Rams

[Hawktawk]

Once again very scant in the backfield. I couldn't even remember the other injuries but this is a banged up team.Rams coming off a bye . It doesn't look good on paper. But Russ rarely plays 2 clunkers in a row. Although he's got 7 turnovers and 5 were picks last 3 with a clean game in between. We will have to score 38 to win in my opinion.
Cant pick against us. I never do. 38-34 they have the ball throwing in the endzone in the final minute. cardiac special.

[RiverDog]

So goes Russell, so goes the Seahawks. In our two losses, Russell has 7 turnovers. In our 6 wins, he has 2.

[NorthHawk]

We need a Defense that is at least half way competent, and if that same one shows up as did last week, we will be hammered.
As it stands, like I said in another thread Rams 45, Seahawks 34. A basic repeat of last week.

[Rambo2014]

Probably a good idea to sit out your QB this game otherwise he will have a big 99 tattooed on him

[RiverDog]

We need a Defense that is at least half way competent, and if that same one shows up as did last week, we will be hammered.
As it stands, like I said in another thread Rams 45, Seahawks 34. A basic repeat of last week.

Goff is a horrible QB when he's under pressure, one of the worst in the league. He reminds me a lot of Rex Grossman in that regard. The one bright spot last weekend was that we finally started getting some pressure on the QB, albeit it almost exclusively in blitzing situations. But if we can get to Goff and make him uncomfortable, we could force a few turnovers.

As far as our DB's go, they can't do any worse than the ones we trotted out there last weekend, so the only way to go is up.

[NorthHawk]

Yah, I see Goff and Jimmy G. as being very similar in the pressure issue.
I just don't think we have the horses to get continual pressure on the QB.
McVay will have seen our blitzes and knows how to counter them, so I think
their Offense will really get rolling against us.

[obiken]

So goes Russell, so goes the Seahawks. In our two losses, Russell has 7 turnovers. In our 6 wins, he has 2.

How do blame a QB that puts up 34 points and looses?? Our defense is warmed over garbage and our OL is not that much better. Blaming Russ for any of the losses is counter productive to me. Its Aaron Donald, its always Aaron Donald day because we have NO one that can block him. Rams 42-21.

[mykc14]

How do blame a QB that puts up 34 points and looses?? Our defense is warmed over garbage and our OL is not that much better. Blaming Russ for any of the losses is counter productive to me. Its Aaron Donald, its always Aaron Donald day because we have NO one that can block him. Rams 42-21.

No question you can’t blame RW, but how many games do you win when you are -4 in the turnover department?

[RiverDog]

How do blame a QB that puts up 34 points and looses?? Our defense is warmed over garbage and our OL is not that much better. Blaming Russ for any of the losses is counter productive to me. Its Aaron Donald, its always Aaron Donald day because we have NO one that can block him. Rams 42-21.

I'm not blaming Russell per se. There's an argument that can be made that we have become too dependent on the quarterback to win games for us. The "let Russ cook" philosophy might have caught up with us last weekend. And there's others that can take some responsibility for his turnovers, not the least of which was our defense, as we got behind early and the offense had to play catch up. It's a lot easier to play QB when you're up by three scores than when you're behind by 3.

But the fact is that this team is heavily reliant on Russell to perform at an MVP level. If he does, then we stand a good chance of winning. If, for whatever reason, he doesn't, then we're likely to suffer the same fate we did last weekend.

[TriCitySam]

They are who we thought they were....and RW can't keep playing out of his mind.

[obiken]

They are who we thought they were....and RW can't keep playing out of his mind.

Right.

That pick in the end zone is the worst I have ever seen out of RW! Man all he had to do is take off. He's gotten away with a lot of mediocre throws against bad defenses this year.

[mykc14]

Hawks could be up right now getting the ball after halftime... really bad INT by RW. Cannot afford those type of mistakes.

[Aseahawkfan]

Russ is playing himself out of the MVP race at the moment. Our defense gives us next to no chance at a Super Bowl. Worst defense Carroll has ever had including his Jets and Patriot years. Hard to believe he isn't pissed beyond belief behind the scenes.

[trents]

Low snap fumbled and Rams recover. Seahawks imploding.

[TriCitySam]

Russ is playing himself out of the MVP race at the moment. Our defense gives us next to no chance at a Super Bowl. Worst defense Carroll has ever had including his Jets and Patriot years. Hard to believe he isn't pissed beyond belief behind the scenes.

,
Our D may have us battling to stay out of the NFC West cellar. His D is fairly simple and, it appears, hasn’t progressed. We haven’t been good for several years. Can Pete adapt his D?

[Aseahawkfan]

Our D may have us battling to stay out of the NFC West cellar. His D is fairly simple and, it appears, hasn’t progressed.

The defense looks poorly coached and out of position all the time. The complexity of the defense is irrelevant. When the coaching is bad and people are out of position and the D-coordinator is getting out called, then you end up in this position.

[TriCitySam]

The defense looks poorly coached and out of position all the time. The complexity of the defense is irrelevant. When the coaching is bad and people are out of position and the D-coordinator is getting out called, then you end up in this position.

It works with playmakers. Seems like EVERYBODY is 5 yds open....and it’s been that way for several years.

[RiverDog]

This is one of the worst games that I've seen Russell play. We can't hang this one on the defense alone.

[c_hawkbob]

This is one of the worst games that I've seen Russell play. We can't hang this one on the defense alone.

I think Russ needs to get humble again. All this MVP and "I wanna be the greatest ever" talk needs to wait for the offseason. I think he's overwhelmed himself with expectations and forgotten that it has to happen one play, one game at a time.

[Vegaseahawk]

This is one of the worst games that I've seen Russell play. We can't hang this one on the defense alone.

Agreed. He looked lost today. Poor clock management, not seeking out DK, indecisive, fumbled the bad snap, etc, Bad coaching decisions too. Lost my FFL game too, UGH!

[obiken]

This is one of the worst games that I've seen Russell play. We can't hang this one on the defense alone.

I agree, you cannot expect our defense to hold the Rams under 28 points, yet they did! He cost us this game period. He missed several throws and 2 horrible picks and the fumble. This one is on him!!

[RiverDog]

This is one of the worst games that I've seen Russell play. We can't hang this one on the defense alone.

Agreed. He looked lost today. Poor clock management, not seeking out DK, indecisive, fumbled the bad snap, etc, Bad coaching decisions too. Lost my FFL game too, UGH!

Throws off balance and across his body to a covered receiver when he had at least 10 yards unopposed and in the red zone. Does a hook slide at the hash marks when we're behind by 10 and 3 minutes left. Looses track of the play clock on a 3rd down.

Russell's had 10 turnovers in 3 games spread over the last 4 weeks. So much for his MVP season.

[Hawk Sista]

It really looks like something was wrong with RW. All props to the Rams, but that was just not our RW. No fight at the end.

[trents]

This one isn't on the defense but the OL. Russ did not have a good day but was pressured to an extreme degree. How many times was he sacked anyway? The OL didn't give him enough time to find Metcalf or Lockett downfield. Those kind of plays take too long to develop with the kind of pressure Russ was getting and DK had one of the elite defenders on him today who could run with him.

[mykc14]

This one isn't on the defense but the OL. Russ did not have a good day but was pressured to an extreme degree. How many times was he sacked anyway? The OL didn't give him enough time to find Metcalf or Lockett downfield. Those kind of plays take too long to develop with the kind of pressure Russ was getting and DK had one of the elite defenders on him today who could run with him.

Bad game all around. Yeah, OL didn't play great I imagine not having Pocic was a factor. We were playing the #2 defense in the league and we looked terrible. Need to get DK more involved, but overall RW didn't look comfortable. He made it hard on himself with that pick in the first half. He can't make those mistakes. How they bounce back and play on Thursday will set the tone for the rest of the season. Here's to hoping they get healthy and have a big bounce back... I know it sounds crazy but get a win on Thursday and 13-3/12-4 isn't out of the question. Huge game on Thursday.

[mykc14]

It really looks like something was wrong with RW. All props to the Rams, but that was just not our RW. No fight at the end.

Yeah, he didn't look comfortable. He is really good when he can read the D pre-snap and let it fly, but when that first read isn't open he seems to get happy feel/see ghosts/whatever you want to call it and begins to make mistakes. The three turnovers today were so frustrating... The first INT all on RW, clearly didn't see the defender and makes a terrible mistake, similar to the Buddah Baker pic. The 'fumble' on the snap, not his fault. The second INT is tough. The whole play is so frustrating to me. You have a player who cannot stretch the field vertically (olson) running his route to the first down marker. He's lined up so that he can only really run 2 routes (seam or out). The defender has zero worry about getting beat deep. Once he reads the out it is really an easy play for him- now the INT itself was a really good play, but the read was almost a no brainier. No real route concept. Maybe it was a choice route by Olson, but at any rate defending Olson that play wasn't difficult (the INT was a great catch, but the read wasn't hard).

[mykc14]

I'm not blaming Russell per se. There's an argument that can be made that we have become too dependent on the quarterback to win games for us. The "let Russ cook" philosophy might have caught up with us last weekend. And there's others that can take some responsibility for his turnovers, not the least of which was our defense, as we got behind early and the offense had to play catch up. It's a lot easier to play QB when you're up by three scores than when you're behind by 3.

But the fact is that this team is heavily reliant on Russell to perform at an MVP level. If he does, then we stand a good chance of winning. If, for whatever reason, he doesn't, then we're likely to suffer the same fate we did last weekend.

I agree with most of this and I don't think PC really wants to be this reliant on RW. We are stating to look like we did at the end of last season- no real identity on offense. They tried to address this with Carlos Hyde but the reality is we need a Carson/Hyde/even Penny back. We have no real threat at running back right now. We need some aspect of a running game and I think if we can get that we will get RW back to cooking. The PA pass isn't even a threat right now.

[RiverDog]

This one isn't on the defense but the OL. Russ did not have a good day but was pressured to an extreme degree. How many times was he sacked anyway? The OL didn't give him enough time to find Metcalf or Lockett downfield. Those kind of plays take too long to develop with the kind of pressure Russ was getting and DK had one of the elite defenders on him today who could run with him.

Pressure is nothing new to Russell. He's had to deal with it for the bulk of his career and has always done a good job of managing it. He didn't have his head in the game. It wasn't the OL that caused him to lose track of the play clock. It wasn't the OL that caused him to throw that pick in the end zone. It wasn't the OL that picked up the intentional grounding penalty. It wasn't the OL that told him to do a hook slide when we were trying to manage the clock. It wasn't the OL that overthrew open receivers.

Despite not having Pocic, the OL didn't pick up a single false start or holding penalty.

[trents]

"Despite not having Pocic, the OL didn't pick up a single false start or holding penalty."

Nor did the OL pickup any rushers either. The pressure on Russ was worse than I can remember ever seeing.

[RiverDog]

"Despite not having Pocic, the OL didn't pick up a single false start or holding penalty."

Nor did the OL pickup any rushers either. The pressure on Russ was worse than I can remember ever seeing.

Bull. Russell has faced that type of pressure for the bulk of his career with us. For the supposed MVP, he played like crap. No excuses.

[mykc14]

Bull. Russell has faced that type of pressure for the bulk of his career with us. For the supposed MVP, he played like crap. No excuses.

Yeah, RW has not been MVP worthy the last few weeks. He is not playing well. It's hard to say what is going on exactly. Early in the season the Hawks were moving him around, using play action and getting guys open deep. Lately that hasn't been happening. He needs a running game. He is the best deep ball thrower in the NFL, but has always struggled with short to intermediate routes. It's hard to judge him too harshly with no threat of a running game. Things could easily open back up wen Carson gets healthy. I will also add that he has struggled against the blitz more this year than I can remember. Maybe it's because teams were more reluctant to blitz because of our running game, but when teams blitz and his first read isn't there he hasn't looked good. The Hawks need to do something about that scheme wise to take the blitz pressure off of him. I don't know if their route concepts are too deep (take too much time) or that the guys he's looking for can't beat single coverage but for whatever reason when the Hawks are blitzed RW hasn't looked good this year.

[RiverDog]

Yeah, RW has not been MVP worthy the last few weeks. He is not playing well. It's hard to say what is going on exactly. Early in the season the Hawks were moving him around, using play action and getting guys open deep. Lately that hasn't been happening. He needs a running game. He is the best deep ball thrower in the NFL, but has always struggled with short to intermediate routes. It's hard to judge him too harshly with no threat of a running game. Things could easily open back up wen Carson gets healthy. I will also add that he has struggled against the blitz more this year than I can remember. Maybe it's because teams were more reluctant to blitz because of our running game, but when teams blitz and his first read isn't there he hasn't looked good. The Hawks need to do something about that scheme wise to take the blitz pressure off of him. I don't know if their route concepts are too deep (take too much time) or that the guys he's looking for can't beat single coverage but for whatever reason when the Hawks are blitzed RW hasn't looked good this year.

He was off on his deep throws yesterday, too. There was one that was just out of Metcalf's reach and several to Lockett. Not by much, but it doesn't make a lot of difference if they're off by 2 inches or 10 feet, they're still an incompletion. He also had completions that weren't on the money, either, an uncontested throw over the middle to Olsen and the pass to Metcalf where Pete had to spend a challenge comes to mind. All in all, it was a very poorly played game by Russ.

If he were a rookie, his performance yesterday would earn him a seat on the bench.

[Hawktawk]

Russ played as well as any QB ever for the first 5 games but he's stunk quite frankly 3 0f the last 4. Stunk. He usually has one or 2 of those high turnover games a year, no 3 out of 4. And some of these misses and picks are just shockingly bad careless throws I've never seen him make before. The pick with the field ahead so clear he might score just running makes me think he may be hiding some injury or maybe the hits are just piling up in his 9th season. He was knocked down 18 times vs Buffalo with truly no line play and it never seems to bleed over but he played like it did yesterday. No time to panic or pout because order can be restored on thursday. But Murray is blowing up and had one of those feel good moments last night that instill confidence.Hes out Russing Russ.

Lose thursday and its going from 6-1 to a very real chance of finishing 3rd or 4th in the division.

[RiverDog]

Russ played as well as any QB ever for the first 5 games but he's stunk quite frankly 3 0f the last 4. Stunk. He usually has one or 2 of those high turnover games a year, no 3 out of 4. And some of these misses and picks are just shockingly bad careless throws I've never seen him make before. The pick with the field ahead so clear he might score just running makes me think he may be hiding some injury or maybe the hits are just piling up in his 9th season. He was knocked down 18 times vs Buffalo with truly no line play and it never seems to bleed over but he played like it did yesterday. No time to panic or pout because order can be restored on thursday. But Murray is blowing up and had one of those feel good moments last night that instill confidence.Hes out Russing Russ.

Lose thursday and its going from 6-1 to a very real chance of finishing 3rd or 4th in the division.

Several friends of mine have been speculating about Russell's slump. There's a possibility that he's not the same ole Russ that used to volunteer at Children's and seemed so uncompromised by fame. He divorced his childhood sweetheart, opted for a well known Hollywood personality, and signed the largest football contract in the history of the league. He's been talking about some mostly selfish goals, like him and Metcalf becoming the best QB/WR duo in history. Now I start reading about some of his attempts to cash in on his fame by embracing the commercial aspects of his career:

Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson has filed trademark for the phrase, "Let Russ Cook," first reported by trademark attorney Josh Gerber. According to the filing, Wilson intends to use the trademark for both apparel and, you guessed it, cooking tools and utensils.

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/seah ... k2cDmav6vY

Toss in all this MVP talk and there's a good chance that the once humble Clark Kent-type personality Russell used to exhibit has turned into another Alex Rodriguez, a greedy athlete fixated on his own fame and fortune.

I hope what I'm saying is completely false, but we have to recognize that the possibility I've suggested does exists as we have quite a bit of evidence. Something about Russell doesn't feel right.

[c_hawkbob]

I do agree that he seems to have gotten a bit full of himself recently but lets not go overboard there Riv. Why are you assuming Russ isn't visiting Children's Hospital any more? as of last month he still was: https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/spor ... 090124002/

I think we can keep the knives out of his back for a little while longer. He's earned a little slack hasn't he?

[RiverDog]

I do agree that he seems to have gotten a bit full of himself recently but lets not go overboard there Riv. Why are you assuming Russ isn't visiting Children's Hospital any more? as of last month he still was: https://www.capecodtimes.com/story/spor ... 090124002/

I think we can keep the knives out of his back for a little while longer. He's earned a little slack hasn't he?

I didn't say he was no longer visiting Children's. I had no idea whether he was or wasn't, only that he used to, and that's exactly how I phrased my statement.

But I do agree about keeping the knives out of his back. All I was doing was saying that something isn't right and suggesting a possibility. Like I said, I sure hope I'm wrong.

[c_hawkbob]

Well, you did phrase it as "used to volunteer at Children's", and that's what stood out to me.

As I said, I do think he's gone a little far with the self congratulations and it may well have risen up and bitten him in the arse. He's a spiritual guy and I think maybe letting his sense of self outweigh his humility has thrown him off balance a bit. But I still trust him to set it right ... hopefully sooner than later.

[Hawktawk]

Russ is an exceptional guy and he's far from the only athlete with a celebrity wife. I will say I saw the trademark of let Russ cook on gameday vs the Cards and thought it was pretty cool and then he threw 3 picks. Next week was a bounce back big time but now two stinkers back to back. This Thursday is crucial for his MVP chances and the teams hopes for the postseason.

[NorthHawk]

Simply stated, we're not a good team at the moment. The Offense can be pretty good, but Russ is trying too hard to make the big play.
The Defense is terrible.

[RiverDog]

Well, you did phrase it as "used to volunteer at Children's", and that's what stood out to me.

As I said, I do think he's gone a little far with the self congratulations and it may well have risen up and bitten him in the arse. He's a spiritual guy and I think maybe letting his sense of self outweigh his humility has thrown him off balance a bit. But I still trust him to set it right ... hopefully sooner than later.

If there is something that is distracting Russell, like you, I still trust him to look at himself in the mirror and doing what it takes to get back to the way he was playing in our first 6 games.

In a way, it might be a blessing in disguise. I'd much rather hit a slump and have these issues about Russell surface now than in December or January.
There's plenty of time for him and the rest of the team to get the ship righted.