Game 2: Seahawks at Los Doncos

[Danny Darko]

VS.


Game 2 of the 2010 season features a new possibility.... the Hawks might actually be good. The Broncos are not juggernauts and while they are fairly favored at home, this game is anybody's guess.
The Broncos will feature a better pass defense and more savvy QB. They will also take Seattle more seriously than the cocky 49ers team that got whacked. Also, we'll be missing another O-lineman by mandate from Zeus, though the bigger loss will be ol #12 shouting down the opponents offense.

Injury update:

Seahawks-
Russell Okung(LT) out. Unger(G) out "wost turf toe ever". Pitts (knee) limited, DE Chris Clemons (ankle) probable. WR Mike Williams (thigh) limited in practice. OT Chester Pitts (knee) limited. LB Matt McCoy (quad) limited.

Benver Doncos
Harris, Ryan (OL) Ankle. Kuper, Chris (OL) Knee/Ankle. Royal, Eddie (WR) pulled his Groin repeatedly, but probable.


Things to Watch:

1-LT again. Tyler Polumbus was surprisingly stout last week vs Justin Smith. The Denver boards are positive that Ayers owns "Troy", though. Let's hope our system and his good start give us a second good week.

2-O-line Guards. Andrews moves to RG. We need more running game push against a team that has a better secondary than our last opponent. Andrews is gonna give us the size, but do we get the push? Does he hold up well in pass protection? I sure hope so.

3-Golden "don't call me taint". Inactive for week one, but Pete says he's trying to work him in. My guess is he gets some mid field shots to him and Branch continues to be the red zone veteran.

4-Will Curry have a break out game? He looked improved, but the pressure and cynicism won't subside until he drops a QB a few times and causes general havoc.

5-Pete vs Refs. I love to see refs shoving our best cheerleader off the field. I'll be a little disappointed if we can't excite coach with a big enough play to get him hauled off the field again.

6-Crowd Noise. Mile High home opener- should be loud. We are working silent cadences with new guys all over the line. Lets hope we don't feel the 9'ers false start pain this week.

7-Leo side screens, pitches, and dumps. I believe with a hagard Donco O-line we'll again get pressure, but unlike Smith, Orton knows how to play pressure release small ball. The LB crew will need to be able to contain.

8-Tebow. He's only a play away from being a starter. If big Red gets his hands on Orton we could open the flood gates for young slow hand to have to stare down Curry and Clemons all day.

Predictions-

13-10 Seattle. Our Defensive dominance may be gimmicky and short lived over the season, but I don't think that Denver will have truly game planned effectively for our looks yet. I also think we'll be less effective passing the ball, but our special teams might carve us out enough field position to let our D and Mare win it for us.

[Bulltalk]

Denver 16 Seahawks 13. I still give the edge to Denver, but I think the game is eminently winnable. If the Seahawks can win this game, I think going 3-1 after their first four games is well within their grasp. That would at least keep them in the playoff discussion longer than I ever imagined. For this reason, this game is a key game to me. We've got to win a few road games this season to be in such a discussion, and we've got a bit of momentum going into this one. Actually getting this win is another story, however. I've got to see it.

[Bulltalk]

That INT hurt. That was a beautiful opening drive. Those penalties on the 1 and the 6 yard line were killers. Why did the Hawks get all tricky on that 1st and goal from the 1 yard line? I mean, we could have just gotten it in.

[Bulltalk]

We have 1300 lbs of defensive line.

[Bulltalk]

Another INT.

Somebody help me. We're clearly the better team, but still losing 14-0 midway through the 2nd quarter.

*********************************************************************************************************************************************

It's 17-0 Denver at the half. I'm looking at the score and thinking to myself this has got to be an optical illusion. It just can't be. It shouldn't be. It's not right. It's unfair. It's wrong. This can't be happening to me.

Believe it or not, I still think we can win this game.

[Sweezo]

Usually an ass-kicking like that should be a reason to be depressed, but dammit...the offense was putting drives together, Tate emerged as a PR threat. That barrage of turnovers just killed us. I don't know how you combat CB jumping on routes against us but overall the team didn't look bad despite the deficit.

[Sweezo]

That said, what's up with the going deep on 4th and short nonsense? Especially when you have Branch matched up against Champ Bailey?

[Bulltalk]

That said, what's up with the going deep on 4th and short nonsense? Especially when you have Branch matched up against Champ Bailey?

That was one of the like 10 plays that...well...let me put it this way...lift foot, aim gun, pull trigger.

--throwing Thurmond back there on that first key punt return, and his fumble
--Kelly Jennings getting his own feet tangled and leaving his man wide upon for TD
--the two key red-zone INT's
--others

Let's face it. The score was no indication of close this game could have really been. We could easily have won this game. Yes, our pass rush sucked most of the game, but we did a lot of good things.

[Danny Darko]

true^^

our run D was amazing again.

I don't know what to make of Matt right now, and I sure wouldn't think we'd respond better to Charlie but-

It seems our game plan is made of medium and deep strikes, which works against Matts arm, while our O-line is doing well enough to keep him upright,but not well enough to dominate. Charlie would definitely make the long game look good, but he'd also be trouble in shorter passing situations.

I thought Andrews helped the running game alot despite his false start.

Williams looks hampered by the thigh.

Midget Jennings is back. Who's ready to risk a thurmond swap?

[Danny Darko]

on a side note... Locker- over-hyped ior just one of those days?

[Sweezo]

--throwing Thurmond back there on that first key punt return, and his fumble
--Kelly Jennings getting his own feet tangled and leaving his man wide upon for TD
--the two key red-zone INT's

You know, the Thurmond thing I can live with...he returned punts and Oregon and was a really good punt returner. And oddly enough, the response to Thurmond's muffed punt was to replace him with Tate, who looked awesome. That move may pay off in the long run.

I have no idea what Jennings was doing when he fell down. None. Lewis and Thurmond have looked good at CB...if Jennings keeps doing that nonsense I hope the team realizes it has options.

Hass' two INTs were just poor choices by an aging QB. He's got to be smart enough to know challenging Bailey when he's covering Branch is a bad idea. It's a low percentage play. He doesn't have the zip he used to either. Floating those passes and letting the CB come in for the pick killed us.

[Sweezo]

on a side note... Locker- over-hyped ior just one of those days?

Hard to tell. I listened to some of the game [didn't watch it since...you know...I hate the Huskies]. In reading some of the post-game articles it sounds like Nebraska played a lot of DBs and forced the Huskies to try and run the ball...which they couldn't do. Locker's not the most accurate passer in the world, and while college QBs can often get away with that in college, that won't work so well in the NFL.

Am I starting to wonder if Luck isn't a better option? Well...kind of. Then again, Luck has a veteran team and probably more talent to work with.

[Danny Darko]

I'd almost rather have a decent enough record to go a little lower than Luck or Locker and then grab Ryan Mallett

[Bulltalk]

On the Sanchez thing, they actually let him be a QB against the Patriots last week. 21/30, 220 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT's, QB-rating: 124.3. I'm not saying that he will continue to perform at this level this season, but it certainly was a stark contrast to week one.

Meanwhile, Curry continues to be anything but the beast he was supposed to be, and it's a lot easier to learn the LB position than the QB position.

[Danny Darko]

On the Sanchez thing, they actually let him be a QB against the Patriots last week. 21/30, 220 yards, 3 TD's, 0 INT's, QB-rating: 124.3. I'm not saying that he will continue to perform at this level this season, but it certainly was a stark contrast to week one.

Meanwhile, Curry continues to be anything but the beast he was supposed to be, and it's a lot easier to learn the LB position than the QB position.

yes, although he's almost more of a deep leo and DE does take time to learn. He's been very solid in run support and all those goal line stands. I don't want to turn into a Curry apologist, and maybe the thing is he's a bit stupid after all, but we're asking for rushing skills which he never had to exercise in school. I'd argue his coverage/flex run skills are decent.

He's only one solo tackle behind Tutupu for the lb lead and he's tied with Cole who has been beasting as a run stopper. He also is tied for the tackle for losses lead on the team.

[Ex-hippie]

I'd almost rather have a decent enough record to go a little lower than Luck or Locker and then grab Ryan Mallett

The way the season is going, Mallett won't drop far. Mallett is going out and winning games by making big passing plays. You know, the way a top QB prospect is supposed to.

Meanwhile, Locker continues to sail passes over his receivers and have no clue in the pocket. How would a team justify giving out a huge guaranteed contract to someone who won't be ready to play at all in 2011 and probably 2012 as well? By the time he's ready to get into a regular season game he will have gone through half his contract and cost the team tens of millions of dollars just for learning.

Remember how a year ago, people were talking about Jevan Snead as a possible #1 overall pick in the 2010 draft? Just sayin'.

[Sweezo]

Agreed. If we draft a QB to take over, I want someone who can throw a pass. Locker has plenty of time to prove the Nebraska game was an aberration, but the point about the financial commitment is a fair one. You don't pay someone $10 million per year to learn.

That said even if Locker still struggles with accuracy, he'll vault up the draft boards regardless because he has the physical tools to blow everyone away at the combine. But if he's such a big question at QB, and he's sitting there for the 'Hawks in the first round when they pick...what does management do?

Not drafting Linecum was, really, something that cost Bavasi his job. To pass on a highly touted local product brings out the ire of a fanbase. If the local player fails, people eventually cool off. But if the local player succeeds...God help you...

Would Schneider/Carroll be able to pass on local boy? And how important is accuracy in the 'Hawks offense?

Sounds like a dumb question...i know. But much of what Carroll seems to like to do involves getting big, strong WR downfield to make plays. Bates likes QBs who can throw downfield and roll out on bootlegs.

Mallett's awesome, but does Bates look at a 6'7, 240 lb. QB and think that's a guy that fits how he likes to run an offense, or does he look at Locker, with all the physical tools he has, and think it's a guy he can teach?

Ultimately, I think Mallett's pretty awesome...but he might be the guy that pushes Locker down draftboards and into the Seahawks' lap.

Meanwhile, Curry continues to be anything but the beast he was supposed to be, and it's a lot easier to learn the LB position than the QB position.

I thought Curry played pretty well against the Broncos. I think he's learning...for him, I think much of it is feeling pressure. Once he realizes it's not all on him to carry the defense I think he'll begin to make plays.

[Bulltalk]

I'd take Locker in a second if he was there for us. Like Sweezo said, he's got the athleticism and he's got the tools. His development was really bent out of shape during the Willingham era. He dramatically improved under the first year of the new regime, and that's why he skyrocketed up the draft boards.

Frankly, I'm a little stunned by his play so far this year. You can cover a lot of it up due to some horrible special teams play by the Huskies and their woebegone defense (terrible field position for the offense to work with, on their heels all the time); but there's no doubt that he hasn't looked good when he's had the chance to rise up and deliver a starlike performance. I actually think he's regressed just a tad this year. He just looks stiff and unsure out there this year for some reason. He needs to loosen up a bit. I think he put too much weight on his own shoulders going into this season, and it really kind of screwed with his mind.

But you know with Locker that this guy has great character and work ethic. If a guy is going to realize his potential, it's going to be him.