A baking and gardening journal. Mostly.
by A.J. Coltrane
Originally this post was going to be about how much I liked this lunchbox as a kid. The Seahawks were a brand-new team, and I got a brand-new lunchbox to take to school.
Then I got to looking at it closely — does anything seem weird?
Continue reading “Back In My Day, Everything Was Made Of Metal”
by A.J. Coltrane
Because it came up today — the Seahawks career passing leaders:
| Rank | Player | Career Yards |
| 1 | Matt Hasselbeck | 29434 |
| 2 | Dave Krieg | 26132 |
| 3 | Jim Zorn | 20122 |
| 4 | Rick Mirer | 9094 |
| 5 | Jon Kitna | 7552 |
| 6 | Warren Moon | 5310 |
| 7 | Seneca Wallace | 3547 |
| 8 | John Friesz | 2971 |
| 9 | Trent Dilfer | 2560 |
| 10 | Kelly Stouffer | 2333 |
| 11 | Jeff Kemp | 1735 |
| 12 | Stan Gelbaugh | 1426 |
| 13 | Steve Myer | 851 |
| 14 | Dan McGwire | 745 |
| 15 | Gale Gilbert | 703 |
| 16 | Brock Huard | 667 |
| 17 | Charlie Whitehurst | 507 |
There’s one guy in the top 10 I *never* would have guessed: John Friesz.
Jeff Kemp didn’t quite make the top 10, though I thought he might.
Other notables:
Gino Toretta #26.
Steve Largent #27.
Norm Johnson #29.
And the fewest yards, greater than zero: Ricky Watters. 1 yard. #34.
by A.J. Coltrane
The Seahawks have fired Offensive Coordinator Jeremy Bates. Also:
Quarterbacks coach Jedd Fisch left to go University of Miami to be its offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach.
Defensive line coach Dan Quinn is leaving the team to become the defensive coordinator at the University of Florida.
Defensive backs coach Jerry Gray left to become an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach at the University of Texas.
I think it’s interesting that the other coaches who “left” all went back to coaching college.
ESPN writer Mike Sando’s take on it:
…The Seahawks ranked 28th in total yards, 31st in rushing yards, 29th in time of possession and 28th in first downs per game. Those depressed rankings seemed understandable, in my view, given the state of the roster in general and the offensive line in particular.
Carroll could have lived with poor first-year production, I think, if he thought Bates were the right coordinator.
Making this move after only one season suggests the fit wasn’t right. Carroll is resoundingly upbeat. He doesn’t cuss out players. Bates isn’t much of a people person. He’s gruff and takes a harder line in his approach to players. Of course, Carroll would have known these things about Bates, it seems, because the two worked together at USC in 2009.
Absent something more, this is the sort of move that makes greater sense when the head coach has another candidate in mind.
Josh McDaniels’ name comes to mind immediately. Talks between McDaniels and the St. Louis Rams hit a snag this week, ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reported. McDaniels also interviewed with the Minnesota Vikings…
Of course, the baggage associated with Josh McDaniels may include … TIM TEBOW!!
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Late edit: Less than three hours after this post, the Rams hire McDaniels as Offensive Coordinator. Whew.
By Blaidd Drwg
In the game that means everything for the week, the Seahawks, who despite having a losing record and giving up at least 33 points to opponents in 6 of their last 8 games (the only 2 teams that failed to score that many are Arizona and Carolina – who currently have the 2 worst records in the NFC) have a chance to be the first team without a winning record to win a division in a non-strike year and make the playoffs. I would really like to see the Seahawks win because: I live in Seattle and I really think this will finally make the NFL change their playoff seeding. It seems like every year there is some team that makes the playoffs as the wild card with a significantly better record than the 4th seeded division winner and then gets to play that game on the road. I think that is just stupid. Home field is a pretty significant advantage in the NFL (more on that below) and I don’t think that winning your division should guarantee you that advantage, especially if you are playing a team with a better record.
As for the Hawks chances, well, this is a tough call. They have the home field this week which can be good for them and they are going to be going against a rookie QB which could work to their advantage. The weather, which will probably be bitterly cold probably doesn’t help either team as neither offense if particularly great to being with. I would however like the Seahawks chances a bunch more if they had Hasselbeck starting for them instead of Charlie Whitehurst. My prediction, the Seabirds beat the Sheep 13-10 in an epic suckfest.
The topic of home field has come up a lot in stuff I have read recently. I decided to actually take a look to see how big of an advantage home field really is in the NFL over the last 6 seasons. The numbers played out pretty much the way I expected them to:
| Home W | Home L | PCT | |
| 2010 | 133 | 107 | .554 |
| 2009 | 146 | 110 | .570 |
| 2008 | 147 | 108 | .576 |
| 2007 | 149 | 107 | .582 |
| 2006 | 136 | 120 | .531 |
| 2005 | 151 | 105 | .590 |
There is definitely a downward trend in home field advantage – Bill Simmons attributes it to all of the new “luxury stadiums” that have been built in the NFL over the last couple of seasons. I think I might have to agree with him (but that is for another post involving much more research). Unless something bizarre happens, like all of the home teams win this week, the win % for home teams will drop again slightly. Still, you have to figure that there is probably about a 5-10% advantage to playing at home versus playing on the road. Basically, you still probably want the home game if you can get it.
In other weird NFL news:
If the Dolphins manage to beat the Patriots this week, they will be guaranteed at least a tie for the best road record in the NFL (The Fish are currently 6-1 on the road). Only the Steelers and Bears have a chance to win 7 on the road this year (they are both currently 6-1). The strange part of that is that they have already locked up the worst home record in the NFL at 1 – 7. Even the truly pathetic Carolina Panthers have won 2 games at home. I would be willing to bet that no team has ever had both the best road record and the worst home record in the same season in NFL history.
You could end up in a situation in the NFC and AFC where a 12-4 team ends up having to play all of their playoff games on the road. In the AFC, if both the Steelers and Ravens win, they end at 12-4 but the Steelers have the tie-breaker, so the Steelers get to take next week off and the Ravens have to go on the road to play (most likely) Indy. In the NFC, if the Saints win and the Falcons win, the Saints get to go on the road as the WC (and play the “winner” of the Seahawks-Rams game) while the Falcons get a 1st round bye and home field throughout the playoffs. If the Saints win and the Falcons lose, the Saints get the bye and the Falcons are the wild card. If we end up with a situation where a 7-9 team gets to host a 12-4 team in the playoffs, the NFL really needs to rethink its seeding.
by A.J. Coltrane
I’ve talked about how the I thought the Seahawks were going to get bigger players with Pete Carroll in charge. I estimated that in 2010 they’d be about 5 pounds heavier per man.
Here’s the table:
| Position | 2009 Weight | 2010 Weight | Weight Difference |
| Offensive Line | 304 | 306 | 2 |
| Defensive Line | 283 | 298 | 15 |
| Linebacker | 233 | 242 | 9 |
| Defensive Back | 199 | 200 | 1 |
| Halfback | 205 | 210 | 5 |
| Wide Receiver | 194 | 206 | 12 |
| Tight End | 257 | 250 | -7 |
| Quarterback | 210 | 225 | 15 |
The Seahakws are bigger at every position except Tight End — they have a 227-pound special teams guy listed at TE. If you take him out the TE’s average 255 pounds.
I left Fullback Owen Schmidt off of the table — the Seahawks don’t have a designated “Fullback” this year.
Sources:
2010 roster, ESPN.
2009 roster, Pro-Football-Reference[dot]com.
Pro-Football-Reference is usually terrific for this kind of thing, but for whatever reason their 2010 roster listed only three offensive linemen. According to their site the Seahawks got 9 pounds lighter in 2010, and that’s pretty obviously not right..
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Here’s a collection of Johnny’s scenes from Airplane!
…and here’s the making of the scene: “I Speak Jive“, including a present-day interview with the two men.
By Blaidd Drwg
So who had the worst weekend of the Washington football teams:
Udub Huskies – they played like a puppy who has just been disciplined for peeing on the carpet in their 41 – 0 beat down by Stanford at home. They didn’t pass 100 yards of total offense until 3 minutes left in the game, had most of the fans leaving at halftime looking for anything that was more interesting, looked outmatched and outclassed, gave up a 51 yard run to the opposing QB on a fake handoff and were outgained 470 – 107 total yards. Jake Locker may have single handedly played himself right out of the first round in the 2011 draft with his putrid performance in front of 20 NFL scouts in this one. The Sled Dawgs have been a big disappointment all year for those who were drinking Sark’s cool-aid, but they still can make themselves bowl eligible by winning 3 out of their last 4. It is doable since they play @ Oregon (let’s face it, this one could get ugly), vs. UCLA (They have the same record as the Huskies and are actually a worse team), @ Cal (should be a winnable game, maybe) and @ Wazzu (heck, I think my HS football team could beat the Cougs). My prediction – the Pups get their act together and finish 6-6, saving Sark’s job; and if they lose to the Cougs somehow – Sark gets fired before he gets back to Seattle.
Wazzu Cougars – They played like an old cat that is in need of being taken out back and shot in their 42 – 0 blowout at ASU. The Kittens were their own worst enemy, getting into the Red Zone 6 times (!) and not scoring once (!), turning the ball over 3 times and giving up 493 yards of offense. In all of this, they somehow managed to actually hold the ball slightly longer than ASU. Not that I think it would have made a difference, but it would have probably been a bit closer than the actual final if they managed to get a few points on the board. Let’s face it, WSU just plain sucks and will be lucky to end this season with more than one win (and that was a 1 point win against FCS Montana State), so this pasting really wasn’t much of a surprise.
Seattle Seahawks – Just a few days after being anointed the “best team in the NFC” by Tony Dungy, they go out an play like a bunch of canaries being chased by a cat in a 33 -3 embarrassment against the Oakland/LA/Oakland Raiders. The Chicks gave up 545 yards of offense and still couldn’t stop the Raiders despite the Black and Silver’s 11 penalties. If anyone thinks the Hawks are a good team, you haven’t been watching them. The offense, to put it nicely, is pathetic. The only way they stay in games is through defensive turnovers and special teams – if those two aspects of the game don’t come through for them, they don’t stand a chance. The really sad thing about this game is that the Hawks were only down 10 – 0 at the half and still never looked like they were in the game at that point.
My vote for this week’s inept performance – The Seachickens. No way should you ever give up 545 yards to a team in an NFL football game. On the bright side, they should still win their division as none of the other teams really seem like they are trying either.
by Coltrane
Recently hired offensive line coach Alex Gibbs has left the Seahawks.
I had originally started to write about Alex Gibbs on January 15 — according to the “Properties” of the piece I’ve been messing with for a while. That’s eight months ago. Evidently I think it’s more interesting now that he’s gone.
From Greg Johns, SeattlePi.com:
Of all the offseason hires by Pete Carroll, the biggest and most ballyhooed was the addition of offensive line coach Alex Gibbs to his Seahawks coaching staff.
Gibbs, 69, was heralded as the guru of zone blocking and one of the most-respected assistants in the NFL.
He was the guy who could take late-round draft picks of marginal talent and mold them into a lean, mean fighting machine that would mow down opposing defensive lines with their cut-blocking skills and open up creases to revive Seattle’s ground game.
He was the man excited about the potential of first-round draft pick Russell Okung, the fellow whose familiarity with veteran guard Ben Hamilton made him a perfect fit, the perfectionist who was cussing and yelling and setting a tough tone for Seattle’s rebuilding line at every practice…
Here’s a couple of excerpts from what I’d written:
One of the coaches joining Pete Carroll in Seattle is Joe Gibbs’ kid, Alex Gibbs. Alex’s recent history includes coaching the offensive line in Denver from 1995-2003. In 2004 Gibbs went to Atlanta, staying on as a consultant from 2005-2006. Finally, in 2008-2009 he served as the offensive line coach with Houston. His resume also includes stops in Kansas City, Indianapolis, San Diego, and with the Los Angeles Raiders. His teams are usually among the league leaders in rushing yards…
[Insert Really Cool Chart That Requires A Bunch Of Work That Somehow Never Got Finished Here]
…besides producing 1,000 yard rushers, the teams in Denver were famous for something else — the offensive linemen would consistently take cracks at the knees of the opposing defensive line. Each week the defensive linemen would say: “Yeah, no. I think I’ll take the week off and protect my knees and career.” The Denver running backs would use that opportunity to run wild. Remember when Magic had 42 points in the All-Star game because nobody wanted to get within 20 feet of him? Yeah, that.
Personally I think that strategy is pretty distasteful. I’d guess if the Seahawks win the fans will look the other way. Do the ends justify the means?
The Greg Johns piece goes into some detail as to the whys and wherefores of Alex Gibbs’ departure. It’s a good piece, and well worth reading for Seahawks fans.
I think it fundamentally comes down to just a few things:
1. Gibbs prefers small, agile linemen. Pete Carroll is building a “big” team. It’s a post for another day, but I’ll bet this years Seahawks as a group are on average at least 1/2″ taller than last year, and at least 5 pounds heavier.
2. The Seahawks offensive line is in a shambles, and Gibbs doesn’t want his good name associated with it. (Pure speculation, but entirely reasonable.)
3. Gibbs is too old for this stuff. The man is 69 years old.
I remember seeing a comedian a number of years ago who said: “Ronald Reagan is 77 years old and he has access to ‘The Button.’ — My grandfather is 77 and we don’t let him touch the remote control.”
I guess that’s an old joke now. If Reagan were alive he’d be 99, and he’s been dead for six years. (Sad thing is, I had to go to wikipedia to confirm he’s actually deceased. He basically went into hiding near the end of his life.)
Further Aside: For those of you too young to remember the Cold War — “The Button” would launch America’s nuclear warheads at the Russians. Just so we’re clear. Watch the movie “WarGames” sometime. In real life Reagan was basically the WOPR computer, minus the scary blinking lights. (And no, the computer wasn’t a reanimated hamburger, though that would be scary.)
Back onto topic. I’ll be very interested to see how the offensive line shapes up this year. I’m going to be especially interested to see if the Seahawks employ the cut-blocking tactics described above.
My hope is that the Seahawks elect to knock people on their butts the old-fashioned way, by using the larger athletes to shove the opposition around.
by Coltrane
The Vegas over/under for Seahawks wins is 7.5.
The ESPN experts all pick the Seahawks to finish 3rd in the NFC West. This John Clayton quote is typical of the overall opinions:
DIVISION FINISH: 3 Pete Carroll isn’t loaded with talent as he was as the USC head coach, but he has a nice plan to rebuild the Seahawks. As long as Matt Hasselbeck stays healthy, Carroll could squeeze out seven or eight wins.
Hasselbeck won’t be in Seattle the next time the Seahawks are competitive. Charlie Whitehurst seems to have the “correct” size, arm, high release, and mobility to be at least an adequate replacement when the time comes. My concern with Whitehurst (from what little I’ve seen) is that his throws “sail” when he loses his release point. Jeff Kemp had the same issue when he was with Seattle, and that didn’t turn out well.
What makes the Seahawks a .500 team? For reference, Scouts.inc grades NFL players on a 1 to 100 scale. A grade of 90 or above is considered “Elite”; 80-89 is “Outstanding”, and 75-79 is a “Solid Starter.”
The five highest rated Seahawks:
Lofa Tatupu – 79
T.J. Houshmandzadeh – 79
Aaron Curry – 78
Brandon Mebane – 78
Marcus Trufant – 78
And those are the studs.
Bill Simmons ranks the Seahawks QBs 28th out of the 32-team league.
by Coltrane
The NFL Draft has a new format this year: Round 1 is today at 4:30, Rounds 2 and 3 are tomorrow starting at 3:00, and Rounds 4-7 are on Saturday starting at 10:00 am. All times pst.
An interesting subplot will be to see who goes first– Colt McCoy or Tim Tebow. One mock draft has McCoy at #38 and Tebow at #41. I won’t be shocked if either of them go in the first round instead.
Seahawks picks:
Round 1: #6
Round 1: #14
Round 2: #28 (60th overall)
Round 4: #6 (104th overall)
Round 4: #29 (127th overall)
And some other stuff in later rounds that will be lucky to make the roster.
by Coltrane
The Seahawks have the 6th and 14th picks in the 2010 NFL draft. This is a deep draft, and it’s deep for offensive and defensive linemen in particular. Having said that, the Seahawks should draft the best available lineman with both first round picks. This is the type of draft where the Seahawks could get their next Walter Jones and/or their next Cortez Kennedy, so long as they don’t blow the picks on skill-position players.
Bill Simmons sums up my concerns about the Seahawks draft (and Pete Carroll) on ESPN.com. He’s referencing the 6th pick:
On Monday’s B.S. Report, Mike Lombardi compared this spot to playing pool: The Seahawks also pick 14th, so they want to make this “shot,” then have the cue ball bounce to a spot where they’ll have another easy shot. This analogy works splendidly unless it’s 2 a.m. and you have some chain-smoking drunk dude trying to pull it off. And I guess what I’m trying to say is this: Pete Carroll might be the chain-smoking drunk dude.
I found it perplexing that Seattle handed the coaching/front-office car keys to Carroll this past winter for two reasons. First, it’s always weird when NFL teams pay huge money to lure successful college coaches when the jobs are so fundamentally different. It’s the distant cousin of Hollywood’s allowing star actors to direct (with a similar track record of success). So you excelled at a job that’s 75 percent recruiting and 25 percent strategy, you’ve been basically playing the “Pro” level of “Madden” and now we’re asking you to jump to “All-Madden” without a safety net, and you have no feel for the other 31 NFL rosters because you haven’t been following our league at all. This should work great!
Second, Carroll became the Patriots’ coach the same year I launched my http://www.bostonsportsguy.com website. He did such a dreadful job that a reader once e-mailed me, “Pete Carroll answers the question of why Fredo was never given control of the Corleone family,” followed by my immediately nicknaming Carroll “Coach Fredo” for the rest of his tenure. As it turned out, the comparison was an insult to Fredo. It took Carroll two years to destroy a Super Bowl team, and after he left, it took the Patriots two years to win a Super Bowl. You couldn’t do worse. Even Fredo has “banged two cocktail waitresses” on his résumé.
Now, this was a good 10-plus years ago, and I was smoking a ton of pot back then, but I specifically remember thinking to myself in 1999, “Pete Carroll is definitely not meant to coach professional football or pick the players.” I didn’t think Carroll was meant to coach football, period. His USC experience revealed that he’s meant to recruit 18-year-olds, hop around on the sideline, pump his fists, do the rah-rah routine, design fun defenses and give likable news conferences. We already saw this routine in the NFL: His name was Herm Edwards. It’s not going to work.
That’s a much longer quote than usual, but parsing it out wouldn’t make as much sense. There is no “quick fix” that’s going to make the Seahawks a Super Bowl contender. Drafting someone like RB C.J. Spiller or QB Jimmy Clausen would be a flashy pick, and the fans would love it, but it would putting the cart before the horse. That’s not how to rebuild an NFL franchise. Especially with the new-look Seahawks.
The new Seahawks are going to require agile offensive linemen. Offensive line coach Alex Gibbs likes mobile guys that dive into the defenders’ knees. Rob Sims didn’t fit that type, so he’s now with the Lions. Personally, I find Alex Gibbs’ tactics repulsive, but that’s a subject for another post.
If Safety Eric Berry drops to 6th then the Seahawks have to take him. Otherwise hopefully it’ll be Big Guys all the way.
FlatbreadGarden 