Terry Mosher 3

TERRY MOSHER

 

Well, the Seahawks proved Sunday that they are not playoff dead, didn’t they? It took one of their better efforts against a gunslinger (Ben Roethlisberger) to shoot the Steelers down, but they did it in a classic shootout.

And maybe there are enough bad NFL teams to allow the Hawks to fly into the playoffs as a wild card team. As it stands right now, they would be the sixth and last team from the NFC to make the playoffs, and that’s with a 6-5 record with five games left.

They still don’t look like the team that has made the last two Super Bowls. I can’t quite figure out why that is. I have thought for a long time that it wasn’t the defense that was causing them to lose, but the lack of an offense that has kept the defense on the field for too long.

Now, I’m not sure I was right about that. There is something wrong with that defense. We all know that the right cornerback spot is a weak link. First it was Cary Williams and when he proved to be ineffective, others were tried and on Sunday it was DeShawn Shead’s time to be in the barrel.

Snead was okay. Not great, but okay. Markus Wheaton, a third-year receiver out of Oregon State, had a career day against mostly Shead with nine catches for 201 yards, including a 69-yarder for a touchdown.

So the right corner is still the hot corner opponents will continue to target. You would too. But I think there is also something else amiss and I’m not convinced I have found the problem. Gunslinger QBs like Roethlisberger who are among the elite in the NFL seem to have great days against this defense, and it shouldn’t. But why is that?

It is obvious that the defense is weak against tight ends going down the seam, but why? You know that. I know that. So certainly Seattle’s defensive coordinator Kris Richard knows that. So why can’t the tight ends be stopped?

I have no club, other than to know that tight ends throughout the league appear to be having good years. Maybe if you are 6-foot-6 or 6-foot 7 and the guy that is there to stop you is more than a half-foot shorter (Earl Thomas) has some bearing on the problem.

Maybe there is a lack of good communication in the Hawk secondary. That is possible, but something is wrong when it gives up nearly 500 passing yards, as it did to the Steelers.

Is it possible the defensive front isn’t good enough to put good pressure on opposing QBs? Maybe. That, though, is the first rule of football in the NFL – pressure the QB, and that should be the first thing coaches stress; get after their QB.

So I really don’t know, and I’ve seen a lot of football in my nearly 70 years of watching the game, dating back to when my older brothers played. And all three of them were QB, so I should know – but don’t.

The good thing for the Hawks is that they won’t face another elite QB until their last game at Arizona (Carson Palmer) and if the problem is defending against elite QBs they should win their next four games (Minnesota, Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis).

However, in the NFL any team on a given day can win. There are so many variables, the most important one being matchups, that even the downtrodden Browns (2-9) can win (just don’t have a field goal blocked and returned for a game-winning touchdown as time expires, as Baltimore did to them Monday night).

That’s it for today. I’m getting tired, and it’s getting dark. I hope you have a great Thanksgiving and that the Christmas season will be good for you and your family. Take care.

Be well pal.

Be careful out there.

Have a great day.

You are loved.