Postby Shoreline Steamers » Tue Mar 02, 2021 4:51 pm
Cameron Giles wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 2:48 pm
The Godwin Complex wrote: ↑Tue Mar 02, 2021 5:20 am
The team was at its best when they ran the ball effectively and played defense. If Russ was dealt I’d be buying low on whoever the starting RB was.
It should be noted though, that their defense was an all-time elite defense: Sherman, Thomas, Wright, Wagner, Chancellor, Bennett, Avril, McDaniel...they were loaded.
Chances are they're not going to have a defense like that anytime soon that allows them to get away with running the ball and playing conservative.
Pete Carroll's inability to realize that and adapt is likely why Russ wants out. Too many coaches want to win their way instead of playing to the strength of their talent.
Yes!
And that's what's so funny about the Hawks season in 2020. Pete new the defense was weak heading into the year, so the offense was opened up to score more points in an effort to minimize his poor defenses' impact on the game. It worked pretty well for the first half of the season.
About that time the defense started to show some improvement, Wilson threw a couple more INT's than was acceptable, and Pete started calling for a more conservative approach on offense. Granted, this also became a necessity as defenses started taking away the deep shots to DK and Lockett that had been there earlier in the year. But Seattle's coaching staff seemed totally unable to figure out a counter-punch to the defensive strategies they faced from that point onward. Pete just wanted to revert to "his style" of football. He's still hammering that point home as the offseason progresses.
I'm not sure how much of this was Carroll's direct involvement, or if Schottenheimer was the catalyst behind the change in offensive philosophy midstream. But we know who the scapegoat for that failure was!
The team became very one dimensional, bordering on unwatchable for the last half of the year. They couldn't hit big plays in the passing or running game, too many 3-and-outs, stalled drives, and at best field goal attempts. Meanwhile, the defense continued to be mediocre, and when the team did win it was always a nail-biter in the 4th quarter. Of course, the savior in these games wasn't the defense. Wasn't the running game. It was Russell Wilson running around until he could make something happen.
When he was unable to do so, the Hawks lost. This probably sounds very anti-Carroll, though it's really not meant to be. He's up there with Chuck Knox and Mike Holmgren as the best coaches the Seahawks have ever had.
But I must agree with Cameron Giles, that a coaches' failure to maximize the talents of their players by utilizing a style of play that doesn't mesh with their strengths is stubborn, and a recipe for failure. Or mediocrity at best.
14 Team, No-PPR, 20 Man Roster, TD Heavy, TD = 6, FG = 3, Start: QB, 2RB, 2WR, TE, Flex, K, D
QB: L. Jackson, B. Purdy, T. Lance
RB: J. Mixon, N. Chubb, A. Dillon, J. Cook, K. Mitchell, J. McLaughlin, Z. Evans
WR: J. Chase, C. Godwin, D. Johnson, J. Reed, C. Tillman
TE: TJ Hockenson, D. Njoku, B. Jordan
14 Team, .5 PPR, 18 Man Roster, Rush/Rec TD = 6, Pass TD = 4, FG = 3, Start: QB, 2RB, 2WR, TE, Flex, K, D
QB: L. Jackson, T. Tagovailoa
RB: B. Robinson, K. Walker, R. Stevenson, K. Herbertl
WR: C. Olave, T. Higgins, B. Aiyuk, N. Collins, Z. Flowers, M. Mims
TE: K. Pitts, D. Njoku