Cigar Thoughts, Game 3: Seahawks play with their food before devouring Panthers

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You’d be hard-pressed to discover a greater vibes switch-up from one week to the subsequent than the one Seattle simply skilled. With the Seahawks coming off an electrifying win, returning dwelling with an opportunity to go 2-1, and honoring the 2013 Super Bowl championship crew, the juice was considerable. It threw the power from final week, after that abysmal opening day efficiency, into stark reduction.

The one concern I had was whether or not the crew on the sector may carry the load of expectation that comes with a lot fanfare; particularly with the Chiefs dropping to the Lions after getting their Tremendous Bowl rings and those self same Lions dropping to those Seahawks throughout their celebration of Barry Sanders. And for the primary half of this one, these fears felt justified.

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The Seahawks began with the ball and proceeded to go three-and-out in a blink, setting the Panthers as much as do what many people joked about within the days main up— specifically having Andy Dalton carve up Seattle’s zone drop protection with brief completions to Adam Thielen. Dalton went 4/5 on the opening possession, main an 11-play drive aided by a brutal private foul towards Julian Love and overcoming a formidable breakup by Devon Witherspoon (far more on him later). It was a protracted, annoying drive that was ultimately snuffed out by a Boye Mafe sack and Uchenna Nwosu chasing down a WR display on third down. That introduced out Eddie Piniero for a straightforward discipline objective to make it 3-0.

After Seattle began their subsequent possession with their third penalty within the first eight minutes, Ken Walker turned what ought to’ve been a 5 yard loss right into a six yard acquire by operating about 50 whole yards within the backfield. Tack on a Justin Houston private foul, and the Seahawks have been lastly in enterprise. Then Geno Smith hit DK Metcalf for 20 over the center and chased it with a completion to Noah Fant on a play-action rollout for seven extra. Walker was stuffed on the subsequent two runs however Pete Carroll bravely stored his offense on the sector for 4th & 1 from the Panthers’ 29. It was a welcome deviation from Carroll’s conservative methods they usually did it his means, going again to Walker, who plunged off left guard for what regarded like an apparent first down. The spot, nevertheless, was horrible and the $100 billion league as soon as once more resorted to 2 outdated guys with a sequence on a stick to find out whether or not Seattle acquired to maintain the ball.

Luckily, the pigskin’s nostril hairs have been deemed throughout the road to achieve and Seattle’s intrepid march continued. Sadly, all that drama was for naught, because the drive stalled 4 yards later and an embattled Jason Myers got here out to try a 43-yard kick. This one was stress-free although, and the rating was an aesthetically pleasing 3-3 with 3:33 left within the opening quarter.

The Seattle protection answered with a fast cease punctuated by an Artie Burns sack on a 3rd down blitz that was preceded by one other terrific breakup by Witherspoon. After the punt, Smith instantly hit Tyler Lockett up the suitable sideline for 16 yards and a fast first down then danced out of a sack to seek out Fant for 9. Zach Charbonnet stored issues transferring with a seven-yard cost and the Seahawks have been rolling as the primary quarter got here to a detailed.

The momentum continued on the primary play of the second, as Smith stood coolly in an ideal pocket till Metcalf acquired open on a deep crosser. Geno’s go was excellent and DK turned it upfield for a 33-yard acquire. Charbonnet adopted that up with a bruising 11-yard carry that was undone by an Evan Brown maintain. Smith went over the center for 9 to Lockett however acquired swallowed up for a giant sack on the subsequent play. A display go to Jaxson Smith-Njigba acquired most of it again nevertheless it wasn’t sufficient to maintain Myers off the sector. Seattle’s kicker made his second try look as straightforward as the primary, and Seattle took their first lead at 6-3.

The protection made fast work of Carolina on the subsequent possession and the offense acquired proper again to work. Walker took a toss with two TEs within the backfield lead blocking for 9. Then, on 2nd & 1, they went proper again to him. Walker took the handoff and charged up the center earlier than hitting a 2003-era online game juke that despatched the sting defender into the ether. Not dropping his pace for a second, Walker pranced down the suitable sideline for 36 beautiful yards. Sadly, the Seahawks offense slowed down in scoring vary once more, with Smith narrowly avoiding an endzone interception because of Lockett batting it away on the final second. Myers gamely trotted again on the market for a 3rd time and calmly made it 9-3 Seattle.

It regarded like Seattle was gonna get off the sector swiftly once more on the subsequent drive, however a missed sort out by Jordyn Brooks within the backfield turned a long term for Miles Sanders and two performs later, an entire breakdown within the secondary let DJ Chark get broad open for a 47-yard landing. On the play, Mike Jackson handed Chark off, apparently anticipating a security to select him up. The one downside was that there was no security there to try this. No matter who’s in charge, once you flip landing alternatives into discipline targets on offense, one play like that may flip every thing.

Issues acquired worse quickly after because of a horrible interception from Geno, who blindly threw the ball to a pivoting linebacker. The Seahawks, who had been slowly scaling this peak, have been abruptly tumbling ass over teakettle down the aspect of the mountain. They have been saved earlier than they hit the underside by Burns expertly breaking apart a third down fade to Thielen. The Panthers settled for a discipline objective and a 13-9 lead with solely two and a half minutes left within the first half. It was simply sufficient time for Seattle to do what that they had finished on each different drive since their first one: use a giant completion to Metcalf to get into discipline objective vary earlier than stalling out. Myers made it 4/4 on the day and the Seahawks took a 13-12 deficit into the locker room.

Carolina acquired the second half kick and politely went three and out— a truncated drive highlighted by a formidable aerial play from Love. That led to one more good Seahawks possession, together with a reasonably swing go to Walker for 18, that crumbled to mud as quickly as a landing turned a chance. It’s like Seattle’s engine had a killswitch that acquired activated as quickly as they crossed Carolina’s 30 yard line and an more and more beleaguered Myers got here out to hammer dwelling his fifth discipline objective. 15-13.

The subsequent possession noticed Dalton hit Chark on a stunning deep ball up the left sideline, a play that featured a transparent catch by the receiver as he went to the turf. However Pete Carroll, who fairly actually can’t assist himself, tossed the crimson flag. It ought to go with out saying that the problem was unsuccessful. Actually, Jodi Allen ought to pay somebody particularly to cover the crimson flags from Carroll each Sunday. Every week a brand new hiding spot. “Sorry coach, they have been proper right here I swear.” Luckily, Dalton missed an open Miles Sanders on a third down circle route and the Panthers needed to accept a 55-yard try from Piniero. In contrast to a abruptly laser-focused Myers, the Carolina kicker couldn’t preserve it between the pipes, pushing it a skosh to the suitable and the house crew took over with their greatest discipline place of the day.

Seattle overcame their weekly 15-yard penalty from Metcalf with a stunning wheel route completion from Smith to Walker for 36 to provide Seattle one more likelihood at six. After an unlawful formation penalty made issues troublesome once more, Smith hit Fant on a play-action crosser for 18 to arrange 1st & objective. It took three tries from there, however Walker lastly punched it in to provide Seattle a two-score lead at 22-13. It felt like some invisible barrier had been damaged with that rating, and the Panthers by no means fairly recovered.

To not say that they folded, although. Carolina punched again, capitalizing on a extremely dangerous go interference name towards Witherspoon that arrange a protracted completion to Thielen into scoring vary. Dalton would proceed his third down prowess a pair snaps later when Thielen misplaced Seattle’s LBs on a crossing path to get contained in the 1. Sanders dove in from there to make it 22-20, one play into the fourth quarter.

It looks like as soon as a recreation, Shane Waldron attracts up a drive that’s all tight ends and operating backs and this possession was it. It started with a 17-yard go to Parkinson on a slip route and was adopted up by a 13-yard stick with Fant for consecutive first downs. After Charbonnet acquired 5 on the subsequent play, he picked his means by way of the protection for eight extra. Together with his motor revving at max RPMs, Charbonnet took the subsequent one for 11 and coaxed a private foul so as to add 15 extra to the tip of it. That put Seattle on the 9 and Ken Walker did the remainder from there. A stutter-step behind the road sucked the surface defender in, Fant sealed him off, and Walker simply gained the race to the pylon. A flawless drive to reply the rating they’d simply allowed and out of nowhere, we had ourselves a high-scoring affair. 29-20 Seattle.

If the Panthers have been going to win this recreation, they wanted to discover a rating on their subsequent drive, however three crowd-induced penalties arrange a third & lengthy go that Bobby Wagner broke up over the center by studying the play and crashing onerous. Seattle was unable to attain on their subsequent possession— the primary time in seven drives they got here up empty, however the quantity of clock that back-and-forth took up squeezed a Panthers crew that was already down by two scores.

With the clock operating, their backs firmly towards the ropes, and the Seahawks raining blows upon them, Dalton and Co have been determined for factors. However as an alternative of scoring they went incomplete, incomplete, unlawful shift, sack. The exclamation level for an more and more rabid protection was Jarran Reed barreling by way of the road to all however seal the cope with his takedown of Dalton.

That put Seattle on Carolina’s 27 yard line with lower than 5 minutes to play— a chance to place their opponents within the acquired dang dust. Handing the shovel to their backfield, the Seahawks did simply that. Walker began issues with a ten yard run and two performs later, Charbonnet rattling close to acquired arrested for manslaughter. On the play, Charbonnet took the handoff, bounced left, and sprinted up the sideline. He was met contained in the 5 by a defender who instantly wished he hadn’t. Zach lowered his shoulder and crumpled the poor fella like a lot paper mache, and set the group as much as go ballistic a pair snaps later. On 2nd & objective, Smith took the snap and faked a draw inside. Puliing again, he noticed The Nice White Hope streaking into the endzone. Smith pulled the set off, aimed maybe a contact too excessive, nevertheless it mattered naught. Jake fucking Bobo leapt within the air, snatched the go, and delicately tapped his toes contained in the baseline as the 2 nearest defenders hit him. The ball moved nary a millimeter in his god-like grasp and he hit the turf together with his first profession landing.

Seattle’s human victory cigar gave them a 35-20 lead and, with the Tremendous Bowl crew in attendance, Geno paid homage to the one who got here earlier than him. On the following two-point conversion (kudos to Carroll for going for it), Geno dropped again and confronted near-immediate strain from his blindside. He faked like he was gonna bail to the suitable earlier than pirouetting again to the left. With nobody open and a recovering go rush closing in, Smith jab-stepped ahead then turned and sprinted again to the suitable. He acquired all the way in which to the numbers— on the 20-yard-line, thoughts you— and flung the ball all the way in which again throughout the sector to the left aspect of the endzone. It was a preposterous toss outdone solely by the marvelous catch Tyler Lockett made, juggling the ball as he dove between two defenders. It was peak Russell Wilson, and rattling close to a carbon copy of Wilson’s inconceivable two-point conversion within the NFC Championship Sport towards Inexperienced Bay almost 10 years in the past.

The Panthers managed so as to add a garbage-time landing to Thielen, who had a monster recreation of his personal within the loss, however Bobo snuggled the onside kick to his bosom and Geno downed out Seattle’s second victory of the season.

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SMOKE RINGS

~Geno Smith wasn’t the sharpest we’ve ever seen him at the moment— most notably within the crimson zone, however you’ll be able to’t suck your approach to eight scoring drives in a single recreation. He accomplished 23 of 36 passes, overcoming a tough patch within the center to throw for 296 yards and a TD towards the one interception. The factor about Smith, and it’s what makes him a lot extra soothing to look at, is his willingness to throw the ball on time when his first learn is open and easily work by way of his progressions once they’re not.

His 8.2 yards per try is a sensational quantity and, most significantly, he stored his head when the snowball of adverse momentum began rolling within the second quarter. Geno was what the Seahawks wanted him to be at the moment— no extra, no much less— and he leaves the sector with the crew’s second win to indicate for it.

~Ken Walker is that dude. Each criticism he confronted this offseason— from being too wanting to bounce exterior, to not being dependable sufficient for third-down work, to being a non-factor within the passing recreation— was put to relaxation this afternoon. Maybe most notably, the fantasy-brained knock about him not being efficient in brief yardage was summarily tossed within the trash.

He did all of it at the moment, breaking massive runs, making two big catches, and scoring twice within the inexperienced zone. Perhaps my favourite play got here early within the 4th quarter, when he took a handoff and was met with a wall of tonnage on the line of scrimmage. You may see the temporary second the place he thought of hopping backwards and making an attempt to win a race to the sting, however then he put his head down and adopted his line’s haunches for the three yards that got to him. By the point he was finished, he had 97 yards on 18 carries with two touchdowns whereas including 59 extra by way of the air on three catches. He was the crew’s main rusher and second-leading receiver, racking up 156 whole yards from scrimmage. He’s arriving.

~Zach Charbonnet already appears like the precise change-of-pace again Pete Carroll craves. His choice, as I’ve stated all alongside, was about including firepower to the backfield, not about changing Walker. He had his largest workload so far, carrying the rock 9 instances for 46 yards and delivering extra punishment than he acquired alongside the way in which. He had one other 20+ yards known as again on penalties however you can see every thing begin to click on for him as he picked his means by way of the road of scrimmage and delivered blows on the second degree.

~DK Metcalf might need been the most effective participant on the sector at the moment. He had half of Seattle’s receiving yards by way of three quarters, successful in any respect ranges of the sector en path to a season-high 112 yards on six catches. He’s been focused simply 19 instances to date this season however he’s caught 15 of them for 234 yards and a rating, giving Smith a sterling passer ranking of 135.6 when trying Metcalf’s means.

~After taking part in the hero final week, Tyler Lockett took on extra of a reserve position at the moment. He was thrown to seven instances, not counting the two-pointer, however caught simply three of them for 34 yards. It’s by no means going to be the identical receiver each week with this crew, so no worries right here. Plus, that two-point seize was hilariously good.

~Jaxson Smith-Njigba was quiet once more at the moment, recording one catch for 10 yards. He’s a little bit of a statistical anomaly to date, rating final amongst certified NFL receivers with a 1.3 common depth of goal. However however, he leads all NFL wideouts in common yards of separation on his routes. It’s due to the latter stat that I’m not frightened about JSN regardless of an underwhelming string of field scores to start his profession. There’s not a ton of pie left after Metcalf, Lockett, and the tight ends and it’s gonna take Shane Waldron and Co a while to determine how you can work him in. If we’re nonetheless right here by Thanksgiving, possibly we begin to get a little bit frightened, however rookie receivers are infamous for breaking out within the second half of the season and I anticipate us seeing one thing comparable from a WR of Smith-Njigba’s caliber.

~The tight ends did their factor once more. As all the time, no particular person stat line jumps off the display however in Will Dissly’s absence, Noah Fant and Colby Parkinson have been nice with their alternatives. Fant caught 4 of 5 appears for 41 yards and Parkinson turned his 4 targets into three catches for 38. Colby did have a drop nevertheless it was wiped off the books by a defensive penalty. All advised, the pair mixed for seven catches and 79 yards.

-The offensive line was good once more, regardless of the absences of Charles Cross and Abe Lucas. They allowed simply two sacks on 38 dropbacks and created an setting that allowed the operating backs to common 4.9 yards per carry. All advised, the Seahawks offense put up 425 yards of offense and 37 factors with no entire lot of adverse performs.

~Is that this run protection good?? After being abjectly terrible final season, this unit has been stout within the trenches. Carolina ran throughout them final season however at the moment, they discovered simply 44 yards on the bottom, a surprising departure from the 223 they gained in Seattle a yr in the past.

~That begins up entrance, and no person on that D-line was higher than Jarran Reed at the moment. Reed regarded reborn this afternoon, knifing between blocks, inflicting mayhem within the backfield, and even making two tackles downfield. He had eight takedowns— an enormous quantity for a defensive sort out, together with 1.5 sacks and a team-leading three QB hits. If he’s wherever near this good the remainder of the season, this protection goes to be very aggressive.

~Reed wasn’t the one man having success up entrance at the moment, Boye Mafe had a sack and two QB hits, including to a exceptional whole of 11 by Seattle in that class. Uchenna Nwosu made some noise too, although I’m not seeing as a lot from Dre’Mont Jones as I’d like— nor as a lot as his contract would warrant. Nonetheless, the entrance seven had their third straight good recreation towards the run.

~The star of the present at the moment was Devon Witherspoon. The Panthers clearly made a degree of focusing on the rookie in his second recreation, and Witherspoon merely stated “convey it on”. He was thrown at a exceptional 11 instances at the moment, permitting simply three completions for 19 yards. He gave up one first down, broke up two passes, and led the crew with 11 tackles.

He performs with juice we haven’t seen from a Seahawks defender since, effectively— since *that* crew. It’s one factor to be this good in protection already, to have the instincts that he displayed towards veteran receivers; it’s one other factor completely to do all that whereas hitting like opposing ball carriers simply slapped his mama. He made tackles within the secondary, within the second degree, and on the line of scrimmage. He knocked fellow rookie Jonathan Mingo out with a devastating blow and threw his physique round like he was renting it for the day.

I’m making an attempt onerous to not be hyperbolic however I couldn’t be a lot happier with this choice to date.

~It was a get-right recreation for Jason Myers after a bizarre begin to the season. The psychological aspect of being a kicker has gotta be loopy— doing nothing for 90% of the sport after which having to carry out an remoted activity in high-leverage conditions. It feels just like the streakiest place in soccer, which is why at the moment was so spectacular for Myers. After lacking three kicks within the first two weeks, together with two brief ones, to come back out and comfortably make all 5 discipline targets and each additional factors is exceptional. It’s bizarre to make use of a time period like grit when describing a kicker however that’s precisely what he confirmed on this recreation. Full confidence transferring ahead.

~Seattle’s third down struggles continued at the moment— on each side of the ball. The Panthers transformed an astonishing 10 of 19 tries whereas the Seahawks went simply three of 13. How Seattle managed to win regardless of that disparity is actually unbelievable. Penalties, I assume.

~If the 2013 Tremendous Bowl crew impressed something at the moment, it was y’all within the stands. The gang was again, serving to the Panthers to a staggering 13 penalties— most of which have been the procedural sort a overestimated environment can affect. The very best half was Carroll hootin’ and hollerin’ with every successive name towards the guests. That is the kind of power that should stay fixed at Lumen Discipline, as a result of coming in, the Seahawks have been simply 12-14 at dwelling over the past three seasons.

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The Seattle Seahawks are 2-1, only one recreation out of first place in your complete NFL. They haven’t been dominant—not less than not but— however they’ve put two superb efforts on the sector in consecutive weeks. No loss goes to really feel good however we gotta resist the urge to nitpick the victories too harshly, too. We solely get so a lot of them a yr and whereas at the moment was hardly flawless, they have been pretty much as good as they wanted to be. 2-1 is a superb place to reside, particularly heading right into a Monday night time showdown with a reeling Giants crew.

There may be work to do for the Seahawks, however that’s okay. They’ve acquired 14 video games to get higher, and higher than what we noticed at the moment could be very harmful. Seattle will get a much-needed additional day to relaxation, then a bye week that seems like it will probably’t get right here quickly sufficient. Popping out of that wholesome and 3-1 is a really actual chance, they usually’re yet another recreation like this one away from making it occur. Till then, onward and upwards my pals.

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