Tag Archives: All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seattle Seahawks: Why They’re Poised to Get Back to the Super Bowl

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Gut-wrenching, heartbreaking, whatever you want to call it… that one was tough. To come so close to repeating and get that close to scoring. This one will stay with Seattle, team and fans alike, for a long time.

Still, the Seahawks will be back strong for next season, and you can bet that coaches and players alike will be looking to make up for the Super Bowl loss with a ring next year. Here’s why they’re poised to get back to the Super Bowl-

1. Returning Talent

For the most part, the band will be back together next season. The Seahawks will see a small number of their core hit free agency, most notably Byron Maxwell and Jermaine Kearse (more on that later). Russell Wilson and Marshawn Lynch, should he return, will be rejoined on offense by promising receiver Paul Richardson (once he returns from injury), the emerging Riccardo Lockette, Super Bowl breakout Chris Matthews and the vastly underrated Doug Baldwin. Kearse could return, while Luke Willson and Tony Moeaki provide a solid outlet for passes at the tight end position. Like Richardson, Zach Miller will also be coming back from injury.

Defensively, Seattle will welcome back a host of players from injured reserve. Brandon Mebane, one of the game’s best defensive tackles, will be healthy. Promising youngsters Jordan Hill, Jesse Williams, Cassius Marsh and Kevin Pierre-Louis will return as well.

Other than the returning injured players, the majority of the starting defense is under contract with Maxwell, Malcolm Smith and Kevin Williams the only prominent free agents.

2. Few Free Agent Priorities

One of the main reasons the Hawks won their first Super Bowl was due to the additions of Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril, players they were able to poach from other teams in free agency. Last offseason, the team was limited in free agency and had to spend most of their offseason cash on retaining the likes of Bennett and Avril.

While Seattle will spend this offseason thanks to potential extensions for Russell Wilson, Marshawn Lynch and Bobby Wagner, the team won’t have as many key players hit free agency as last season when the team lost Golden Tate, Breno Giacomini, Paul McQuistan, Brandon Browner, Clinton McDonald and Walter Thurmond. The team also had to cut defensive lineman Red Bryant and Chris Clemons.

Things will be much different this time around. Notable Seahawks hitting free agency include Byron Maxwell, Jermaine Kearse, James Carpenter, Malcolm Smith and Kevin Williams.

Besides handing out potential extensions, the ‘Hawks should focus on bringing back Maxwell. Since last season he’s seamlessly stepped in the Legion of Boom’s starting contingent. The cornerback will be one of the most sought-after free agents should he hit the open market. The question becomes whether the Seahawks brass trusts Tharold Simon to take over for Maxwell, similar to the recent transition of Maxwell for Browner.

While Carpenter may be brought back, the team can withstand the potential losses of Smith and Williams. The respective emergences of Kevin Pierre-Louis as well as Jordan Hill (5.5 sacks in the last six regular season game) should more than make up for the respective Super Bowl MVP and former Viking if Smith and Williams aren’t retained.

3. Continued Youth Development

Seattle can afford to let Smith and Williams go thanks to the development and potential of the aforementioned duo of Pierre-Louis and Hill. These two are just two of the latest players undervalued in the draft that Seattle has developed into quality contributors or starters, joining the likes of Richard Sherman, Kam Chancellor, Wilson, Wagner, J.R. Sweezy, Kearse, Baldwin, Willson, K.J. Wright, Smith, Lockette, Jeremy Lane, Simon and Robert Turbin among others.

Quite frankly, Seattle is the best at finding and developing talent—few NFL teams come close.

The continued development of players like Chris Matthews, Sweezy, Simon, Hill, Pierre-Louis and Cassius Marsh will only improve the Seahawks’ depth and quality heading into next season.

In Conclusion

The Seahawks loss in the Super Bowl was incredibly tough, it may go down as one of the most gut-wrenching and painful losses in the history of the NFL, let alone American sports. Still, if there was ever a group to rebound from it, come back strong and make good, it would be the current group of Seahawks.

Remember, the last time Seattle was dealt a heartbreaking (albeit less painful) playoff loss it was Atlanta a few years ago. The Hawks responded with a ring the next year.

They’ll be back.

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seahawks Cardinals: 5 Stats to Know from Sunday’s Win

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77.3

77.3—Russell Wilson’s completion percentage during the game. It was the QB’s most efficient game of the season, and possibly his best as well.

Three

Three—the number of sacks complied by the Seattle. The Seahawks finally got there pass rush going, and it showed. Cliff Avril finished with two while defensive tackle Jordan Hill added another.

Four

Four—number of catches for tight end Tony Moeaki. The former Chief racked up 34 yards on those four catches. With Zach Miller out for the season, Moeaki could play a large part in the offense going forward.

Eight

Eight—number of receivers to catch a pass from Wilson. Wilson likes to spread the ball around, and during the win over Arizona hit Moeaki, Riccardo Lockette, Marshawn Lynch, Robert Turbin, Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, Kevin Norwood and Luke Willson for completions.

73

73—number of rushing yards by Wilson. The Super Bowl winning QB continues his ground assault on opposing defenses. He has rushed for at least 70 yards in five games this season, including his last three.
Next up for the Seahawks is Thanksgiving night showdown with the 49ers.

 

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seattle Seahawks: 5 Stats to Know from Sunday’s Loss to the Kansas City Chiefs

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Zero

Zero—the number of QB hits the Seahawks recorded versus Kansas City. By comparison, the Chiefs hit Russell Wilson nine times.

11

11—tackles by former Seahawk and current Kansas City safety Ron Parker. Parker’s 11 tackles tied him with Earl Thomas for the game high.

Four

Four—the number of games Russell Wilson has now gone without reaching 200 passing yards. Seattle’s QB has partly offset this by rushing for 244 yards over the past four games. Still, Willson could use another monster passing game like he had against St. Louis when he threw for 313 yards. Even moderate passing numbers like he posted against Denver would be a nice change.

108

108—passing yards allowed by the Seahawks. 108 is also the fewest number of passing yards the team has allowed this season and the fourth time they’ve held an opposing QB under 200 yards. Of course, the team was done in by Jamaal Charles more than the passing game. Charles ran for 159 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.

124

124—the rushing yardage compiled by Marshawn Lynch. It marks Beastmode’s second straight superb rushing performance. The former Cal running back averaged 5.3 yards per run. He now has 264 rushing yards over the last two games after managing only 243 in his previous four games.

Next up for the Seahawks is a home game against the Arizona Cardinals.

 

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seattle Seahawks: 5 Stats to Know from Sunday’s Win Over the Giants

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1. Four

Four—number of rushing touchdowns by Marshawn Lynch, a career high.

2. Five

Five—the number of quarterback hits by Cliff Avril. The Seahawks have had trouble getting pressure on the quarterback, which has taken a toll on the effectiveness of the secondary. While Avril didn’t have any sacks, getting to the quarterback five times can only be looked at as a positive.

3. Eight

Eight—total tackles by Jeron Johnson in his first NFL start filling in for Kam Chancellor.

4. 350

350—rushing yards by the Seahawks, a franchise record. Marshawn Lynch had 140 yards on 21 carries, Russell Wilson added 107 on 14 carries, Christine Michael finished with four carries and 71 yards while Robert Turbin rounded out the group with six carries for 32 yards.

5. 17

17—number of pass attempts by quarterback Russell Wilson. The Super Bowl winning QB has only attempted fewer passes once in his professional career. That career low (13) came in a 58-0 thrashing of the Cardinals in December 2012.

Next week the Seahawks travel to Kansas City to face the 6-3 Chiefs.

 

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seattle Seahawks: 5 Stats to Know from Sunday’s Win Over the Oakland Raiders

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1. One

One. Number of interceptions by cornerback Richard Sherman, his first of the season—the former Stanford standout now has 21 for his career. One was also the number of field goals kicker Steven Hauschka missed. He was three of four on the day and has only two misses all year. Hauschka also had a fumble recovery on a kickoff.

2. 143

Yards from scrimmage racked up by Marshawn Lynch. It was the most total yards by Beast Mode in a game this season. Lynch also tied a season-high with two rushing touchdowns.

3. 13

Tackles by linebacker K.J. Wright—more than three times more than the next highest tacklers.

4. 112

The yardage difference between the Raiders and Seahawks rushing yard totals. Seattle piled up 149 total rushing yards while Oakland was held to a measly 37. Maurice Jones-Drew was held  to nine total yards of offense while Darren McFadden only put up 67 yards on 17 touches.

5. 10

Total number of touches by Robert Turbin and Christine Michael. A good sign moving forward as both can be impact runners. This is likely what Seattle’s running game will look like if Marshawn Lynch leaves.

 

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.

Seattle Seahawks: 5 Stats to Know from Win Over Panthers

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The Seattle Seahawks snapped a two game losing streak with a 13-9 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It represented the third straight year in which they beat the Panthers on the road by scoring somewhere between 10-20 points. It took a last minute drive to do it, but the team pulled it off. As everyone (team and fans included) gets ready for next Sunday’s home match up against the Oakland Raiders, here are five stats to know from the win.

1. Four and 34

Or, the combined number of catches and receiving yards for rookie receivers Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood. The two rookie wideouts, who are widely perceived to see major increases in production thanks to Percy Harvin’s departure, had the four catches on only five targets. It’s not a huge output, especially considering it took two players to reach the total, but it’s worth mentioning that in all games, including the playoffs, Harvin only bettered 34 yards through the air three times. Additionally, he only bettered the four catches three times. The point is that his production will be easier to replace then most think.

2. 62

The number of rushing yards racked up by Marshawn Lynch on 14 carries. Since a Week Ten win over the Falcons last year, Beast Mode has topped 100 yards once, occurring during the 36-16, opening game drubbing of the Packers. If you take away a 25 yard run, Lynch’s totals shrink to 13 carries for 37 yards.

There’s apparently rift between Lynch’s camp and the Seahawks, prompting all sorts of talk of the two sides separating. Whether it be by trade, or the team simply cutting the running back, rumors have run rampant. The Seahawks have based a lot of their offensive identity around running the football. Marshawn Lynch is a big part of that. However, the team may be ok with moving on if Lynch keeps posting 62 yard performances.

Just to compare, here are four different running backs in the NFL and their game totals in terms of rushing yards this season-

Running Back One- 3, 79, 132, 107, 6, 25, 49                          Total: 401

Running Back Two- 110, 36, 88, 72, 61, 53, 62                        Total: 482

Running Back Three- 70, 56, 63, 66, 42, 111, 95, 68             Total: 571

Running Back Four- 102, 44, 44, 84, 44, 7, 107, 43                Total: 475

Running back number one happens to be Kansas City’s Knile Davis. Number two is Lynch, number three is former Seahawk Justin Forsett while number four is former Washington State Cougar Chris Ivory.

3. Nine

Number of different receivers who caught passes from Russell Wilson. These included the previously mentioned rookies, Kevin Norwood and Paul Richardson as well as Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Robert Turbin, Luke Willson, Ricardo Lockette, Jermaine Kearse and Cooper Helfet.

4. One

Punt returned by Richard Sherman. In actuality, the cornerback called for a fair catch on the play. It’s only the second punt return in Sherman’s career. His other punt return was scored as a loss of six yards.

5. 58

Kicker Steven Hauschka’s longest field goal on the day. The place kicker made both of his field goals and only has one miss all year. Over the course of his four years in Seattle, Hauschka has only missed 11 field goals, and has only missed six in the last three years.

 

All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.