Didn't we see this exact bumbling home opener last year against the supposedly inept Dolphins? What is it with Seattle's unrelenting propensity to stumble out of the gate and three-and-out us into utter fucking madness?
Okay, I had to get that off my chest. Yes, as a matter of fact I DO feel better.
DK Metcalf? Apparently that inability to run routes won't be stopping him anytime soon. Sparkling first half - but what happened in the second half? Why didn't we use him more? Oh, that's right, we were concentrating on the dive play, bringing back 1950's football.
Tyler Lockett - Love ya, you're one of my fav draft picks of the last few years - but you gotta make that catch, son.
Wilson? Looked kinda ordinary today. But the o-line didn't do him any favors either.
Seattle's defensive line: They all get game balls. They didn't have gaudy stats or amazing highlights - but what they did was get their hands in the air and bat balls around enough to make the Mariner's blush. Jefferson tore it up, as did Al Woods. Clowney was good but not great - he was disruptive and is still getting his sea(hawk) legs under him. Ohhhhh, see what I did there? When this defense gets it's players actually on the goddam field, they are going to be a force - and we need more production from the front seven - who were handled pretty well by a supposedly bad Bengal oline. We need that production to step it up because, as mentioned before, there are gonna be some growing pains in the back end of that defense.
Good god, that whiff by Thompson was epic. BUT... this is a big but, there are still a lot of young parts on the D - these are the growing pains. The defense was torched all day long but somehow, amazingly, managed to scrape enough together to get it done, even though they made The Ginger Bengal looks like Joe Montana out there.
Offensive play calling - some pretty shitty play calling today - and infuriatingly conservative. How many times are we gonna see the same hand off up the middle out of the shotgun? And into the same stout front that had handled it most of the game. Yeah, they broke some tackles and gleaned some gold, but it just felt like they were doing it the hard way.
And WTF happened to the oline? I thought they would be a strength. They were a complete liability today. baffling.
Game ball to the defensive front for all the batted balls - they were a difference maker - but won't show up in any fantasy stat line - in the same way Clowney's disruptive play isn't a stat - it's in-game action that can't be statified (new word alert!).
Okay, so we got out alive, we're still undefeated, yada yada yada - but there's lots of work to be done. Big Ben is going to torch that defense in an ongodly manner if they don't get some shit right - and get it right quick. After watching this game, I'm not sure Seattle has the guns to enter a shootout. How they can come out of the gate and absolutely bumble away series after series after series - is just beyond me.
The fumble on Dalton should've been an incomplete pass. The PI that Carroll challenged - I mean - it was a weak call, but challenging it, pretty weak too. Zero chance that gets overturned. Bengals outplayed Seattle, who looked like they had not practiced at all this year.
1-0, though!
