3 IN, 3 OUT: Week 2 – Uncomfortably Numb

September 23, 2016 by

by fellow 12 Clinton Bonner

3i_3o_week_2_rams

Now I've got that feeling once again

I can't explain, you would not understand

This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

Whether it was the much needed transcendental feel that Floyd provided or Pandora knowing me all too well… I found myself mulling and musing, hemming and hawing this loss and well… Floyd provided the perfect backdrop to sink deeply into what was this week 2 disappointment.

I predicted a W. In fact, I predicted a blowout. I knew this went against recent history but I was confident and even cocky heading into this defensive battle near the hills of Hollywood. What can be said but Que Lastima!

We won’t be covering the O-Line performance in this post, it’s the A-1 topic everyone else has rightfully dove into… we’re gonna keep on looking at them nooks n’ crannies.
As you likely know, on 3 IN, 3 OUT, we take the good, we take the bad, we take ‘em both and there we have the Seahawks facts of life. Since it will be more comforting to end on an IN, let’s rip this band-aid shall we, and start with an O U T.

OUT – For Richardson or Poorer

The biggest mistake of this game was potentially a non-kneel by an over excited WR getting an opportunity to return a kick because Lockett got dinged up.

Mind you, this sentence above should annoy all ‘Hawks fans, not because it’s not centered in truth… but because it came down to something like this, at the end of the 2nd quarter that we can point to as the most critical mistake of the match.

With 1:04 to go in the 2nd quarter P-Rich made a bad call. Instead of taking a knee deep in the endzone, preserving precious ticks, and getting the ball at the newly more comforting 25-yard line, Richardson took it out and got hammered at the 14.

An opportunity cost of 11 yards.

4 seconds wasted.

As usual, our no-huddle offense kicked in and we seized chunks of real estate in short order and found ourselves at the Rams 43 with 14 seconds remaining.

We all were thinking:

We should be on the 33 with 18 seconds to go here.

The next 2 plays failed ending in a disastrous Quinn-led sack/fumble jailbreak to end the half.

I guess I’m not sure what’s worse… Paul’s decision to take this one out of the end zone OR the fact that this was the biggest moment in the game.

OK, gimme something good.

IN – Frank the Tank is a Beast

Listen. Losing sucks. And the point of this blog isn’t to Polyanna us all to death with forced euphoria. But we are here to point out the outstanding, and Frank Clark was exactly that on Sunday.

In fact, the vast majority of the defensive play was once again off-the-chain stellar. I’m unsure Bennett has ever been better – which is saying a lot. Jarran Reed was outstanding versus the run, just a wall. Cassius was denied a huge sack that led to a GIF-albe moment. Earl got back to being Earl… and with all that, Frank Clark still stood out.

His snaps are going up… and what do you know??? So are his tackles and sacks.

Just watch. Watch the speed. Watch the decisiveness. Just watch.

He had 3 sacks all of last year. He has 3 so far this year.

Frank the Tank is a beast and on a line with Bennett and Avril, Clark is going to benefit big time.

OUT – Goal Line Stans?

At the end of the first stanza, Seattle had put together a gutsy drive that started at our own 19, battled through penalties, 3rd down conversions, and was aided nicely by a sweet RCW to TL16 beauty of a toss and catch.

The drive found us on the Rams 4, first and goal and all I kept thinking was… time for Jimmy.

The only issue. Jimmy wasn’t out on the field as far as I could tell. A few lame attempts at the end zone later, we settled for a chip shot that ended up being our only points of the game.

I believe in Jimmy Graham. I believe the Seahawks are better with Jimmy Graham.

And though I don’t subscribe to the ‘must get X person Y touches’ Harvin-ism philosophy… I do want to see #88 on the field when we are knock, knock, knock’n on seven’s door.

IN – Rhymes with Rocket

This is a relief! As much as this game was a craptoberfest, there were performers who stood up and stood out. Lockett was one of them.

This is a relief for a few key reasons.

  1. The week previous Lockett found himself in the sinbin of #3i3o aka the OUT section after an uncharacteristically poor performance v. the Phish
  2. The Russell Carrington Wilson sexy deep balls were in full effect landing in outstretched hands of #16 who came down with some tremendous catches.

Lockett ended the day with 99 yards but we can’t forget the big one he was flagged on earlier in the game (a Magnum PI – see below). Lockett would've been (basically was) around 140 yards or so on the day.

We need this type of performance while Russ is more pocket bound to loosen up the soil on the line so that we can actually run the ball! For as bad as the first half was running the rock, things did loosen up a bit in the 2nd half and I think it was in part due to plays Lockett was making down the field.

More of this to come on Sunday!!!

OUT – Magnum PIs

There are 2 things in this world that just don’t get old.

  1. Tom Selleck’s wonderful mustache
  2. Watching a football game where the refs don’t inject themselves too heavily, thus altering the game one way or the other

On Sunday, we didn’t get both, albeit no fault of Tom’s.

I should have sensed it in fact. Earlier that day I was at one of those runs where you muck through mud, climb over obstacles, get a ‘finisher’ medal and then drink afterwards. It was fun. Yet I met a friend of a friend who was a Steelers fan.

Upon her hearing I was a ‘Hawks fan, she grimaced a bit, shook her head and said:

“Sorry about that Superbowl, those calls against you were rough.”

I shoulda known right there and then what we were in for.

Now, we’re not going to spend many more iotas on this topic because it is OUR FAULT we were in a position versus a not-good Rams team where PIs derailed our chances… BUT…

These PIs were magnum-sized.

The crock against Lockett.

The curse against Kearse.

Mr. Official(s), let the boys play.

And the Wolf Grey lining in all of this? We’ll gladly trade a week 2 game where this happen vs. it happening again in sayyyyyyyyy the planet Houston.

IN – C-Mike A’Ighhht

As much as we like to avoid the obvious IN or OUT on #3i3o… well, there just wasn’t that much good to go around in this one folks !!!

Sure, we could’ve dedicated an IN to the play of Jarran Reed – he was that good! And I contemplated an OUT for Shead because I thought he just let up too many key catches against him as the game progressed… but we only scored 3 points people how much of it can we lay on the defense !!!

So, with that, let’s give a polite nod to a boy named Christine who did have a good game despite the fumble. I know, I know it’s way too easy to just say ‘despite the fumble’ … but let’s look at the good.

  • He averaged 6 YPC on Sunday (10 for 60)
  • He touched the ball 13 times total, amassing 86 total yards of offense (6.6 yards per touch)
  • He had over 28% of our yards amassed while having the rock about 21% of our offensive snaps

These are good numbers. While Lord knows I’m not blaming Rawls for his lack of production, I am putting a small spotlight on C-Mike’s day.

On a Sunday where we put up just 3 lousy points… a boy named Christine was a bright spot.

Get the Flock IN & OUT – BONUS’S’S’S

It warms the cockles of my heart that 12s out on Twitter are revving up the #3i3o calls during the game. It’s making it even more fun and I want to call out those who are taking the time to call out something they believe was deserving of an IN or an OUT – thx!

First Ella had this concise, but unfortunately accurate observation – yikes!

Next our boys across the pond dangled this delight, concluding that a better QB would’ve actually been picked a few times… heck, they might be right!

And finally the fellas from the pod summed it up… though the game stunk, we’re still tied for 1st place !!!

1,2,3… What’s Next!?

We need a W.

The early part of our schedule is seemingly the much easier part of our tour de force. I’m unsure we can blow any team out of the water at this point because none of us our seeing the type of offensive flow needed to put up the big enough #’s.

So as gross as it feels to even say this… we just need to get out of this game with a W with the added caveat that the win needs to be a momentum building one at that, for our offense!!!

What does this mean???

  • We gotta see multiple TDs from Russ
  • We have to see a much stronger first half so we’re not entering yet another nail biter v. a below avg. team
  • We need a 1st quarter TD

Till next time ye faithful 12s … Go ‘Hawks !!!

Remember 12s, see something??? Say something on Twitter. Send @seahawkerspod a tweet during the game, tag it #3i3o, and it just might show up in next week’s 3 IN, 3 OUT… and that’s nice!!!

The Sea Hawkers Podcast is on Patreon. Support the show and join our Discord community!
Become a patron at Patreon!