TERRY MOSHER
As I wrote some time ago, before the season started, this was going to be a tough year for the Seattle Seahawks. So far I’ve been right, not that I’m proud of that fact. I’m not. But it’s difficult to maintain consistency in the NFL year after year, mainly because of the restrictions the salary cap puts on the ability of teams to keep their better players.
This current Seahawk team, though, has problems beyond the salary cap issue. I know I’m in the minority on this, but the biggest ill is the offense. We all know the offensive line is not the greatest. It’s pretty ordinary. And without a good offensive line a team is starting out behind the eight ball. If you can’t open holes and block and protect your quarterback, you are in a world of hurt.
I would go further, though, and this is what puts me in the minority. Quarterback Russell Wilson is not an elite signal-caller. Yeah, I know he’s popular, a good Christian guy and says all the right things. So give him a gold star for that.
But I believe opponents have him figured out. First of all, his lack of height does hurt him. That was an issue with many so-called experts when they drafted him, but he overcame that to some extent by leading the Seahawks to two Super Bowls, winning one and probably should also have won the other.
His height, though, is still an issue, at least with me. There are not many Drew Brees’ in this world, a guy who is listed at six-feet, although many will say he’s shorter than that.
Even at six-feet tall, Brees is short for a NFL QB. He is incredible, though, as far as being able to throw and throw with accuracy. He is a rare exception that I don’t think Wilson is.
Now Wilson is a good QB, and he’s smart, so don’t get me wrong on this. But he has that height deficiently that hurts the Seahawks. Teams have figured the best way to approach defense against him is to keep him in the pocket. Wilson is better when he’s scrambling because he can run and throw well at the same time.
Teams are not only working hard to keep him contained in a pocket because that makes it difficult for him to see down field to find receivers, but it also puts pressure on the Seahawks to have an effective running game. A good running game keeps the defense off-balance and forces it away from containment plans on Wilson.
And so far, the running game with Beast Mode has largely been contained by opponents’ defenses. That puts more pressure on Wilson, creating a vicious cycle.
So it’s a double whammy on the Seahawks. Keep Wilson contained in the pocket and take away Beast Mode. When opponents can do that, there is very little left of an offense that need to be offensive to take pressure off a defense that I believe is as solid as any in the NFL. Statistics don’t show that, but that’s because when the offense is not working well that means the defense has to be on the field longer, do more towards helping the team win, and make fewer mistakes. And any mistake gets magnified because of the lack of a good offense.
All of this leads to the defense getting tired and making coverage mistakes late in games that has cost the Seahawks five fourth-quarter leads and the game.
Compounding the offense problems is that Wilson does not have a serious deep threat. In fact, I will say that the Seahawks don’t have above average receivers. Their best guy is Doug Baldwin, and he’s more of a possession guy, which isn’t a bad thing, but you can’t expect him to go deep and be a threat.
I will also say that the trade that brought tight end Jimmy Graham to Seattle is a bust. They gave up to much – a first round draft pick and veteran center Max Unger, who was a key cog to the offensive line – to get Graham and a fourth-round draft pick.
When the Seahawks traded for Graham they knew he couldn’t be an effective blocker, which is THE key component to the tight end position, especially to a team that likes to run a lot.
That isn’t what I disagree with, though. Graham just isn’t very tough. And he drops way too many balls. And he doesn’t run routes well. Or maybe it’s just that he and Wilson are not on the same page yet. But whatever it is, Graham just is not the offensive threat that he was supposed to be.
I’ve seen tight ends this season that are much better than Graham – Jason Witten (Dallas), Greg Olsen (Carolina), Tyler Eifert (Cincinnati), Antonio Gates (San Diego) are just a few.
Summing it up, I would say the Seahawks are a defensive Super Bowl contender, but are average at best as an NFL offense. Their kicking game and special teams are solid, play-calling is mediocre and Pete Carroll’s continued rosy outlook while comforting is getting old.
Will the Seahawks make the playoffs? It’s still possible, but if they do they probably won’t last long in them. They should beat the 49ers at home on Sunday and beat the Browns on Dec. 20 at home and the Rams on Dec. 27 at home. That would give them seven wins.
Iffy wins will be Pittsburgh at home Nov. 29 and road games Dec. 6 at Minnesota and Dec. 13 at Baltimore and Jan. 3 at Arizona. I’ll give you the Pittsburgh and Baltimore games, and that puts the win total at nine. Beating Minnesota and Arizona is questionable. Minnesota is hot right now and we don’t really have to talk about Arizona, which will likely win the division now that it beat the Seahawks last Sunday, 39-32.
So if a 9-7 record gets the Seahawks into a wild-card playoff game, then I’m in on that. But unless Carroll and his staff figure out how to fire up the offense, I don’t see them making the playoffs.
How about those Mariners? New general manager Jerry Dipoto is shaking up the 40-man roster with trades and is intent on making more as he tries to build a team suited for spacious Safeco Field.
Now isn’t that a novel idea? Imagine somebody who sees the bigger picture and brings in folks who can best play on the home field. Wow, what next, lower ticket prices?
It’s also novel that the Mariners now have a GM who actually knows what he is doing. The last guy had no clue. He was good, though, at smooching up to the media, which got him style points and a favorable press. It took seven years before the organization woke up and sent him packing.
Teams, especially one that plays half its games in a pitcher’s park like Safeco, usually win these days in the MLB with good pitching that includes a shut-down bullpen with guys who can fire bullets. You have to have that real good bullpen to back up solid pitching or you aren’t going to win consistently.
I don’t know if you remember 2001 for other than the attacks on the Twin Towers, but that is the year the Mariner set the American League record and tied an MLB record with 116 wins in the regular season. They did it with a bullpen that was lock-down. If the Mariners that year had a lead after the sixth inning, the game was basically over. Although there was one big exception that year. The Mariners led Cleveland 14-2 after six innings on Aug. 5 and lost 15-14 in the 11th inning. They went into that game with a 66-3 record with the lead after six innings.
I recently heard Dipoto talk on a sports talk show and he promised he was going to build a good bullpen, and I applaud that. That’s a good portion of the battle to having success. They already have the makings of a good starting pitching staff and I’m sure he will continue to build on that.
The one major problem he has to overcome is to find a good catcher. Once he does that, and that may be a major hurdle since good catchers just don’t grow on trees, the team he could hand over to the team’s new manager Scott Servais may be a contender.
So I would expect much better things from the Mariners next season. But the Mariners being the Mariners, you never really know.
That’s it for tonight. It’s gone from full daylight to darkness since I started writing this morning and I need to go see what else is going on in my little world. Hope the electrical power is on in your neighborhood.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.