With a mediocre 2-2 record one-fourth through the season, it's time to give out my Seahawks grades. I will do this every four games as the season progresses.
To Continue...
Passing offense: C It's not that Hasselbeck has been horrible, he's just been average. The main problem with the passing game has been the pass protection. The offensive line has yet to gel as a unit, which is understandable since most of them have never played with each other before. There have been blown blocking assignments, which lead to pass rushers in Matt's face. It also doesn't help that the Seahawks don't have that sure fire number one receiver yet.
Rushing offense: D I love Justin Forsett, I really do. But through four games this year he has been handed the vast majority of carries and yet to produce with the Seahawks gaining on average 79 yards a game while being ranked 25th in the league. He was hyped up to be our number one back, but it seems he is suited to be more of a 10-12 carries a game type of guy. Leon Washington has been nonexistent (in the running game), and Julius Jones has been cut. The only positive is the Seahawks traded for Marshawn Lynch, who should help us in those short yardage situations. All this has led to a dismal 27th ranked rushing offense.
Rushing Defense: A At this point, the Seahawks are ranked 3rd in the league in rushing defense. I would say that is pretty darn good. Brandon Mebane has been a beast, Lofa Tatupu has everyone where they need to be, and Lawyer Milloy is smacking people like he's in his 20's. The person no one is talking about though is Red Bryant. He has consistently taken on two blockers so other people have the opportunity to shine and get free to make the tackle. Expect this to be the team's strongest point throughout the season.
Passing defense: D- The team can stop the run, but can't stop the pass for it's life, being torched for 302 yards a game, good for a 29th rank in the league. You would think a defense that gets pressure on the quarterback and has Marcus Trufant, Earl Thomas, and Lawyer Milloy would succeed in this area, but evidently that's not the case. Granted they have faced some good quarterbacks (Philip Rivers, Kyle Orton, Sam Bradford), but 29th in the league is not acceptable.
Special teams: A+ Two kickoff returns for touchdowns, first in the league in kickoff return average, and fourth in the league in punt return average. Not to mention Olindo Mare hasn't missed a field goal and Jon Ryan is as solid as ever. I would say this unit is OK.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com
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Thursday, October 7, 2010
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
SEAHAWKS: Seahawks acquire Marshawn Lynch
By Matthew Carlson
Marshawn Lynch is now a Seahawk. Seattle traded for the former Bill at the price of a 2011 4th round pick and a conditional 2012 draft pick.
Lynch became expendable when the Bills drafted C. J. Spiller in the 1st round this year.
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He had a limited role in the Bills offense and it seemed he was unhappy with his playing time. That will change in Seattle.
"We're going to bring him in to play a lot," Carroll said. "We'll wait and see when we get him here, but we're bringing him in here to play a bunch."
In four games with the Buffalo Bills this year, Lynch has led the team in rushing yards (164 and attempts (37). In 4 years in the NFL, all with Buffalo, Lynch ran for 2,675 yards on 687 carries for 17 touchdowns. Easily his best two years came in his rookie and sophomore seasons. In his 2007 rookie season he rushed for 1,115 yards on 280 carries for 7 touchdowns and was a finalist for Rookie of the Year. Likewise, he had a great sophomore season, rushing for 1,026 yards on 250 attempts with 8 rushing touchdowns. In 2008 though, he rushed for only 450 yards and started only 6 games with 2 touchdowns.
Lynch will be reunited with former college teammate Justin Forsett. They at one point were a deadly one-two punch at The University of California. Marshawn was Forsett's best man at his wedding.
In order to make room on the roster for Marshawn Lynch, Julius Jones has been released. So all this ends a flurry of moves made recently where the Seahawks cut Chester Pitts, signed Brandon Stockley, re-signed Pitts, then traded for Lynch.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
Marshawn Lynch is now a Seahawk. Seattle traded for the former Bill at the price of a 2011 4th round pick and a conditional 2012 draft pick.
Lynch became expendable when the Bills drafted C. J. Spiller in the 1st round this year.
To Continue...
He had a limited role in the Bills offense and it seemed he was unhappy with his playing time. That will change in Seattle.
"We're going to bring him in to play a lot," Carroll said. "We'll wait and see when we get him here, but we're bringing him in here to play a bunch."
In four games with the Buffalo Bills this year, Lynch has led the team in rushing yards (164 and attempts (37). In 4 years in the NFL, all with Buffalo, Lynch ran for 2,675 yards on 687 carries for 17 touchdowns. Easily his best two years came in his rookie and sophomore seasons. In his 2007 rookie season he rushed for 1,115 yards on 280 carries for 7 touchdowns and was a finalist for Rookie of the Year. Likewise, he had a great sophomore season, rushing for 1,026 yards on 250 attempts with 8 rushing touchdowns. In 2008 though, he rushed for only 450 yards and started only 6 games with 2 touchdowns.
Lynch will be reunited with former college teammate Justin Forsett. They at one point were a deadly one-two punch at The University of California. Marshawn was Forsett's best man at his wedding.
In order to make room on the roster for Marshawn Lynch, Julius Jones has been released. So all this ends a flurry of moves made recently where the Seahawks cut Chester Pitts, signed Brandon Stockley, re-signed Pitts, then traded for Lynch.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
SOUNDERS FC: Nyassi locks up Seattle’s second Open Cup
WRITTEN BY: GALEN HELMGREN That explosion you heard last night wasn’t a presidential sonic boom and it wasn’t the sound of the Viaduct finally being demolished. No, the sound you heard at 9:01 p.m. on Tuesday was the sound of victory.
Last night, the Seattle Sounders became the first team in 27 years to successfully defend the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, defeating the Columbus Crew 2-1 before 31,311 fans at Qwest Field.
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Tuesday, October 5, 2010
MARINERS: The obligatory Mariner post
Written by Matthew Carlson
Right from the second game of the season, we knew that these were not the Mariners of 2009. Once we saw Ryan Rowland-Smith take the mound, we knew it was trouble. The team started 1-6, and it just kept falling from there.
The bar was set so high for the team before the season started. The M's had just come off a heartwarming 2009 season in which there were hugs all around. Jack Zduriencik was hailed as the new baseball mastermind because of his apparent good eye for prospects. He made tons of trades and transactions during his first year, which carried over to the next.
To Continue...
He seemed to be on some kind of transactions high, going out and getting Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley and Chone Figgins. Jack had his eyes on a playoff appearance and maybe a world series all the while ignoring that this team had lost 101 games two years ago and was still in the process of rebuilding. In the end however, the transactions didn't work, the management didn't work, the team itself, and frankly almost every aspect about it failed to function and produce. They set the bar high, they leaped, they almost made it, they stalled, and then fell flat on their face into their second 101 loss season in 3 years.
The first thing that jumps out at you from this season are the stats. The Mariners broke the Major League record for the fewest runs scored in the DH era at 513 runs. There really wasn't any excuse of injures or anything, they were just BAD. If you have said the M's two best hitters would have been Ichiro and Figgins at the start of the year I wouldn't have been surprised to know it's true. The shocking part is their averages are .315 and .265! You know something's wrong when your cleanup hitter is Jose Lopez (.239).
The mariners were supposed to be built around pitching and defense. We were told that the games may be boring to watch, but that the Mariners would squeak by and win because their pitching would be so good that they wouldn’t even need to score many runs. We were also told that the strategy of the Mariners would “be especially effective because Safeco Field is a pitching park”. Safeco Field my foot, the M’s were 35-46 at home. To put it flat and simple: You win games by scoring runs more than preventing them. The pitching just hasn’t been good enough, and the runs haven’t scored to make up the difference. And when that happens, you have a serious problem.
Let’s get to the chemistry. Last year’s clubhouse was one of the best in all of baseball, with leaders like Griffey and Mike Sweeney. But this year it has been marred by adversity. Here are some examples. Earlier in the year there was a tussle/brawl in which the Mariners fought with themselves (that’s right themselves), not even the opposing team. It started when then manager Don Wakamatsu benched Chone Figgins for lack of hustle, which Figgins disagreed with, and it escalated into a "brawl" from there. It made the Mariners look foolish on a National Stage, and the clubhouse never really felt better until the firing of Wakamatsu. Then there was the very sad incident where Griffey fell asleep in the clubhouse during the game, which has got to be pretty hard to do in the first place. Ultimately, this led to one of the reasons Griffey retired midseason, and one of the reasons Don Wakamatsu was fired. Then there was the apparent lack of effort from Lopez and Figgins all season. One thing is for sure, a confident clubhouse can make the difference in games sometimes, and this was not a confident clubhouse at all.
Ah, Jackie Z's additions. The Mariners acquired new players with high hopes to make this their best season. The players they sent away or failed to resign (Morrow, Silva, and Beltre) all had solid seasons. Morrow fired a 1 hit 17 strikeout game for the Blue Jays and was toward the top of the league in strikeouts, Silva started 8-0 with the Cubs until being eventually sidelined with a heart condition, and Beltre had a MVP quality season with Boston. The players they acquired Figgins, League, Bradley, Kotchman, and Bard, have all had subpar seasons filled with expectations not being met. Cliff Lee is gone, with the Mariners opting to trade him away for a deal in which they received Justin Smoak. The players overall failed to produce, and the Mariners felt the pain of it through the season.
Let’s look at the good. The Mariners have a future first baseman (Justin Smoak), second baseman (Dustin Ackley) and pitcher (Miguel Pineda). The team locked up two of their best players, Félix Hernandez and Franklin Gutiérrez for the next coming years. Plus we always have Ichiro. The Mariners will be better, they just need to take the right steps and not rush the growing process.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
Right from the second game of the season, we knew that these were not the Mariners of 2009. Once we saw Ryan Rowland-Smith take the mound, we knew it was trouble. The team started 1-6, and it just kept falling from there.
The bar was set so high for the team before the season started. The M's had just come off a heartwarming 2009 season in which there were hugs all around. Jack Zduriencik was hailed as the new baseball mastermind because of his apparent good eye for prospects. He made tons of trades and transactions during his first year, which carried over to the next.
To Continue...
He seemed to be on some kind of transactions high, going out and getting Cliff Lee, Milton Bradley and Chone Figgins. Jack had his eyes on a playoff appearance and maybe a world series all the while ignoring that this team had lost 101 games two years ago and was still in the process of rebuilding. In the end however, the transactions didn't work, the management didn't work, the team itself, and frankly almost every aspect about it failed to function and produce. They set the bar high, they leaped, they almost made it, they stalled, and then fell flat on their face into their second 101 loss season in 3 years.
The first thing that jumps out at you from this season are the stats. The Mariners broke the Major League record for the fewest runs scored in the DH era at 513 runs. There really wasn't any excuse of injures or anything, they were just BAD. If you have said the M's two best hitters would have been Ichiro and Figgins at the start of the year I wouldn't have been surprised to know it's true. The shocking part is their averages are .315 and .265! You know something's wrong when your cleanup hitter is Jose Lopez (.239).
The mariners were supposed to be built around pitching and defense. We were told that the games may be boring to watch, but that the Mariners would squeak by and win because their pitching would be so good that they wouldn’t even need to score many runs. We were also told that the strategy of the Mariners would “be especially effective because Safeco Field is a pitching park”. Safeco Field my foot, the M’s were 35-46 at home. To put it flat and simple: You win games by scoring runs more than preventing them. The pitching just hasn’t been good enough, and the runs haven’t scored to make up the difference. And when that happens, you have a serious problem.
Let’s get to the chemistry. Last year’s clubhouse was one of the best in all of baseball, with leaders like Griffey and Mike Sweeney. But this year it has been marred by adversity. Here are some examples. Earlier in the year there was a tussle/brawl in which the Mariners fought with themselves (that’s right themselves), not even the opposing team. It started when then manager Don Wakamatsu benched Chone Figgins for lack of hustle, which Figgins disagreed with, and it escalated into a "brawl" from there. It made the Mariners look foolish on a National Stage, and the clubhouse never really felt better until the firing of Wakamatsu. Then there was the very sad incident where Griffey fell asleep in the clubhouse during the game, which has got to be pretty hard to do in the first place. Ultimately, this led to one of the reasons Griffey retired midseason, and one of the reasons Don Wakamatsu was fired. Then there was the apparent lack of effort from Lopez and Figgins all season. One thing is for sure, a confident clubhouse can make the difference in games sometimes, and this was not a confident clubhouse at all.
Ah, Jackie Z's additions. The Mariners acquired new players with high hopes to make this their best season. The players they sent away or failed to resign (Morrow, Silva, and Beltre) all had solid seasons. Morrow fired a 1 hit 17 strikeout game for the Blue Jays and was toward the top of the league in strikeouts, Silva started 8-0 with the Cubs until being eventually sidelined with a heart condition, and Beltre had a MVP quality season with Boston. The players they acquired Figgins, League, Bradley, Kotchman, and Bard, have all had subpar seasons filled with expectations not being met. Cliff Lee is gone, with the Mariners opting to trade him away for a deal in which they received Justin Smoak. The players overall failed to produce, and the Mariners felt the pain of it through the season.
Let’s look at the good. The Mariners have a future first baseman (Justin Smoak), second baseman (Dustin Ackley) and pitcher (Miguel Pineda). The team locked up two of their best players, Félix Hernandez and Franklin Gutiérrez for the next coming years. Plus we always have Ichiro. The Mariners will be better, they just need to take the right steps and not rush the growing process.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
Monday, October 4, 2010
SEAHAWKS: Loss to St. Louis forces a reality check
I could see this coming.
The Seahawks coming into the game somehow the new kings of the NFC West and ready to go 3-1 heading into the bye week. Pete Carroll had somehow turned a ragtag bunch into playoff sleepers. Seattle, Washington was ready to be named Leon, Washington.
But then reality struck in the form of a blowout against a team Seattle had previously bludgeoned 10 straight times.
To Continue...
You all know by now. I don't need to summarize it. The Seahawks got beat up, had their milk money stolen, and fell flat on their faces as they lost 20-3 at the hands of the Rams. Seattle's ten game winning streak against St. Louis came to an end. The Seahawks fell to 3-18 in their last 21 road games.
The game was filled with dropped passes, blown assignments, and bad communication with the wide receivers and Hasselbeck. To name a couple bad instances...
The Seahawks at one point tried a fake field goal in which they had Jon Ryan running. I don't think that needs an explanation.
On a 4th and 2, with the game still in reach, Michael Robinson dropped a for sure first down from Hasselbeck.
And, finally, on a pass intended for Golden Tate, Hasselbeck chucked it deep while Tate did a 10 yard curl route. Fail.
So after all this, fans are angry and confused on why they aren't looking like the energetic, fast Seahawks they have been accustomed too the first few weeks.
Well I have an answer fans.
Just wait.
The Seahawks, according to Sporting News, weren't even supposed to win a game in the first four weeks. More than half of the players on the roster weren't on the team in 2009.
We can't get ahead of ourselves here. This team only won five games all of last year, and three of those wins were against the Rams and the Lions. The 2009 Seahawks were a mix of disgruntled veterans and jumbled up youngsters. Now look at the Green and Blue. They are at this point an infusion of young talent (Earl Thomas, Golden Tate, Russell Okung) and savvy, team oriented veterans (Hasselbeck, Lawyer Milloy, Brandon Stockley).
Players need time to develop together as a team. You can't throw 25+ new guys together and expect to win. Most teams that try to rebuild and compete at the same time fail (cough, cough, 2010 Seattle Mariners).
For John Scheinder and Pete Carroll, rebuilding has to be number one, while winning ballgames should be number two. There's no point in trying to get 9 wins his year and 7 next year with aging veterans if the Seahawks can get 7 this year and 11 down the road with guys in their prime.
Coaches who stick to their long term plans usually pull through. Remember Mike Holmgren's first few years? Not pretty. But once he got his guys, he got the team to the super bowl after a couple of hard years.
So just like Mike, Pete can't lose sight of what's at the end of the tunnel. Seahawks fans must be patient the next two years and let Carroll's plan do its stuff.
Even if there is some games like we just witnessed, the 12th man will keep on shouting.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
The Seahawks coming into the game somehow the new kings of the NFC West and ready to go 3-1 heading into the bye week. Pete Carroll had somehow turned a ragtag bunch into playoff sleepers. Seattle, Washington was ready to be named Leon, Washington.
But then reality struck in the form of a blowout against a team Seattle had previously bludgeoned 10 straight times.
To Continue...
You all know by now. I don't need to summarize it. The Seahawks got beat up, had their milk money stolen, and fell flat on their faces as they lost 20-3 at the hands of the Rams. Seattle's ten game winning streak against St. Louis came to an end. The Seahawks fell to 3-18 in their last 21 road games.
The game was filled with dropped passes, blown assignments, and bad communication with the wide receivers and Hasselbeck. To name a couple bad instances...
The Seahawks at one point tried a fake field goal in which they had Jon Ryan running. I don't think that needs an explanation.
On a 4th and 2, with the game still in reach, Michael Robinson dropped a for sure first down from Hasselbeck.
And, finally, on a pass intended for Golden Tate, Hasselbeck chucked it deep while Tate did a 10 yard curl route. Fail.
So after all this, fans are angry and confused on why they aren't looking like the energetic, fast Seahawks they have been accustomed too the first few weeks.
Well I have an answer fans.
Just wait.
The Seahawks, according to Sporting News, weren't even supposed to win a game in the first four weeks. More than half of the players on the roster weren't on the team in 2009.
We can't get ahead of ourselves here. This team only won five games all of last year, and three of those wins were against the Rams and the Lions. The 2009 Seahawks were a mix of disgruntled veterans and jumbled up youngsters. Now look at the Green and Blue. They are at this point an infusion of young talent (Earl Thomas, Golden Tate, Russell Okung) and savvy, team oriented veterans (Hasselbeck, Lawyer Milloy, Brandon Stockley).
Players need time to develop together as a team. You can't throw 25+ new guys together and expect to win. Most teams that try to rebuild and compete at the same time fail (cough, cough, 2010 Seattle Mariners).
For John Scheinder and Pete Carroll, rebuilding has to be number one, while winning ballgames should be number two. There's no point in trying to get 9 wins his year and 7 next year with aging veterans if the Seahawks can get 7 this year and 11 down the road with guys in their prime.
Coaches who stick to their long term plans usually pull through. Remember Mike Holmgren's first few years? Not pretty. But once he got his guys, he got the team to the super bowl after a couple of hard years.
So just like Mike, Pete can't lose sight of what's at the end of the tunnel. Seahawks fans must be patient the next two years and let Carroll's plan do its stuff.
Even if there is some games like we just witnessed, the 12th man will keep on shouting.
Reach Nathan Parsons at nathanparsons98@yahoo.com Read more
Saturday, October 2, 2010
SOUNDERS: Blaise On again
After losing to Toronto FC 2-0 back on April 25, the Sounders slipped into a rut. Over their next nine MLS matches, Seattle went 2-6-1 and was able to collect just seven of the 27 they played for. It looked very much like the team was on track to miss the playoffs after an outstanding inaugural performance in 2009.
Fast-forward six months and the Sounders (12-9-6, 42 points) are in a much better place points-wise and were looking to return the early-season favor by knocking Toronto (8-12-7, 31 points) out of the playoff picture.
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Friday, October 1, 2010
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