Seahawks Report Card

The Seahawks won their second game in a row for the first time all season, and the only the second time under Pete Carroll. As great of a win as it was, the Seahawks were actually pretty lucky that they were playing the hapless Rams or it might not have gone their way. Clearly the Seahawks have a lot of work left to do.

Tarvaris Jackson: C

Jackson clearly had a rough game, especially early. He threw back to back interceptions in the first quarter, and was actually 2nd on the team in passing yards until just before halftime. I’m willing to overlook the mediocre performance a bit this week because it was clear that he was in a lot of pain on Sunday and that it was effecting his ability to throw the ball. He did settle down and manage the game well during the final 3 quarters.

Marshawn Lynch: C+ 

The Rams have one of the worst run defenses in the league, and Lynch only managed 3.4 yards per carry. Some of that was due to the problems on the offensive line, but not all of it. Lynch’s problem of being way too slow getting to the line of scrimmage resurfaced against this week, and it definitely hurt offense at times.

Offensive Line: C+

Overall the line took a major step backwards this week because of the 2 new starters on the right side of the line. Early on things were especially bad, but the line played better as the game went on. Despite the line problems, I contemplated giving this unit a higher grade because the problems were really just those 2 new starters. The other 3 lineman actually played pretty well

Run Defense: A

I don’t give out many A grades, just as my students. I just can find any faults here. Any team that can hold a healthy Steven Jackson to just 44 yards is clearly doing something right. The front 7 played very well in this game.

Pass Defense B 

5 Sacks, 2 forced fumbles, 1 interception, just 143 yards in the passing game (181 passing yards minus sacks) and it’s only a B? Yep. Despite the great looking final stats, there were some serious problem mixed in there. Brandon Browner continues to be unable to avoid stupid penalties (he had 2 more, and now has 18 for almost 200 yards on the season). Cox also beat deep for the Rams only touchdown.

Special Teams: B –

For some reason this unit can’t put together a complete performance. This week, Leon Washington and the return game showed up for the first time in a month. The problem is that the punt coverage unit forgot that they have to block as well. The Rams partially blocked one kick, and almost got to another, which is simply unacceptable.

Coaching: B-

I’ll give Pete Carroll some credit for doing the right thing and kicking the FG at the end of the first half. I know there are fans out there that think he should have gone for the TD, but the right call was to take the points. At the time the score was tied, and any points were important points. The defensive scheme was also well put together.

The offensive scheme on the other hand wasn’t so well put together. Not that it mattered since the Rams defense is so anemic, but still. The Seahawks did little to take advantage of the Rams weaknesses. At time the Seahawks seemed to be trying to prove they could beat the best parts of the Rams’ defense directly.

Carroll and company continue to get graded down because of the penalty epidemic that continues to plague this team. Penalties can be mostly avoided with proper coaching and clearly that isn’t happening at this point.