You guys are great. I know because I have seen it. You just are not playing great so far this year. I’ve seen that, too. Everyone has a theory about why, but the reasons are clear as a crisp autumn day.
You gambled on the offensive line, and it did not work. You hoped you could get lucky and draft Mitch Morse to play center and go without adding a veteran lineman. The mishmashed crew you have run out there for nine games has actually performed admirably considering their total inexperience and questionable pedigree. No matter what angry fans and sensationality media say, their improvement has been clear and steady. It is not hard to imagine that group playing at a level that will help the team win sometime this season.
Your needed your quarterback to take a big step forward in his development, but instead, the most rosy description would say he is treading water. The offensive line has been a major issue, but a big part of that was because your quarterback was equipped with more weapons. He has not been good enough to overcome that challenge. His pre-snap reads are still amateurish. His coverage diagnosis to move through his progressions and find the open player is still remedial. His utter disdain for finding his running back safety value during a blitz or when downfield receivers are covered is befuddling. Worse, he is missing throws that he has consistently made in the past.
People want to point to the Colin Kaepernick situation and say that is happening here as well. Poppycock. Your quarterback is plenty capable of being great. Having high expectations of him does not mean you are a hater. It means you believe he is capable of being better. Much better. This is a player who has played a big role in two Super Bowl trips, and still has a lot of room for growth. That will be exciting, as soon as he and his coaches are honest about it so that the growth can truly begin.
Your pass coverage has been below your standards. People point to the secondary, and that is fair since Cary Williams has been underwhelming, but the linebacker play in coverage has been pretty disappointing as well. Seahawks defenses to not let receivers catch passes behind coverage. They may madden fans by allowing pass after pass in front of them, but that is all part of their war of attrition strategy. This Seahawks defense has repeatedly let players get behind them. There have been breakdowns in zone defense. The overall lack of sharpness has reduced chances for game-changing plays.
People are saying all this is due to guys getting paid and losing their motivation. Please. Kam got paid a few years ago and played better afterward. Doug, Michael, Cliff, KJ, Marshawn, Earl and Richard all got paid in the past and either maintained or improved their production afterward.
Russell, what you choose to do in your personal time is your business. I don’t care if you spend time with your wife or girlfriend or whoever else. Put in the necessary time to improve your game, we won’t have to read and hear these ridiculous conspiracy theories about SeaYoko Ono ruining your game.
People want to know if you are broken? Grrr. What does that even mean? You have led in the fourth quarter of every game this season, and that includes in Green Bay, in Cincinnati, against Carolina and Arizona. You have not lost a game by more than 10 points since 2011. You are not broken. You just are underdeveloped. It is like a partially baked cake. There is plenty of goodness in there, but we cannot wait much longer for it to set if you want anything meaningful to come out of this season.
Every week presents a chance to put the pieces together and shut everyone up. Please start soon.
Sincerely,
12s Everywhere
