Minnesota Game Discussion

One of the bright spots on the offense is definitly Mike Williams.. I think he will be the comeback player of the year.. On defense, it's obvious how big of an impact Earl Thomas will make this year, but Clemons is definitly a great surprise.. The D line looks really good and is definitly not the liability everyone thought they were before the preseason... Pretty pumped for the season to start..

Would you really rather have Wallace as our backup still? Not necessarily defending Whitehurst butuntil he gets significant playing time like Wallace did in relief of Hasselbeck in the regular season,I don't think yuou can definitively say he couldn't end up looking more like he did aginst the Titans and less like this week.

No running game to speak of.

EARL THOMAS nailing some poor viking and then after lying on the ground for 5 seconds getting up like a damn madman

dudes nuts

Two biggest problems IMO is lacking of running game and the inability to get off the field on 3rd down.

* Falling in love with M. Williams
* Like the run defense
* Curry is terrible. Zero instincts
* Whitehurst throws a nice deep ball but continues to throw off his back foot so everything is high. Can't believe we gave up two 3rd round picks for him.
* Still expect a trade or two before the season starts

Loved our defense this game. Offense still is a question mark. Matt had some decent passes, but I am not sure we even converted a third down in the whole game, and our run game doesn't seem too impressive to me. The O-line still needs some work, in order to both open wider holes for our run game and help protect Matt, a few sacks and quite a few hurries seemed to get to him. I see also Matt not being able to stay in the pocket like he used too, I know that is part of the offensive game plan, but I have to think it is because our O-line is just still below average at this point. Although I must say, I think their are some good pieces and I agree that their is a lot to build on and could imagine the Hawks continuing to get better throughout the season. Go 'Hawks.

our first team held there own against top 5 nfl teams in the last to weeks. its something to be optimistic about. i like the chemestry between housh and hass, seems to be growing.

now lets over-analize with loads of negativity and talk trash about the seahawks all week!

oops. wrong blog...

I really like what I am seeing. Earl Thomas showed what we can expect as he gets more comfortable in the defensive scheme. It's amazing how well the O-line is playing. Housh, Branch and Williams make a damn good 3 wide set. They played 2 teams expected to go deep in the playoffs in a row and more than held their own. I'm not expecting much this year, but I am cautiously optomistic!

Overall things could be a hell of a lot worst. I'm not going to complain, I'll take anything over the last two years we've had. The defense in a whole has been a surprise, offense could be better , but people remember ITS PRESEASON! I'm sure carroll or bates don't want to tip there hand at all......and teams dont exactly prep for these games like in the regular season.

Just got done watching the game from 8-11 here in AZ so bear with my tired remarks, or if I am just repeating what has been stated.
Overall assessments:
- Once our o-line guys get healthy over the next few weeks, Matt should have plenty of time and receivers to throw to. They all pretty much had nice catches all over the field and got the YAC that is so critical to keep drives going.
- Our running game, yikes! J-Force and Leon will get their quickness over the year and be okay but JJ has to go. He adds no value to the bunch right now.
- Our run D should be okay and looked decent tonight. The AP touchdown was their only really long and good run this whole ballgame and Babs missed the tackle at the 5 yard line. Depth may be an issue but the starters look ready to improve from last season.
- Our pass D was and will be up and down. The picks by Tru and Thomas were nice, and Thomas deserves the gameball for the effort he put in all over the field. No rush means no stopping teams on third downs. We need to find a way to pressure the QB and Chris Clemons on occasion will not be enough.
- Quick hits on who improved their stock and climbing the depth chart to making this team: Mike Williams, Deon Butler, Mansfield Wrotto, Tajuan Hagler, Roy Lewis, and Obo.
- Guys who may be packing their bags next Saturday: JJ, Babs, Sean Locklear, and Matt McCoy. Julius is not the big back with some speed we need to churn drives and take the pressure off Matt. Babs looked out of the play all night and no longer makes "Big Plays." Locklear is getting penalized and gave up the sack to Matt where he got tossed aside like a rag doll. And Matt McCoy was a bubble guy at the last LB spot who missed tackles and is not as good a player as Hagler. We have nice depth at that spot yet again.
All in all, sucks to lose even in August but I have a lot of positives to take away. Excited about our five or six deep at receiver and the play of our young but talented secondary.

This was a good game for us. Curry showed some instincts and I believe will actually be a good player for us this year. With Tatupu's help, Curry will realize his potential. Whitehurst will need to regain his confidence. He seems to be rushing things and isn't making good decisions. Overall, I feel better having him as our backup than the alternative of Seneca.

The defence will be better this year. The O-line will be much improved and once they gel, could be quite the unit. I think Matt was quite good in this game, but seemed scared as his O-line was a bit messed up this game. Matt if he stays healthy will be absolutely fine. If he has time and is confident with our O-line, our wide receivers will kick butt.

This team could surprise a lot of people this year. I am excited for the future of Seahawk football.

If we were to lose all season, I would like to lose in the manner we have for the past two weeks. Unlike last season, this team is competitive and seems to actually care but the lack of talent is what is holding them back from actually closing out the games.

Problems that needs to be addressed.
>Run game (JJ needs to be gone)
>Return game needs to be improved
>D Line falls asleep on occasions

The good
>Team is hard hitting
>Speed seems to have improved
>Enthusiasm...!
>Actually connecting on long passes!
>LB personnel is going to be hard to decision

Preseason games don't mean crap but certainly it can help to set the tone so its refreshing to see some competitive fire for a change.

I cannot recall the last time Seattle had three completions of 40 yards or more -- and one to Deion Branch! If I had been drinking a hot cup of coffee I'd have had third degree burns on my lap from where I spat up when Matt connected with Branch streaking up the field.

My thoughts echo some of the others.
* Interesting note, it appears Carroll had moved Gibson ahead of Hamilton on the depth chart at left guard anyway. Anyone know something definitive on that?
* I like Clemons. The first sack was similar to the one he had earlier in the preseason (Game 1?) where he makes that quick inside move on the tackle. Won't be there all year, but nice when you can get it. The second one though was awesome. A designed stunt where he comes inside and he got to Favre so fast I couldn't believe it. And I think it was a deep drop as well. Encouraging.

* Earl Thomas. Fast. Young. Cocky. Fast. You get the feeling if he can get his hands on the ball our offense will have a few fewer possessions this year.

* Running Game? Meh. Hard to tell. Looked like there was potential at times. It was a weird game for the offense because our D was on the field for such long stretches. Won't know about the run game until week 1.

* I like the way Parks plays special teams.

* The attitude is much better this year. I think Mora at times tried to instill a nasty tough guy attitude to the team last year, but you can't force it. It seems to just develop for some teams -- and I don't think it is necessary to win it all, but it helps turn a team around. Through the first few games opposing teams' players seem to be slower to get up after plays than our guys. A good sign.

My first post here. I have been following the site for some time now and have chosen this as my Seahawks landing place. Comments seem to be mature and thoughtful (for the most part) when compared to other 'sports' sites. Keep up the good work.

Good= D line, secondary
Bad= Running game
Ugly= CW everytime Charlie passed he looked like he was throwing a deep ball. He's standing too tall and straight, bend those knees Charlie and your ball will come down! (Old Texas High School coach in me).
Curry: still wants to do his own thing, get with the program and be a team player, starting with your socks! Foley: 0 on the stat sheet (again), nice tatoo's though.
The rest was all fair, Oh Honorable Mention to Wrotto, good job.

Offense...

O-Line held up good against the pass rush...not so good against the run.

Leon Washington was not good...his legs aren't under him yet. He had some holes there that he just couldn't hit.

Why is Julius Jones still on the team?

Passing game showed promise. A few good deep balls. Mike Williams is exciting.

Still cannot convert on 3rd down...very frustrating.

Defense...

Very good against short yardage stuff. I like that they now have a bigger front that can't be easily pushed off the ball.

Secondary was solid...I'm glad Lawyer Milloy will be on this defense. He was all over the field and is extremely smart.

Lofa played real well. In the first quarter he was in on every play and even sacked Flip Flopper and caused a fumble although it was negated by a penalty.

Overall they were inferior to the Vikes who pushed them around at times pretty good...but the Vikes have one of the best lines in the game so to be expected at this point.

Overall...very excited. Currently reading Pet Carroll's book and I can translate his philosophy to how this team is playing. Competiton everywhere. Looking forward to game 1!

As I expected Wrotto and Gibson performed just fine. We will be okay in the O Line when everyone gets healthy. The running game will take some more time. The pass protection was the first priority and with that solid we can begin to flash better run blocking.

I expect JJ will be cut. Ganther will make the team. Another, bigger RB will be picked up.

I would like to see us trade Leroy Hill for a player or picks. We have plenty of depth at the LB position. Hagler makes Leroy expendable. All in all, I expect several roster moves the next two weeks.
One WR should also be traded.

Still no running game.
Hasselbeck looked good with a couple very questionable throws (though every game he seems to have though).
Whitehurst....well where are all the idiots that wanted him to start now.
Wrotto looked good..guess some guys just take a while to jell.
Thomas...wow what a stud new the instant he got the pick no one was gonna catch him...and an awesome hit though it made me a bit nervous him staying down like for awhile.
Bryant really seems to have found his spot on the team.
Clemons did a great job..looks like it was a great pickup.
John Carlson...when are him and Matt gonna get on the same page.

Don't understand what the magazines are seeing....Lindy's had them last with St. Louis 2nd.
Sporting News has them 5-11 and a Verizon insert has them 4-12 losing twice to a 5-11 St. Louis team (I know need to really discount that one). But everything has them last or in 3rd place.....I think they will be a lot better than that....win the division??? not sure but I think they will contend......if they can get a running game going.

My take of the game last night was PC had a game plan in mind that he was just looking at how players reacted.
He started the game with quite a few running plays that would normally be passing plays. It really appeared he was looking for specific things (players) on almost all the plays in the first half and not taking what the defense was giving.
The main thing was for Matt to come out healthy...He did
By design, the O line is being given time to gel by playing fairly vanilla schemes. They did not get really cute and ask the guys to do extra, and they protected Matt pretty well.
The O line did better protecting Matt than I expected against a tough Vikings D, hopefully our run game will show up soon.
Our D bent (a lot) but didn't break, they came up with some big plays, but they did give up a ton of yards.
I'm encouraged with the direction we are headed, we have a very long way to go...but we seem to be at least going the right direction.

GO HAWKS

where's everybody that was on charlie whitehurst's nuts after game 1? They sure piped down. Thank God.

Last night the Seattle Seahawks gave us all plenty of reasons to hold onto hope and look to the future. They hung in there and battled a top-tier team, and sent Favre to the locker room on the losing end of the scoreboard. The patchwork offensive line held up into the third quarter against a very stout defense, and our defense showed more big plays in one game than we had all last season--or at least it seemed that way. And the recievers continued to demonstrate that rather than continuing to be a weakness for our team, they may well end up being our greatest strength.

However, all is not gumdrops and cinnamon in Seattle. That patchwork offensive line disintegrated alarmingly in the third quarter, stymying any momentum gained by the fine reciever play and the repeated turnovers created by our defense. Sean Locklear appears to be playing on a blown knee, getting bowled over by players thirty pounds smaller than himself play after play. In twenty five years of watching football, I cannot recall a poorer performance by a tackle. Sean Locklear is making 5.5 million to play like that?! The guy is done in the NFL.

Wrotto played well considering his newness to the position and his opponent--sack monster Jared ALlen--but was hanging on by the skin of his teeth. He will need to show weekly improvement in order for us to have any chance of success offensively.

Leon Washington looked slow, and Forsett had little to work with. Jones is far to slow to find any success with our inconsistent line.

The play of our WR's and Matt Hasselbeck were bright spots, but it is obvious that without improvement along the entirety of the offensive line, this offense is going nowhere.

One defense, SOS; Bradley's plays result in far too many blown plays and third down conversions for the opposing offense. The defense was wildly inconsistent, and spent far too much time onfield.

However, they showed flashes of brilliance, and created turnovers apelenty. Individual players showed great heart and potential: Hagler (how can we cut him?!), Lewis, Cord Parks, Vickerson, Mebane, Bryant, TRUFANT!!, Thomas, Milloy, even Colin Cole showing pass rush ability!.

The saddest thing for me personally was witnessing Babineaux. He seems to have lost so much speed. I fear it is his last hurrah, not only as a Seahawk, but as an NFL player. He looks too slow to play SS, let alone nickel back. (Im hoping he lands in Detroit if we cut him). Babs has been one of my favorite Hawks for years, but he's being outplayed.

If only we had a passable offensive line, Matt H would have the best stable of WR's he's ever had, and finally an OC and coach who will throw the ball into the endzone three plays in a row.

The single most encouraging thing in our performance was Jeremy Bates aggressive playcalling. We havent seen anything like that since Erickson and Moon were in town.

Its going to be bumpy ride this season, but it will be much more fun than last year. God, I hope we resign Hasselbeck for a couple more years and get some O-line help. If only we'd signed a RT and a LG...

As for Curry, he made some nice plays but continues to overrun tackles. He's trying too hard and just needs to settle.

More alarmingly, at least to me, was the continued invisibility of Lofa Tatupu. Other than his sack/forced fumble, Tatupu looked lost and inneffective out there. Its been more than two years since Lofa made any impact onfield, and its safe to begin wondering if his time as a Pro Bowler is allready over in his sixth season. Another case of a big second contract ruining a players drive, or just an example of NFL offenses figuring out how to neutralize a small slow player with football smarts?

Marcus Trufant looks like a shutdown, top=3 CB again. Wow!

...ain't gonna. I still think Whitehurst should start, and get the game experience he needs so that Seattle can have a decent passing game.

Matt looked fine last night, and that's about the best you are ever going to get again from him. Whitehurst threw several balls poorly (high) and a few very well, but regardless, he should be starting for the team this year, with Hasselbeck number 2 (a strong position for the team, having such a capable #2).

Seattle will be fun to watch this year, but will be lucky to make it to the play-offs - too much youth, change this year to contend. But the ground-work has been set for a long run of play-off appearances, and getting the younger talent the necessary experience is key to that.

It doesn't matter what I think; Hasselbeck's days are numbered, and he will be out of the game either through injury or sustained poor paly. Just a matter of time.

1. Way too early to be giving up on Curry. It's plain to see what a physical freak he is, also plain to see that his energy is not being channeled effectively. He was a rookie on a lousy team and is now in the preseason of his second year, just relax and let the maturing process take place. Not like you have a choice, with what they have invested in him the team will be hanging on to him for a while.
2. I'm not going to pretend to be some sort of scouting genius, but usually I can tell if a QB has that certain something even if I've only seen him in preseason games. I just don't see it in Whitehurst, Will be delighted to be wrong.
3. Don't get too down on the running game just yet, the Vikings have one of the best run defenses in the NFL. Give the line a few weeks to come together and if the RBs still aren't finding any holes then you can officially worry.
4. This looks to me to be the deepest the Seahawks have ever been at WR. If there is an odd man out in the top six I would say it has to be Branch.

Shilobad!

I echo all of the things other are saying, we all saw the same things.

I'm still rooting for Charlie, we need him to develope as a good option for Matt and we spent a decent amount on him. It's preseason, he's playing behind patchwork (moreso than Matt in the last 2 games) and he's making inexperienced decisions. His mistakes are hardly career limiting and he has shown great arm strenght and touch.

I dislike Matt the QB (love him as person and a Hawk) and I've said that a few times I'm still not convinced he's going to have a great year and has what he needs to do well in Bates system. I did notice his deep connection w/ Branch and did a double take. Wow, that was a nice deep ball. I recall one just like it last year to Butler in the end zone and thought, wow - we aer going to see deep plays finally. It never developed n the regular season. Maybe Bates will influence where Knapp did not.

Matt is the clear leader in the QB spot right now and showing he owns it. He's also showing he is likely to lead the NFCW. Matt is still with flaws and he is inconsistant. One thing I've noticed this year, more so than other years, is his giving up early when his 1st options aren't available. Maybe thats a preseason thing, not worth the scrambling etc. That needs to change in week one.

Also confused how he needed to call 2 timeouts in the 3rd quarter, and still wasn't able to connect w/ 89. How do you come out of a time out, confused w/ your TE? Seriously?

On Wrotto. Very please wth him. Do note one of the reasons he was holding up, was the double teaming and chipping from the TE's. Anoother reason Carlson was dormant in the passing game. That needs to change, scheming like that for the LT will neuter a 2 TE offense.

I am concerned that we appear to be living off of turnovers exclusively right now. We are +4 in turnovers in preseason. Avoiding the INT and fumble is critical to a teams success. We must have a running game or this season will be a waste. Matt is being careful with the football. We have no room for error. Turnovers will come and they will spell defeat because we do not have the running game to keep teams from sitting on the pass every down. It is Charlie's INT's that have cost us wins in the last two games.

Lofa Tatupu. Without him our defense struggles, with him they play very well. It is as simple as that. Very noticeable in the replay. Not showing any of our plays, and players are at 75%. Opening day is game of the year and Carol knows this will not tip his hand. Nor show 49ers anything.

Trufant played a great game, I think he only allowed a single completion. He seems to be back to pro bowl form.

Babs sucks. Get Kam (Cam?) time in there to see what he can do. Hes faster, bigger and younger. Oh, and cheaper too.

Lock sucks. He has really fallen off from being one of the top RTs in the NFL to a huge liability. Wrotto played decently at LT tonight, can he play RT?

What more can you say about Thomas? He was everywhere tonight. Even when he wasn't on the stat sheet he still impacted the play, forcing Peterson and Gerhert inside or outside on the play for minimum yardage a few times.

Omarl I think your going down the right road with your comment> I would guess once Okung is back at LT Wrotto switches to RT and Lock becomes a backup. I don't understan why they didn't give Chancellor some time last night unless they know he's in for SS and they were shopping Babs. I agree Babs needs to go and is no longer a fit for this team. I Really like Chancellor he just needs development. I like all the comments and agree we all saw the same things and I think the fans are getting what Carrol is trying to do. BTW why haven't we heard from Doug Hanson?

On a side note Cory Redding looks great in Baltimore.

Was he signed by them before we hired Pete? IMO he would have been a good option to compete for Red's spot as DE considering how he played against New York.

It's funny that you people forget that Hass sucked royally when he first came over form the Packers, but now he's your savior, yet your willing to write of Whitehurst after 3 preseason games. Again no one is saying Whitehurst is for sure the QB of the future, but we do know that Hass isn't. Bottom line is it is time to look ahead.

It's natural for Hawks fans to have selective memory. There are so few moments of great football play for this franchise; we have to hold on to the very few we do have. Picking on Matt to many hawks fans is like telling a parent their baby is ugly. No matter how true it is, they will never see it and only be offended

your losing it buddy..... There is no way in HELL, that CW gives you a better chance of winning then Matt. It is clear that Pete & Co. are here to win and not to rebuild from scratch. Also, NFC west is open for the taking, so I dont blame the couching staff for trying to win it! No one in the NFL community can convince me that CW is a starting QB. Ask your self, why was he the 3rd QB for Charges? He couldnt even beat Volek. Billy Volek as a starter: 3-7-0, 3757 yrds, 27td, 15 int. - If CW cant beat a back up QB out with those numbers, then that should tell you something.

Those are pretty good numbers for a backup QB.

I'm just saying, Volek is widely considered the best backup QB in the NFL.

Whitehurts looked awful. His last accurate pass was the 40 yarder to Tate. He then went 6-19 pasing, immediately missing a wide open Tate for a sure TD, overthrowing him. His next few passes were awful too, and the thing was he had plenty of time. He continually showed poor mechanics, throwing off his back foot for no reason, throwing a slant about half a second late and behind his man, and often threw so far over WR's heads he looked to be throwing it away into areas where there were no Hawks.

And, to top it off his composure disintegrated completely. The guy was visibly upset at himself. While I agree, most of those incompletions were Whitehurst fault and not the fault of the WR's, a real leader MUST maintain composure during the game. No one will have faith in him if he loses his composure.

The jury is still out on Whitehurst potential, and whether or not Caroll got taken to the cleaners. But its painfully obvious that Whitehurst isnt ready to start, and that he has a long way to go concerning his mechanics, decision making, accuracy, and leadership skills.

Matt wasnt awesome, but whenver he had a chance to make a play, he made it. His arm is far from strong, but its enough, and he demonstrated far better accuracy than Whitehurst.

I dont see that tossing an obviously un=ready player in over a veteran who is playing well will do any good for anyone. It would make Matt perhaps retire (If I were him I wouldnt stand for being benched for a younger guy I just outplayed), could destroy Charlies growth (David Carr?), and will lead to problems with the team.

Caroll's whole deal is built on the idea of competition: that means that regardless of age, salary, draft slot, or whatever the best player at a given position plays. (Not that he wont sub guys situationally--for instance, Washington may start over Forsett against one team, Forsett may get the nod vs another team based on matchups). That idea of comeptition rings hollow if a guy like Hass wins a job outright, then is benched for some nebulous "future".

Hawksince77--I vehemently disagree with your take on the starting Whitehurst being beneficial for anyone, but I always look forward to your comments. Youre usually very well spoken and often have interesting views, so keep it up and dont worry about trolls.

But yeah, I think youre nuts on this one too!

Curry seems to be a bust for what he was drafted to do (play outside on the strong side).

However, the guys has amazing raw skills with respect to harassing the QB. He needs to spend at least 75% of his time on the field rushing the passer. Once those skills get developed, I firmly believe he's going to be one of the elites at rushing the passer. The sick skills are there. He just needs to rush, rush, rush...

Besides, I'd take a guy who is capable of double digit sacks per season over a guy who is simply a strong side outside linebacker anyways.

I think the coaching staff has a choice;
1. play Curry where it doesn't look like he's going to be overly good.
2. Tap into those raw pass rushing skills and let him develop into one of the elites.

...while Whitehurst converted several 4th downs. Whitehurst did look terrible, and part of that had to do with trying to come from behind down two scores. Part of it was inexperience - just what he needs is more experiences like this to develop.

How many bombs did Matt complete? One nice throw to Branch, a pass play not nearly as impressive as Whitehurst's completion to Tate.

How many touchdown saving tackles did Matt have? Exactly zero, while Whitehurst came up big in that department.

Just to throw something else out there to consider - would you rather watch:

Hasselbeck/Housh/Branch/Williams/Carlson/Jones

or

Whitehurst/Williams/Tate/Butler/Carlson/Washington/Forsett?

The latter is your offense of the future, one likely to be far more dynamic, explosive and entertaining.

Half of the former is just this side of retirement/IR.

Williams and Tate on the outside, Butler in the slot, Forsett or Washington in the backfield, and always Carlson at TE, with someone that can actually throw the ball downfield at QB.

That's what I am hoping for, and like I predicted earlier, only a matter of time before Branch gets hurt, and/or Housh gets traded, and/or Hass plays so poorly he gets benched.

There is no upside to Matt. You saw his best yesterday, and it was mediocre. I mean, how many people here have raved about how well the o-line did against one of the best pass-rushing defenses in the league, and also raved about how deep Seattle's WR corps is, yet the offense couldn't convert a 3rd down. How is that on? Bates? No - it's on the QB.

Babs was always a marginal player with great instincts for the big play...but he seems to have slowed down to the point where his instincts just won't help...it's no good to have a nose for the ball if you can't get there...He was/is one of my favorite hawks, but it's pretty obvious that he's done...I wish him well in his future endeavors, and thank him for his big plays.
Whitehurst over Hass to start the season? Only if you're trying to make sure that you can get Locker in the draft...Jones STILL needs to go...
Slave, hanging on by the skin of your teeth, against Jared Allen, in your first start at LT...I'll take it! I expected him to get just used and abused...even with help from the TE...
Considering how truly awful the line was last year, the improvement has been huge...(there's still a long way to go, of course), but the line is still in flux and hasn't had a chance to gel yet...when it does, it may not be all that bad
I'm not giving up in Whitehurst, I DO remember how bad Hass looked at first..ask me again next year and I'll have a better idea which way to lean...
Even if Tatupu isn't making plays, he's still out there being the brains of the D, and he's great at that, it just doesn't show up on the stat sheet...

So Matt didnt convert a 3rd down. Some of that can be blamed on the play calling. I can recall at least 3 times that they ran the ball when they could have passed it with ease. If I remember the stat correctly he was 0 for 5 that were in his control. again some of it can be place on the vanilla play calling

Hawksince77 said "How many touchdown saving tackles did Matt have? Exactly zero, while Whitehurst came up big in that department." it is because he didnt have to. Matt didnt throw an interception remember! so try again on that one. Then he brough up that CW converted on several 4th downs. obviously that means he didnt convert on third down also. Plus he had two interceptions in the past two games against 2nd and 3rd stringers.

So the battle is defiantly in Matt's favor.

Right there is why we can't have a true debate about Hass, too many people will take the blame away from him for any failure and put it on "play calling" or whatever else they can think of. People we have seen what Hass can do, his best days are long gone and those truthfully compared to outside of the Seahawks weren't all that great. I just don't understand why Hawks fans want to hold onto mediocrity with such a tight fist.

Pete has these guys playing positive.He is more than coach.He is making these guys believe in themselves.It shows on the field.Every thing i read is how bad a dline is and how we have to put pressure on the qb.I have been watching all the other teams on nfl network and have to say are team looks good.I know its preseason but Matt looks great this year.He is throwing the ball with authority and seems to be in great shape.Our Oline has been a surprise this year and i think Gibbs has them on the right track.I am not sure whats up with our running game.I am hoping we are just hiding alot of the plays we really have in the big book.Red Bryant has been nasty so far and am also impressed with Clemens.Mebane,Cole and Vickerson have played well.Earl Thomas is money and should have 3 picks already.I think we have some good backups at Cb this year something we havent had in the past.Nice to see Tatupu show up a little and still waiting for Curry to bust out.

He got TE and scheme support and double teamed with the left guard on the dt a lot and played ok.

D-Fence:
Good: The Spunk they showed.
Bad: The long sustained drives they allowed.
Ugly: The pass that ET intercepted and ran back for a TD.
O-Fence:
Good: The "W's" Washington and Williams.
Bad: Points the starters put up.
Ugly: A couple of Whitehurst's passes.

I don't know if Whitehurst will ever fully develop into a top NFL QB. What I do know is that Hasselbeck's best days are in the past. His superior decision-making, experience, savvy gets trumped by slower legs and a weaker arm. He can no longer play at a high level.

What Whitehurst needs is experience. He may get the experience he needs and still top out at replacement level. Who knows? But right now, he is the best chance Seattle has to have a competitive seasonn in 2010.

After that, unless Whitehurst blossums into a franchise guy (something I personally doubt) Seattle takes the best QB in next year's draft. If Whitehurst turns into a Joe Montana to the drafted QB's Steve Young, the team can cross that bridge when they get to it. Something I wouldn't lose sleep over.

Anyway, in the meantime, you get the Williams and Butler's and Forsett's and Washington's and Tate's game experience cranked so they are ready to provide your new guy (or a fully developed Whitehurst) into a future SB-winning team.

The defense seems well on its way. Time for the new guys on offense to be given the chance to step up.

I still have to disagree with all the people that want CW to start. He has not been able to show that he is starter material. He may turn out to be a good back up or nothing at all. I just don’t think he is ready to start and lead the Seahawks to the promise land.

Besides that the rest of the offence seem to be more at ease when Hass is in there. I think that is pretty important that the rest of the team that is out on the field believes in you and what you can do. Hass may be at the end of his career but until some can legitimately dethrone him I say he stays where he is at.

Bottom line, PC and the Seahawks staff is trying to win now. Hass gives them the best chance. That's not taking anything away from CW. They see every throw made in every practice, every minicamp, and every preseason game, and as of now Hass is the guy. If the team struggles, can I see CW finishing the year as the starter? Absolutely. As of now this is Matt's team.

Please, give it time. Last year was a lost year for everyone. I'm thinking of Curry as a rookie again this year.

Guys, I saw the 9ers play the raiders tonight and saw a very strong pass rush from the 9ers. I'm hoping that Okung or Pitts can come back and will be ready for opening day. Would hate to see Matt out on day one. I'm hoping that our O-line looks like this going forward: Okung - Pitts/Gibson - Spencer - Unger - Wrotto

Let these guys play together for a while and we'll have a pretty solid O-line.

Go Hawks.

Hawksince77-Personally, I liked Matt's throw to Branch better because he put it where only Branch could get it, and he hit Branch in stride a little cleaner. Plus, on CW's throw to Tate, Tate wasnt even open--thus, a riskier play. Both were nice plays. I guess you could make the case that CW's pass was the more difficult throw, but its hard to say. As I said, both were very nice throws.

However, youre making far more excuses for CW's many more poor decisions/bad throws than you are willing to cut Matt.

Matt wasnt awesome, but considering the competition he faced compared to CW (also factoring in who Matt and CW had around them on offense), I think he far outplayed Clipboard Jesus.

Whitehurst didnt complete many third down plays either. And he repeatedly missed open recievers on plays such as the slant from the left slot WR where he threw the ball a half-second late and behind the WR. His throws were repeatedly off and/or high, and basically inaccurate as hell. He threw off his back foot even when there was little or no pressure, and had sloppy mechanics. He also visibly lost his composure. All of which I have allready stated. All of which prove he is far from ready to outplay Matt and start for us.

Matt on the other hand, kept his composure, bided his time, and never gave the ball away. With an inconistent defense and a patchwork offensive line, any chance we have to win games will come by not taking unnecessary risks, and in capitalizing on the defenses turnovers. CW didnt do that at all, despite far more aggressive playcalling from Bates. Matt took us to halftime tied against one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Yes, Matt failed to convert many third down plays. If you paid attention, how many were due to poor decisions and/or poor throws from Hasselbeck? How many were run plays? How many were ultra-conservative play calls, such as screens or dump-offs?

I didnt see too many poor decisions/bad throws from Matt. I saw at least 10 terrible throws from CW, many on third down--like one of his picks. After his nice toss to Tate, he promptly missed Tate for a sure TD, then threw another awful incompletion followed by an ugly, ugly interception--on third down, as I said.

On the following drives, more of the same. I dont think CW threw another nice accurate pass over ten yards the rest of the game.

And giving CW props for his ankle tackle on one of his picks and dissing Matt for not having one is one of the funniest things I have seen commented in awhile. Hilarious! We all know Matt goes for blood when he throws a pick, I dont think tossing an ugly pick and then making a tackle is grounds for annointing CW the starting qb. That, to me, is anti-logic; youre welcome to your opinion that CW will give us a better chance to win games this year, but that fact doesnt support your opinion at all.

ANd I fail to see what starting CW has to do with playing Forsett and Washington more than Jones. Of course no one wants to see Jones taking ANY carries away from Forsett or Washington. And Matt starting actually makes it more likely we'll see more of Tate/Butler/the young RB's because Coach can rely on Matt to play well with one uncertain player onfield moreso than he could with CW at the helm. With CW starting, I know I'd put my most experienced players around him--and yes, that means the nearly-worthless Jones for his blitz-pickup ability, and Branch/Housh/Williams for thier experience.

Matt is also far better and more experienced at reading defenses and calling audibles than CW. That fact alone means CW isnt ready to start.

Personally, I think CW will benefit far more from spending a year or two more on the bench backing up Matt and learning from him, than he would by being unfairly elevated to starting qb over a player who has outplayed him, especially considering that putting CW in right now has a good chance of stunting him rather than helping him.

Add it up: taking into account knowledge of NFL defenses, decision making, overall preseason play, accuracy, foot speed, arm strength and leadership ability, Matt has beaten CW out in every single category except foot speed and arm strength. And Matt's knowledge of defenses and experience will help him get out of trouble and find recievers when his legs fail him more times than Whitehurst quick feet will. Also, Matt's arm strength, while not elite, is obviously just fine for this offense and not the liability some feared it would be. And CW's arm strength, while superior to Matts, is not enough to make up for his deficiences in other areas, nor is it enough to elevate him to starter over Matt.

Willis, Okung, and Pitts cant get well fast enough.

Im as hopeful as anyone that CW will take over when Matt falters and be a fine qb for us. But so far, he hasnt come close to beating Matt out for the starting job. Im looking forward to seeing what Losman can do against the Raiders next week.

Some of you guys just don't get it. The simple fact regardless of how composed Hass is, he has no arm, no mobility, no speed period. He has no more arm strength than my 17 year old does. And this idea that Whitehurst needs to sit behind him for a year or two is ridiculous, just look around the NFL, that's not the way it's done anymore with maybe the exception of Aaron Rogers which he had the same basic card as Whitehurst before taking the starting job.

Mannings- both rookie starters, Brady- second year starter, Brees- second year starter, Rivers 3rd year starter, Roethlisberger- rookie starter, McNabb- rookie starter, Flaco- rookie starter. Do I need to go on?

The idea of taking a young guy sitting him for years is in the past, and it seems that real game experience even through tough times is what builds a good QB not sitting on the bench watching someone like Hass suck it up.

Bottom line for me is even if Hass has a decent year this year (which most non seahawk fans don't give much hope for, and sticking our heads in the sand playing the "WE GET NO CREDIT" game won't change reality) where does that leave us next year and beyond? Stuck wondering what we have that's where.

I'd have to say that after last week I mentioned Babineaux being in good shape to make the team, he made my assessment look really lousy on Saturday. He always gave up some cushion when playing man defense in the past, but now it seems like he gives up way too much.

In general the secondary played well. The 3rd down pass defense failures were frustrating, as it seemed easy for Favre to find holes in the zone, but I thought that a lot of it was due to lack of pass rush. That was very obvious on the play Favre converted a 3rd down with a late pass to FB Tahi - the longer a qb has to throw, the more space the zone has to cover. When the secondary had limited space to cover, like inside the red zone, they showed much better. Clemons showed well in pass rush, but it's not enough.

Whitehurst vs Hasselbeck arguments could be made both ways. I do think that Whitehurst would develop better if he got to start this year. However, there will definitely be growing pains if you put the current version in. Would you be willing to have a cathartic 2-14 year (my alternative scenario is going 6-10 with Hasselbeck, but being in the hunt), where Whitehurst beats out Cutler to be the league leader in picks, to be in a better position when Hass leaves? What if being in a better position is not guaranteed? I actually go back and forth on this myself.

Omarl Little,

written by Omarl Little, August 29, 2010
Those are pretty good numbers for a backup QB.

I'm just saying, Volek is widely considered the best backup QB in the NFL.


Omarl….

If you think Volek has great numbers and considered as the best backup QB in the NFL, then Seneca Wallace must be a future backup hall of fame QB!

Seneca Wallace, as a starter is 5-9-0, 3547 yards (passing) 360 yards (Rushing), 25TD, 14 Int. and 59.9 % completion rate.

Those are identical numbers if not better then Billy Volek! Tell me what makes Billy suck great backup QB? I’m not bashing Billy, as much as I’m trying to say that CW is not a starting QB in the NFL. I cant throw any CW NFL stats for you, but here is his college stats.

YEARCMPATTYDSCMP&#xYP;ALNG177349206750.75.9256
TDINTSACKRAT
7172597.35
2005229340248367.47.30 51 111020133.49

I challenge anyone to find me a starting NFL QB that had as bad if not worse college figures.

I agree this is a tough situation, especially when you consider the sentiment towards Hass and that there is no guarantee that Whitehurst is the answer. But for me, yeah I would rather have a 2-14 season with the hopes of a future over a 6-10 season and in the end not knowing anymore than we know now. At least with Whitehurst starting we would know for sure whether he was going to work out or not. I understand everyone is sentimental about Hass but I just don't see the upside in him being the starter.

I am not a Hass hater, just a realist, of course a part of me would love to see Hass come out slinging and take us into the playoffs, but truthfully that is not very likely with our current team. So for me it seems more logical to be working towards and planning on a real run at the SB not trying to add 3 or 4 more wins this year that really won't mean anything.

Now with that said if Hass is the starter of course as Hawk fan I will be hoping he plays well, and you never know in the NFL what can happen.

From seeing CW play in the regular season, with the starters.

Whether you like CW, Matt, both or netiher - you're likely going to see it. Matt's not got the legs or quickness to avoid the inevitable pass rush coming his way in the regular season. The oline won't be gelling early on either.

It's just a matter of time, and one play.

...I agree with Muttley, in that it is a tough decision, and no way for any of us to know what is best for the team.

I can see going back and forth on it...I respect STTBM's argument, and he could be right. It's a tough (and as Gnarly points out) an inevitable transition away from Hasselbeck as the team's starting QB.

What I am calling for is for PC to make the decision - not a 49ner DE. As far as the 2010 season, I could make the argument that Seattle will likely finish with more wins by starting Whitehurst, in that the team maintains a capable and ready #2 guy in Hasselbeck, with Whitehurst likely to last longer during the season (although any QB can get hurt).

If Whitehurst starts and gets hurt later in the season and has to sit out a few games, Seattle can still contend. If Hasselbeck gets hurt early and put on IR (fairly likely scenario) then the team is completely dependent on Whitehurst and his health, with Losman backing him up. Not only will Whitehurst likely struggle at first, once he finds his feet and starts winning games for the Seahawks, the team is really screwed if he gets injured, even for a few games, because the likelihood of Losman carrying the team is fairly slight.

But the far more likely scenario is Hass starts, gets injured, Whitehurst takes over, and that's how the transition happens. PC doesn't have to make any hard decisions, the fans stay happy, and everything is hunky dory in Seahawk land.

......... I wont be Hunky Dory! I will say it again, CW is not an NFL starting QB. Just because he has the intangibles does not automatically mean he will be great. Hell, my brother is a fantastic liar, that doesn't make him a great politician. My word to you, I will buy you a bottle of Crown Royal, if CW becomes a good, pro bowl caliber QB.

Sweet. You have a lot more faith in your QB judgment than I do. I wouldn't bet a corn-dog straight up that Whitehurst will be anything better than average, so I seriously doubt you will ever owe me a thing.

I see Seattle drafting in the top half next year, and taking one of the top QBs available. Whitehurst is a transition guy, I believe, to get Seattle to the next franchise guy. I would be shocked if it turned out to be Whitehurst.

My last word on this: Caroll's whole "Win Forever" thing, his whole deal, is based upon the idea of FAIR competition. Well, Matt and CW competed. Matt played well and earned the starting job, and CW looked so bad this week he didnt even lock up the backup position. Its only Carolls ego that would place him firmly in the backup spot, as Losman hasnt had a chance to show anything.

And if Caroll were to suddenly abandon his competition mantra--for one position only--and annoint CW starter over Matt, he would instantly become the total hippocrite Florio and others have painted him since taking the Seattle position. And he would lose the team.

CW is his hand picked boy, and he gave up what everyone except him thought to be far too much. Now even my blind pet mouse can see Matt is vastly superior to CW as a qb, and it would be only Carolls ego talking were CW to get the nod.

Regardless of whether struggling through a season before he's ready would be good/bad/indifferent for CW, the fact remains he got flat outplayed by Matt. And Caroll wants to win now. And his best chance at that is to start Matt and find some way to keep him upright.

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