Northwest Pro Sports 12
Posts tagged Seahawks
Seahawks 2012 Draft Class, not liked in April
Jan 4th
Talking heads rolled their eyes at the 2012 Seahawks draft class
The 2012 Seattle Seahawks Draft Class produced a 1st-round pick that scouts called a reach for the pick.
Rookie Bruce Irvin, the look says it all. Photo by Brett Bivens
Bruce Irvin may have been a reach in late April, but now that it is early January 2013 he’s far from a reach. Having played in all 16-games for the Seahawks this year Irvin has flown under the radar, but don’t let that effect the way you view him. In those 16-games he’s piled up 8 sacks, which is a team record for a rookie defensive player in the category, and forced one fumble.
I’ll be the first to admit when I’m wrong, and I was wrong on Draft night in April. When the pick of Irvin flashed my initial reaction was “WHAT?!” I wanted a guy by the name of Chandler Jones. Someone I had watched over the past 3-years in college and knew his potential, but I didn’t factor in the truth and that’s Irvin fits Seattle’s defensive scheme, Jones on the other hand wouldn’t have. I was wrong to have second guessed Pete Carroll and John Schneider and that’s the reason I’m a member of the 12th Man and not the Front Office.
The 2nd-round selection in Bobby Wagner reminded me of another MLB selected by the Seahawks a few years back-Lofa Tatupu a small guy, but has the ability to guide his teammates and contribute to their success. He’s proven his case with 140 tackles, 2 sacks and 3 interceptions as well as his name being thrown around as a candidate for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Hopefully unlike Tatupu his success in Seattle lasts longer than his six-years with the team in which he appeared in three Pro Bowls-all in his first three-years in the league.
Just like Lofa, Wagner has a young core of Linebackers near him in KJ Wright, Malcolm Smith and Mike Morgan. Tatupu came in with one of Wagner’s teammates in 2005-Leroy Hill.
The Seahawks 3rd-round pick was a Quarterback by the name of Russell Wilson, a QB that scouts called “too small to be able to start in the NFL.”
Wilson can’t hide his 5’11 frame, but he hasn’t let it get to him. To open the season Wilson was named starting QB for the Seahawks over free-agent signee Matt Flynn. Jon Gruden compared him to Drew Brees and stated throughout the pick if he was still a head coach he would have been selected way before his selection in the 3rd-round.
The Jaguars, Bills and Chiefs all passed on Wilson as the Jaguars selected a Punter with their pick in the 3rd-round and since then Wilson has started every game for the Seahawks completing 64% of his passes for 3,118-yards and 26 Touchdowns-tying the NFL Rookie Record for touchdown passes by a quarterback by the name of Peyton Manning. He’s led the Seahawks to an 11-5 record and four game-winning drives (defeated the Chicago Bears in OT). Did I mention he can scramble as well? Wilson rushed for 489-yards and scored on the ground four times for the Seahawks.
His selection in the 3rd-round is the reason he’s being overlooked by some as a Rookie of the Year underdog behind his opponent he’ll take on Sunday in Washington-Robert Griffin III.
Wilson has shown he will be playing for years to come as a starting QB in the NFL and hopefully will be a cornerstone for the Seahawks as they continue their success with such a young team in the NFL.
Robert Turbin was selected in the 4th-round and viewed as a workhorse that down the road should be able to lessen the load on Marshawn Lynch in the backfield and he’s proven just that. In 16-games he rushed for 354-yards averaging 4.4 per carry, while also having 181-yards receiving. He’s shown at times his hands aren’t the best when he’s receiving, but through the season has shown he’s improving in that category and will be a vital part as teams try to wear out Lynch in the playoffs-something easier said than done.
Breno Giocomini teaches rookie JR Sweezy during training camp. Photo by Brett Bivens
The Seahawks final six-picks in rounds 4-7 have all contributed in role situations, but each one has shown he has potential to develop. CB Jeremy Lane (6th-round pick) and OG JR Sweezy (7th-round pick) have each started 3 games apiece and appeared in 13-games with the Seahawks.
Lane has piled up 15 tackles and Sweezy has shown he has done a nice job of transitioning from defensive line in college to the offensive line in the pro’s.
Jaye Howard watching Clinton McDonald during drills at training camp. Photo by Brett Bivens
DT Jaye Howard (4th-round pick) has appeared in two-games for the Seahawks-not accumulating any stats.
LB Korey Toomer (5th-round pick) is currently on the Practice Squad/Injury designation and hasn’t played a game for the Seahawks.
SS Winston Guy (6th-round pick) appeared in two-games for the Seahawks and recently just got activated after being suspended four-games for violating the NFL Substance Policy.
DE Greg Scruggs (7th-round pick) has played in 11-games for the Seahawks piling up 6 total tackles-5 of them himself as well as 2 sacks and a pass deflection for the Seahawks. He’s shown he can get involved in a core that already consists of Chris Clemons, Red Bryant and Irvin.
After the NFL Draft the Seahawks were awarded many negative reviews, some even called them the loser of the Draft, but as the Seahawks suit up Sunday in Washington it’s easy to argue that they’re far from the losers of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Very few teams have their top picks contribute right off the bat let alone throughout their career, but the Seahawks have found players that fill roles and blossom off of them. To have only 1 player not appear in a single game for the team that drafted them their rookie year is something you don’t see often and if you do it’s unusual to see a successful team.
That’s not the case with the Seahawks and if these players keep progressing as they have through their rookie year who knows where they will end up once their careers dwindle down. For the Seahawks however they’ve proven to have been more successful than a majority of the teams in the 2012 Draft and each one of their selections has shown they will contribute.
They’ve also shown that I shouldn’t question Carroll and Schneider’s decisions in the future as well as the rest of the world.
Written by Zach Bellerdine
Seahawks photo blog week 10
Nov 12th
Seahawks beat Jets 28-7
Rex Ryan and Pete Carroll laughing about Tim Tebow’s throwing motion before the game Sunday. Photo by Brett Bivens
The “Thank you Veterans” signs are taped to the back of the seats before the 12th man fills the stadium. Photo by Brett Bivens
Thank you Veterans, with the fans preforming the stunt. Photo by Brett Bivens
I was pretty hard on Mike Morgan last week after several mistakes. On this fourth down play Mike stopped Shonn Green behind the line of scrimmage. Photo by Brett Bivens
Tim Tebow telling Rex Ryan, “I could have done that” as they watch Richard Sherman run past them after intercepting a Mark Sanchez pass. Photo by Brett Bivens
You don’t tackle Marshawn Lynch, you just brace for impact and hope he falls down. Photo by Brett Bivens
After Russell Wilson was done showing Mark Sanchez how to pass, he decided teach Tim Tebow how to run. Always leading by example. Photo by Brett Bivens
Earl Thomas laid a shoulder into Jeremy Kerley’s gut. Photo by Brett Bivens
Tim Tebow didn’t have a lot of room to run on Sunday, then again, neither did Shonn Green. Photo by Brett Bivens
Richard Sherman didn’t even strip the ball, Mark Sanchez just said, “If you want it take it, just stop hitting me and picking off my passes!” Photo by Brett Bivens
LaRon Landry lowered his head as he prepared for the impact with Marshawn Lynch. Lynch took the opportunity to practice his hurdling. Photo by Brett Bivens
Rex Ryan doen’t look very happy to watch his Jets lose in the rain. Notice that there are no players around him. Photo by Brett Bivens
“Punting Canadian” – Seattle Seahawks punter Jon Ryan in the spotlight
Nov 10th
Seahawks All Access
I started this after the “Canada Day” Seattle Seahawks game but never got around to finishing it, all I managed to accomplish was the title. The reason why I chose Jon Ryan to be the subject of this piece was two fold.
First, he’s Canadian so he seemed to be the perfect subject following Canada Day at CenturyLink and second, he became this first punter since 1946 to average 60-yards per punt in a game (3 punts minimum).
When I think of punters and kickers I think of small guys. Usually they are the only people in an organization who are smaller than the teams ball boy.
Usually they are about as athletic as a program designer at Microsoft or an engineer at Boeing (had to give a little love to the local companies), but not Jon Ryan, at 6’0″ 216 pounds he is not your typical punter.
In high school Jon was Sheldon-Williams Collegiate High School’s running back, kicker and punter.
Of course, when you attend a high school that currently has 650 students enrolled, you will probably have to pick up some slack. Then, in college, he was the University of Regina’s (About the size of Eastern Washington University) leading receiver as well as handling the teams punting duties.
To further attest to his athleticism, he was fast enough to be a sprinter for Regina’s track team.
Seahawks who impressed against the Vikings Sunday
Nov 8th
Seahawks turn it around at home
Seattle Seahawks 30, Minnesota Vikings 20
When: 1:05 PM PST, Sunday, November 4, 2012
Where: CenturyLink Field, Seattle, Washington
At this point in the season, the Seattle Seahawks offense is a lot further along then I expected them to be.
Sunday they needed it to win.
I would still expect them to have ups and downs during the remainder of the season, but it was a lot of fun to watch them click against the Vikings.
Russell Wilson #3
Every time that Russell Wilson takes the field, he is better than his previous outing. I wish Darrell Bevell had given Wilson a chance to air the ball out a little bit during the game, but other than that, I couldn’t have asked for much more from the rookie.
Russell had a multiple touchdown game for the second week in a row. His 3 touchdowns, mark the second time he has done that this season.
Jeremy Lane #20
Where has this kid been hiding? I would have to say he is one of the best young, up and coming gunners in the NFL. Jeremy Lane really gets down the field quickly, not just because he’s fast either. Jeremy uses excellent technique off the line to get clean releases.
Seahawks photo blog 11/4/2012
Nov 5th
Seahawks beat Vikings 30-20
Brandon Browner saves a touchdown. Photo by Anthony May
Matt Kalil rips Brandon Mebane’s helmet off, clearing the way for Adrian Peterson to score a touchdown. Photo by Brett Bivens
Jermaine Kearse catches his first pass in the NFL. Photo by Brett Bivens
Doug Baldwin drops another ball. This one came the play after Jermaine Kearse dropped a would-be first down. Photo by Brett Bivens
Losing KJ Wright, pictured walking to the locker room after his injury, for almost the entire game was a big blow to the Seahawks defense. Photo by Brett Bivens
Jared Allen and the Vikings defense couldn’t hold the Seahawks offense back on Sunday. Photo by Brett Bivens
Marshawn Lynch went “Beastmode” for 124-yards Sunday. Photo by Brett Bivens
The Seahawks scored 30 points Sunday, the most this season. Photo by Brett Bivens
Golden Tate leaps toward the end-zone. Photo By Anthony May
Golden Tate scores the touchdown! Photo by Brett Bivens
Greg Scruggs sacks Christian Ponder. Photo by Brett Bivens
The Seahawks defense gave up 197 first-half rushing yards. Photo by Brett Bivens
Pete Carroll challenged the spot on this Adrian Peterson reception. The play was upheld, first down Minnesota. Photo by Brett Bivens
This play didn’t count, but it was fun to watch Red Bryant throw Adrian Peterson to the ground like a rag doll. Photo by Brett Bivens
Brandon Mebane tackles Christian Ponder as he scrambles for a couple yards. Photo by Brett Bivens
Leroy Hill sacks Christian Ponder. Photo by Brett Bivens
Seahawks MMQB: Defense? Seattle is an offense town!
Nov 5th
Growin’ up before our eyes
Boxscore | Play-by-Play | Q’s Post Game Recap
Last week the offense played well enough to win, but the defense gave the game away. This week the offense held the ball for 1o minutes and 53 seconds of the fourth quarter, including the final 5:27, where they converted on two 4th downs, to put the game away.
In all fairness, the defense tightened up and played great during the second half, after giving up 228-yards during the first half.
Almost 200-yards on the ground alone! The Seahawks defense held the Vikings to just 59 second half yards.
The atmosphere
I have to be honest, there wasn’t very much energy at CenturyLink on Sunday. Half the stadium was seated during the Detlef Schrempf 12th Man introduction.
I don’t think I have ever seen the fans go through the motions like that in the 70+ games I have been to.
During the raising of the 12th Man Flag, the crowd kinda got loud, but quieted down before the opening kickoff.
There were a few plays sprinkled in when the fans got loud. There is a reason the Vikings didn’t have any false starts Sunday, we just didn’t bring it.
Defense
The run defense was terrible, especially during the first half. It can all be traced to poor execution on the part of the players.
Clinton McDonald and Alan Branch were getting blown off the line of scrimmage. Bobby Wagner kept creeping up into the trash inside. That caused him to be out of position for his gap responsibility. More. . .
Seahawks QB comparisons: Wilson vs. Hasselbeck vs. Jackson
Nov 3rd
From Hasselbeck to Jackson, now Wilson
After the Seattle Seahawks signed Matt Flynn this off season, one of my readers (Todd) asked me if I would compare Flynn’s first 8 games as a starter to that of Matt Hasselbeck’s and Tarvaris Jackson’s. He wanted to see how the new quarterback stacked up to those two, since they were the most recent Seahawksstarters.
I agreed to write it if he would remind me after the 8th game of the season.
After Russell Wilson was named the starter, Todd asked me if I would be willing to write the piece on Russell Wilson, instead of Flynn.
All three quarterbacks became starters in vastly different ways. Matt Hasselbeck spent his first two seasons backing up future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre before being acquired by Seattle, via trade. Matt was named the starting quarterback of the 2001 Seattle Seahawks.
Tarvaris Jackson started for the first time on week 16, the Vikings 15th game of the season, after spending most of the season backing up Brad Johnson.
Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft by the Seattle Seahawks. Most people, including myself, expected Wilson to spend his first season backing up Matt Flynn, unless Flynn fell flat on his face, or was injured.
Instead, Wilson won the job in training camp. Flynn didn’t lose it. RW did enough to impress Pete Carrolland beat out Flynn to become the starter at the beginning of the season.
Start 1
Matt beat the 10th best passing defense, Tarvaris lost to the leagues 17th ranked passing defense, and Russell lost to the leagues 4th best passing defense.
Russell Wilson was drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft
Jackson had the roughest outing, managing only 50 yard on 20 pass attempts. Ironically, Hasselbeck and Wilson each had 34 attempts in their 1st game. Matt had two more completions for 15 more yards but unlike Russell, he was unable to find the end zone.
Wilson>Hasselbeck>Jackson
Start 2
All three quarterbacks faced top 10 defenses in their second start. Russell Wilson was the only one of the three who was victorious.
Jackson’s 213-yards were the only time he surpassed the 200-yards mark during his first 8 starts.
It was Matt Hasselbeck’s worst game in his first 8 starts.
Russell Wilson didn’t do anything spectacular. He just played extremely efficient football, completing 75% of his passes and ending up with a 112.7 passer rating.
Wilson>Jackson>Hasselbeck
Start 3
For the third straight week Matt Hasselbeck faced a top 10 passing defense, but Jackson and Wilson got a bit of a break. Tarvaris faced the 23rd ranked Falcons while Russell faced the 19th ranked Packers.
Hasselbeck was the only quarterback to lose his third start, but he did throw for the most yards. Matt injured his groin during the game and was replaced by Trent Dilfer for the next 2 games.
2012 moments in time: Seattle Seahawks second quarter report card
Nov 3rd
Grades Are In
The Seattle Seahawks went 2-2 during the first quarter of the season. As I expected, they split the games in the second quarter of the season as well.
After the first half of the season, the 4-4 Seahawks are tied for 7th place in the NFC and are 3rd place in the NFC West.
Here is how they got there:
At Carolina
Seattle won 16-12
Despite having seven penalties and three turnovers, the Seahawks pulled off their first win on the road of the 2012 season.
The defense dominated the air as well as the ground. Carolina was only able to manage 190 yards of total offense. The only touchdown the Panthers scored was an interception off a Russell Wilson poorly thrown ball.
Canada Day
Seattle played an impressive game against the New England Patriots in the second quarter of the season. Photo Credit: Stephen Brashear/Getty Images
Seattle beat the Patriots 24-23, at CenturyLink Field.
Russell Wilson had the best game of his young career at home versus one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the NFL. It couldn’t have come at a better time, because Marshawn Lynch had his least productive game since last October.
Jon Ryan became the first punter to average 60 yards per punt, with a minimum of 4 attempts, since 1946. Jon, a native to Canada, picked the perfect day to accomplish the feat.
Defensively, the Seahawks did what they needed to do to win. Bobby Wagner had the best game of his career and both Earl Thomas and Richard Shermanintercepted Tom Brady passes. Of course, they came after Earl had already dropped two interceptions earlier in the game.
The game will most notably be remembered for the photo that Richard Sherman tweeted after the game. In case you didn’t see it, the photo was of him and Tom Brady, after the game, with the caption “U Mad Bro?”.
Richard took the photo down after persuasion from Seahawks media relations.
At San Francisco
Seattle lost 6-13.
Seahawks MMQB: Decepticons win this battle 28-24 over Autobots
Oct 29th
“Autobots, roll out”
Boxscore | Play-by-Play | Q’s Post Game Recap
That was the message that Peter Cullen (the voice of Optimus Prime from the “Transformers” movies) left onRichard Sherman‘s voice mail, according to the Fox game broadcast of the Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions. Peter learned that Richard changed his name on twitter to “Optimus Prime” in response to Lions’ receiver Calvin Johnson’s nickname “Megatron”.
Of course the media jumped all over Sherman’s name change, and it made for great bulletin board material for in Lions’ locker-room. I had to jump on it because I grew up watching the cartoon. Between “G.I. Joe” and “Transformers” I was a very happy kid on Saturday mornings.
For the fun of it I decided to match a few players to characters from the movie:
Autobots – Seahawks |
Decepticons – Lions |
| Optimus Prime – Richard Sherman | Megatron - Calvin Johnson |
| Jazz – Earl Thomas | Starscream - Titus Young |
| Ironhide – Brandon Browner | Frenzy - Matthew Stafford |
| Bumblebee – Kam Chancellor | Bonecrusher - Brandon Pettigrew |
Optimus Prime and the Autobots were able to contain Megatron as expected. Unfortunately, Frenzy was able to find Starscream and Bonecrusher whom were open all day, and the Decepticons stole the show.
Okay, I got the little boy out of me, now I am ready to get down to the nitty gritty.
Every loss is tough to handle, yet I actually feel pretty good about this one. The offense really stepped up and played well Sunday morning, in Detroit. Russell Wilson and company did more then enough to win the away game, if the defense had shown up to play.
Jazz and the Autobots are nothing like the 2000 Ravens quite yet.
It is difficult, yet in defeat we cannot lose sight of how big of a step forward the offense took.
I am left with a feeling of hope. Despite all the talk about how good theSeahawks defense is, they are not elite, they have not arrived.
They are nothing like the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, which is a prime example of what an elite defense looks like. What they are, is a very good, very young, up and coming defense who’s window is a season or two away from opening.
They are loaded with talent but lacking in experience.
Watching the offense Sunday, particularly Russell Wilson, I am left with a feeling of optimism that by the time the defense is ready to become elite, the offense will be good enough to make the Seahawks serious Super Bowl contenders.
Time of Possession
The Seattle Seahawks are built to control the time of possession. On Sunday they couldn’t even keep it close. During the first half, the Lions held the ball for five more minutes then the Seahawks.
Seahawks MMQB (Friday edition): Mental mistakes seal the Hawks fate 13-6
Oct 19th
Dropped passes and missed opportunities
Boxscore | Play-by-Play | Q’s Post Game Recap
When the Seattle Seahawks 2012 schedule was released I knew that going down to San Francisco on such a short week was going to be a tall order. To make maters worse, it was the 49ers third straight home game.
Both teams only had 4 days to prepare for the big divisional matchup. The Seattle Seahawks were coming off a big home win against the Patriots, one of the best teams in the AFC.
In contrast, the San Francisco 49ers were coming off an embarrassing loss to the New York Giants in San Francisco.
The funny thing about winning and losing, it is a lot easier to focus on the next weeks game after a loss than it is after an emotional win.
The difference was evident on the field Thursday.
Defense
When you look at the stats from the game, it looks like the Seahawks defense had another great game. Unfortunately, stats do not tell the entire picture.
Both teams only had 4 days to prepare
During the first half of the game defense played fine.
Then, at halftime, the 49ers made an adjustment.
Offensive coordinator Greg Roman realized that the Seahawks were vulnerable in the middle of the defense and once the 49ers started attacking it, there was nothing the Seahawks defense could do to stop the onslaught.
(Insert any trap play you like)
In the second half, San Francisco had 4 drives (excluding the final 2 plays from victory formation).
Those four drives went as follows:
- 85-yards and a touchdown.
- 68-yards, but Brandon Browner intercepted in the end zone on an ill advised pass from Alex Smith that was intended for Randy Moss. Moss had been wide open while he was in the middle of the field. His drag route, in the back of the end zone, was outside of the hash marks by the time Smith released the ball and Browner was able to step in front of the ball.
- 3 runs up the middle that totaled 40-yards. After a 49er tripping penalty More. . .
