Ramblin' Fan » Matt Hasselbeck

Getting To Know The Seattle Seahawks

Justin Stine — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 05:34:12 +0000

I had a chance to chat with Keith Myers from the Seattle Seahawks Fansided blog 12th Man Rising this week, and he was kind enough to answer some questions to help us Rams fans get to know our opponent better. As always when we do this, you can head over to his site to see the questions he had for me.

1. Marshawn Lynch is a guy I have liked since college, but he really looks to be hitting his stride. Is he for real, and how good can he be?

Lynch is a solid power back, but he doesn’t have that breakaway speed. He’s also a bit slow getting to the line of scrimmage at times, so running lanes occasionally close before he can even get to them. That said, he really is starting to come into his own and show his ability to dominate at time. Last week against the stout Baltimore defense, he really carried this offense. Overall he’s good, but I don’t think he’ll ever be considered one of the premier backs in this league.

2. Talk about Tarvaris Jackson. How has he looked this season and do you think he deserves more credit than he has been getting?

Jackson looked downright awful in the first couple weeks of the season. He was lost and looked like he didn’t really understand the offense at times, which is sad since it’s the same offense he ran in Minnesota. Since about halftime of week 3 though, he’s really played pretty well for the most part. He had a bad game against Dallas, but that game seems more like a flukey occurrence in the grand scheme of things.

Jackson has done a lot of things well for the Seahawks this season, and his contribution was made very clear when he was out with an injury. If the Seahawks can pick up a few more wins in the second half of the season, I do think you’ll start to see people talk more about Jackson’s play this year.

3. Defensively, how have the Seahawks looked so far? They have some nice pieces, so who should Rams fans be worried about on Sunday?

The Seahawks have been surprisingly stout against the run this year. Their front 4 are especially good at stopping the run. Combine that with arguably the best duo of safeties in the league and, as you said, they have some nice pieces. Overall though, the Seahawks defense still has holes. LB is becoming a bit of a problem, and CB as well. The Seahawks have also failed to generate much of a pass rush in most of their games this season.

As for individual players to watch out for, keep a eye on safeties Kam Chancellor and Earl Thomas. Both are second year players who have been playing at a pro-bowl level this season. And against the run it’s DT Alan Branch and DE Red Bryant. Both are immoveable block-eaters on the line that have given opposing lineman fits all season.

4. What is your opinion on Pete Carroll? Is he a guy who you can see being there for a long time, or is he going to have to start looking over his shoulder?

In my opinion, Carroll has done a good job as the Seahawks coach. He’s made some frustrating bad choices in terms of clock management and such at times this season, but overall those mistake are a small part of the job he’s done. Carroll took over a dismal roster and has turned it over in very little time and now has the Seahawks trending upward. It’s easy to see that, while the Seahawks wont make the playoffs again this year, they will be poised to do so next season.

So at this point Carroll has no reason to look over his shoulder, but if the Seahawks are 3-6 at this point next year I think he’ll want to keep his head on a swivel. I really think next season is going to be the make-or-break year for Carroll. If the Seahawks succeed in 2012, Carroll will likely be here for a long time. If the Seahawks stumble to another 10+ loss season, I can see him taking over a top college program by 2013.

5. I really thought the Seahawks were going to be one of the worst teams in the league this season, but they have won some nice games and held their own. Is this team overachieving, or was the national perception of their talent level way off heading into the season?

You have to remember that this team won a playoff game last season. There’s a lot of talent here. It’s mostly young and inexperienced talent, but there’s still talent. I really don’t get the national perception of this team. With the exception of the Matt Hasselbeck – Tarvaris Jackson swap, the rest of the personnel moves were mostly a step toward improving the team. The idea that a team capable of winning a playoff game would suddenly become one of the league’s bottom feeders seems a bit silly if you think about.

At this point, the Seahawks have played the league’s toughest schedule so far (based on opponent’s winning percentage), and have had injuries to all 5 of their starting offensive lineman. Add in having 2 rookie offensive lineman, a new QB, and a whole new offensive system that had to be implemented with no offseason and you can start to see the genesis of a 3-6 record. But this team is by no means lacking in talent.

Still, the Seahawks do still have their flaws. The transformation of the roster into a legitimate contender is not yet complete. I don’t want to sound as if this team is a superbowl contender. They’re not there yet, but it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to see this team go 3-1 over the next month.

Rams Ready To ‘Remember The Titans’

Justin Stine — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 09:46:47 +0000

Preseason Game Two is upon us, so let’s take a look at some things to watch for in Saturday night’s Rams-Titans preseason throwdown. I think it’s pretty safe to say that this matchup will be slightly less dramatic than the most famous Rams-Titans battle when they met for the Super Bowl, but it should still be enjoyable.

1. Start-ing Time – The starting units should both see more action than last week, and Bradford and Co. will likely play most or all of the first half. It’s kind of a weird feeling watching the starters in the preseason, because I want to see our big guns as much as possible but it makes me nervous every time Bradford drops back in a meaningless game. I want to see if the offense can get into a groove with the extended snaps.

2. Battle On – There are battles at many positions, but the two that are still stealing the show are WR and LB. With the starters going longer, it will be interesting to see how how the snaps get divided at these two positions. To be honest, I don’t even want to handicap any of these races right now, but this game could provide some separation and clear up the picture.

3. Nice To See You – It looks like we will have some preseason debuts, with Donnie Avery and Michael Hoomanawanui ready to see time and possibly Steven Jackson as well. Mike Sims-Walker could see action, so at least we should be closer to full strength than last week. Avery needs game action badly after missing almost a year, and Illini Mike is still working his way back. It’s always nice when guys get healthy, and if they are on the field against the Titans, that means they are close to 100%.

4. The Rookies – I always like to watch the rookies in every preseason game, whether they be drafted or undrafted. Robert Quinn showed flashes last week, and he should be better against the Titans. Lance Kendricks continues to impress, but let’s see if he can do it two weeks in a row. Austin Pettis and Greg Salas need to make an impact this week, and I’m interested to see Jabara Williams in action.

5. Remember This Titan? – If you are watching the opposition, you will likely see a familiar face starting at quarterback. Longtime Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck is guiding the Tennessee crew now, so let’s all give him a nice “Welcome Back” to St. Louis. Also at quarterback is rookie Jake Locker, who is undoubtedly the future there. Locker is more of a project, so I want to see how he looks at the NFL level.

I’m Still Recovering

Justin Stine — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 12:33:08 +0000

My apologies for not posting after the game last night, but after I forced myself to watch until the final buzzer to feel the full pain of everything that happened, I went straight to my room and didn’t come out until about 7 pm today. Besides, if I would have posted on here last night, it would have been nothing more than a profanity-filled tirade that probably would have gotten me banned from ever posting on the web again.

Honestly, I’m still not over the loss, but I’m going to try to keep it clean and assess the damage. Let’s look at the keys.

QB Carousel – Charlie Whitehurst started, and he got the job done. I was excited when he started the game, but that first drive really shut me up. He was pretty solid all day, and although he wasn’t great, he was good enough. In hindsight, Matt Hasselbeck probably would have been better for us because Whitehurst’s mobility played a big role in the game.

Stop The Run – This one was a big negative. The Rams did a great job against the run in the first half, but the defense just stopped tackling in the second. I don’t know if they were gassed out or what, but it was awful. I hate to rag on the defense because they carried us all season, but they just weren’t good enough in the second half.

Early Lead – Once again, a big negative. The Hawks took the opening kickoff and shoved it down our throats, and considering we never got in the end zone, it pretty much ended things. I don’t know if the Rams expected Seattle to come out and hand the ball off, but they didn’t.

The 12th Man – I don’t know how much the crowd played into things, but I do know they were rocking all night. After that first touchdown, it only seemed to get louder and crazier in that place. The Rams offense did nothing to quiet them down all night, so it’s no wonder they were so loud.

Special Teams – This was the only category I was reasonably happy with. The Rams did a good job covering Leon Washington, but it doesn’t matter when you can’t score.

The offense was terrible, the defense stopped tackling, and we pretty much embarrassed ourselves on national TV. That’s what I took out of it.