You know what? Fuck the Rams, there I said it. This isn’t about them. Fuck that game, fuck everything. I’m talking about the Seahawks here (it’s not ALL ABOUT YOU, RAMS!!!).
This is the point in the season where everyone freaks the fuck out and asks, “What’s wrong with the Seahawks?” Truth be told, this moment hit us a week earlier last year, as we had the misfortune of playing the Rams in Week 1 (why the SHIT can’t we have our first game against the fucking Rams in Week 11? Why’s it always gotta be EARLY in the season?), but once again, here we are. And once again, we’re asking the same question.
Of course, everyone also has an answer to this question, because EVERYONE’S GOTTA BE A BLOGGER NOW! Or, at the very least, everyone’s gotta be a Twitter cunt who spends all day every day bombarding the beat writers with their insanity.
What’s wrong with the Seahawks? A shitload!
And, unsurprisingly, I’m going to start with the offensive line. Most fans would point to them and call them Public Enemy Numbers 1-5. Most in the national media keep harping over how little we spend on our line, either via draft capital or free agency dollars. Some of the savvier local bloggers like to defend the O-Line as much as possible, pointing to things like Russell Wilson holding the ball too long, or how they haven’t been “that bad” compared to the level of competition we’ve played through the first two weeks.
I’ll say this: the offensive line IS a problem, and it’s probably the biggest problem. It’s the reason why the Seahawks can’t effectively move the football against anyone with a Top 10 defense. You can deflect blame all you want, but turning Russell Wilson into a pocket passer who gets the ball out in 2 seconds or less isn’t going to make a difference. This isn’t the New England offense, and he isn’t Tom Brady. He’s a guy who needs time for plays to develop, so he can make plays downfield. If we’re going to try to be this quick-strike offense (and make no mistake, it’s 100% because the O-Line is terrible and can’t hold a block for more than 0.5 seconds), you know what that’s going to lead to? 10 guys in the box, press coverage on the outside, and a complete and utter inability to formulate a running game.
The Seahawks don’t dink & dunk. The Seahawks play smashmouth football, with regularly executed deep strikes through the air. I’d rather have Russell Wilson hitting 60% of his passes, with a high average per attempt than have him hit 70% of his passes with a low average per attempt. On the spectrum of short passers, he’s more closely resembling Sam Bradford than he is Philip Rivers, and that’s NOT what we’ve come to expect out of this offense!
Now, obviously, this problem O-Line would be mitigated if our quarterback could run, but again, whose fault is that? Oh, that’s right, the sieve of an O-Line that’s letting guys get free runs at our most valuable offensive weapon. Just because this unit can nut up once every 20 pass attempts and actually block for a reasonable amount of time doesn’t give them a pass for all the times they let guys run free and clean at our quarterback!
At the very least, you could hang your hat on this team having a viable running game. Even against the very best defenses, we’d ALWAYS be able to get yards on the ground to help matters along. But, we haven’t been able to do a damn thing on the ground this year! Thomas Rawls is a fantastic running back, and he’s getting hit in the backfield more in these first two games than he did ALL of last year! It doesn’t seem to affect Christine Michael as much, but I’ve noticed he doesn’t always stick with what the play calls for. He’s a guy who’s always naturally going to want to bounce things outside, to get into open space and see if he can make some moves for some home run-type plays; but he’s been doing that WAY more than usual, and it’s been out of necessity. Rawls is great, but he doesn’t have Michael’s quicks or his cutting ability, but that’s neither here nor there because he didn’t have those things LAST year either, when he was averaging 5.6 yards per carry!
Of course, Wilson’s injury doesn’t help matters any in the running game either. A hobbled Wilson means defenses don’t have to worry about him tucking and running, which means they can focus all their energies on the back he inevitably hands the ball off to. You’d think that would lead to more traditional handoffs, where Wilson takes the ball from under center – so at the VERY least we can make better use of play-action in the passing game, to try to open things up that way – but NOPE!
Because ultimately, this falls squarely on Darrell Bevell’s shoulders. He spent the better part of these first two games running an offense with a healthy Russell Wilson in mind, when he should’ve been adjusting for the fact that Wilson can’t run. At this point, you have to dig deeper into the playbook. Recall that Tarvaris Jackson was once this team’s starter, and try to remember what plays HE used to run. Because, let’s face it, Tarvar was never a running quarterback, and right now, neither is Russell Wilson.
Oh, and the best part? They STILL haven’t figured out how to get the ball to Jimmy Graham in the redzone! Oh, what a joy it’ll be, when people can’t fall back on the Seahawks “bringing him along slowly” routine and we return to the weekly lament about how Graham gets no redzone targets because Darrell Bevell is a mental midget and Russell Wilson is a literal one.
And don’t think the defense is getting off any easier in this thing. You want a medal for holding the Dolphins to 10 points and the Rams to 9? Bravo, you did your fucking job against two inept quarterbacks. You look to be well on your way to another league championship in fewest points given up, but you’ll also forgive me if I don’t line you up to suck each of your dicks.
Hey guys, where’s the fucking turnovers? Are you shitting me? You can’t get teams led by Ryan Tannehill and Case Fucking Keenum to turn the ball over to you? When – SPOILER ALERT – Keenum threw 2 picks against the 49ers last week, and Tannehill did the same against the Pats this week (on top of a couple of fumbles the Pats were able to force)! I mean, shit guys, how about a short fucking field for once! How about making it so the offense doesn’t have to fucking go 90 yards for a touchdown every God damn drive! How about, when our offense flips the field position, and we’re able to down the ball inside the 10 yard line, you NUT THE FUCK UP and force a 3 & Out to give us BACK our good field position???
You have to understand, Michael Bennett and all the rest, that you haven’t done shit yet. The defense has been good, but not great. Not dominant. Not elite. An elite defense would’ve held the Rams to 3 points, or 0 points, not 9. An elite defense would see that their offense is in trouble, that their best skill position players (from Baldwin, to Lockett, to Graham, to Rawls, to Prosise) are banged up, and their all-world quarterback is a shell of his former self as he tries to play through a high ankle sprain, and that elite defense would step the fuck up and shut out an offense like the Rams. Like the Dolphins. Like the 49ers next week.
And that defensive coordinator needs to realize his defense is giving up too many big plays. Dan Quinn and Gus Bradley knew how to scheme well and prevent those big plays. This has only become a problem since Kris Richard took over. Maybe the job is too much for him. Well, management better fucking figure that shit out and put someone in there who’s up to the task. Because, we can’t be fucking away these seasons when everyone is in their prime, just to coddle a fucking defensive coordinator who isn’t ready for the fucking job.
Beat the 49ers you sacks of shit! Or, don’t be surprised when you see more 12s dumping all over you.