Count Seahawks head coach Jim Mora as a follower of the golden rule.
Asked about the end of the play in the second quarter of Sunday’s game where after a sack by teammate Clark Haggans, Arizona defensive tackle Darnell Dockett squashed Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck’s throat with his elbow, Mora said if it isn’t against the rules, then his players should be doing it to.
Mora said he turned in 17 plays to the NFL officiating office on Monday, which he said is probably three times as many as he has turned in for any game during his four years as a head coach. And one of the plays he turned in included Dockett’s elbow to the throat.
Dockett was not called for a penalty on the play. He did earn a personal foul call later in the game on a face mask when tackling Justin Forsett.
“I don’t like when it’s our quarterback, but if they’re not going to call it then I’d like to see our guys do it to their quarterback,” Mora said. “If they’re not going to call it. I don’t know what the rule is. I haven’t heard back yet, so I don’t know what they’re seeing there. But if that’s not going to be called, then we should be doing it.”
Asked if Dockett’s actions should be called, more responded: “Yeah, absolutely. But if it’s not going to be, then we should be doing it.”
Asked if he should be advocating his players doing those types of things on the field, Mora had this to say: “If it’s legal I can. If it’s illegal, then it would be called. If it’s legal than we should be doing it.
“I would never advocate us doing anything illegal, nor would I ever advocate us doing anything that would intentionally harm another player. But if that’s legal and the league is not going to call that, then we should be doing it, because it has an affect on the quarterback when he can’t breathe.
“When Matt’s getting up and he can’t breathe,” said Mora, simulating his quarterback gasping for air. “Boy, I’d like to see their quarterback doing that. It’s a vicious game. I’m not saying anything that anyone else wouldn’t say.”
Mora said running back Julius Jones suffered a bruised lung, after reporting on Sunday it was cracked rib. Mora said today Jones, who returned to Seatle today, may have suffered the cracked rib.
Jones is unlikely to play on Sunday against Minnesota, Mora said.
“They just took the proper precautions in not having him travel yesterday with that injury,” Mora said.
Mora said other than Jones all the players are relatively healthy.
Mora said after watching the film that he thought his team played better against Arizona than it did a week earlier in a win over Detroit at home.
“Not getting the win just makes it bitter, but I saw improvement,” Mora said.
On the lack of pass rush, Mora said the team had data that stated Kurt Warner’s completion percentage goes down when teams only rush three up front. He said Seattle rushed only three guys on 16 plays, and 13 of those were what the team considers positive plays.
On the flip side, Mora said when they did bring five guys Seattle gave up big plays in the passing game, including two long passing plays.
“We were just trying to mix it in there,” Mora said. “He is so good at recognizing what you’re trying to do defensively in terms of bringing pressure that he can really make you pay. And that’s years of experience.”
But Mora also said the team has to do a better job of getting to the passer with three or four guys up front.
Mora said the team will not run more plays for Seneca because they want to get better at running the base offense consistently before adding to the playbook
“We want to try and come up with a wrinkle or two each week,” Mora said. “But to do 10 each game, that’s going to take us away from what we’re trying to establish, at this point.”
“We want to try and come up with a wrinkle or two each week,” Mora said. “But to do 10 each game, that’s going to take us away from what we’re trying to establish, at this point.”
I’m confused? What is Mora trying to establish at this point? NOT WINNING GAMES…
SOUNDS LIKE A GAME PLAN TO ME!!!
You get’em Mora.
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I think he simply wants to focus on getting good at the simple things (like having an OL that can run block and pass block) instead of adding to our arsenol when we can’t even do the simplest of things in the first place.
I like the comment of how our guys should be doing it if it’s not going to get called. It would make things more interesting if we could play them again.
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I guess he means who’s leaving and who’s staying, namely him and ruskell leaving, and Shaq coming and being our starting tight end/QB/RB/LT/Both safeties and CB
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Dockett is a low-life. Did anybody else notice that Zona got a free set of downs after the beanie wells personal fould? It should have been a 1st and goal from about the 20, but instead they get a 1st and 10 from about the 20. Man, our luck with officials has got to change at some point. Here’s to next year.
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“On the lack of pass rush, Mora said the team had data that stated Kurt Warner’s completion percentage goes down when teams only rush three up front. He said Seattle rushed only three guys on 16 plays, and 13 of those were what the team considers positive plays”
that seems so counter-intuitive, and not my recollection of the game yesterday at all. i’ve got it on the dvr – but don’t know if i’ve got the time/energy to do a re-watch of our rushing formations. I do feel like i can say with certainty that Warner, who threw 30 passes, was hit not more than 2-3 times the entire game. And yeah, it would be nice if we had DE’s that could consistently beat their counterparts one-on-one, but we don’t – and so you need to adjust and deal with that.
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Mr Mora might think about shorting his interview times. Or just say something once. We got the point the first time. The Hawks are not a bad team. They are being coached badly and thus playing badly.
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With the lack of pass rushing talent on our 4 man front, I really don’t know how many respected defensive coordinators in the history of the world would have us getting consistent pressure. As far as pure pass rushers are concerned, I don’t think we have anyone who is above average, but we certainly have our fair share who are below average. Mebane is still a good player thanks to his ability to stop the run. He’s really the only good, solid starting caliber player we have on our defensive line. That’s sad. I don’t mean to stick up for the defensive staff and Mora because they have plenty of faults too. If we had Jared Allen and a healthy Bob Sanders, I have a feeling that most of the blog posts would be about how Mora has revolutionized this defense and what a great job he’s been doing. Talent still wins in this league more often that not and we have to accept the fact that we aren’t there anymore. I think there’s enough talent to get back on the winning track next season, but it’s got to be a good off-season with a very good FA acquisition or three and each of the 3 picks in the first two rounds need to contribute more than Curry. It’s asking a lot, I know. And I don’t want to read the “but Curry is 2nd on the team in tackles” crap either. We all watch the games and he’s been out of position too often and missed too many tackles. We didn’t see that from Hill/Tatupu their rookie seasons. And there are a lot of LBs that come in the league and make more of an impact right away. I firmly believe he’ll be a Pro Bowler and his athletic ability is even better than I thought it would be… but he certainly needs to improve.
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I too would like to see that “data”. The completion % goes down but what about the yards per completion? What about the yards gained on the ground? I seems like a passive game plan. Grant Winstrom once said “When Kurt Warner gets knocked down a few times he becomes a very average quarterback.” I am 100% in favor of bringing pressure to the QB. If rushing only 3 gets it done, great. But if it doesn’t you’ve got to adjust that. Stunts, bringing 4, different blitz packages disguised in different ways. But you can’t just bring 3 and get no pressure and think because stats have shown that has worked for others in the past everything will be fine.
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“And I don’t want to read the “but Curry is 2nd on the team in tackles” crap either. We all watch the games and he’s been out of position too often and missed too many tackles.”
He’s had a few games where I definitely noticed him as the guy all over the place for us on D, but I don’t remember seeing him at all yesterday.
And I think you’re definitely right to say that Lofa had more impact his rookie season.
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“I am 100% in favor of bringing pressure to the QB. If rushing only 3 gets it done, great. But if it doesn’t you’ve got to adjust that. Stunts, bringing 4, different blitz packages disguised in different ways. But you can’t just bring 3 and get no pressure and think because stats have shown that has worked for others in the past everything will be fine. ”
Right. Exactly. It seems reasonably obvious to us, no? So how come our highly trained, highly compensated coaches are unable to grasp this concept?
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I like what he had to say about Dockett, actually. If it’s not illegal, yes I would like to see the opposing QB gasping for air too. But of course it is illegal and should have been flagged for unsportsman like conduct. What I would have preferred seeing is Willis and / or Unger stand him up and someone like Jon Owens take his god damn legs out from him. Your QB must be defended and that is the only was a punk like Dockett will understand you’re serious. I know it’s cheap. I understand that but those types of things have to be dealt with on the field. That B.S. can not stand. It also ends a message around the league. ‘We are not cheap but we will defend ourselves”. You think someone does that to Tom Brady, Peyton Manning or Joe Flacco? Nope.
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Agreed 100%, Duke. If I were an OL and I saw that, you can bet he’d get a cheap shot. Even if I didn’t see it, but heard of it or saw it on film, you can bet something would happen. A smash to the throat just right can kill someone. I don’t advocate killing Dockett, but what I would advocate is taking him out and if it included him missing the rest of the season with a blown out knee… so be it. That’s nothing to a shot to the throat from a stong man. The only thing I may do is wait for a more appropriate time in the game before making my move… but I’d make it and I’d let Dockett know it was coming. I wouldn’t do it in the red zone, but a 3rd and 20 with our typical draw play called would be the perfect time for a cheap shot (and you never know, maybe the ref won’t see it).
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Wanna hear something sad?
Aaron Curry has been thrown at 42 times, and he’s given up 38 receptions.
He has 6 penalties on the year… the next highest 4-3 OLB has 3.
Your 4th overall pick, everybody.
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Eric — is it appropriate to come up to the press box on Sunday about an hour and a half before kick-off to say “hi.” Don’t worry, I’m not going to want to talk to you for a long time (no offense). I know you’ve got work to do. Just want to say “hi” and see the man behind the blog. And now that you’re 40, as Ryan would say, now you’re a man (I’ve got a little over 3 years to go). If nothing else, I will be in Row 1 on the 35 yard line behind the Seahawks bench.
Duke – What jersey do I wear to the game on Sunday? I’m thinking about Mirer. The reason being is that the Seahawks haven’t sucked this bad since the early 90s. And we’re back to those days. I could go with the white Branch jersey. That’s pretty pathetic too. Being that Carlson is from the area, I’m sure there will be plenty of other 89s in the stands.
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While I’m not happy with Curry, he’s certainly a good player for ’10 (and beyond). He’s not going to be a bust. He’s too fast, strong, and powerful for that. I may not like him the way I liked Moreno/Oher (and still feel that way), but he’s not a bad consolation prize. I’d be pissed if we took Jason Smith (thank goodness he was gone), Tyson Jackson, Eugene Monroe, Craptree (looks like a great posession WR, with no separation on long routes… he’d fit right in here), Heyward-Bey, BJ Rajii, or Andre Smith. Hate Ruskell all you want, but Curry wasn’t a bad pick. This past draft was what we thought it was… not very good of high end talent. When it’s all said and done, we’re going to look back and think we got one of the top 5 players from this past 1st round class. But with the #4 pick, I guess we should expect it, right?
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“Aaron Curry has been thrown at 42 times, and he’s given up 38 receptions.
He has 6 penalties on the year… the next highest 4-3 OLB has 3.”
Source?
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“What jersey do I wear to the game on Sunday? I’m thinking about Mirer.”
You own a Mirer jersey? What, were they out of Dan McGwires?
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Lol, yeah, Rick Mirer does represent an awful period. You’d probably get some props for that actually. Too bad you don’t have a Dan McGwire. (We think things are bad now? Two 1st round picks on QBs in 3 years. Not good.) But I think you got to rock the Carlson. That would be cool if Eric gave you a little peak behind the curtain.
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Nice pdway, beat me to it.
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Nor do I have a Kelly Stouffer jersey.
I wish I had a Hutch jersey like the guy on tv from the crowd at the Cards game yesterday.
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Since I’m sitting in the 1st row… maybe I can write a sign and hang it that says “I miss Hutch.”
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The tri-fecta of 1st round QBs: Stouffer ’87, McGwire ’91, Mirer ’93. Quality.
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I know those 3 stiffs shouldn’t dictate whether or not we take a 1st round QB this upcoming year… but as a ‘Hawks fan, I’m so scared for another first round bust…
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The Seahawks did blitz several times and their pedestrian secondary was exposed (how about Trufant on Breaston?).
The entire team is pedestrian. Is this the first year in a very long time (1980, 2000) no one makes the Pro Bowl from the Seahawks?
That would be quite an accomplishment by Mr. Tim Ruskell.
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I wonder what the Raiders would want for Robert Gallery? He played for Knapp last year so he knows the system. And he’d be our best OL at LG.
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Jon Ryan could go, as painful as that is to type.
When the brought Babs or played him up, as they did most of the 1st half, they played much stingier. Stops on 3rd and 1, nice goal line stand, 2nd and long several times. But inexplicably they went away from that on the Cards last drive of the half and nearly all of the second. Baffling to me.
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Truth be told… I want 1 more year of Ruskell/Mora (as long as we aren’t dumb enough to think that Lock/Sims/Spencer/Unger/Willis as a 5-some is the answer). Go ahead and shoot me…
Unless Mora pulls another Mare incident. Then it’s time to clean house.
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I couldn’t figure out why Babs role changed in the 2nd half either. Very confusing.
Almost every year, the Punter comes from a pathetic team. The reason is they suck so much that their kickers usually get to kick/punt as far as they can so they get the inflated averages. Whereas good teams will drive and sometimes get stalled and then have to pooch punt and kill their averages and make them look bad. I think punts inside the 20 should be a better indicator and punts that go out of the end zone should lose points. Just me.
Like you, Duke, I didn’t think much of Ryan coming into the year.
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You had good reason not to think much of Ryan – how often do you see the Seahawks force a team to start inside the 5 yard line like Ben Graham did to the Seahawks?
Ryan’s good for when the Seahawks are backed up in their own territory – he can boom it out of there – but he’ll often outkick the coverage.
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He kicks those low scuds that roll, returner has a full head of steam by the time the coverage gets to him.
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BobbyK: Email me privately and we’ll set something up.
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Looks like Hasselbeck needs just 1100 yards to surpass Krieg’s franchise record. He should get it by the end of the year. He is 40 TD passes away (I don’t think he gets that one) and has to go 12-4 just to equal Krieg’s starting record of 70-49. That last stat is somewhat surprising, given all the division titles and easier divisional action of this decade.
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I agree, that is surprising. The AFC West then was a tough division. Those were some real battles in KC, Denver and Oakland / LA. (SD was always little sister)
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pabuwal – great point about the division. Those AFC West days were some battles. The Raiders were normally good. The Broncos were usually very, very good. And the Chiefs had some good teams here and there. The Chargers weren’t great after the Foutes/Windslow/Chandler/Jefferson… days, but they weren’t horrible like the Rams have been. All I know is that the ’05 team could kick anyone’s butt… but it made things easier when you had 6 bye weeks during the season when we played bad division teams (like how the Cardinals view us now). IMO – the ’86 Hawks in December would have beaten every Hawk team of this decade, except the ’05 team.
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damn, you, Duke — beat me to it (about the AFC West).
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I was very upset when the 86 team did not make the playoffs. Looking at the 4 game losing streak that doomed them, all 4 games were against teams that were 10-6 or better. The won the last 5 games, but the only team with a winning record they beat in the last 5 games was the Broncos who desperately needed that game for home field advantage.
So maybe that takes the sting out of it, 23 years later. Or maybe it doesn’t.
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As I’ve said before, I don’t think the Hawks problems are a result of Hass’ play. I do believe however that he wont last forever. W/ that in mind, Where is there a backup QB somewhere in the mold of Hass in 2000 that could study under Matt for the next 2 years or so (maybe we could get w/a 3rd or 4th rounder)? Derek Anderson comes to mind, but someone out there knows more about this question than I do( Duke or Bobby)….. Any insights?
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Great article about Seahawks future…..
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/291540-looking-ahead-to-the-2010-seahawks
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Dukeshire says:
“The tri-fecta of 1st round QBs: Stouffer ’87, McGwire ’91, Mirer ’93. Quality.”
OMG, Duke. What horrible memories.
Brings up an interesting thought. All the Tim Ruskell haters here would do well to remember that back before Ruskell, our drafts were worse than now. Much worse, I’d say. Even under Holmy, most of our drafts were pretty bad. For all the complaining, things could be so very much worse.
Some of our forgettable pre-Ruskell draft choices, rounds 1-3:
Michael Boulware – 2
Wayne Hunter – 2
Anton Palepoi – 2
Kris Richard – 3
Heath Evans – 3
Chris McIntosh – 1
Ike Charlton – 2
Karsten Bailey – 3
Lamar King – 1
Rick Mirer – 1
Dan McGuire – 1
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we are terrible, pure and simple. we have no heart or soul, none. we havent had more talent than az in a few years, but we had more balls than they did. that reign is over.
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Derek Anderson went to a Pro Bowl but that was when Braylon Edwards played like the star he is supposed to be and KII, who is even more talented than his Dad (who is a much better football player than the brat), had a great year too. As with anything, you’re only as good as your supporting cast. Anderson had a good, solid offense. Here, he’d have a bunch of slop, mainly on the OL. Anderson is the same guy he was 2 years ago (even with the knee injury). The only difference is that the talent around him sucks. Therefore, he sucks. Just like the people complaining about Matt now…
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BobbyK says:
“Truth be told… I want 1 more year of Ruskell/Mora”
I think that is big of you, actually. Any fan worth his salt knows that only loser teams hire a coach one year and fire him the next. No matter what happens, a new coach needs two or three years to prove whether he’s good or not.
As for Ruskell, I think he has assembled a lot of quality football pros around him, though results are lacking. Still, we could be a lot worse off than the staff and coaches we have, IMO. But – If Mora and his coaches can’t turn this thing around in the next year or two, then Mora, his coaches, Ruskell, and his personnel guys can all be thrown out together. That’s the only right way to do it.
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ryan – I have to disagree about the comment about how we have no heart and soul. I think we do. I think Ruskell has done a great job of assembling a team of good guys. But as Mora stated, he’d like it if they could crush Warner’s throat too (me too). With the exception of Curry a few weeks ago, we have fought hard. The thing that troubles me the most, is that we have fought hard (mostly) but we just can’t go toe-to-toe with good teams the way we’d like and that’s b/c of a lack of talent (and that’s on Ruskell… and I have no defense for wanting him to get 1 more year).
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Okay, so shoot me if some of you don’t have the same opinion.. Im not mad or don’t have hatred or bad feelings towards anyone here, but here’s what Im voting for in this upcoming off season…
Dukeshire can take over as head coach for Jim Mora, while BobbyK takes the reigns as General Manager for Tim Ruskell…
Is it just me or do these two individuals always have something insightful to say… Heck, sometimes it feels as if they have all the answers!!
Again, it was just a thought after being a reader of the Seahawks Insider since early this year!
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Stevos – I have no defense for wanting Ruskell/Mora back. The facts prove they should be replaced and normally I would agree 100%. My only defense is that it’s a gut feeling that they should get one more crack at it.
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geez, Longco44, what a suckup!
Bobby and Duke, get your checks in the mail to the man!
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Somehow, Ruskell has put together a team that:
1). Will have no Pro Bowlers for just the second time since 1981.
2). Will put together one of the worst two year records in franchise history. The last time we had that, the Seahawks faced HoF QBs in Elway and Montana. Now it’s Warner and Shaun Hill. Without the historically bad Rams, this would be the worst stretch in franchise history.
3). Looks to lose all road games but the Rams game by double digits, the worst road showing in around 30 years. Even the 1992 team played some close against playoff teams.
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longco44 – I wish you were Paul Allen in disguise!
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pabuwal – you’re right and I’m wrong… but let me play devil’s advocate…
Ruskell has put together a team of zero Pro Bowlers (sucks). But if we had a good/great front 4 (Ruskell’s fault we don’t)… Trufant is a definite Pro Bowler (if not for the injury) and Wilson is close, based on his knack for big plays. A great front 4 also makes Tatupu (IF healthy) a Pro Bowler. IF we had a legit OL… Matt, Carlson, and Houshe are all Pro Bowlers too. Many of the Pro Bowlers who get voted in… it will be because of their surrounding cast… many of the Pro Bowlers this year won’t be, individually, as good as Tru, Wilson (IMO), Carlson… not that this makes us feel any better (unless we can draft Suh).
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BobbyK, you have plenty of good reasons for not wanting to fire Mora. I’ll give you one more: Bill Belichick.
Like Mora, Belichick grew up in the game of football. Like Mora, he gave crappy press conferences. Like Mora, he was a loser in his first season as head coach. Like Mora, he deserved a little time to show what he could do.
Only loser teams fire coaches after one year.
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“Is it just me or do these two individuals always have something insightful to say… Heck, sometimes it feels as if they have all the answers!!” LOL, If I didn’t know any better I’d say there is a hint of sarcasm there, longco.
Stevos – Don’t worry, we’ll find something for you.
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BobbyK…. If I were Paul Allen, you would sure get my vote. It seems like you (and Duke) are pretty well educated when it comes to knowing your football!!
Stevos….. You would be on there too.. I wouldn’t sell you short either!! You contribute to these conversations too.. I just wouldn’t be to sure where to put you yet… I haven’t figured it out yet, but Im sure you could fit in there somewhere though!!!
Anyhoooo I just thought I would throw in my two cents (though it doesn’t mean anything)…. I never contribute on these blogs because it seems like most people on here say what Im thinking in many different ways that hearing it a 3rd or 4th time would just be pointless and redundant!
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Duke; nah, I meant no sarcasm! I read what all you guys write, and you all have so much knowledge about the game, the players, and the way things could or should be run differently. At times I almost feel Im listening to someone who works in the field of owning/coaching/gm/or even as a player!!
anyway.. Don’t let me slow ya down.. I like reading everything.. You’ve made me into quite the thinker when it comes to the Hawks. I will tell you this…. I didn’t know as much on the Hawks before I started getting into reading the Insider on the TNT site!! Always been a fan 20+ years, but never knew so much!!
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Fair point. I don’t think the Seahawks OL is as bad as everyone else thinks, but it’s bad compared to the high standard set by guys like Walter Jones.
Hasselbeck’s sack percentage isn’t too much different than other QBs and the line looked pretty “good” while blocking for a competent RB like Forsett vs stiffs like James and Jones. Warner’s sack percentage would even be higher than Hasselbeck if he didn’t face the Seahwks stiffs twice out of 9 games.
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Why I like Mora…
He’s willing to try new things on offense (like the Seneca packages). And now, with eliminating them, since we’re eliminated too… I support that as well… long story…
He wants our guys to crush Warner’s throat if they aren’t going to call it on their guys. I love the comination of Ruskell good guy stuff with the Mora “kill ‘em” approach. I know that contradicts itself, but it makes sense to me. Suh is the perfect addition to this… he loves football but he wants to hurt people… I try NOT to be a know-it-all jerk… but feel that I know more about the Nebraska Cornhuskers and Suh more than anyone here (hell, I even left MN to attend the University of Nebraska because I grew up brainwashed in loving Nebraska football and could get student season tickets that way when I was younger)… I have thought some Nebraska players would suck in the Pros (Mike Croel, Bruce Pickens, Broderick Thomas) and thought others would be good/great (I was wrong on Johnny Mitchell though… TE)…
Why I don’t…
Chicago game — Mare
In Game Adjustments???
I don’t know… give the man 1 more year though (but can his ass if he blames another kicker for losing a game unless they miss 10 FGs inside the 30 yard line…
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Sacks Allowed by Year:
2001: 49
2002: 33
2003: 43
2004: 34
2005: 27
2006: 49
2007: 36
2008: 36
Avg: 38.5
2009: 41 pace for year (36 before yesterday)
Just from a sacks point of view, this year isn’t that much out of line with the other years.
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BobbyK… Do you have anyone else besides Suh on your mind that the Seahawks should consider? I know you must be pretty big on the Nebraska player, but do you have any backups in mind incase Suh isn’t available?? Either draft picks or trade ideas?
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Sack % by year:
2001: 9.6
2002: 5.3
2003: 7.6
2004: 6.0
2005: 5.4
2006: 8.7
2007: 5.8
2008: 7.1
Avg: 6.9%
2009: 5.9%
Using this metric, 2009 is better than the 2001-2008 average and 1% better than the Hutch years.
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Yeah, but if we go by stats… there are a lot of lies…
For example, stats seem to indicate that we have gotten better than average pressure on the QB the last 5-6 years. We know we haven’t. But the stats say we get sacks (ie pressure) more often than we do.
And, this year, there are times when Matt drops back and he’s almost beat in the backfield by defenders… that’s not good. There’s more of it happening this year than previous seasons. It always happens, but not like this.
I guarantee if there was a stat that had the number of seconds from the snap to the actual snap that the ’09 season would suck and be among the worst Seahawk stats of all time. And that would be fitting, since our ’09 line sucks. As did the ’08 line. And the ’06 line. And the ’07 line was good in pass protection… but truly sucked in run blocking.
I miss Hutch (broken record).
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The only coach I can say with certainty that needs to go is Bruce Dehaven. Special teams has been well below average here each of his 3 years. Specifically kick off and punt coverage. These are weaknesses and I’ve seen no improvement. I’m not impressed with Knapp either (his play selection and lack of adjustments are frustrating to watch) but there are still 7 games to go and yesterday there were glimpses of rhythm and continuity that have been lacking to date. Although I can argue either way, I do think Ruskell will be re-uped and that means Mora will return as well. Man, they need a strong off season to begin righting the ship.
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should read “snaps to actual sack”
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I’m watching monday night ball and saw that Paul Allan has non-hodgkins lymphoma.
Who inherits or purchases the hawks now? It’s going to happen. Could be the start of a really bad stretch–Best wishes for Paul Allen as his priorities have obviously and needfully shifted from his extra-curricular activity to his health and other more meaningful business.
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Duke – I agree 100%.
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And we thought we had it easy with just having to replace a GM and possibly head coach and company.
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Longco – I know I’m not Bobby but I like Terrance Cody from Alabama (Stevo has mentioned him as well). 6’5” 365 and moves like a DE. Either one would be an awesome addition.
pabuwal – Seneca playing a number of those games skews that metric, for sure. Stats are an interesting thing.
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BobbyK – the Seahawks of the Hutch years weren’t great in pass protection either. Look at these Sack Allowed percentages:
2001: 9.6
2002: 5.3
2003: 7.6
2004: 6.0
2005: 5.4
Those aren’t great numbers, 2002 and 2005 were good, but they weren’t great numbers. Hutchinson wasn’t the greatest pass blocker, but clearly one of the all-time greats in run blocking.
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Duke
What makes you think they would keep TR when Holmy wasn’t even given this amount of time even with the strides he made with the team. We’ve been dismantled the last four years–TR is gone 100% guarantee.
A disclaimer: Seeing how bad Paul Allens health is these day, i think that bodes well for TR and company.
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Duke – 2008 was the only year where Wallace brought the sack % down. His sack % is generally much higher than Hasselbeck.
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Yeah, this news sucks…
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2009/11/now-for-a-look-at-nonhodgkin-lymphoma-a-diagnosis-expected-to-increase.html
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God speed to Mr. Allen.
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Duke and Bobby, when you’re GM and Coach, just save me a job scouting Sea Gals. Ha…..
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pabuwal – I know you can’t do this, and I don’t mean to be a dink… but I’d like to see the stats of where the sacks were a result of the right side of the OL not doing their jobs (as we know Walt/Hutch were probably doing theirs). And, remember, year 2 of Hutch… he had a broken leg and missed most of the year…
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Stevos – you’ll be in charge of giving them their physicals (and you’ll have a better job than us:) that’s for sure…
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BobbyK – unfortunately I don’t have that information.
But what I do have is the Sack % during the Hutch years is nearly identical (6.8%) to the post Hutch years (6.9%).
My point to this isn’t to say that the Seahawks OL post 2005 compares to the OL with Hutchinson. But it’s not fair to say that the pass protection is completely dreadful because it isn’t. Don’t forget, Hasselbeck was a master of getting out of trouble (remember that spin move he had) from 2002-2005. He doesn’t have this ability anymore to make killer plays on the move by extending the play. That hurts the sack % and the offense in general.
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What is with Stevos giving Bk and Shire verbal BJ’s and even worse BK offers up a little pillow talk with a promise…………………….Only on the Tacoma Tribune.
p.s. Thanks for the term Hellomouthbreathers
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pabuwal – His sack % is higher this year too? I’m a bit out of my element here as I’ve never really examined those numbers before. It’s an interesting discussion and I’ll look at those and get up to speed.
variable575 – I’m not suggesting I want him back. I’ve seen enough. If it were up to me, he’d be gone. However, the important difference between him and Holmgren is that the HC (Holmgren) remained the stabilizing element. If Holmgren were still under contract and coaching, I’d have little doubt Ruskell would be gone. But new HC (and coaches across the board with few exceptions) will allow him to stay, I’m afraid. What ever there plan for rebuilding is, one would think Lieweke and co. will give him an opportunity to be successful, with all the changes. If I were to bet on the situation, that is where my money would go, despite what I’d like to see happen.
Also variable575, the Stevo thing is from an earlier post.
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Very good point shire but i hope you’re wrong and i hope TR is gone.
I can see the excuse to keep the coaches but TR has had and does no longer need anymore time to see if he can right the ship he’s responsible for sinking. Of course, with a new GM the chances of the coaching staying in house would be quite unlikely. The more we talk about it, the more my gut tells me your point is more than valid but for different reasons that what you posit. Mine being PA’s health. Yours being the new coaching staff across the board- and i’m sure you’re not limited to just that.
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Hey i had to razz stevos he was the renob that re-posted some comments made by others trying to prove his own point–nothing but warmth in the air!!:) all in good fun.
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That’s interesting about Mr. Allen’s health and how that plays into the ‘Hawks. I’ll say this; for all us who have been fans and the players who bust their asses every day, no one deserves a Super Bowl ring more than Paul Allen. He stepped up when this franchise and city needed someone to keep them here. He’s put them in a position to compete with the best in the league (the stadium and facilities in Renton are incredible) and they’ve had their greatest success under him. He’s an incredible owner and we’re lucky to have him, we owe him our gratitude. I hope he’s able to beat back this latest bout of cancer and he has many more years of health. God speed.
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Quarterback pressures is just as important (though not as easy to track) of a statistic as sacks. I don’t know off-hand how many QB pressures Arizona had in their 27-3 victory over us earlier this year – but Hass had pressure on him on nearly every play. Big difference between that and a game where he has time on most plays, but is sacked 3 times on blitzes or other isolated incidents.
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“The tri-fecta of 1st round QBs: Stouffer ’87, McGwire ’91, Mirer ’93. Quality”
OK – so, it’s true that the miserable memory of those picks shouldn’t necessarily spook us from taking a QB – it is equally true for us to recognize that it’s more likely than not that a highly picked QB will not be anything we can count on building around. I know there are some very good young QBs right now (Ryan, Flacco, etc) – but there are more teams that struggle to find their decent QB no matter how high they pick. I don’t see Hass’ level of play as the problem on this team – and i honestly don’t think i’m being sentimental about it – i’ve had no problem being ready to dump players that I’d previously liked when their run had come to an end.
He’s actually taken plenty of hits this year to the back w/out injury – which at least shows that it isn’t the chronic condition we worried it might be this off-season. Give him better line play, and a running game – and I’m happy to have him running things for the next couple years.
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Hi variable, I hear you calling me out. Glad its all in good fun.
I think you misunderstood my previous comments, though. I didn’t repost anyone’s comments to prove my own point I reposted them as a comment about those who whine and bitch about how they think the Seahawks suck, Ruskell sucks, Mora sucks, all us Seahawks fans are noobs, but they don’t bring any new or knowledgeable comments about football to the discussion. My comment was that the worst thing about this type of behavior is not just the unceasing negativity, but some are so bold as to admit they enjoy a Seahawks loss by coming here and proudly proclaiming “see, I told you so!”
I gave you every opportunity to demonstrate that you were above such behavior. But there you were, the day after our latest loss, gloating:
Variable575: “This is beautiful. Most of you all are saying the same stuff i was, although i have been saying it from the start ”
Man, does it feel good to root against the Seahawks and then coming here to gloat and say “I told you so”?
And before you accuse me of being an unrealistic optimist about my team, or something more harsh (I call it being a fan). Readers of this blog know that before this last game, there were clearly two camps of commenters here: those who believed the Seahawks would lose in embarrassing fashion, and those who believed the Seahawks would play well, show improvement, but lose to a better team. I was in the second group. You, as usual, were in a distinct third group of trolls rooting for the Seahawks to lose, and lurking to come back and say “I told you so”. Congratulations.
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I finally got around to watching the Jim Mora show from last night and discovered this; Spencer was snapping the whole game with his left hand. He injured his right and (either in practice or against the Lions) so I can only imagine that’s why some of those shotgun snaps were floating and inaccurate.
Further injuries not withstanding, I’m in no hurry to usher Matt out. The beating he’s taken this year has certainly shown his back is healthy. But as far as future QBs go, I don’t think you have to take one in the 1st round. The league is and has been filled with quality and pro bowl QBs taken in later rounds. Matt himself is a 6th rounder. It’s about being able to recognize talent and having a staff in place that can nurture and maximize it. Perhaps Teel is that player, a couple years down the road, when Matt does face retirement.
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It’s so nice to be thinking draft half way through November for the second year in a row.
With our bank roll, stadium, and lakeside football palace, this team should be a contender each year. Rebuilding is for teams with suits that make incompetent decisions.
Tim Ruskell = Wally Walker minus the personality.
Jim Mora = Paul Westphal.
Blow it up. Bring back Holmgren.
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NO First Round QB’s..We Need BIG UGGLIES or the QB’s will be smattered meat on the turf AGAIN
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As was stated in an earlier post, Darnell Dockett should be on IR for the rest of the season at this point. He should have been engaged with someone while someone else drove a helmet and shoulder pad somewhere down between his knee and ankle and finished his season, as a statement that we WILL NOT have our QB f…ed with. I’m suprised Mora didn’t initiate this immediately. Dick Butkus was a perfect example of a career cut short by other players who didn’t appreciate the cheap shots and took it upon themselves to rectify the situation.
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Waiting for a Hawk to get within sniffing distance of the AZ
QB for retaliation, don’t hold your breath. The 12th man needs to step up and pelt the jerk with tamaters and eggs upon entrance to Qwest.
Duke… what does it take for some bum to prove there a loser?! Ruskel spent his bankroll on the WR position and still hasn’t landed a legit #1. Focused on the D since day one and we can’t get any pressure on a QB. Worse of all, when he arrived we had the #1 offense in the league which is now at the bottom.
Need a better reason for keeping TR around than our new head coach needs more time. Holmgren was retained when Ruskell arrived, thank god. Can you imagine how bad those first years would have been under a TIT guy. No SB. Just cellar dwelling… pudding, proof, if the glove fits you must______!
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Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your perspective) I don’t make the decisions, I’m only offering my opinion on the matter. If it were my decision, Ruskell would be gone.
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Most Super Bowl teams have dominating players at certain positions.
If you look at the 49ers, Broncos, Steelers, Patriots, Colts, etc., One thing that is common to most of them is a very good QB, good OL, solid running game, at least one standout WR, the ability to pressure the QB (especially when it was necessary late in the game), a very good MLB, and most of them had a very good to great safety. The kind of safety that seems to both control the run game, as well as stopping the deep passes that Seattle has been giving up for years…..especially on 3rd and long.
We used to have the best OT in the league, the best LG, which made our good QB, very good, and our good running game, very good, with Alexander and Mack Strong. We had Jurevicius, Engram, Hackett and DJack to make up a decent WR core. On defense we had Trufant and Tatupu playing well, with not a whole lot else….Wistrom? Darby? Fisher?
Anyways, my point is that we are in desperate need of some top level players at key positions. LT, LG, S, DE, DT mostly.
I look at a team like Arizona. They don’t have a whole lot of pro bowl guys, but they have the best receiver(s) in the game, a very good QB (especially when he’s allowed to just stand in the pocket and pick out his receivers), a couple of good RB’s, and on defense, Dockett, Dansby and Adrian Wilson….and Rolle I suppose.
We no longer have any dominating players on our roster. Curry may become one. Mebane is looking like he could become one. Tatupu had his best year as a rookie. Injuries haven’t helped, but Trufant, Hill, Kearney, etc. have all been average at best. We have a good receiving group….but not one game breaker. Below average running game. OL definitely a work in progress.
Good TE, but the QB needs him to stay in and block too often.
Our DE’s are always a step behind when trying to get to the QB. Why don’t we put more pressure up the middle on guys like Warner? Why not stack Curry and Hill every so often up the middle on a blitz? It works against us OFTEN!
Mostly in crucial 3rd down passing situations. Disguise the blitzes like other teams are able to do.
Anyways, just needed to rant. Just bummed that the season is over already, and well aware that we need to have a great draft if we want to return to the playoffs….love the whole good character thing…..but we need some stud players…..especially at Safety!!!! Gotta get your defense off the field on 3rd downs more often!
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foreverhawk, strong comments. I mostly agree but I don’t think our situation is quite as dire as you say. I think the injuries/instability on our O line has made the offensive talent look a lot worse than it really is. Now healthy, the offense has a chance to start showing its playmakers.
Of course, its too late to matter in terms of record. But if you’re saying we don’t have playmakers, I think that lacking a healthy O line and QB made it impossible for any offensive playmakers a chance to shine. That will start happening from here forward.
I agree the Safety situation is inexcusable, but my biggest disappointment is our D line. Its hard to remember, but we had a poorer D line last year and so we let Mora and Bradley begin a major rebuild of the defense this year. These things take time and their efforts may not bear much fruit until they keep working their new system and new roster through the offseason and into next year.
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That’s bad news about Paul Allen…though, the good news is that it sounds like he has at least a 60% chance of being cured. He’ll have the finest doctors and access to whatever treatments he needs, so he may have an even better chance than the “average”.
Outlook for high grade lymphomas
These lymphomas generally need more intensive treatment than the low grade types. But they often respond well to treatment. Many people are cured. The most common type of high grade lymphoma is diffuse large B cell lymphoma. About 31 in 100 of all lymphomas diagnosed (31%) are this type.
It is difficult to be specific about likely outcome, as there are so many different types of high grade lymphoma. And they do not all behave the same way. Generally speaking, about 6 out of 10 people (60%) are cured.
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Stevos you are such a homer and that it is why we fail as a sport fans becasue of people like you who don’t want to criticize the teams short comings. This teams has holes all over the place offensively & defensively and you trust Ruskel to bring in the right personnel (I don’t). I will be happy giving Mora another year but we need a new GM and if Mora can’t pull this team togethe and win then he shouold go. Then let the New GM hire a new coach after next year (after 2010). Don’t give me the injuries excuse and a need to give coaches time to get acclimated. These injuries were a problem last year and this organization never addressed them and Mora has been here 3 years now and he knows the talent on this team and he knows what this team is capable of doing. This team needs a new direction not a 2 yr plan like Ruskell was saying in his mid season address. please!!!
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“Tim Ruskell = Wally Walker minus the personality”
damn, that’s a good one – - maybe we can bring in Jim McIlvaine?
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The downfall of the hawks started with the lost of 2 key members 1 on offense and 1 on defense. They are Marcus Tubbs and Steve Hutchison. Both players were gone soon after the super bowl. Hutch is FA and Tubbs hurt early the next year. The team never replace those key guys and soon after other key players started to leave or retire. Ruskell hasn’t rebuild anything and now we aren’t talented enough to beat a flawed team like Azirona (arizona is who we thought they were and thats we thought we could wint the game) just look at the players from the superbowl team position by position and compare it to this roster of misfits. where are the position upgrades or the status quo. I see more wholes in the roster than what we had in 2005
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The longer Ruskell is the GM the longer it will take to reverse the damage he has done to Holmgren team. I remember when Tom Flores took over for Chuch knox and we were an ok team before him then he flushed this team down the toilet. I see the flores years all over again unless we make some changes at GM and maybe coach (Mora has til 2010)
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yellaman, you misrepresent my comments.
I haven’t said I trust Ruskel to bring in the right personnel. I’ve said he’s done good things overall and had some misses, and that mostly injuries have brought down this team, not lack of talent.
I’ve said I trust Paul Allen to bring in the right people to make the decision on whether to retain Ruskell, just as he paid for an extensive search and evaluation of all available NFL management talent before he chose Ruskell as better than the other alternatives.
I’ve also said that Ruskell has been a much better manager of the roster talent than Holmgren was. Remember, Holmgren had been relieved of his GM duties two years before we drafted Tubbs. Holmgren’s choices for his D line were Rashad Moore, Cedric Woodard, and Lamar King. Holmy drafted a lot of busts.
Ruskell is a much better GM than Holmgren was. If Allen can find us one even better? then I’d be all for it.
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“The downfall of the hawks started with the lost of 2 key members 1 on offense and 1 on defense. They are Marcus Tubbs and Steve Hutchison”
But every single good team loses good players – look at the Steelers, the Pats, everyone – you’ve got to be able to re-load. Someone posted a list of the Steelers #1 picks the past several years – and when you side-by-side it with ours – it’s pretty clear why they haven’t had the fall we have.
I’m also down on our coaching right now – i really felt like our defensive playcalling in the key game of the season last Sunday – was passive and weak. Steelers blitz from all over the place – and it’s like we don’t have some athletic personnel at LB – we just don’t have the sophistication.
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Did anyone see this? I heard about it the other day, but seeing this 14 second video makes me think the Hawks may have the wrong owner!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTxHuUGG_2c
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Thanks for the clip, Longco!
Hats off to Bud Adams. He was flipping of the Bill’s fans. I grew up near Buffalo and there is no doubt Buffalo fans are the most obnoxious fans in the league for many years, assaulting players and often being complete jerks.
And as Mike Ditka said the other day, “Bud Adams can afford the fine. And Bud is 86. 86 is a good number. I think if you’re 86 you’ve earned the right to give the bird to anybody.”
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Chalk that loss to the Cards up to coaching, offense and defense.
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I saw the throat incident and reran the tape several times. It appeared to me that the AZ player was bumped into coming down on Hasselbecks throat.
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I saw it happen, and he was bumped, or pushed into Hass, but then he purposely pressed his elbow hard into Matt’s throat. Pissed me off, that’s for sure. I just wish one of our OL had come over and cleaned Dockett’s clock.
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Yes, and just like in ’06 when EJ Henderson was blocked by Mack Strong and then rolled 5 yds on the ground onto the side of Matt’s knee and knocked Matt out for much of the season, there’s alotta acting goin on out there. The block on the defender is like the counterpoint to the ST’s “Fosby Flop” or the QB’s complaint to the referee behind him. If the DE or DT can sell the act that he is blocked into a skilled offensive player then he’ll try to get away with it.
What I want to see in those plays is the OL player get jostled by the DL player in front or to the side and take two steps back, and accidentally step on the ankle of the DE whose arm is across Matt’s throat, accidentally breaking Dockett’s fibula in two. Heck, if he’s luck he can snap both the fibula and tibia at the same time. How’s that for an ‘accident’?
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Bad Karma – Nobody should be rollin up on other players knees, stompin other players heads (ala A.Haynesworth), or not making the effort to prevent causing injury to other team’s players. If Dockett could have prevented his arm from crushing Matt’s throat and didn’t bother making the effort, regardless of the initial cause, then the NFL should fine him $20,000, min.
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