Seahawks vs Detroit

[politicalfootball]

Detroit lions played a great game last Sunday and will be ready for us but I think we will beat them by a couple of touchdowns. We Are better than in the beginning of the season this year. I think this could be a building block game and send us to the top tier of NFL teams.

Seahawks 35 Detroit 21

[politicalfootball]

Detroit lions played a good game last Sunday but they are not as good as us. I think we can beat them with our running game. And I predict Frank Clark gets 2 sacks in our win.

[Uppercut]

Hope you are right!

I watched the game and the Lions had a great one both in passing and running.

What is PC record after the break?

[HumanCockroach]

I want to say 7 and 3?? Maybe 6 and 4 .. not dominant, but fairly good, at least in comparison to Holmgren and co...

[Anthony]

Hope you are right!

I watched the game and the Lions had a great one both in passing and running.

What is PC record after the break?

I think we have a great chance at this one. Also for the rest of the season most of our games after this are at home, and other than the Rams no one is really killing it.

[RiverDog]

This is a fork in the road game IMO. We've beaten some pretty bad teams in the Cards and Raiders and have yet to beat a team with a winning record so we haven't had that true yardstick by which to judge ourselves on. The Lions, much like us, have won 3 of their last 4 and have a veteran quarterback that has the ability to shred a young secondary. Beating them on the road would be a significant achievement.

If we win this one, then I'm revising my forecast upwards. I'm still of the opinion that we are not a playoff quality team but I agree with Anthony in that outside the Rams, a team we barely lost to, no one in the NFC looks very intimidating.

[idhawkman]

This is a fork in the road game IMO. We've beaten some pretty bad teams in the Cards and Raiders and have yet to beat a team with a winning record so we haven't had that true yardstick by which to judge ourselves on. The Lions, much like us, have won 3 of their last 4 and have a veteran quarterback that has the ability to shred a young secondary. Beating them on the road would be a significant achievement.

If we win this one, then I'm revising my forecast upwards. I'm still of the opinion that we are not a playoff quality team but I agree with Anthony in that outside the Rams, a team we barely lost to, no one in the NFC looks very intimidating.

Really? I think the Saints are fairly impressive this year. After that though, I am not too impressed. I was concerned about the Vikes until they laid that egg against the Bills. We can be as good as or better than any other team in the NFC. We probably won't catch the Rams unless they lose someone for off field issues or an injury - NEITHER OF WHICH I WOULD WANT OR WISH FOR ANYONE.We appear to finally be getting healthy and we have to stay that way, too.

[obiken]

Yeah I looked on this as a walk over game earlier in the year. Now I still thing we will win it but it will be tough.

[RiverDog]

Really? I think the Saints are fairly impressive this year.

"Fairly" is the key word. Yes, they're on a nice roll, winning 5 straight, thanks in no small part to Justin Tucker missing his first XP in a thousand attempts or something. Get back with me in another month after they've played the Vikings, Rams, and Eagles.

[idhawkman]

"Fairly" is the key word. Yes, they're on a nice roll, winning 5 straight, thanks in no small part to Justin Tucker missing his first XP in a thousand attempts or something. Get back with me in another month after they've played the Vikings, Rams, and Eagles.

Touche'

[jshawaii22]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/seahawks-beat-lions-thanks-to-illegal-batted-ball-play-5-things-to-know/

This is what I remembered about the last time we played Detroit --- I had never heard of a "batted ball rule" Welcome back KJ!

If we don't win this week, we could be 3-6 in a blink. San Diego is real good and will be real tough. Rams, ugggg.

[RiverDog]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/seahawks-beat-lions-thanks-to-illegal-batted-ball-play-5-things-to-know/

This is what I remembered about the last time we played Detroit --- I had never heard of a "batted ball rule" Welcome back KJ!

If we don't win this week, we could be 3-6 in a blink. San Diego is real good and will be real tough. Rams, ugggg.

That play happened right in front of me as I had secured some tickets from a friend who had season tickets in the Hawks nest. As the article said, it was a judgement call, and one of those where the 'by the book' ruling would have been to give the Lions the ball at the point of the fumble but that the 'spirit of the rule', ie batting the ball (KJ just flicked it with a finger) to prevent an opponent from getting to it. There wasn't another Lion player within 10 yards, and KJ's action did not prevent an opposing player from recovering it.

That was a big boo-boo on Pete and his staff as they did not know the rules and had instructed their players to do exactly what KJ did in that situation. The play could have very well gone against us.

[Hawktawk]

Their coach has game planned against our offense a couple of times...... Seriously though if seattle can run the ball like they have been, solidify the LOB revised version and Russ can keep being deadly efficient they can beat anyone including the rams. Everyone will be as healthy as they have been all year and KJ was lights out in the preseason. Look out. A win sunday and maybe it's not a rebuilding year at all...

[c_hawkbob]

Can't believe no posts here about that game ... Huge win! On the road, against a quality opponent and we fairly dominated them with running game! What a performance by our O-line and Carson.

Also, great coaching and a perfect day from Russ ... very enjoyable game!

And now we're 4-3 with 6 of our last 9 games at home. This could be fun

[idhawkman]

Can't believe no posts here about that game ... Huge win! On the road, against a quality opponent and we fairly dominated them with running game! What a performance by our O-line and Carson.

Also, great coaching and a perfect day from Russ ... very enjoyable game!

And now we're 4-3 with 6 of our last 9 games at home. This could be fun

The most enjoyable part of it was not waiting until the 4th qtr to start playing. It was actually nice having a 2 or 3 score lead most of the game.

[Aseahawkfan]

The most enjoyable part of it was not waiting until the 4th qtr to start playing. It was actually nice having a 2 or 3 score lead most of the game.

That's what happens when you have a run game. Your offense can dictate and get in rhythm forcing the defense to defend the run and the pass.

[Hawktawk]

How about "big balls" Michael Dickson. Apparently he was being asked to simply run out of the end zone for a safety but Carroll had asked him at the airport in london "when are you just going to run it?" 2 weeks later he saw an opening and sealed the win.Apparently Carroll said a couple of swear words then started cheering on the sidelines. Play of the game IMO and there were plenty to choose from.The dude can run as well as he punts. The pick makes a lot of sense now, much more than Penney at this point.

Carson is simply a man among boys, beautiful to watch do his work and he's only really played a few games in his pro career. He's going to go off one of these games and I mean OFF...Got to give JS some props on his selection here. Looks like another steal. Lockett is earning his dough as well and Moore looks like a seasoned veteran, explosive and sure handed. Its good because Doug isn't quite doug yet but still had a huge squeeze.

It wasn't a perfect game. Bungling first and goal from the 7 and getting no points was bad but on the whole the offense is the most balanced and effective I've seen since the last quarter season in 2012. The D is bringing the lumber. Special teams is obviously beyond solid other than some coverage issues one of which resulted in a fumble anyway.

Look out. The Hawks are sneaking up the charts as a team to be reckoned with. Far above my expectations for this season. Great win and bring on the next great test SD.

6 of last 9 at home.

[RiverDog]

The Chargers are two years displaced from SD, Hawktalk. They're the LA Chargers now.

I said before the game that this would be one of those fork in the road games, and in my mind, that's exactly what it was. It wasn't a signature win, but as Cbob stated, we pretty much dominated a very good Lions team that was on a bit of a roll themselves and did so in their house. The offensive line is playing exceptionally well, we've found our replacement for Beast, and Russell is playing some of the best football of his career.

I still think that our defense is suspect, that a good veteran quarterback like Rivers or Rodgers can pick it apart and make life miserable for us, but with the offense playing like it has been, ie a strong running game with Russell not commiting turnovers or taking stupid sacks, it can minimize the deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball. IMO we're one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the conference and have a good shot at making a deep run in the playoffs. Game on!

I'm glad to hear that the fake punt was not a coaching decision. Someone really needs to give Dickson a vasectomy. That had to be the dumbest move since Garo Yepremian.

[idhawkman]

How about "big balls" Michael Dickson. Apparently he was being asked to simply run out of the end zone for a safety but Carroll had asked him at the airport in london "when are you just going to run it?" 2 weeks later he saw an opening and sealed the win.Apparently Carroll said a couple of swear words then started cheering on the sidelines. Play of the game IMO and there were plenty to choose from.The dude can run as well as he punts. The pick makes a lot of sense now, much more than Penney at this point.

I only saw the cheering on the sideline from Carroll on T.V. Give Penny some time. He'll polish up just as shiny as promised, IMO.

Carson is simply a man among boys, beautiful to watch do his work and he's only really played a few games in his pro career. He's going to go off one of these games and I mean OFF...Got to give JS some props on his selection here. Looks like another steal. Lockett is earning his dough as well and Moore looks like a seasoned veteran, explosive and sure handed. Its good because Doug isn't quite doug yet but still had a huge squeeze.

I think the second half of the season is where most RBs make their big games because defenses have suffered some injury losses and are playing nicked up as the season goes along. That said, our Oline and Carson also need to stay healthy but even if Carson gets nicked we have two more to use that we didn't have previously.

It wasn't a perfect game. Bungling first and goal from the 7 and getting no points was bad but on the whole the offense is the most balanced and effective I've seen since the last quarter season in 2012. The D is bringing the lumber. Special teams is obviously beyond solid other than some coverage issues one of which resulted in a fumble anyway.

Look out. The Hawks are sneaking up the charts as a team to be reckoned with. Far above my expectations for this season. Great win and bring on the next great test SD.

6 of last 9 at home.

I really wanted them to kick the FG from the 1. That would have put us up 3 scores at 24 to 7 and it was the end of the 3rd qtr. It worked out anyway but a little better game management would go a long way for Carroll - not that we didn't know this anyways.

[idhawkman]

I said before the game that this would be one of those fork in the road games, and in my mind, that's exactly what it was. It wasn't a signature win, but as Cbob stated, we pretty much dominated a very good Lions team that was on a bit of a roll themselves and did so in their house. The offensive line is playing exceptionally well, we've found our replacement for Beast, and Russell is playing some of the best football of his career.

You packed a lot into that one paragraph Riv. I agree it wasn't signature but it was critical in that we (as you and Cbob put it) dominated them in their house but to add to that in the early time zone against a team that like only one or two people thought we'd even win against.

I know Anthony is going to jump all over this but I think it is safe to say that RW can not carry this team on his own shoulders. He MUST have a run game to be extremely effective. He can be successful without a run game but it is a coin toss as to whether we win or not without a run game. With a run game, I'd put us up against anyone else in the league

I still think that our defense is suspect, that a good veteran quarterback like Rivers or Rodgers can pick it apart and make life miserable for us, but with the offense playing like it has been, ie a strong running game with Russell not commiting turnovers or taking stupid sacks, it can minimize the deficiencies on the defensive side of the ball. IMO we're one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the conference and have a good shot at making a deep run in the playoffs. Game on!

Yes, I think Rodgers or Rivers can beat anyone but they have to be perfect and work their way down the field against this defense. That's what makes it so hard for any team. They have to be patient, have to take the dump offs for 4-6 yards and not make any drops or mistakes or penalties. That's a hard order to fill on a consistent basis. We'll get more and more confident in our defense as we play more and more games and they continue to step up.

I'm glad to hear that the fake punt was not a coaching decision. Someone really needs to give Dickson a vasectomy. That had to be the dumbest move since Garo Yepremian.

I don't think it was dumb at all. I still think if someone was even close to stopping him before the 1st down marker he would have ran OB or rugby kicked the ball. It was only because it was so wide open for him that he took off. That said, I think he needs a wheel barrell today to carry his cods around.

[The POPE]

Several thoughts on the game.
1. Dickson needs to have his ass chewed for his little stunt. Yeah it worked, but it could have been bad (see GB and Montgomery). No need to go cowboy at that point in the game.
2. Pete once again had a TIA when he didn’t kick the field goal. Take a 3 score lead and get the hell out of Dodge. Cmon man
3. I totally agree that Russell needs the running game to be successful consistently. Almost any QB does. Russell is at his best when the defense has to play honest and respect the run. Russell is playing pretty much lights out since the run game has been revived. We will see what happens when it gets shut down, because somebody will scheme and have some success to take it away in the next several games. How will Wilson respond? Looks like his hammy is doing better.
4. The defense is responding and making plays. The run game is also key to the defense. Eat the clock and keep the defense on the sideline. That is “Peteball”. Looks like the plan is coming together, but this next month is going to be tough.

[NorthHawk]

I think it was higher risk than it needed to be and he did risk injury being a punter and all...

Regarding the game, the Defense played kind of like I expected for this year. They were generally good, but made some glaring mistakes (Thompson not getting deep enough on the Detroit first TD and Griffin letting his man go without there being someone to cover him deep for another TD). The pass rush was better than expected and the run Defense was pretty good,
In all, I'm impressed at how much Reed has improved and I want to keep an eye on Jacob Martin. He flashed a couple of times and might be a longer term answer in a rotation when Rasheen Green and him (along with Clark) have developed more.

The OL did well again with a lot of push, and I hope Carson can stay healthy considering he doesn't shy from contact. It's amazing how good the Offense plays when the threat of a run at any time affects the opposing Defense.
Moore looks like a star in the making and Dickson looked good for his first game.

We have a tough stretch of games coming up, but many are at home so I hope we win at least half of them, but the next 4 games should tell us how good this team really is.

[RiverDog]

I don't care how you spin it, Dickson's fake punt was STUPID and could have been a disaster. He's not a running back, a receiver, or quarterback. He's a frigging punter, and he's not used to running with the ball. Suppose he stumbled and fell before getting the first down? Do you remember Jon Ryan's fake punt a few years ago and how he started bobbling the ball? Dickson needs some extremely stiff discipline.

I agree with Idahawk that Russell is not the type of QB that can carry a team ala Aaron Rodgers, but he's damn effective in the role he's been asked to play for this team. Especially for a run first offense, it is absolutely critical that he not turn the ball over or make mistakes that puts us behind the chains. A run first team simply can't afford to shoot themselves in the foot, ie penalties, turnovers, big losses, as it takes them out of their element. That's how we lost the Rams game, via successive false start and holding penalties. That's the biggest thing that I had liked about Russell over other quarterbacks in his first couple of years, his ball security, and the one thing that caused me to question his effectiveness in the past couple of seasons and in our first two games. As much blame as some of us gave him...everyone except for one poster, that is...for the OL's woes, he deserves at least some credit for their improved performance over the past 5 games.

[jshawaii22]

The only reason Dickson is being talked about is because he got lucky and it worked. if you watched GB -Rams you saw the opposite happen when a player ignores the coach and decides to 'be a hero' .... Ty Montgomery is now being run out of GB. It's only a great play when it works. As River said, DUMB PLAY by a rookie and it could of cost of the game.

On another note, the 4th qtr was terrible. Russell had 12 passes at 1/2 time and only a couple more for the game. Detroit killed themselves with turnovers, and if we were playing a better team, we could of easily lost the game. I just don't get not trying to move the ball and score more points when we had them down and out at 1/2 time.

[idhawkman]

Yeah, ok. I can see everyone's point on Dickson but looking for the silver lining, the coaches can use it as a strongly put example of what not to do even though it worked this time. I'd rather have it as that then a see what happened when you did that?

Regarding RW, I was hoping he would be able to carry the team after Beast left but that is not a terrible thing. We just need to keep within our schemes and make sure we provide RW with a viable run game. I'd be good with a few more lombardi's with a QB that needs a run game is very effecient when he has that.

[Aseahawkfan]

Yeah, ok. I can see everyone's point on Dickson but looking for the silver lining, the coaches can use it as a strongly put example of what not to do even though it worked this time. I'd rather have it as that then a see what happened when you did that?

Regarding RW, I was hoping he would be able to carry the team after Beast left but that is not a terrible thing. We just need to keep within our schemes and make sure we provide RW with a viable run game. I'd be good with a few more lombardi's with a QB that needs a run game is very effecient when he has that.

I'd rather have this as well since very few QBs can win it all without a run game. Every single dynasty and back to back team in history had a great run game, even the Tom Brady Patriots with their first three Super Bowl wins had a run game to help the QB. It's literally a necessity to be more than a one off team. Run game and defense with a very efficient, clutch QB is literally the mix for dynasty.

[trents]

TV commentators indicated they thought Dickson had been given the option by Pete to run instead of punt if there space. Did either Pete or Dickson deny that? Was that question asked by post game interviewers?

[jshawaii22]

I'm pretty sure Pete said after the game that he told Dickson to run out of bounds for a safety. That would indicate that running from your endzone wasn't an option, but you never know with Pete. He likes to do a lot of "fake" news.

[mykc14]

TV commentators indicated they thought Dickson had been given the option by Pete to run instead of punt if there space. Did either Pete or Dickson deny that? Was that question asked by post game interviewers?

I would say that there is no way PC or any other coach would give the punter the green light there. Logically if a coach were willing to take a safety there rather than risk a return/blocked punt/or the advantageous field position the other team would get from the Hawks punting from their own end zone then there is no way they would be willing to risk the field position that a failed fake punt would give the other team. I know PC is crazy at times and can make a few ‘hormonal’ mistakes from time to time but there is no way he would risk that- especially if he were willing to take the safety.

[The POPE]

Pete hardly ever calls out a player in public. I would hope he has a word or two for Dickson in private. For the public Pete gives the rah rah speech. Think it’s referred to as Pete speak on this forum. There are some coaches in this league that would cut his ass for a stunt like that, Pete goes the opposite way talks about giving his guys freedom. It like raising a teenager, too little freedom is bad, too much is bad. I hope Pete and Dickson found the middle ground in private so crap like that doesn’t end up costing the Hawks a game at some point. In BB’s words “do your job”.

The pope

[RiverDog]

I'm pretty sure Pete said after the game that he told Dickson to run out of bounds for a safety. That would indicate that running from your endzone wasn't an option, but you never know with Pete. He likes to do a lot of "fake" news.

Taking a safety would have been the smart call. You're still two TD's ahead yet it buys you 20 yards plus a free kick.

I would have a hard time believing that Pete would have given a rookie punter that hasn't played American football all that long an option to run on a punt in any situation. Some punters, depending on the line to gain, are given that option if they see the "parting of the Red Sea" ala Jon Ryan a few years ago, but it would be unwise to give Dickson such a long leash. IMO what happened is Dickson was told to run out of the end zone but to wait as long as he could in order to let as much time run off and when he saw the big hole, decided to take off.

[NorthHawk]

Pete recently said he encourages his players to take chances when the opportunity is right.
It gave the impression that he was OK with that decision on Sunday. I would suspect he doesn't want him to do it regularly, but I don't think he's too upset.

[Hawktawk]

PC was effusive in his praise of Dickson after the game.He didn't call it but he liked it.

Watching the play it's clear BBMD was planning to just go along the endline and kill as much clock as possible before running out of the endzone or punting /drop kicking the ball but when he saw how wide open it was WHOOSH!!!

Dude covered about 19 yards in 2 seconds with a rolling start. He got it by nearly 2 yards . He knows his body, his ability and as an australian rules football player he's carried it many times and been smashed many times.

Dumb or not it sealed the game that was getting a little too close for comfort. It was only a pick on the 1 that had kept it from being maybe a one score game. IMO taking a safety and handing back the ball there wouldnt have been too good an Idea either because then a quick score, recovery of an onside and another score wins instead of ties.The D was getting gassed at that point and Detroit was cutting through them like butter that last quarter.

I like the decision, big time play by a big balls player and every ST coach in the league is going to have to account for Dickson as long as he plays in the league.