I'm not the smartest guy in the world. I sure as shit ain't anything else. And when you kinda suck, you bust your ass `cause that's all you got. That's what no one can give you and no one can take away.

But when you're talented, and skilled, and deep and you've sailed atop your success wondering why no one notices you - you're my enemy. You're the scum of the earth.

I hope that's exactly how Seattle feels right now. Like the worst Goddamn team in the NFL, because it's going to take the determination of the born loser to recover from this utterly shameful performance.

One unit showed today - and GODDAMN RIGHT they were still laying hits in the 4^th. Seattle's defense is fine. Good job, you're excused.

Seattle's offense deserves the three headed rancor of Mike Ditka, Vince Lombardi and Joe Paterno. To be so easily solved by the simplest and oldest tactic in the defensive playbook, the blitz, and to not make adjustments until game over in the fourth quarter is proof of lax preparation and an attitude of defeat. Let's face it, once again Mike Holmgren was overmatched and outcoached by a young defensive coordinator. Watching Buffalo's defense stand and mill about the line presnap and Seattle incapable of responding, it was Pittsburgh all over again. Modern tactics defusing a now ancient offense.

But it was special teams that lost today's game. My expert analysis: I think firing Bruce DeHaven is perfectly justifiable. Should Seattle and will it fix their special teams? Probably not. Probably. But all the long snappers in the world can't fix bad angles on coverage, complete obliviousness on a Pop Warner fake field goal, and stupid, greedy, game deciding return play. Josh Wilson returned the ball like he could win it all with another five yards.

And yet...

I'm not the least discouraged about this team. I know they are better than this. And I believe, Goddammit I have to believe, that every ounce of arrogance and entitlement just got beat out of them. And come next Sunday they will play as hard as the worst team in football.

First Half Cap:

Seattle is winning important matchups but is losing badly on play calling. Second half adjustment will decide this game.

Mike Holmgren must anticipate blitzes. The Bills have gotten free defenders with ease and working from a lead, have little reason not to continue blitzing. The adjustments are simple. First, keep Julius Jones in on most touches. Morris has been largely responsible for allowing two separate sacks on Hasselback and has not progresses in his blitz recognition. Get John Carlson more involved over the middle. Keeping a tight end in is a natural blitz retarder and, today, Carlson is Seattle's most consistent receiver. Further, Poz has not shown good recognition in coverage and with Whitner playing close, Seattle needs to attack the deep-middle. Draws, outside runs and screens must be involved in a healthy 2^nd half attack. Seattle must stop ineffectually pounding the middle.

The defense is keeping Seattle in this. The front four is getting excellent pressure. Seattle has shied away from blitzing, and I think that's the right read. Trust the defense, it can't help the field position that the offense and special teams have burdened it with. Bryant needs more looks at the 3. Though limited and rough, the team cannot afford Craig Terrill seeing so many snaps, especially not in the second half, when the Bills will look to run often and unrelentingly.

Seattle has played very poorly. They look uncoordinated and sloppy, but they are winning the talent game - mostly. Again, adjustments decide this game.

Bills Annotated Depth Chart

Split End	TightEnd	Left Tackle	Left Guard	Center	Right Guard	Right Tackle	Slot	Flanker
Josh Reed 2007 DYAR 36 Catch% 59	RobertRoyal 2007 DYAR -18 Catch% 66	Langston Walker 2007 Sacks: 2.25 ALY:LT 3.9 (23rd)	Derrick Dockery 2007 Sacks: 1.5 False   Starts: 4	Melvin Fowler 2007 Sacks:1.25 ALY:M/G4.02(19th)	Brad Butler 2007 Sacks: 1.5 False   Starts:2	Kirk Chambers Career GamesStarted: 1	Roscoe Parrish 2007 DYAR -4 Catch% 69	Lee Evans 2007 DYAR 21 Catch% 49

Fullback	Quarterback	Running Back
DarianBarnes CalendarServicesMartians	Trent Edwards 2007DYAR 58 Completion%56.6	Marshawn Lynch 2007 DYARRushing: 42Receiving: 41

Defense after the bump.

Continue reading this post »

I played it a little loose in the preseason, but today we step it up. The Field Gulls podcast will be info packed as we discuss scenarios, matchups and what to watch for to get a feel for this team's potential. Podcast starts at 1 PST. Call-ins are always welcome.

Talk Shoe

Phone Number: (724) 444-7444
Call ID: 23576

Can you feel it? Less than 24 hours. My life is in turmoil and all I can think is Seahawks, Seahawks, Seahawks. Must be the mono-mania. Let's show our championship stripes. Let's slaughter Buffalo.

For some reason it didn't like my intro music and I don't come in for like ten seconds. I mean, The Walkmen might be overblown, but The Rat is a hell of a song.

Walter Jones versus Aaron Schobel

If Jones keeps him square and his left shoulder in, Shobel won't show bull.

In 2007, Jones sat out the entire preseason. He would record his six worst quarters of football to start the season. In 2008, Jones saw extensive, terrifying action in August. He should be in game shape and moreover at game speed. That's good, because in many ways Schobel is exactly the type of end that gives Jones fits. As a pass rusher, Schobel is part edge rusher, part Kerney-esque hustle until the lineman quits. Jones doesn't quit - unless you can get outside his left shoulder. In 2007, Jones' sacks allowed occurred when pass rushers, through sheer quickness or an aggressive outside move, positioned themselves outside his left shoulder. Jones, 34, incapable of taking strong pain medication and plagued by chronic shoulder problems, protectively disengages his pass blocking when pass rushers can leverage their body against his outstretched left arm. For Jones to succeed against Schobel, he must be in midseason form mirror sliding, thereby keeping Schobel square. He must also overpower Schobel, disorient him enough on his initial pop to keep Schobel from hustling outside left on longer developing plays.

The other half of this matchup is Jones' ability to dominate Schobel run blocking. Schobel is well known for his ability to contribute run tackles, but that ability and the ability to hold the point are not one and the same. Seattle should attempt to attack the Bills on the edge, away from their (on paper) stout defensive tackles and outside Paul Posluszny's range. If Jones can bully Schobel in, use him to pick Kyle Williams and John McCargo, Mike Wahle can pull without fear of losing inside containment. If Jones doesn't bully Schobel, Chris Spencer/Steve Vallos may not be able to single block Willams/McCargo, and the Seahawks will shy away from potentially aborted sweeps and off tackle rushes.

Leroy Hill versus Marshawn Lynch

This matchup challenges Hill to take on what could be one of the better pass blocking backs in the NFL. A combination of an ankle injury and the loss of Jason Peters had the Bills keeping Lynch in more late last season, and with Peters out they may do likewise on Sunday. Like most rookies, Lynch wasn't a great blocker to start, but with a strong reputation at Cal and an emphasis on improvement in the offseason, I expect Lynch to make that jump this season.

This matchup is not of the "this guy's taller than this guy, so this guy will win the jump ball" crayon stuck in brain simplicity. Instead, it's dynamic and dependent on many variables. For one, Lynch may not even be the man to block Hill. Seattle frequently uses Lofa Tatupu as a kind of fullback on blitzes, punishing the lead blocker and blowing a hole for Hill to explode through. Second, Hill winning this matchup is as much about Hill's quickness and Lynch's read as Hill's strength and Lynch's blocking. John Marshall loves discordant blitzes that attempt to get a man free to the quarterback. Hill may win this matchup without even encountering Marshawn. Doing so will mean execution by the team and execution by Hill. On a veiled blitz, Marshall often attempts to hide Hill, not blitzing him until the last moment. This is one of Hill's greatest strengths and one way he should still be able to beat the inexperienced Lynch. That is, fool Lynch into reading wrong, blocking right (typically) and then outsprinting Lynch to the quarterback.

John Carlson versus Donte Whitner

Like Bob Sanders, Donte Whitner likes to start plays close to the line. And like Bob Sanders, Whitner can do that because he has rare speed and athleticism. Whitner sitting underneath is a recipe for a stunted running game and a broken wide receiver corps. In a Tampa 2 style defense, the flashpoint is deep-middle, between the safeties. High functioning Tampa 2s feature a middle linebacker who can supplement coverage between the safeties. For all his in the box prowess, Paul Posluszny was not a great pass defender at Penn State, and playing in just his fourth game in the NFL, will not singlehandedly remove the deep-middle on Sunday. Instead, Buffalo, suddenly debilitated at linebacker and facing a team determined to establish its running game, should keep Poz shallow and lean on Whitner to do the heavy lifting in coverage.

Seattle needs John Carlson and to a lesser extent Jeb Putzier to threaten the middle and keep Whitner from sitting on routes underneath. Purely from a geometric standpoint, deep-middle is also Matt Hasselbeck's best chance to complete deep passes. Beck is a maestro on short and intermediate passes, setting the tempo, cueing his soloist and shaping Seattle's passing attack. Beck is a meatball on deep passes, chucking ducks and hoping for busted coverage. But the deep middle, bearing no horizontal length, is one place Beck can get the ball 30 yards downfield with authority. An early completion to Carlson up the seam will do wonders for catch and run receivers Nate Burleson and Courtney Taylor. Allowing them to efficiently carve up the underneath and interior. The plodding, relentless almost zombie-like amassing of pass yards that make up the backbone of the Bill Walsh offense is essential to the explosive, phenomenal almost roman candle-like runs that make up the color and life of the Mike Holmgren offense.

Doug Farrar will be contributing game previews this season for the Seattle Times. You can find his first here. Before I move on, this line kills me.

They're the folks that predicted a precipitous drop in Shaun Alexander's production after the Super Bowl season, the ones who pointed out that all the numbers pointed against a bounce-back season in 2007 and the guys who found that it would be a minor miracle if Marcus Pollard could contribute given his age.

So that would make them 1 for 3?

Anyway, Doug is the man and it's good to see something smart penetrating the mainstream. Now, I have my quibbles with a LOT of this, paramount that this article is essentially comparing last year's Seahawks with last year's Bills. But that's okay. I'll exorcise my quibbles in this afternoon's Statapalooza - The Return!