for their London showdown
against the Oakland
Raiders
Seahawks
Tyler Lockett Jersey , they find themselves in need of depth at tight end.
Will Dissly is obviously gone for the season, Ed Dickson won¡¯t be back until
after the bye week, and now Nick Vannett is questionable with a back injury,
leaving Darrell Daniels as the only healthy TE on the roster.It looks as if
their temporary solution to Sunday¡¯s problem is to promote Tyrone Swoopes from
the practice squad to the active roster. Swoopes¡¯ agent announced the news on
Saturday.The Seahawks haven¡¯t made the transaction official, and they¡¯d have to
release someone from the 53-man squad in order to make room for the former Texas
Longhorns quarterback.Swoopes signed as an undrafted free agent with the
Seahawks in 2017, and was eventually waived and placed on the practice squad. He
was promoted to the active roster for the team¡¯s season finale against the
Arizona Cardinals, and played two snaps on offense. Swoopes was waived during
final roster cuts for the 2018 season, then re-signed to the team¡¯s PS just a
few days ago, cutting Marcus Lucas in the process.I¡¯ll take back most of the bad
things I¡¯ve said about Brian Schottenheimer if he uses the 18-Wheeler package
just one time.Update: WR Keenan Reynolds is the odd man out.Seahawks 20
Cardinals 17: Winners and Losers from another Pyrrhic victory in Arizona A year
ago when the Seattle Seahawks beat the Arizona Cardinals 22-16 but lost Richard
Sherman and Kam Chancellor, I wrote a ¡°Winners and Losers¡± post on Seattle¡¯s
¡°Pyrrhic victory.¡± I have to recycle the headline this year because Earl Thomas
fractured his leg and his Seahawks career is almost certainly over, and Will
Dissly has a patellar tendon injury that likely ends his season. Two key players
for two different reasons. Thomas represented greatness while Dissly was the
future. We might not see Earl again, while Dissly¡¯s career may change
substantially if the injury is as serious as it looked.This is a Winners and
Losers that is no doubt a rough one to get through.WinnersMike DavisUndoubtedly
the player of the game. Filling in for Chris Carson, Davis ran for 101 yards on
21 carries and had both of Seattle¡¯s touchdowns, as well as 23 yards receiving.
He was powerful, broke tackles, and showed great vision in open space. Seattle¡¯s
rushing game was largely inefficient last week, this week was something I hope
we see more often, and perhaps Davis has earned more snaps on a regular basis
even when Chris Carson returns.Rashaad Penny9 carries for 49 yards is the most
productive showing from Penny by
far
Youth
Shaquem Griffin Jersey , and he had a key 4th and 1 conversion to keep
Seattle¡¯s game-tying field goal drive alive. He needs to have more decisiveness
in the open field instead of slowing down as if he¡¯s Le¡¯Veon Bell, but he looked
quicker going downhill than in previous weeks.D.J. FlukerThe strength of the
Seahawks rushing attack has to boil down to D.J. Fluker. He¡¯s no one¡¯s idea of
even a good pass blocker, but he¡¯s a mauler in the run game and it¡¯s no
coincidence that both of Davis¡¯ touchdowns came on his side of the field. Jarran
ReedAnother week, another sack for big #90, and the Seahawks front as a whole
did much better in the 2nd half shutting down David Johnson and the Cardinals
run game. Reed is a major reason for that, and he¡¯s had a strong start to the
year.Tre FlowersIn effect, he had a forced fumble/pass breakup last week on
ETIII¡¯s first interception against the Dallas Cowboys. This week, he forces
David Johnson to fumble deep in his own territory for the game¡¯s only turnover.
There will still be growing pains, and I suspect he will be torched by the Rams
next week, but the potential is there!David MooreIt was only two catches for 39
yards, but it¡¯s his first two catches in the NFL. One was caught and them
fumbled, and he picked it up for a first-down, while the other gained 30 yards
and put the Seahawks in position to take the lead. This is an important
development, considering...LosersBrandon MarshallCut. These drops are absolutely
inexcusable. He had one that killed Seattle¡¯s possession off the David Johnson
takeaway. More David Moore, please.Doug BaldwinI didn¡¯t think I¡¯d ever put him
on here, but Baldwin¡¯s first game back saw him fall short of the sticks on three
third-down conversions, and he had a holding penalty (albeit on Chandler Jones)
that turned a promising Seahawks drive into a missed FG for Seabass. He¡¯s still
awesome and he¡¯s still the best receiver on the team, but this wasn¡¯t one of his
better performances. I¡¯m sure he¡¯ll be up to speed (or as much as he can with
the other injured knee) once he¡¯s in the flow of things over the next few
weeks.Brian Schottenheimer and Pete CarrollProps to Schottenheimer for finally
calling more zone-read
runs
Seahawks
Frank Clark Jersey , but he has no feel for playcalling in game flow. Why
on earth did they keep throwing it on 3rd and short? Of all the times when
running the ball is just as sensible as throwing it, Schotty defaulted to throws
all but once, and the Seahawks converted that 4th and 1 through Penny. They had
more 4th down conversions than 3rd... because they converted on zero 3rd downs.
Play-action inexplicably was scarcely used despite clear success on the ground.
This is headscratching, it¡¯s baffling, and a hire I was not really keen on in
the first place looks like it¡¯s not panning out. Kenneth certainly agrees.As for
Pete Carroll, he refused to go for it on 4th and 1 in Arizona territory on the
game¡¯s first drive, then did it again at his own 35 a couple of possessions
later. Carroll used to be known as ¡°Big Balls Pete.¡± Then when he does go for
it, he burns a timeout and they dial up a pass play that ends in a sack.
Schottenheimer¡¯s bad playcalling is compounded with horrible game management by
Carroll. Two timeouts burned in the 2nd half put the Seahawks defense in a
tenuous position on the penultimate drive where a failure to get a stop meant
the Cardinals could¡¯ve run the clock out. The team as a whole feels poorly
coached and disorganized. Delano HillHill saw limited action, then for like the
15th time dating back to just preseason, he had a chance to stop someone short
of first-down yardage, and instead missed a tackle. David Johnson shed Hill and
got a first-down on what proved to be Arizona¡¯s unsuccessful final drive. What¡¯s
Jeron Johnson up to these days?Winner and a LoserSebastian JanikowskiI had him
in the Losers column and ready to cut him. Frankly I¡¯m still nervous that he¡¯s
going to cost the Seahawks down the line, as his two misses led to 10 Arizona
points. However, he shook off the struggles, made all of his 2nd half kicks,
including the game-winner from 52 yards away as time expired. That might
actually be the first ¡°as time expired¡± game-winning field goal of the Russell
Wilson era. Thanks to Seabass for saving the day, but he created his own
situation with his two misses, and I¡¯m still nervous moving forward.Final
notesDick Stockton and Mark Schlereth are the bottom-rung crew for the NFL on
FOX. I understand that we shouldn¡¯t expect them to be good, but they are
terrible. Seattle will have Sam Rosen and Ronde Barber next
week
Seahawks
Tre Flowers Jersey , and hopefully that¡¯s an improvement. I¡¯m tired of
hearing about Rashard Perry, and beyond that, we might as well have been
watching a Cardinals home broadcast. Russell Wilson is a better blocker than Tre
Madden. Other than that and the game-winning drive though, he was arguably
outplayed by Josh Rosen, who was victimized by a series of wide open drops.
Wilson barely went downfield, dinked and dunked, and while he finally kept on a
zone-read, I fear he¡¯s no longer in the prime of his athletic career. We¡¯re not
getting 2012 or 2014 Russ scrambling anymore, for better or worse. I would love
for him to be coached by brilliant offensive minds before it¡¯s too late. Look at
this league! Wilson is getting left behind. He¡¯s clearly not playing so badly
that he needs to be benched or not re-signed or whatever, but he¡¯s not taking
that next step towards becoming a top-3 QB. There is absolutely no way he¡¯ll
reach that status with Carroll and Schotty.Barkevious Mingo blew up a run play
and Mychal Kendricks remained active rushing the QB and doing the dirty work.
Seattle¡¯s linebacker play has been a major positive in K.J. Wright¡¯s absence.
Bobby Wagner is Bobby Wagner, meaning that he¡¯s great.I think Josh Rosen has a
bright future as long as he gets properly coached. Steve Wilks seems to be in
over his head and Mike McCoy is pathetic, so it¡¯ll probably be a different
regime. Let¡¯s hope the Cardinals don¡¯t find themselves the next Sean
McVay.Injuries aside, I¡¯m still happy enough that they¡¯re 2-2. I¡¯ll take 3-3 at
the bye, but this offense needs to click soon or else the playoffs are a pipe
dream.