yeah ok they had 10'starting the 4th quarter too. Anthony you make excellent points and I really agree on most of it but you discount momentum completely. Had Detroit recievers squeezed about 5 accurate throws when wide open and shead doesn't get a gift on an obvious tackle of a receiver deep in our territory it would have been a different story.

You need to do a little comprehensive reading. I pointed out problems on both sides of the ball not just Wilson. I love the guy and would not trade him for another guy in the league but I will analyze every aspect of this team without such a man crush on Wilson I'm blind. That's what you do.

Thanks for the laughs indeed
GO HAWKS!!!!

That's great but again PC has said it they use the 1sy half to probe and then make adjustments, if the probing does not work they do little till the adjust if it does they move it so take it up with PC. Since we are playing what if, what if the 2-3 drops don't happen, what if they make their adjustments sooner, etc etc.

[Hawktawk]

They need to use the first half to score 28 points, not probe. Its ridiculous and it's on bevfool.
The more time he's had with Wilson the more inconsistent the offense has become week to week.
This in spite of a qb who runs 4.4, generally takes good care of the ball and throws one of the sweetest balls in the league. We have great recievers, a top 3 tight end, a rapidly improving line and a back in Rawls that tore the league a new one last year.
Bevell has lots of good plays. It just seems like it's the 4th quarter before he gets to them. On the job training might work against the 9ers or lambs but it won't work next week.

[RiverDog]

Look I had a heart attack last thursday.

I wish you would have said something. You're like family to me.

I assume by your continued posting that you are doing well. Is that a fair assumption?

[EmeraldBullet]

Jeez, have a fast recovery Hawktawk. Let us all know if you need anything, this is a community here.

[Hawktawk]

[quote="RiverDog"]

I wish you would have said something. You're like family to me.

I assume by your continued posting that you are doing well. Is that a fair assumption?[/quote.

We are all family buddy. The last 5 days have put a football game in the proper perspective. I'm really doing well and thankful to be alive.
One other thing for my friends . If you have discomfort in your chest get help immediately . I spent 3 hours eating tums trying to convince myself it was indigestion . If I'd waited another half hour the HT would have fallen silent forever.
They had defibrillator pads on me and dumping nitroglycerin the moment I hit the gurney.
It's all good.i just need some blowout wins this year.