TERRY MOSHER
TOP OF THE TOWN – Frankly, I expected this about the Seahawks. If you look past the Pete Carroll normal optimism you could have seen what I saw – a football team that has not changed or gotten better. The offensive line is still, well, offensive. It still can’t keep Russell Wilson from running for his life. For me, everything starts with the offensive line. It must operate as a dam and not as a sieve. For too long now, the Hawks’ offensive line has been a sieve. It seems to me that Carroll isn’t a good evaluator of line talent. If you are going to have an offensive line that can’t hold water then you must build the offense around that fact. More motion in the backfield, more fly sweeps, more trap blocking and Wilson has to be quick with his release, which means shorter pass routes and more check downs. I’m still mystified why the offense doesn’t use the tight end for more pass routes down the seam or in the middle of the field. The answer may be that tight ends need to be kept in tight to provide extra blocking the offensive line is incapable of doing. I’d like to see more screens and more flares to running backs. That would counter a leaky offensive line. I think Carroll made a mistake in not paying up for linebacker K.J. Wright, who is now starting for the unbeaten Raiders. He was an excellent counter weight to Bobby Wagner, a sure future Hall of Famer. Wright was good at run defense and was a good cover man. His presence solidified the front seven. His replacement is second-year man Jordyn Brooks, who comes much cheaper and maybe someday will be as good as Wright. But not now. The corners are just a hair from the waiver wire. Right cornerback Tre Flowers has become an easy target for opposing offenses. He gives away too much space in his coverage and is picked on unmercifully, as I would, too. There have been calls on social media to sign former Hawks’ corner Richard Sherman. I think he comes with too much baggage. He’s likely not the same Richard Sherman on the field we were used to either. The corners need to be fixed though I don’t have an answer. As for defensive backs Quandre Diggs and Jamal Adams, those two are crazy dudes. They are human rockets, willing to lay waste to anybody that is in the way. The problem is how do you fit these two crazies in a rigid system? They are at their best when they improvise and can attack, attack, attack. But it also means if they are flying around like crazy they are risking not playing in the system and opponents can take advantage of it. Tennessee took advantage when Adams blitzed and Derrick Henry ran into into the space Adams vacated and scored an untouched touchdown on a 60-yard run. The Seahawks play the 49ers, Rams, Steelers and Saints in their next four games and I can easily envision a 1-6 record going into a home game Oct. 31 against the Jaguars if somehow what ails them is not fixed. … Across town the Washington Huskies also look ill. They are 2-2 but could easily be 1-3 if not for a fumble by California in overtime that Huskies recovered on the one-yard line preserving a 31-24 victory. The Huskies got this massive offensive line that is slower than molasses and a quarterback who almost by default has the starting job. Dylan Moore is a gutty guy and an excellent competitor. But he doesn’t quite compare to Husky QBs of the past. Washington is known as a quarterback school with the past littered with greats like Warren Moon, Sonny Sixkiller, Bob Schloredt, Don Heinrich, Steve Pelluer, Hugh Millan, Mark Brunell, Billy Joe Holbert, Damon and Brock Huard (Sam Huard, Damon’s son, is the backup to Morris), Jake Locker, Marques Tulasosopo and Cody Pickett. I’m not sold on Jimmy Lake. The school is still out on him. We will know a lot more after this week’s game in Corvallis against Oregon State. The Huskies are favored, as they normally are against the Beavers, but this OSU team is hitting its stride and if the Huskies don’t wake up they could easily get beaten. … The Seattle Storm put up a stiff fight in a short-handed battle in a loser-out game with Phoenix in the second round of the WNBA playoffs, but couldn’t quite overcome playing without perhaps the best player in the league in Breanna Stewart, out with an ankle injury, and lost 85-80 in overtime. … It’s too early to tell much about the Kraken, although they won their first game, an exhibition against the Canucks in Spokane, 5-3. It’s exciting to know that ice hockey is back in the region. I think the Kraken will be a big hit on the ice. Now if we can get the Sonics back …. Hey, that is it for today. Stay safe.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a great day.
You are loved.