Tag Archives: seattle seahawks

Sports

NFL playoffs and Super Bowl 2023 expert predictions

Leave a comment

The notorious Serby Crystal Ball that before this wild and wacky NFL season foresaw a Bills-49ers Super Bowl matchup has been dusted off just in time for the playoffs. 

Much has changed for both teams, of course: Trey Lance (ankle) was lost Week 2 and Jimmy Garoppolo (foot) was lost Week 13 and the football world was introduced to Mr. Irrelevant, Brock Purdy. 

The Bills endured the emotional roller coaster of a near-tragedy to the uplifting, inspirational, heartwarming story of Damar Hamlin, who was remarkably released from the University of Cincinnati Medical Center on Monday, one week after suffering cardiac arrest making a tackle against the Bengals’ Tee Higgins. 

Can the Bills be a Team of Destiny and win their first Super Bowl in five tries? Can Purdy be America’s Mr. Relevant? Can Tom Brady capture his eighth ring? Can Patrick Mahomes win his second? Will Joe Burrow be smoking postgame cigars? 

The Serby Crystal Ball has it all in clear focus: 

Super Wild Card Weekend

Saturday 

Seahawks at 49ers

Geno Smith, meet Nick Bosa. Kenneth Walker III, meet Fred Warner. America, meet young Mr. Purdy, who won’t melt under the searing hot playoff lights. In two losses to the Niners, the Seahawks scored one offensive touchdown. And the Niners rushed for 189 (without Christian McCaffrey) and 170 yards. 

49ers 31, Seahawks 17 

The full bracket for the 2023 NFL playoffs.
NY Post illustration
Brock Purdy won’t wilt in the bright lights of the NFL playoffs.
USA TODAY Sports

Chargers at Jaguars

A matchup of Golden Boys at quarterback, Justin Herbert vs. Trevor Lawrence. Brandon Staley opted to go more Tom Coughlin than Brian Daboll in the regular-season finale and might have dodged a bullet because WR Mike Williams (back) should be good to go. Herbert has had Williams (ankle) and Keenan Allen (hamstring) together for only four games start-to-finish. If Joey Bosa (groin) is OK to team with Khalil Mack, the Bolts will enjoy an experience pass-rush edge over The Other Josh Allen and rookie Travon Walker. Forever Trevor will need Travis Etienne to go off against the 28th-ranked run defense. 

Chargers 27, Jaguars 24 

Sunday 

Dolphins at Bills 

The Tua Tagovailoa Dolphins stood toe-to-toe and snow-to-snow with the Bills in their last-second, 32-29 loss on Dec. 17. That was before Tua’s latest concussion woes. Will Tua be cleared? If not, expect Teddy Bridgewater (pinky) instead of rookie Skylar Thompson. The long-range forecast is sunny and balmy (28 degrees) with 8 mph winds, so Tyreek Hill and Jaylen Waddle can eat. But Josh Allen threw for 4 TDs and ran for 77 yards last time. 

Win one for Damar. 

Bills 33, Dolphins 17 

Giants at Vikings

Daniel Jones will be armed with confidence facing the league’s 31st-ranked passing defense. Saquon Barkley is rested and ready for the 20th-ranked rush defense. Brian Daboll and Wink Martindale are dangerous the second time they see an opponent (see Commanders). Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams will contain Dalvin Cook, and Wink won’t let Justin Jefferson (12-133-1 TD) and T.J. Hockenson (13-109-2 TDs) wreck the game this time. Xavier McKinney is back (Adoree’ Jackson too?). This time, Graham Gano, not Greg Joseph, walks it off. 

Giants 27, Vikings 24 

Ravens at Bengals

Ja’Marr Chase and the Bengals air game are in for a cage match with the Ravens.
Getty Images

Their mantra Play Like A Raven is much easier when Lamar Jackson is the quarterback. He hasn’t practiced in five weeks (PCL). Burrow didn’t have Higgins in the early-season loss to Baltimore; he has him now alongside Ja’Marr Chase. The defending AFC champs have an eight-game win streak. The Ravens passing game never recovered from the trade of Hollywood Brown. The red zone has been a dead zone for them. If it’s Tyler Huntley or Anthony Brown at quarterback, everybody sing “Who Dey?” Let’s guess on a rusty Lamar return and a maniacal defense led by MLB Roquan Smith neutralizing Joe Mixon, and Marlon Humphrey and Marcus Peters limiting Chase and Higgins, and J.K. Dobbins and Mark Andrews doing enough in a vicious, chippy steel cage match. 

Ravens 24, Bengals 21 

Monday

Cowboys at Buccaneers

Brady (with his seven rings) is 7-0 against the Cowboys. Dak Prescott has a seven-game interception streak. Ezekiel Elliott hasn’t been eating much lately. Micah Parsons and Demarcus Lawrence will be problems, but Brady will get the ball out quickly to Mike Evans and Chris Godwin against rookie corner DaRon Bland. Playoff Lenny Fournette can have success against 22nd-ranked rush defense, and if center Ryan Jensen (knee) can return, that would be a huge lift. Brady versus Dan Quinn … Falcons HC in Super Bowl 51 who blew that 28-3 lead to the GOAT, FWIW. 

Bucs 24, Cowboys 21 

Micah Parson and the Cowboys will be too much for Tom Brady & Co. to handle.
USA TODAY Sports

Divisional Round

AFC 

Ravens at Chiefs

Lamar ran for 107 yards and 2 TDs in a 36-35 win early in 2021 in Baltimore to beat Mahomes for the first time in four tries. Steve Spagnuolo and Chris Jones won’t let that happen again. Magic Mahomes no longer has Tyreek Hill and it doesn’t matter. Jerick McKinnon and Isaiah Pacheco give Andy Reid more balance, and while rookie safety Kyle Hamilton owns size and range, Travis Kelce will be too savvy for him. Kadarius Toney: 1 TD, 1 tweaked hamstring.

Chiefs 34, Ravens 17 

Chargers at Bills 

The long-range forecast is calling for light snow on Jan. 21 and snow Jan. 22. Austin Ekeler will need to be a passing-game weapon against the fifth-ranked rushing defense (104.6 yards). Allen, Devin Singletary and James Cook will lead a 150-yard rushing assault. Win one more for Damar. 

Bills 33, Chargers 21 

Devin Singletary and the Bills will rush their way through the Chargers.
Getty Images

NFC 

Giants at Eagles

It’s not easy beating a division rival three times in one season. 

Davis Webb lobbies to start this one, citing his chemistry with Kenny Golladay, and Daboll tells the media that he will sit down with GM Joe Schoen and discuss everything on Friday night (eye roll). Anyway, a healthy Jalen Hurts and the top-ranked pass defense proves too much for Jones without a true No. 1 receiver, even though Barkley catches eight passes and totals 130 yards. 

Eagles 27, Giants 17 

Bucs at 49ers: 

Brady versus his boyhood team. Brady versus Purdy. Brady’s last game as a Buc before leaving for Raiders? Brady’s last game before leaving for Fox? Purdy has George Kittle. Brady doesn’t have Gronk. Purdy has Kyle Shanahan. Brady does not. Demeco Ryans boasts the second-ranked (77.7 yards) rushing defense. 

49ers 31, Bucs 17 

NFC Championship 

49ers at Eagles 

Garoppolo beat the Eagles 17-11 at the Linc early in 2021. Will Purdy blink? Remember, cornerbacks Darius Slay and James Bradberry are no slouches. But if there is a team built to win physical battles on the road, it is these 49ers. Hurts will have some success against the Niner secondary targeting A.J. Brown and DeVonta Smith and Dallas Goedert, but Warner, Dre Greenlaw and Arik Armstead will stifle Miles Sanders and make Nick Sirianni one-dimensional. 

49ers 27, Eagles 24 

AFC Championship

Bills vs. Chiefs 

The next Allen-Mahomes dream showdown. An eerie environment at a neutral site — the halfway point between Buffalo and Kansas City is Indianapolis FYI. Gabe Davis won’t catch 4 TD passes against the Chiefs this time, but Stefon Diggs will haul in a couple against a group of young, inexperienced cornerbacks, including No. 1 draft pick Trent McDuffie. Last one with the ball wins. Allen is the last one with the ball. 

Win another for Damar. 

Bills 33, Chiefs 30 

Josh Allen and the Bills will get over the hump this time and give Buffalo it’s long-awaited title.
Getty Images

Super Bowl 2023 

49ers-Bills 

During the two weeks between the NFC Championship game and the Super Bowl, Shanahan ponders the same question that Bill Belichick pondered prior to Super Bowl 36: Brady or Drew Bledsoe? For Shanny, it’s Purdy or Garoppolo, whose foot has finally healed enough. And like Belichick, he stays with the hot hand. 

But when Purdy suddenly develops the yips, Garoppolo is summoned off the bench and brings the Niners back from a first-half hole. McCaffrey and Deebo Samuel begin imposing their will on the night, and Marv Levy and Jim Kelly are sweating bullets in the owners’ box. But Allen, in his huddle at the start of a late fourth-quarter drive, looks up in the stands and says: “Hey look, it’s Will Smith and Chris Rock!” It eases the tension, and Allen engineers a 98-yard drive that culminates in him leaping over the end zone third-and-goal from the 3. 

Won the Big One for Damar.

Bills 33, 49ers 27

Read original article here

Sports

Rich Eisen on the Rebirth of Geno Smith with the Seattle Seahawks | The Rich Eisen Show – The Rich Eisen Show

Leave a comment

  1. Rich Eisen on the Rebirth of Geno Smith with the Seattle Seahawks | The Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
  2. Rich Eisen Reflects Back on His Favorite Moments on the 8-Year Anniversary of the Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
  3. ESPN’s Jeff Passan Talks Aaron Judge, Ohtani, MLB Playoffs & More with Rich Eisen | Full Interview The Rich Eisen Show
  4. Rich Eisen: Aaron Judge Is Baseball’s “Clean” Home Run Champion | The Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
  5. ESPN’s Jeff Passan: Calling Judge “Clean” HR Champ Opens Up a Pandora’s PED Box | Rich Eisen Show The Rich Eisen Show
  6. View Full Coverage on Google News

Read original article here

Sports

Seattle Seahawks star safety Jamal Adams expected to miss rest of NFL season

Leave a comment

3:02 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams is expected to miss the remainder of the NFL season after suffering an injury to his quadriceps tendon in the team’s opener, a source confirmed to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler.

The Seahawks placed Adams on injured reserve on Thursday and signed defensive back Teez Tabor off the Atlanta Falcons’ practice squad to take his place on their 53-man roster.

Adams and the Seahawks believed the three-time Pro Bowl selection was in for a bounce-back campaign after a disappointing 2021 season in which he was held without a sack in 12 games. But any chance of that ended in the second quarter of Seattle’s 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos on Monday night when Adams was carted off the field after he was hurt while blitzing former teammate Russell Wilson.

Coach Pete Carroll called it a “serious” injury postgame and said on his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710 AM on Tuesday morning that Adams would “have to get some work on that,” though he stopped short of declaring then that Adams’ season was over.

NFL Network first reported Thursday that Adams would have season-ending surgery.

Adams limped off the field in obvious pain, heavily favoring his left leg, after delivering pressure and a hit on Wilson that helped force a third-down incompletion. After being examined in the medical tent, he was helped onto an injury cart. Adams was visibly upset, at one point appearing to burst out in frustration, as he was driven into the locker room.

Carroll has said the injury is to Adams’ quadriceps tendon, which attaches the quad muscle to the top of the kneecap.

“The fact that he is such a heartthrob about the game of football, he loves playing and he just can’t deal with it right now about ‘how could this keep happening?'” Carroll said on his radio show. “It was good he had his mom and dad in the locker room really during the game when he was in there to kind of help him through it and all that, but it was really tough. So I hope everybody sends the love to him.”

Adams had three tackles and defended a pass before his injury. Josh Jones replaced him for the rest of the game. Seattle also has Ryan Neal as a safety option. Neal made four starts in 2020 while Adams was sidelined by a groin injury. Tabor, 26, played safety last season with the Chicago Bears under defensive coordinator Sean Desai, who’s now on Seattle’s defensive staff.

Adams missed only two games over his first three seasons with the New York Jets but then missed nine games over his first two seasons with the Seahawks — four in 2020 and the final five last season after he suffered another torn shoulder labrum that required surgery. Adams missed time early in training camp this summer after rebreaking the middle finger on his left hand, another injury he has dealt with in the past. He had finger surgeries in each of the past two offseasons.

Adams and the Seahawks were hoping that Seattle’s new defense — with its emphasis on split-safety looks — would put him in position for a bounce-back. During his stellar debut season in Seattle in 2020, Adams set the NFL record for sacks by a defensive back with 9.5, earning him his third straight Pro Bowl nod. But then came his zero-sack 2021 season, which ended after 12 games when he retore his shoulder labrum.

Speaking last week for the first time since his latest finger injury, Adams said Seattle’s new defense puts him “in position to make plays.”

“I’m back in my element, man,” he said. “I feel like I’m back playing defense.”

The Seahawks acquired Adams from the Jets in 2020 for a package that included first-round picks in 2021 and 2022. They signed him to a four-year, $70 million extension last summer that made him the NFL’s highest-paid safety at that time.

Read original article here

Sports

Denver Broncos ‘definitely should have gone for it’ on critical fourth down, Nathaniel Hackett says

Leave a comment

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — On second thought, Denver Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett said Tuesday he “definitely” should have let quarterback Russell Wilson run a fourth-and-5 play in the closing seconds of Monday night’s loss in Seattle instead of sending kicker Brandon McManus out for a 64-yard field goal attempt.

“Looking back at it, definitely should have gone for it,” Hackett said. “One of those things, you look back at it and say ‘of course we should go for it, we missed the field goal.’ But in that situation we had a plan, we knew 46 was the mark.”

McManus’ field goal attempt sailed wide left, and Hackett’s decision overwhelmed almost everything else about his regular-season debut as a head coach.

Just two kickers in the NFL, since 1960, have even made field goal attempts of at least 64 yards, and the longest field goal in the history of Lumen Field is 56 yards.

McManus, who has one of the strongest legs of any kicker in the league, is still 1-of-5, including Monday night’s miss, on attempts of at least 60 yards in his career. Also, last season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research, teams converted 48 percent of their fourth-and-5 plays.

Hackett said he understood how few kickers have made an attempt of at least 64 yards — only Matt Prater at 64 yards in 2013 and Justin Tucker with the record 66-yarder in 2021 — but that after talking to the special teams coaches as well as McManus in pregame, they had decided if the team got to the Seahawks 46-yard line in the end-of-half or end-of-game situation, McManus would attempt the kick.

Wilson had been apprised of the decision that a field goal attempt would happen on fourth down if the Broncos got to the Seahawks 46 on third down before the Broncos faced the decision on their final drive. On a third-and-14, Wilson completed a 9-yard pass to running back Javonte Williams that moved the ball to the Seattle 46.

Hackett said Tuesday if Williams had gained even 1 fewer yard “we would have gone for it.”

“We said 46 yards, the 46-yard line was where we wanted to be,” Hackett said. ” … Didn’t work, it sucks, but hey, that’s part of it.

“That’s part of being in this seat, being in this profession. This stuff is going to happen at all times, it’s been happening my whole career, even when my dad was coaching, you’re prepared for that, you understand that. You’ve got to keep grinding.”

Hackett also said “we shouldn’t have been in that situation,” given the Broncos lost two fumbles in the game on plays that started from the Seahawks 1 on back-to-back possessions in the third quarter and had another drive derailed with a false start penalty at the Seahawks 3. Wilson finished the game with 340 yards passing as the Broncos outgained the Seahawks overall 433-253.

The Broncos defense held the Seahawks offense scoreless on just 34 total yards in the second half as well.

“In the end, that lies on me, that was our plan, that was the yard line we had to get to, we all knew it, that’s what we said in the huddle before we did it,” Hackett said. “Should have never gotten to that. … Obviously the last decision is the one where you’re going to say should have done this, should have done that, but I think what frustrates me more is the red zone. We had some many opportunities, we were inches away.”

Read original article here

Sports

Denver Broncos’ Russell Wilson agrees with call to attempt 64-yard field goal to end game

Leave a comment

SEATTLE — There will be many games still to come in Russell Wilson’s Denver Broncos career.

But in his first start with his new team as well as his first return engagement to the city where he played his first 10 NFL seasons, the quarterback the Broncos traded five draft picks and three players for — the one they signed to a $245 million extension earlier this month — was the second choice with the season opener on the line.

Wilson’s stat line certainly looked the part in Monday night’s 17-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. He finished the emotional evening 29-of-42 passing for 340 yards and a touchdown.

But with 20 seconds to play and trailing by one, Broncos coach Nathaniel Hackett chose to have Brandon McManus attempt a 64-yard field goal for the win instead of letting Wilson try to lead a play on fourth-and-5 at the Seahawks’ 46-yard line.

“We were right on the line [of McManus’ range],” Hackett said. ” … Brandon gave it his best shot … obviously, I wish we would have gotten a lot closer, it put us in that weird spot because we were in that field goal range … we just made that decision and take our shot there.”

Wilson offered his take.

“We got the best field goal kicker maybe in the game,” Wilson said. ” … We got there and unfortunately it didn’t go in … I believe in coach Hackett, I believe in what we’re doing, I believe in everything.”

As Wilson added, “I don’t think it was the wrong decision.”

McManus’ first attempt sailed wide left, but Seahawks coach Pete Carroll had called a timeout just before the snap. Hackett said he didn’t consider sending the offense back on the field after the negated miss because “I was happy he got that one out of the way. We had plenty of distance and thought we would be able to make it.”

Carroll said he was “surprised” the Broncos opted to kick.

“We weren’t thinking field goal there,” he said. “We were thinking it was fourth down and they were still going. So it gave us a chance to win the game on that play. That was fortunate there. Fortunate they didn’t make the kick. He kicked the hell out of the ball.”

McManus’ second attempt also sailed wide left, and Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith, who won a training camp battle over Drew Lock to win the job as Wilson’s successor, took a knee on three snaps to close a stirring night all around. Lock was one of the three players the Broncos had sent to the Seahawks in the March blockbuster.

“This was a special game, just because I got to see and play against some of my closest friends,” Wilson said.

“I wouldn’t be where I am today without this place … but I didn’t play [tonight] for just this one game. I’ve got a bigger mission.”

Almost from the moment the full NFL schedule was released, the Wilson-Seahawks reunion was circled on plenty of calendars. Wilson, his new teammates with the Broncos and the Seahawks all publicly had played the just-another-game card.

But the answer to the question of whether Wilson would be booed after 10 seasons in Seattle that included nine Pro Bowl selections, two Super Bowl trips and one Lombardi trophy was answered from the moment Wilson took the field for pregame activities. The Seahawks faithful booed lustily throughout.

The crowd, as if it was an effort to show many of those on hand had moved on, even chanted “Ge-no, Ge-no, Ge-no” whenever Smith made any plays of note, and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll often was gesturing to the crowd to get louder whenever the Broncos had the ball. The crowd chanted Smith’s name as the quarterback took those final kneel-downs to seal the win.

“It didn’t bother me,” Wilson said. “It was a hostile environment; it always has been. I didn’t expect to get a round of applause every once in a while. I gave everything I had here every day, every day, and anybody that says anything else, they’re completely wrong.”

Wilson and the Broncos’ offense had a toned-down start, given Wilson didn’t target a wide receiver on a pass attempt until he hooked up with Jerry Jeudy on a 67-yard catch-and-run touchdown with 5 minutes, 34 seconds left in the first half. But overall, even as they got things cranked up, the Broncos couldn’t turn their 433 yards of offense into enough points.

Denver running backs Melvin Gordon III and Javonte Williams each lost a fumble on plays that started at the Seahawks’ 1-yard line to negate two potential scoring drives, and the Broncos failed to tally touchdowns on their other two trips inside the Seattle 20-yard line.

Toss in the Broncos’ 12 penalties (for 106 yards) and the Seahawks won despite just 253 total yards and no second-half points.

“I think he played really well, he took care of the football, he made really good decisions, he had some explosive plays, he was able to distribute the ball all over the field,” Hackett said of Wilson. “That’s what makes me really frustrated for him.”

On the other hand, Smith was almost perfect in the first half. Smith completed his first 13 passes of the game and was 17-of-18 with two touchdowns to lead the Seahawks to a 17-13 halftime advantage. The Broncos’ defense pitched a shutout in the second half.

“We kind of got the jitters out [in the first half],” Broncos linebacker Bradley Chubb said.

“When we tuned it in … we got back on track.”

As Wilson explained, “We had a lot of great plays, we threw the ball around the field … had a lot of great things. The reality is we didn’t get the ball in the end zone on those red zone plays.”

Wilson had arrived to the stadium in an ensemble worthy of fashion week several hours before kickoff, and almost every moment was a reunion of sorts as he moved through the stadium and through his warm-ups.

With a handshake here and a wave there, Wilson went about the business of attempting to at least continue to stick to the script he and the rest of the Broncos had tried to keep to all through the days and weeks leading up to Monday’s game.

Former Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman appeared on stadium video boards 30 minutes before kickoff to a loud ovation. And former running back Marshawn Lynch was another of several ex-Seahawks roaming the sidelines during warm-ups.

It all ended with McManus’ miss and a celebration by the Seattle “12s” Wilson had hoped would welcome him back.

“Tonight was special,” Wilson said.

“It was still a special environment in a place that I love.”

Read original article here

Sports

Seattle Seahawks safety Jamal Adams suffers ‘serious’ quad tendon injury, carted off

Leave a comment

9:24 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

SEATTLE — Seahawks safety Jamal Adams was carted off in the second quarter of Monday night’s 17-16 victory over the Denver Broncos with what coach Pete Carroll deemed a serious injury to his left quadriceps tendon.

Adams was hurt after blitzing former teammate Russell Wilson early in the second quarter, delivering pressure and a hit that helped force a third-down incompletion. Adams limped off in obvious pain. After being examined in the medical tent, he was helped onto an injury cart. Adams was visibly upset, at one point appearing to burst out in frustration, as he was driven into the locker room and did not return.

“His quadricep tendon I think got damaged some tonight,” Carroll said. “He got hurt. So it’s a serious injury.”

Adams had three tackles and a pass defensed — which came on a near interception — before his injury. Josh Jones replaced him for the rest of the game. Seattle also has Ryan Neal as a safety option. Neal made four starts in 2020 while Adams was sidelined by a groin injury.

Adams missed a combined nine games over his first two seasons with the Seahawks, including the final five last year after he suffered another torn shoulder labrum that required surgery. He missed time early in training camp this summer after rebreaking the middle finger on his left hand, another injury he has dealt with in the past.

Adams and the Seahawks were hoping that Seattle’s new defense — with its emphasis on split-safety looks — would put him in position for a bounce-back season. He set the NFL’s single-season sack record for a defensive back with 9.5 in 2020, then was held without a sack in 12 games last year before his season-ending shoulder injury.

Speaking last week for the first time since his latest finger injury, Adams said Seattle’s new defense puts him “in position to make plays.”

“I’m back in my element, man,” he said. “I feel like I’m back playing defense.”

The Seahawks acquired Adams from the New York Jets in 2020 for a package that included first-round picks in 2021 and 2022. They signed him to a four-year, $70 million extension last summer that made him the NFL’s highest-paid safety.

Read original article here

Sports

Despite doubters of his Seattle Seahawks, Pete Carroll envisions ‘nothing but good stuff happening’

Leave a comment

11:05 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Outside expectations for the Seattle Seahawks, including those of Las Vegas oddsmakers, are lower entering the 2022 season than they have been since before Russell Wilson was the team’s quarterback.

Pete Carroll says he doesn’t agree with the pessimism nor does he care about it.

“I don’t feel like that at all,” Carroll said Monday, a week before Seattle’s opener against Wilson and the Denver Broncos. “I don’t feel like any part of any of that is what’s true other than the fact that that’s what people think. I’m not in that business now. I’m in the business of helping these guys get ready to play with all of the work that we do and all of the mentality and the culture and the environment that we’re in. We’ve been averaging 10 wins a year for the last 20-something years [dating back to 2001-2009 run at USC]. You think I could think anything different than that? I don’t. I don’t see any reason my expectations should change at all.”

During Carroll’s and general manager John Schneider’s 12 seasons in Seattle, the Seahawks have won a Super Bowl, appeared in another, made the playoffs nine times, won the NFC West five times and never finished with fewer than seven wins. Their 119 regular-season wins in that span are sixth-most in the NFL.

Most of that success came during Wilson’s 10-year run with Seattle, which ended in March when he was traded to Denver. With Wilson gone and Geno Smith emerging as the winner of a quarterback battle with Drew Lock, the Seahawks are a popular pick to finish last in the division. Per bet365, their projected win total of 5.5 is tied for the second-lowest in the NFL. It’s two wins lower than any other team in the NFC West.

“I don’t care what anybody says,” Carroll said. “People have been saying stuff about teams for years. They don’t know. They’re just guessing at this point, and then we go and prove it and we see where we are … Win a big game in the opener or struggle and not win a big game in the opener, you’ve got to come back and get going again and back on track regardless.”

Asked a similar question last week about the low outside expectations, Schneider offered a reminder of how many of the players who emerged as stars on their Super Bowl teams weren’t well-known from the get-go. And he described some of their current core pieces as underrated.

“When I have things on in the background and I see guys like DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett not mentioned in the NFL Top 100 players, it blows my mind,” Schneider said. “Jordyn Brooks and what he did last year. I was listening to something while I was working and somebody’s talking about, ‘Oh, they have nothing on defense. They got Jamal Adams and that’s it,’ and I’m thinking to myself, ‘What about Quandre Diggs?’ There’s a lot of fun stuff that we have. Al Woods is an incredible leader.”

Asked if observers are sleeping on the Seahawks, Schneider said: “I just think we’re chasing instead of being chased, which I think is cool. I think it’s exciting.”

Carroll has called this the fastest team he’s had with the Seahawks. He noted their speed again Monday when asked how he feels about the team.

“We’re very hopeful and excited about it and see nothing but good stuff happening,” he said. “We have to go prepare like it and make sure that we’re ready and then go perform like it. So I’m really excited about this team. I love the makeup. I love the way that they’ve come together from way back when. I love the leadership. I love the speed. I love our style in all aspects and now we need to go out and show it and live up to what the expectations are. My expectations are very high.”

Read original article here

Sports

Seattle Seahawks’ Damien Lewis carted off field with ankle injury; X-rays negative

Leave a comment

9:37 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

SEATTLE — Seahawks starting left guard Damien Lewis left Lumen Field on the back of an injury cart after suffering a lateral ankle sprain during Thursday night’s 27-11 preseason loss to the Chicago Bears.

Head coach Pete Carroll said X-rays came back negative, adding, “We’re very, very fortunate there.”

“He was upbeat about that,” Carroll said. “Maybe surprised by the results, but we’re thrilled by it as well.”

Carroll said he doesn’t know yet if Lewis will be available for Seattle’s Sept. 12 opener against the Denver Broncos.

Lewis went down in the second quarter when defensive lineman Angelo Blackson accidentally rolled up on him from behind while tackling DeeJay Dallas. Lewis’ right leg was placed in an air cast as he was carted off the field, and he was ruled out for the rest of the game.

A third-round pick out of LSU in 2020, Lewis was a returning starter on an offensive line that added left tackle Charles Cross in the draft with the ninth overall pick as well as center Austin Blythe in free agency. Seattle also drafted Abe Lucas in the third round to compete at right tackle. Lewis had drawn a strong review from Carroll earlier this summer. He was preparing for his third season as a starter and his second at left guard after playing right guard as a rookie.

Phil Haynes replaced Lewis on Thursday night. Carroll said earlier in training camp that Haynes was having a strong enough summer to “push” veteran Gabe Jackson on the right side, and that Haynes gave them what Carroll considered three starting-caliber guards.

Carroll said quarterback Geno Smith, who has been ahead of Drew Lock in the battle to replace Russell Wilson, suffered a right knee bruise on a first-quarter scramble and could have played into the third quarter if needed. Smith watched much of the second half with an ice wrap on his knee.

With Lock sidelined with COVID-19 for what would have been his first start of the summer, Smith played the entire first half and finished 10-of-18 for 112 yards.

The six full drives Smith led, not counting a final possession in the closing seconds of the half, ended with five punts and a missed 47-yard field goal. Three of Smith’s incompletions were drops, an issue for the second week in a row.

“He did OK,” Carroll said. “We needed to come through. We needed to help him a little bit. We needed to make the plays around him, but we missed the block on the screen, and we missed the third-down conversion, and there’s another one there. He’s running the show well. He’s doing OK. He got out of the pocket when he needed to and threw a couple really good balls that could have been converted. We’ve got to come through for him. Our receivers have got to make the plays for him.”

Seattle planned to start Lock on Thursday night, but he tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday after feeling unwell during practice. Carroll said Lock was still “really sick” as of Thursday morning and that no decision has been made on a starter for Seattle’s preseason finale at Dallas next Friday.

“It’s disappointing he didn’t get a chance to play tonight,” Carroll said. “We had a different plan for this night and we weren’t able to execute it. Couldn’t do anything about it. That’s why I’m still curious to see how he plays with us. Yeah, I am. He’s done enough good things. He’s got some real stuff to him and some real exciting ability and playmaking stuff that you will see when he does get his chances eventually. Just disappointed we didn’t get to see more of it tonight.”

Read original article here

Sports

Seattle Seahawks’ Drew Lock ‘was dragging’ during practice before testing positive for COVID-19

Leave a comment

9:43 PM ET

  • Brady HendersonESPN

RENTON, Wash. — Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said quarterback Drew Lock was feeling so sick that he “barely made it off the practice field” on Tuesday, shortly before he tested positive for COVID-19.

“He was dragging,” Carroll said Wednesday. “We were going to do post-practice work but [decided] no, let’s get him out of here. It hit him. He’s had it before already. He’s done all of the work to get prepped for it. It just so happens that it got him again.”

Lock’s latest bout with COVID will sideline him Thursday night for what would have been his first start of the preseason, a setback in his battle with Geno Smith to replace Russell Wilson as Seattle’s starter.

Until Tuesday, Smith had gotten almost all of the Seahawks’ first-team reps this offseason and had started their mock game as well as last weekend’s preseason opener. The Seahawks gave Lock all the No. 1 reps on Tuesday in preparation for his start Thursday night against the Chicago Bears, which Carroll said was their plan all along.

Carroll was asked how much Lock needed the reps that he was going to get against Chicago.

“He did need them,” Carroll said. “This week is a screwed up week for a guy to get a bunch of turns and all that. He worked with the ones yesterday in prep for the game, and that’s really all he got. I would’ve liked to see that happen throughout this little mini week. But we’ll see what happens next week. We’ll figure it out. But it was important and that’s where we’re going to do extra work after practice with DK [Metcalf] and with Lock, and [Will Dissly], and we just weren’t able to do that. So we missed out on that opportunity.”

Lock looked so off in Tuesday’s practice that Seattle’s coaches asked him afterward what was wrong. That’s when he reported feeling sick and was told to see the team’s trainers.

Smith will start against Chicago before giving way to third-stringer Jacob Eason.

“It came out of nowhere,” Carroll said. “Obviously, he will miss this game, but he has a chance to be back; he has a five-day window that he has to take care of it. It’s unfortunate. It was his turn to play and start, but we will figure it out. I’m fired up for Geno to go. He had an excellent abbreviated week, had a terrific … day for us, so he is ready to go. It will also give Jacob a chance to play a little bit more, obviously, and he will get a good shot in the second half. Really, he deserves it and has practiced really well for us, so I’m anxious for him to get out there and play some football.”

Lock and rookie running back Kenneth Walker III were the only Seahawks not present at Wednesday’s practice. Carroll said Walker is having a “procedure” for what the coach on Tuesday called a hernia. He added that Seattle’s second-round pick is expected to be back before Week 1.

Carroll clarified Wednesday that it’s not a sports hernia, which typically carries a longer recovery time than a non-sports hernia.

“That’s not what he is dealing with,” Carroll said. “It’s something a little bit different, and we have a chance to get him back quickly.”

Carroll said right tackle Jake Curhan (back spasm) will play against Chicago but the status of linebacker Jordyn Brooks (hamstring) for the game is undecided. Carroll expects cornerback Artie Burns (groin) and defensive end L.J. Collier (elbow) to return next week.

Read original article here

Sports

Former NFL RB Marshawn Lynch arrested on suspicion of DUI in Las Vegas

Leave a comment

LAS VEGAS — Former NFL running back Marshawn Lynch was arrested Tuesday in Las Vegas on suspicion of driving impaired, according to police.

Officers stopped the vehicle that Lynch, 36, was driving at about 7:30 a.m., concluded that he was impaired and detained him, police said in a statement. Lynch was booked into the Las Vegas City Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence.

Authorities did not disclose whether Lynch was tested for driving impaired and did not immediately respond to an email message seeking additional details.

It was unclear if Lynch had a lawyer who could speak on his behalf. Jail records did not show one listed for him.

Lynch played 12 season the NFL, mostly with the Seattle Seahawks.

He was a five-time Pro Bowler and had 10,413 career rushing yards and 85 rushing touchdowns from 2007 to ’19 with the Seahawks, the Buffalo Bills and the Oakland Raiders.

Lynch was arrested for DUI in 2012, but pleaded down to the lesser charge of reckless driving when the case was resolved in 2014.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

Read original article here