Opening Day Notes

[RiverDog]

I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of TV telecasts in mostly empty stadiums. One of my fears was that it would look and sound like one of those old cheesy Japanese monster flicks with dubbed in voices or like watching an intersquad scrimmage. But the difference between the 'nova games and those we've come to know and love seem negligible. Although it did look and sound a little different to me, my wife thought it was exactly the same as previous years. I'm looking forward to MNF providing us some relief from these smoke filled, pandemic infected, worst autumn ever. Now the question is if they can keep their teams clean of the virus. They're a long ways away from turning in a successful season.

The Hawks turned in a solid performance, one of the best offensive performances for an opening day game in club history. Russell had as good of a game as he's ever had, hitting on over a 90% completion rate, 4 TD's, and not even close to having thrown a pick even though he was under pressure quite often. Patchwork OL played reasonably well. Chris Carson looked healthy. No turnovers on offense, penalties were a non factor. Jamal Adams was all over the place. Secondary in general played well against an MVP QB and two excellent receivers in Julio Jones and Calvin Ridley. Still need to see someone on the DL step up.

The SB loser's curse looks like it might be in effect again this season as the Niners lost their opener to division rival Arizona. Although I was out of town and didn't see the game, the Chiefs apparently look every bit the SB champs that they are. And did you guys see the price tag on the Ram's new digs? $5 billion dollars?

[NorthHawk]

I was watching the OL play for the most part and they looked OK for the most part and considering no preseason games it was a solid effort.
They made some big mistakes early and a few more throughout the game, but the right side of the line held up pretty well. Shell isn't much
of an upgrade over Ifedi but Lewis looks like he could be a solid starter for a long time. He anchored well for the most part but has a lot to learn
about playing at the NFL level. This only comes with experience and he has a good base to begin his career. Pocic was a pleasant surprise.
Maybe like Britt, his best position is Center. He was one of the better ones coming out of College, so maybe its where he should have been
playing all along.

The DL looks susceptible to the power run game up the middle and might have their hands full with the Pats. They did create some pressures
and Collier didn't look like a liability and at times he was pretty good. They'd sure be a lot better if they had Clowney, though.

In all it was a pretty clean game for both teams with some plays that would probably have been corrected in preseason games in years past but
I was pleasantly surprised with the level of play.

[mykc14]

Offensively RW played really well against a good DL and bad secondary. The run game and OL play was a little shaky overall. Shell looked really bad at times and Lewis looked like a promising Rookie in his first game. Pocic actually looked pretty good at center on his individual matchups, hopefully he made the appropriate line calls as well (there were no obvious blown blocking assignments that I saw).

Defensively Adams played really well, obviously. He is a difference maker and if he keeps this up a legitimate defense MVP candidate. The rest of the secondary played alright but not great and we are going to need to be great because our DL is not good. I didn’t really see anytime that a DT or DE beat there man one on one. It was pathetic to watch. We had no pass rush without blitzing. I thought Collier and Green both looked bad. Collier had difficulty holding his own at the point of attack. We need pass rushing/DL help. Does anybody know why Alton Robinson, the only real pass rushing standout we read about in camp, was inactive? I’m assuming it’s because he’s still not ready.

[TriCitySam]

This can be a really good offense - if they can keep RW from getting killed (3 sacks +10 hits). And the D looks to be an upgrade from last year. Norton is willing to move Adams around, and his energy appeared to inspire Bobby. We were #26 last year in D, and after week #1, we're #31, and dead last in pass D (part of that was our lead). I didn't see a #31 D yesterday.

[NorthHawk]

Defensively Adams played really well, obviously. He is a difference maker and if he keeps this up a legitimate defense MVP candidate.

It would be ironic if he beat out Wilson for MVP.

[RiverDog]

With two games left to play tonight, there was just one team, the Ravens, that held their opponent to single digits. Conventional wisdom is that the offense trails the defense early in the season but at least on the surface, that doesn't seem to be the case. Given all the exceptions that this season has brought us, it would be interesting to see which side of the ball it affected most.

To be fair to our defense, a lot of the passing yardage the Falcons rang up was during garbage time when the game had already been decided. We had a 31-12, or a 3 score lead, and the ball going into the 4th quarter.

The Falcons were 0-4 on 4th down. 3 of those decisions were highly questionable, including a 4th and 3 at the Hawks 40 vs. punting early in the first quarter, a fake FG attempt at their own 33, and not kicking a 3rd FG on 4th and 2 in the red zone that would have narrowed our lead to 13 points heading into the 4th quarter. Not a good look for Dan Quinn, who was lucky to keep his job after last season.

With the MNF double header still left on the opening week's slate, TV ratings for the first week were down about 16% from 2019. KC's home defense of their SB title had the lowest rating since the NFL started the tradition some 10 years ago. Even when taking into account the move to different digital platforms, viewership is down. Whether that's due to the coronavirus or if it's simply a continuation of a trend that started years ago is debatable.

https://deadline.com/2020/09/nfl-rating ... 234575251/

[RiverDog]

Defensively Adams played really well, obviously. He is a difference maker and if he keeps this up a legitimate defense MVP candidate.

It would be ironic if he beat out Wilson for MVP.

No matter how good he plays, it's unlikely that Adams wins any MVP's if we don't at least have a top 10 defense. The 500+ yards our defense gave up yesterday ranks us 2nd to last.

[jshawaii22]

With the MNF double header still left on the opening week's slate, TV ratings for the first week were down about 16% from 2019

True on Thursday night, but according to FOX, the Sunday package had the largest audience since 2016, up about 10% over last year (X- early game + NO vs Brady).

Yesterday was one of the best starts we as fans could hope for. They played football without distractions of teams losing players to Covid and other issues. The lack of fans may of affected the players but it didn't have any affect on me, personally. I did notice a lot of coaches and others weren't wearing masks or they were slung down low... and already this AM, the NFL noticed that, too, and sent the required memo out to remind everyone to wear it like it matters.

Arizona made the day perfect. 49ers in last place. Hope they stay there.

[RiverDog]

With the MNF double header still left on the opening week's slate, TV ratings for the first week were down about 16% from 2019

True on Thursday night, but according to FOX, the Sunday package had the largest audience since 2016, up about 10% over last year (X- early game + NO vs Brady).

Yesterday was one of the best starts we as fans could hope for. They played football without distractions of teams losing players to Covid and other issues. The lack of fans may of affected the players but it didn't have any affect on me, personally. I did notice a lot of coaches and others weren't wearing masks or they were slung down low... and already this AM, the NFL noticed that, too, and sent the required memo out to remind everyone to wear it like it matters.

Arizona made the day perfect. 49ers in last place. Hope they stay there.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what the overall viewer ratings for the week were.

I was surprised to see the Cards put up 24 against the Niners' defense. With the Rams looking improved over last season, the NFC West could be one of the strongest divisions in the league. The Redskins...er the Washington Football Team...was a surprise winner. Can you imagine a mascot-less team winning the Lombardi? It would sure fit the wackiness of 2020.

[Hawk Sista]

I was surprised to see that viewership was down as I heard on the radio that it was the most watched opening day in 4 or 5 years. As I looked up the question, it seems the numbers are all over the place. Time will tell. It felt great to watch it all this weekend.

[TriCitySam]

I didn't watch all the games, but with no preseason games, I thought the Hawks looked better prepared than most of the other teams (Pete's USC experience no doubt helped). Kudos to Pete and staff.

[RiverDog]

I didn't watch all the games, but with no preseason games, I thought the Hawks looked better prepared than most of the other teams (Pete's USC experience no doubt helped). Kudos to Pete and staff.

I don't know if I want to attribute our preparedness to Pete's USC experience, but I agree that we looked really sharp and it's apparent that we made good use of the reduced time and adjusted well to the abnormal limitations placed on teams due to the virus.

The challenge now is to keep the virus from affecting the team, which is going to take a combined effort from coaches, players, and staff.

[c_hawkbob]

6. THE SEAHAWKS ARE A SUPER BOWL-CALIBER TEAM, ESPECIALLY IF THEY CONTINUE TO LET RUSS COOK

Russell Wilson was the most valuable quarterback of the 2019 season in terms of PFF WAR, and he came out firing in 2020 with an elite Week 1. His 91.3 passing grade was the second-best of the week behind only Rodgers, throwing just two uncatchable passes on 34 total attempts.

Wilson had a low average depth of target for the game (5.5 yards) but was his same old self on the few downfield passes he took. Wilson ultimately tied with Rodgers for the best passing grade on throws of 10 yards or more, as he completed 7 of 8 passes for 149 yards and one score, with three big-time throws mixed in.

Seattle’s run-play percentage in Week 1 of 2020 was nearly 20 percentage points less than their run-play percentage in Week 1 of 2019 when they barely squeaked out a W against a bad Bengals team. There was a bunch of shallow dump-offs, sure, but it worked for them. They led the NFL in offensive EPA per play. Let’s just hope they continue this trend.

Jamal Adams‘ debut went as well as hoped, too, as he made plays in every single facet of the game. He recorded six total defensive stops and four pressures, paving the way to a PFF grade of 85.8.

The Seattle defense played fairly well as a whole, finishing ninth in EPA per play allowed. There’s certainly room to get better, though, especially at cornerback, as neither Quinton Dunbar nor Shaquill Griffin had the best of days (both earned sub-50.0 coverage grades). If those two can bounce back to the level they produced at last year — when they both ranked in the top 15 in coverage grade — the defense, along with the “Let Russ Cook” offense, forms a Super Bowl-caliber team.

From PFF

[RiverDog]

With the MNF double header still left on the opening week's slate, TV ratings for the first week were down about 16% from 2019

True on Thursday night, but according to FOX, the Sunday package had the largest audience since 2016, up about 10% over last year (X- early game + NO vs Brady).

I just saw where the ratings for SNF were down 28% from last year's SNF opener:

According to DEADLINE Hollywood online, the Nielsen 'overnight' (initial) numbers for the Sunday Night Football game between Dallas and Los Angeles was supposed to bring in a lot of viewers.

It did not, according to DEADLINE. The most coveted demo for advertisers, and what determines success or failure, is the 18-49 demographic (persons). The game was down 28 percent from last year, which featured the New England Patriots thumping the Steelers 33-3 in 2019.

https://newstalk870.am/were-you-watchin ... m=referral

[Aseahawkfan]

I didn't watch the game live. I checked the stats after and watched the highlights. I know a lot of people watch the games online. Then there are a lot people sickened by protests which they view as anti-police and anti-American at this point. I know more than a few people who either tuned out the protests or didn't bother to watch the NFL due to the protests. I guess we'll see how it ends up at the end of the year. I imagine a combination of online viewing, not watching the NFL due the politics, and the general malaise of this whole situation have made football a low priority for many.

NFL should recover once things get going.

[TriCitySam]

The USC reference was having to be ready during game 1, no preseason. And you have to credit the coaching staff for having them ready to roll.

[RiverDog]

The USC reference was having to be ready during game 1, no preseason. And you have to credit the coaching staff for having them ready to roll.

USC, like most other Power 5 schools, does have a preseason when they play teams like Idaho and Hawaii for their season openers, just that it counts as regular season games.

But I agree about giving credit to the coaching staff for having the team ready, especially on offense.

[obiken]

I agree with River, RW's game was perfection. JA proved that he is an elite player. Our Offensive and Defensive lines are still dogfood.

[RiverDog]

I agree with River, RW's game was perfection. JA proved that he is an elite player. Our Offensive and Defensive lines are still dogfood.

"Dog food" might be a bit harsh for the OL. They didn't play all that badly considering it was their first game. We didn't sustain any drive killing penalties, Russell was able to stay upright long enough to complete 89% of his pass attempts, we had 4.2 yards per rushing attempt, and we put up 38 points. That doesn't happen with a dog food OL.

But I'm more likely to agree with your assessment of the DL. It's definitely the weak link on this team.

[NorthHawk]

Q13Fox had a Seahawks in 60 show last night at 11pm for an hour. It goes through the majority of the plays of the game and a viewer can
record it to watch specific areas. Last night I watched the OL and for the most part, they played fairly well considering it was their first
chance of real action. There were a few glaring mistakes early but in all the play wasn't too bad. Wilson doesn't do them any favors either
with his movement on pass plays, but most of it was negated by him getting rid of the ball quickly. The DL also got some pressure on Ryan
but he, too was getting the ball off in what I was mentally timing of less than 3 seconds, too so maybe it was a wide spread strategy on Offense
to limit the chance for disastrous play up front. We'll see how the play progresses throughout the year. Generally speaking Lewis and Pocic
didn't play badly and for his first game, Lewis did pretty well. As he gets more experience, he should settle in as a pretty good OG.