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A tough game coming up the for the Seahawks in Chicago on Monday night. They're reeling from injuries and will be going up against a team that looked pretty good (although losing) last Sunday night. No. 1 'Hawks receiver, Doug Baldwin, is out for a few games, and his replacement in the slot is former Navy QB Keenan Reynolds. This is a huge drop-off at the slot position. In addition, it looks as if D. J. Fluker will miss his second game at RG, and his backup, J. R. Sweezy, looked bad in the Denver game. In fact, the whole O-line looked weak against the Broncos, and they'll really have their hands full with Khalil Mack wreaking havoc.

Things are even worse on defense. One-handed Shaquem Griffin looked lost (not surprisingly) in his first start replacing the injured K. J. Wright at Will backer. It now looks as though newly-signed Mychal Kendricks, he of the insider-trading charge (and possible long prison sentence), may replace Griffin. Corner Tre Flowers looks to be out, and they're really up against it at right CB. The completely unimpressive Neiko Thorpe will likely start at RCB. And to top it off, Mike backer Bobby Wagner is out and will be replaced by Austin Calitro. Add to all this that the D-line showed very little pressure against the Broncos and it looks as though all three defensive position groups--line, backers, and secondary--will be diminished against the Bears--pretty bleak for the 'Hawks.

Bear are favored by 3.5. We'll see whether Pete Carroll can work his magic and get the Seahawks to overcome really serious adversity.

Seahawks pull of their first win at the home opener. Obviously more improvement is required. Let's hope they don't get overconfident in Arizona against the 0-3 Cardinals who will start a new QB.

It looks like for the Eagles, Carson Wentz has started for a second straight time today. It appears that Wentz will still be the designated starter for the rest of the season unless he gets injured or if he suddenly goes on a huge decline.

The Seahawks never had much success at State Farm Stadium highlighted with Super Bowl XLIX , and it looks like today's game reinforces that this stadium is the Seahawks graveyard by blowing hard worked leads.

Fortunately this time Sebastian Janikowski redeemed himself with the game winning field goal after Phil Dawson missed his.

Speaking of him, while it's not good to stereotype one's appearance, when one sees Sebastian Janikowski size of 6 ft 1 in and 265 lb, one is unlikely to think he's a placekicker and his dimensions are that of a tight end.

Yesterday's win in Arizona was a classic Pyrrhic victory. Losing all-pro Earl Thomas for the season (broken lower leg) is, I think, a death blow to the Seahawks' chances of having much of a season. Thomas's replacement, second-year guy Tedric Thompson, lacks the talent and experience to play the free safety position at anywhere near Thomas's level. Unless John Schneider can work a trade for an experienced guy, the Seahawks' secondary will really take a dive.

I was very disappointed in Thomas's middle-finger salute to the Seahawks bench as he was being carted off (if, indeed, the gesture was to the Hawks, as everyone reporting seems to think). Although a truly great player, Thomas has, over the years, said some really stupid things and has behaved like a jackass on several occasions. To flip off an organization that gave him a 4-year $40M contract is just the last of many really off-putting behaviors from Thomas. In some ways, it could be argued that the Seahawks are better off without him--given the distractions and turmoil he has caused so far this season--but their chances to have a decent season have pretty much slipped away, I'm afraid.

I'm subscribing to DAZN for the second time. They got the rights to The Red Zone. Only way to watch 8 games. A very good production. The have Bellator also. Very funny commercial of Michael Buffrr shilling for DAZN. Its 20 a month. I'll keep it to the Super Bowl. BB

The Seahawks and their defence really miss Earl Thomas. Today's Seahawks game against the Rams is very reminiscent to the Lions games in the bittersweet 1991 season in that all the hard work that the Seahawks offence put in to score their hard-earned points all go for nothing if the pitiful defence allows the opponent to always catch up and eventually surpass in the scoreboard.

Robbie wrote: ↑

Sun Oct 07, 2018 6:13 pm

The Seahawks and their defence really miss Earl Thomas. Today's Seahawks game against the Rams is very reminiscent to the Lions games in the bittersweet 1991 season in that all the hard work that the Seahawks offence put in to score their hard-earned points all go for nothing if the pitiful defence allows the opponent to always catch up and eventually surpass in the scoreboard.

That's true, Robbie. This was expected when Thomas went down. However, they have brought in a couple of more-experienced free safeties, and the hope is that with a little time, they will blend in to the defense, and things will improve. The guy who stepped in for Thomas, Tedric Thompson, lacks any experience, and this will show. Although they lost yesterday, I thought there were a number of positives in the game for the Seahawks. They did keep it very close, which is saying something against the Rams, who are probably the top team in the NFC conference right now. I think the 'Hawks will gradually improve over the season. They now have a running game, and that's a big step forward.

It was fascinating yesterday to watch/listen to the Raiders/Chargers game and hear the commentators bemoaning the fact that the Raiders made no changes in their playbook for the second half. The comment was "Can you think of anything that the Raiders are doing differently in this second half?"... Clearly they were laying it on Gruden and coaching....AND the Raiders played with little intensity, almost sauntering up to the line in the fourth quarter. The criticism for this was on Carr... but it is on coaching as well....

Drew Brees has just becoming the highest all-time NFL career passer:

1. Drew Brees: 72,103
2. Peyton Manning: 71,940
3. Brett Favre: 71,838
4. Tom Brady: 67,418
5. Dan Marino: 61,361

But that's still behind the CFL's all-time passer:

1. Anthony Calvillo: 79,816
2. Damon Allen: 72,381
3. Henry Burris: 63,227
4. Ricky Ray: 60,429
5. Danny McManus: 53,255

When it comes to comparing NFL vs. CFL in terms of individual scoring, one would argue that the CFL kickers have an advantage over the fact that the field goal post is placed at the goal line as opposed to the end zone and CFL kickers are also credited with single rouge scores as well. But at the time, one can also argue that NFL quarterbacks have more opportunities to pass because of 4-down football as opposed to 3-down football in the CFL. I guess if you want to get even more complicated, CFL players play two more regular season games.

Some Monday morning NFL thoughts after Week 6 games.

1. The Seahawks looked much improved in their 27-3 beat-down of the Raiders yesterday in London at Wembley Stadium (in front of 90,000 fans). They have managed to get their running-game identity back now, and, with a stable of three very competent RBs--Chris Carson (4.2 yds./carry yesterday), Mike Davis, and rookie Rashaad Penny (4.8 yds./carry yesterday)--and an improved O-line, they seem to have achieved much better balance in their offense. The 'Hawks picked up 155 yards on 37 carries yesterday, for a 4.2 yds./carry average. The addition of the gigantic D.J. Fluker (listed at 6-5, 345, but likely closer to 360) at RG appears to be paying off. They're still weak at RT, with Germain Ifedi, but, overall, the O-line is improved. The O-line that started yesterday averages 320 lbs. across the five positions, and is probably closer to 325 when we input Fluker's true weight.

The Seahawks also have free-agent acquisition TE Ed Dickson finally back from his non-football injury designation (he's missed all six games so far), and he's expected to be in the lineup in their first game back after this week's bye. Dickson was a starter for the Panthers last season and was penciled-in to be the Seahawks' starter this season. He's a very solid veteran Y-type, or inline, tight end who should improve the O-line's blocking for the ground game, but he can also catch passes. His return should boost the offense's productivity.

Russell Wilson looks to have a decent stable of receivers now that Doug Baldwin is back. Wilson went 17/23 (74%) for 222 yds., yesterday, with 3 TDs and 1 int. The receiving corps of Doug Baldwin (No. 1), Tyler Lockett (No. 2) and David Moore, Jaron Brown and Brandon Marshall, is solid if unspectacular. Baldwin had 6 receptions yesterday, Lockett had 3 (and one TD), and the fast-improving Moore had two with one for a TD. Brown had one for a TD as well.

The Seahawks' defense was OK yesterday, but should be better when pro-bowler K.J. Wright returns at Will backer and Dion Jordan gets back (we hope) at rush end. Having the bye week now is really fortunate, and the hope is that both Wright and Jordan will be back right after the bye week. The 'Hawks' secondary continues to be a work-in-progress, with a rookie starting at right CB (Tre Flowers), a second-year guy (Shaquill Griffin) in Richard Sherman's old spot at left CB, and a second-year man, but first-year starter (Tedric Thompson), who is trying to replace the irreplaceable Earl Thomas at free safety. The D-line lacks the dominating presence and pass-rush capability of earlier editions, but some clever scheme changes have compensated somewhat for the loss of key players (like Michael Bennett, Cliff Avril, and Sheldon Richardson). The 'Hawks seem to be getting more pass rush up the middle from their D-tackles, and yesterday, the D-line accounted for 5 sacks of Raiders QB Derek Carr, 2.5 of which came from the inside.

2. The Rams look very much like the best team in the NFL at the moment. Their win in Denver yesterday was not one of their better performances (except for all-pro tailback Todd Gurley who was great, rushing for 208 yards), but they are just so solid and deep at all positions. It's hard to see another NFC team beating them out for top spot in the NFC this season, although things can change in a hurry, of course, with injuries, etc.

3. The Chiefs may be the best team in the AFC at the moment, but it's hard to look past the Patriots in this regard. Although the KC offense is great (and their super-impressive QB, Patrick Mahomes, is so much fun to watch), their defense is not. If and when they get all-pros Eric Berry at safety and Justin Houston at OLB back, this should change for the better. Still, the Patriots look awfully good now that they have in the lineup WRs Julian Edelman, back from suspension, and the spectacular, albeit troubled-in-the-past, Josh Gordon (and Bill Belichick may be the best coach in the league in getting Gordon over his off-the-field problems and playing well), along with tailbacks rookie 2018 1st-round draft pick Sony Michel and the always-dependable James White. The Patriots should probably still be seen as the team to beat in the AFC, but, of course, this can change over the course of the season.

Edit:

My 'After Week Six' NFL Surprises. Of course, what surprises me may not surprise others....

Better than expected: AFC: Dolphins at 4-2, LA Chargers at 4-2 (when all-pro DE Joey Bosa returns from injury, the Chargers will be that much better), Bengals and Ravens, both at 4-2. The Ravens are doing it with defense, allowing an average points-per-game of only 12.8.

NFC: Bears at 3-2.

Worse than expected: AFC: Broncos at 2-4, Raiders at 1-5, and Jaguars at 3-3.

NFC: Giants at 1-5, Vikings at 3-2-1, Packers at 3-2-1, and Falcons at 2-4.

I find the poor performance of the Giants particularly surprising given the presence in the lineup of the spectacular Odell Beckham (who is under-performing on the field, albeit exceeding his past performance in asinine behavior off the field) and the sensational 2018 No. 2 overall draft pick RB Saquon Barkley. Barkley is a true physical freak--6 ft., 233 lbs., who ran a 4.32 40 at the combine. He has been all that was expected so far this NFL season, racking up 438 yards in six games, and averaging 5.2 yds./carry. It's hard not to think that Eli Manning may be at least part of the problem with the G-men....

RIP to the Seattle Seahawks owner, co-founder of Microsoft, and one of the world's richest men - billionaire Paul Allen at the age of 65 of complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.

I'm sure you've all felt his legacy as you've all used a Microsoft product - simply making this post. And he saved the Seahawks in 1997 by buying the team and keeping them in Seattle when the previous owners threatened to move it to Anaheim.


(January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018)

Robbie wrote: ↑

Mon Oct 15, 2018 3:27 pm

RIP to the Seattle Seahawks owner, co-founder of Microsoft, and one of the world's richest men - billionaire Paul Allen at the age of 65 of complications of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.


(January 21, 1953 – October 15, 2018)

Oh, no. I hadn't seen that, Robbie. I knew he had a recurrence of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, but thought it was being managed. That's a great shame. A very fine man, Paul Allen was an entrepreneurial genius--co-founder in 1975 of Microsoft with Bill Gates--and a very generous philanthropist over the years, donating some $2 billion to worthwhile causes.

Allen purchased the Seahawks in 1997 for $194 million from Ken Behring, who reportedly had threatened to move the team to LA. The team is valued at $2.58 billion as of 2018 (Forbes) and thus has appreciated by more than 13 times over the 21-year span of Allen's ownership. In addition, Allen's careful stewardship has had a stabilizing effect on the Seahawks and thus has been very good for the team as well as for the NFL as a whole.

From many perspectives, Paul Allen will be greatly missed.

Amazing comeback by the Green Bay Packers on Monday night football. No wonder the 49ers have a terrible season. While Richard Sherman would is great if he is disciplined, he can also take careless and costly penalties and that was the case in which he took an extremely costly penalty that spoiled a sack on 3rd down which would have given the ball back to the 49ers and instead, led to the game winning drive.

There have been a number of last second wins in the NFL this year, along with some weirdly exciting overtimes. Tonight a winning field goal with 3 seconds left. Sunday night a winning field goal with 3 seconds left.

BTW, on Sunday, that Patriots play with the left tackle moving laterally left to block the linebacker allowing Gronk to move right into the middle and get a step on the DB or safety and catch a long ball to put the Patriots in position to kick the field goal was a work of art. Why can't we do something like that with Figueroa.... he certainly has the smarts , strength and the lateral motion ability to do that!