Tag Archives: beast mode

Seahawks Links: Lynch, Miller, Maxwell and Julius Thomas

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  • In the off chance that you missed it, Beast Mode is coming back.
  • While Marshawn Lynch will be back with the Seahawks, one player who won’t is tight end Zach Miller, who was cut.
  • In addition to Miller, the Hawks will lose Byron Maxwell. The Legion of Boom member is off to Philadelphia via free agency.
  • It seems Seattle may have found Miller’s replacement, as the Seahawks will reportedly make a “late push” to sign for former Broncos tight end and free agent Julius Thomas.
  • In other NFC West news, the Hawks’ arch-rival 49ers will be considerably different next season. With the Khaki pants connoisseur Jim Harbaugh gone, it seems the Niners will also lose three key players. Frank Gore is joining Maxwell in Philly while longtime defensive standouts Patrick Willis and Justin Smith will retire. The NFC West just goat a little bit easier to win.

Seattle Seahawks: Early Super Bowl Storylines to Watch vs Patriots

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Pete Carroll vs Previous Employers

Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll was the Patriots’ head coach from 1997 to 1999. His predecessor was/is current Pats’ head coach Bill Belichick.

Gronk Containment

It is probably safe to say teams have a tough time containing New England tight end Rob Gronkowski. Gronk has 82 catches for 1124 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season. It’s also safe to say that he’s a matchup nightmare at 6’6 and 265 lbs.

Most teams don’t have the personnel to match up, but the Seahawks do. Kam Chancellor and KJ Wright will be tasked with shutting down one of the best tight ends in the league. Seattle held Denver’s Julius Thomas to four catches on 27 yards during last year’s Super Bowl, so they aren’t exactly inexperienced when it comes to shutting down elite tight ends.

Russell Wilson vs Tom Brady

Russell Wilson has beaten Tom Brady before. In fact, Wilson has made a habit out of beating elite QBs. Not only has he beaten Brady, but he has also gone 2-0 vs both Eli and Peyton Manning as well as Drew Brees. He’s now 3-0 vs Aaron Rodgers. If you had to pick a quarterback to help your team take down a Hall-of-Fame worthy QB, you’re taking Russell Wilson.

Power Running

Marshawn Lynch is far and away the best example of a power running back in today’s NFL. If you were to look up “power running back” in the dictionary, you’re going to get a picture of Beast Mode. Although not to Lynch’s standard, New England has power backs as well in LaGarrette Blount and Jonas Gray. It’s safe to say that power running will dominate the Super Bowl.

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.

 

 

2014 NFC Championship Game Recap: Why the Seahawks Won

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Before the game yesterday I wrote about the five reasons why the Seahawks would beat the 49ers.

Those things included:  Collin Kaepernick’s struggles in Seattle, Frank Gore’s struggles in Seattle and on the road in general, the team’s (Seattle) tendency to intercept a lot of passes, Marshawn Lynch heating up at the right time and 23 point games.

Generally, when I predict things I feel like I’ll jinx the game. It sounds ridiculous, but from a fan standpoint, everyone goes through it.

Not to toot my own horn, but I think I got the five things spot on. Granted, there were other things the team needed to do, and did, to win. But to call all of those things correctly, or close to it, is pretty bizarre. Starting with the first reasons and working down the list, here’s how the Hawks won.

The Seahawks are a fantastic defensive unit. They make the best of quarterbacks look mundane, but they make Collin Kaepernick look horrendous compared to his other displays. Kaepernick had 11 interceptions this season. Six of them occurred against the Seahawks, five of them coming in Seattle. SpongeBob’s grouchy pal  Kaepernick kept his team in the game with his scrambling ability by carrying the ball for 130 yards. His passing numbers were less inspiring as he threw for a paltry (compared to his normal play) 153 yards. Keeping him in check was a huge factor in the team winning.

Number two on the list of reasons was Frank Gore’s struggles on the road. Maybe not struggles, after all Gore is an All-Pro caliber running back, but the book on him this year has been that he’s done better at home than on the road. When the teams play in the Pacific Northwest, Seattle has stuffed Gore and the Niners’ non-QB related run game as of late. I didn’t think Gore would be stopped like he was earlier in Seattle. There was no way he ended up with 16 yards again. He’s simply too good. But, here we sit on Tuesday and the box score reads like this, F.Gore:  11 carries, 14 yards.

Third on the list was interceptions, and there wasn’t a more telling number. Kaepernick tossed two of them, one of which happened to be a game ending, conference-clinching pick by Malcolm Smith off of a tipped pass by Richard Sherman.

Marshawn Lynch continues to play his best football at the right time. After besting the Saints with 140 yards, he put in 109 against San Francisco. None more important than a massive 40-yard run to tie the game at the onset of the third quarter.

Finally, and maybe not as accurate, was my proclamation of 23 point games. The Niners scored 23 points in each of their previous three games. All wins. They didn’t score 23, but the Seahawks did. And they’re heading to the Super Bowl.