SB Nation - Seattle Seahawks

Anatomy of a Game Changing Fumble Recovery

John Morgan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 02:00:07 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

A routine play punctuated by hustle made this amazing pass possible.

I hit on the staggering consequences a dropped route and blown block can cause when Nate Burleson indirectly assisted a forced fumble by the Dallas Cowboys. Seattle hustled its way into a fumble and fumble recovery in a similar fashion this last Sunday. Fumble recovery is not luck, strictly speaking; it's just unpredictable. Luck implies a lack of skill, whereas fumble recovery is a skill, just one that is exceedingly hard to measure.

The play didn't look too exciting at the onset. Seattle broke in a nickel package against the 49ers two-tight end, power formation. David Hawthorne knifed into the backfield but lost Frank Gore when Gore followed his lead blocker left. Jordan Babineaux followed but overpursued. Bad things were about to happen. Seattle was in nickel against a run, and two of its three run stuffers, the linebacker and strong safety, were behind and out of the play. Bad things were about to happen for the 49ers.

Darryl Tapp anchored against tight end Delanie Walker and forced Gore to cut back inside. Tapp slowed Gore and ankle tackled him into and onto prostrate non-entity Craig Terrill. Terrill, through no achievement of his own, played an essential part in the play. His was the body that kept Gore from being down.

Here's where hustle gets its due: Wilson started the play just outside the tackle box and in position to be blocked by a pulling lineman. And so he was. Right tackle Adam Snyder pulled out and put a body on Pistol, but Pistol didn't quit. He went high on Snyder and yanked him aside by the shoulder pads. Back in the scrum, Babineaux recovered and punched out the fumble. Gore was attempting to wrestle his ankle free and somewhat atop Terrill. The ball bounced forward and toward no team in particular before a streaking Wilson looped into the action and recovered for 43 yards.

It was the single most important play of the game, worth 30% of win probability, worth more than Matt Hasselbeck's late strike to Deon Butler, and more than the field goal that won it. It ended a menacing looking drive by San Francisco that had advanced into Seahawks territory and flipped field position. Seattle took the lead on the ensuing drive. It wasn't the better team all game, it isn't the better team on paper, but it mustered all the character Tim Ruskell saw in it and granted him his parting wish: Win.

One Right Guard's Journey Towards Respectability

John Morgan — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 00:51:14 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

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Part of being a consistent contender is team health. Abstractly we can understand that for most teams, the starters will play better than their backups. When a team loses starters to injury it is less likely to win. What is much less understood is how game-to-game, even snap-to-snap health impacts players that are starting or contributing.

Ray McDonald was fully healthy in week two. He walked over Max Unger. McDonald was "probable" last week. He was listed with a "shoulder". Could that shoulder have sapped enough power to level the competition? Unger, much to his credit, has not appeared once on the NFL injury report.

Maybe Unger improved, maybe McDonald regressed, maybe McDonald was injured, maybe home field factored and Unger was faster off the snap or more willing to stretch the rules. It's impossible to know. We can be sure that Unger played better and his improved play was vital to Seattle winning.

In the first drive of the fourth quarter, Unger pulled twice and factored once. On his second pull attempt, Unger missed his assignment and that assignment, linebacker Takeo Spikes, tackled Julius Jones after six. Matt Hasselbeck ended the drive by attempting to pull out from the pile again and doing so again sacked himself by running into a defender.

Unger was the best man on the line at holding ground and protecting the pocket on Seattle's first play of its second drive. He then turned his man on a rush play and contained his man on the following pass play. That turned out to be pretty damn important in the interconnected world of Football.

For most of the season, Chris Spencer protected Unger. If a man was aligned over Unger, Spencer would typically turn right and double the defender. Rob Sims was the reliable guard. He was left to fend for himself. Unger proved capable of controlling his man and that allowed Spencer to read and react. It proved critical.

Lock was badly beat around the end by Manny Lawson. Sims controlled his man and Spencer stood free in his center zone. Spencer turned that freedom into a crucial freeing block. He doubled Sims man and the two dominated him so completely that Sims was able to pull free and pick up Locklear's blown assignment. What looked like a sack turned into a fifteen yard completion.

Unger was satisfactory on his final two plays of the drive. The play that preceded those was a heartening sign. Seattle, for the nth time all game, hit the 49ers nose tackle and short-spaced down linemen and moved out the middle in impressive fashion. Moving out the middle linemen, be it nose, defensive tackles or 3-4 ends, is a harbinger of a building run game. Justin Forsett missed the hole, but it was a beauty. Behind Seattle's center three a crease ripped open that would have harbored the rusher deep into the 49ers second level. Forsett cut left and into Manny Lawson for a loss of three. John Carlson was discarded in routine fashion.

Unger was steady, steady throughout the game, steady in crunch time, and reliable enough to make those around him look better. A steady Unger makes the entire offensive line better. He started the season weak at the point and unreliable snap to snap and is ending stout at the point and forgettable on most downs. That's good progression and return on a second round guard prospect. It's also a boring end to a series.

On the first play of Seattle's second to last drive, Unger put it all together. He helped force back the 49ers left defensive line and then shot into the second level. There, just as Jones approached the right edge, Unger inflicted a punishing cut block on Patrick Willis. Jones turned and sprinted up field into the 49ers open right side. Willis wasn't there to hit him. He wasn't there to stop the play short. Willis was just another spectator, watching Jones turn the corner and run for 11.

BREAKING NEWS: Steve Slaton Done For Season

Tim — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:41:53 -0000

According to Adam Schefter's Twitter feed:

Another loss for Houston: Texans RB Steve Slaton will be placed on injured reserve -- out for the year.

If I wasn't already dead inside, I'd cry. Get ready for another month of Chris Brown, coupled with the continued irrational refusal to give Ryan Moats the lion's share of the work. Oh, wait...here come the tears after all.

Seahawks vs Texans coverage

Max Unger Matures or Fattens on Home Cooking

John Morgan — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 00:56:18 -0000

Max Unger ended the quarter with great block that helped convert the first. It wasn't flashy. Unger did not leave a trail of 49ers in his wake. It was simply good guard play.

Seattle and San Francisco battled to a standstill. Neither team could construct a drive in the third quarter. The 49ers couldn't battle back from bad field position and Seattle stubbornly attempted to establish the run.

In his first two plays, Unger pulled well but missed Takeo Spikes and landed only a glancing blow on Patrick Willis. He engaged and lost Ray McDonald and the drive ended in a three and out.

Unger was even less involved in the next series. He shifted left and controlled his zone, but otherwise did not factor. The play call was a line motion left, bootleg right with a pass to Justin Griffith. Greg Knapp needs the rushing attack to build his playbook off of and Seattle spent much of the game smashing into the pile, hoping Julius Jones could bust free. Unger pulled clean but did not factor on the next play and was beat back but cleared for Matt Hasselbeck. Hsselbeck rushed for four on third and eight.

Seattle completed its third three and out of the quarter before Unger could break a sweat. He occupied the left defensive end, Ray McDonald, and Jones hit the pile for five. He pulled and blocked out Willis and Jones narrowly turned the corner for four. Third and one, and as close to constructing a drive as they would be all quarter, Matt ran what looked like a designed roll out-run. The line moved left and Hasselbeck rolled right, but braced for impact before the first down marker. He didn't have a clear target and didn't want to run, so broke off his roll out and doubled over and dropped his shoulder. Dashon Goldson obliged and brutalized Hasselbeck behind the line.

Plays like this evidence just how desperate Knapp is to establish the run. He shifts the pocket constantly and throws on clear rushing downs, because he is attempting to stretch the linebackers vertically and horizontally -- anything to keep opposing linebackers from crashing the line. It all fails in turns. The deep pass doesn't work. Deion Branch single-matched against Shawntae Spencer turns into a duck dive bombing the left hash mark. Michael Boulware would have been all over that pass. The run doesn't work and so play action rollout passes to the fullback are sniffed out and `sploded. The deep pass and play-action fail, the linebackers continue to crash the line and even good blocks go wasted.

Chris Spencer teamed with Unger to blow back McDonald three yards and allow Spencer to pull and pop the next man in his way. It was a ripping hole that vanished. Jones missed the cutback lane, the cutback lane closed an instant later, and Jones sunk his shoulders and smashed into the pile as he's wont. Willis was credited with the tackle after two. It's a shame for such a pretty block to go wasted, but it's progress. On the next play, Unger was blown back by McDonald and that forced Jones to string the rush wide. Parys Haralson ripped through John Carlson and Jones went wider, and wider until he stepped out for a loss of three. That's on Unger.

It took Seattle until the end of the quarter to achieve a first down. It wasn't pretty. San Francisco blitzed and Gold and Red swarmed the edges of the pocket and threatened to swallow Hasselbeck during his backpedal. While the line caved around him, Unger held strong, standing up McDonald and giving Hasselbeck a crack to step into and find Nate Burleson for 23 and the first.

Now, maybe playing at home gave Unger that split-second needed to win off the snap. Maybe young Unger is growing stronger, or better timing his launch, or has improved his hand-fighting. I don't know. I do know that if Unger can continue holding ground against stouter defensive tackles, continue pulling cleanly, and continue teaming with Spencer to double out the nose tackle, the Seahawks run game could come alive.

No updates on Donald Brown, Robert Mathis

BigBlueShoe — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 20:52:20 -0000

More photos » by Tom Gannam - AP

about 1 month ago: Indianapolis Colts running back Donald Brown (31) runs with the ball during the second quarter of an NFL football game against the St. Louis Rams Sunday, Oct. 25, 2009, in St. Louis. The Colts won 42-6. (AP Photo/Tom Gannam)

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No updates as yet on the status of Donald Brown after he missed last Sunday's game with the chest injury. For those keeping score, Brown has suffered chest and shoulder injuries this season, forcing him to miss three games. He currently stands at 263 yards and two TDs. For a first round drafted running back, those numbers are not good.

Yes, he is averaging 4.5 yards a carry, but the potential knock on Brown coming into the NFL was that he would not be durable in this league. So far, that knock is holding true.

You all know that I personally have no patience with rookie running backs. They are either good right out of the gate, or they are trash. Running back is the easiest position to play in this league, and right now Donald Brown is not showing me why he was worth taking in the first round. Meanwhile, players like Kenny Britt, Hakeem Nicks, Pat Chung, Eben Britton, Rey Maualuga, Phil Loadholt, and even Beanie Wells are making significant contributions for their respective teams as rookies.

All were drafted after Brown.

We also have no update as yet on the status of Robert Mathis. Bill Polian made it clear that the injury was to Mathis' quad, not something more severe:

"Robert had a quad strain [Sunday] and we don't quite know the extent of it yet. He had some tests Monday. It's not a knee, so there's no need to worry about that."

Dwight Freeney suffered a pretty nasty quad injury earlier this year after the Cardinals win, but came back the very next week to play against the Seahawks. Will Mathis do the same? We shall see.

Golden Nuggets: The morning after the morning after... still sucks

Ninjames — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 11:00:59 -0000

Good morning there folks. Sorry I couldn't get the Nuggets up yesterday but thanks to Fooch for handling them for me. It clearly was not my night. Oh well, I figured when I asked him that it may be for the better so I'm not a bitter [site decorum] when I write these but well... It really didn't work, because I still have no clue how to feel about the 49ers right now. Obviously there is um.. still a chance that the 49ers can make the playoffs but I'm not going to let myself even think it's a possibility at the moment. No, that's not a lack of fandom, I want this team to finish strong and show the rest of the NFL we're better than we've played, these 4 point losses are infuriating and this team has to recover to be a force next season. I look at this roster and I see a team that's in far better shape than the Rams and the Seahawks and on par to make the Cardinals look just terrible once old man Warner retires. Bring on some last minute wins, baby. Here's some links.

Coach Singletary is still upset by the officiating in the game Sunday. (Yahoo.com)

Most notably the unfavorable calls against the 49ers as well as the blatant non-calls. (NFL.com)

He's not playing the blame game though, which at least makes me respect him a little more. Not happy with him at the moment. Lets just say if I saw him in person I'd likely end up getting my [site decorum] kicked. (PressDemocrat.com)

Could naming Alex Smith the starter be saving Singletary and McCloughan's jobs? Huh. (MercuryNews.com)

Mike Singletary hits rewind on the loss to Seattle. (MercuryNews.com)

Monday's locker room talk from well, Monday. (49ers.com)

Here's yesterday's edition of Singletary's Notebook. (49ers.com)

Wow I haven't linked here in a long time, must be for lack of credibility or integrity, but when it's just stats and notes, hey it's useful. (ProFootballTalk.com)

Singletary discusses the offense and the questionable officiating. All these notes seem to be Singletary talking... he does a lot of that these days. (PressDemocrat.com)

If Alex Smith could have any throw back, it'd be his last throw which was just.. a bad pass. (SacBee.com)

I suppose it isn't too early to look ahead at some of the 49ers opponents for 2010. Hm... (PressDemocrat.com)

[insert the Kawakami link here that I wont link to because I can't describe it without saying some pretty offensive things about him]

Yeah, this was my "OK, WHAT?" moment of the game. The punt return handoff? Even I knew that kind of thing works with Rossum-Clements.. NOT Battle-Jones. C'mon man. (SacBee.com)

I agree with this one.. Alex Smith certainly did his part to win the game. (SacBee.com)

Max Unger in the Trenches; Josh Wilson on the Sideline

John Morgan — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:49:27 -0000

It's hard enough to get a read on a corner in quarter, but when that corner subs out, it's impossible. Jordan Babineaux played left cornerback and Marcus Trufant right. Lawyer Milloy substituted for Babineaux at safety. So it was for most of the quarter. Josh Wilson made one important play, contacting Josh Morgan on a short pass on third and 10, and throwing Morgan out bounds to end the drive and stop the clock.

Unger didn't have anymore big moments during the half, but at least he was getting snaps. He single blocked twice to open the next drive. He held on both plays and on the first, finished by chucking his man right. Power, the missing component in Unger's game. He moved left with the pocket on the next play and controlled the left defensive end. Unger struck the nose tackle, lost the block, recovered and buried him on a run up the middle that went nowhere. Chris Spencer helped double the nose on Matt Hasselbeck's long pass to Nate Burleson, a pass that fell one yard short of awesome and one yard long of interception.

Unger has improved as a pull blocker. He is no longer driven back. He doesn't struggle to release or release too late. Unger pulled forward and engaged Patrick Willis, but Willis stood tall and kept the struggle in the hole. Justin Forsett ran left for five.

The 49ers blitzed on the next play, and with superior numbers and overloading the edges, caved the exterior pocket and threatened a group sack. Unger let Ray McDonald achieve a stride on him. McDonald slashed around Unger's right shoulder and towards Hasselbeck, but as the pocket warped and collapsed around him, Hasselbeck stepped forward and negated the entire rush. Unger shadowed McDonald and cleared as Hasselbeck stepped up and scrambled for 23. Moments like this remind that Seneca Wallace may have the legs, but smarts make smart quarterback scrambles.

The entire Seahawks line surged left and Spencer blew back Aubrayo Franklin. Unger never got a chance. The cutback lane tore open to the offensive right, but Julius Jones skipped the hole and hit the pile. The run went for two.

Hasselbeck pumped and scrambled himself into pressure on the next play. It was ugly all around, but Unger kept his head in it and his quarterback clean.

The drive ended with Unger reading and picking up a defensive end stunt. To his left, Michael Lewis exploded through the line untouched and forced a fumble. It was a curious play to say the least. Spencer pointed left, identifying the blitzer. Then Hasselbeck looked like he was audibling and Forsett shifted from left to right. It's the second time we've seen Forsett on the wrong side attempting to pick up a blitz. The announcers commended him for it the first time. He didn't luck into a recovery this time.

There wasn't much more of the quarter to speak of. Seattle regained possession, but managed little before running out the clock. Unger released well on the screen attempt right, but the rest of Seatle's line was AWOL. Jones slipped out of bounds for a loss of two. Unger controlled his man on another nice looking deep route by Deion Branch, but the pass sailed nowhere and luckily to no one. Unger finished with a good block on McDonald. McDonald, you might remember, owned Unger in week two.

Mike Singletary 12/7 Press Conference Transcript

Fooch — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:04:26 -0000

Mike Singletary had his weekly press conference earlier today and, as promised, here is the transcript from said press conference. Not a whole lot of shocking information, but certainly always interesting to hear his thoughts on a wide range of topics.

One issue that will continue to stick out until next training camp is who will be the starting QB heading into training camp. Singletary basically says he won't ~~anoint~~ Smith the guy yet. Last year was a competition between Shaun Hill and Alex Smith. Earlier today I mentioned how it was likely that Smith would be the guy heading into 2010. I'll stand by that statement for the foreseeable future, but I can understand the hesitance in naming the guy for 2010 when there are still 4 games to go. Singletary said:

"What we have seen so far is so far, so good. But I don't want to jump the gun. I don't want to say, ‘We found him and he is going to be the next great...' No, I don't want all of that. I just want to give him his due. I think he is working his tail off. I think the coaches are doing a heck of a job with him. I think he is using the tools that are around him. I think he is making really good decisions. Hopefully, that will just continue."

I know we've got folks clamoring for Nate Davis playing time, but in terms of starting time, they have to stick with Smith. The good news about the Arizona game is that it's now, before Arizona has clinched a playoff spot, so they'll clearly be battling. The next week they get a Philly team in an absolute dogfight for a playoff spot and further positioning. Neither team will be taking it easy on the 49ers as if it's Week 16 with nothing to gain. And then even the last two games against Detroit and St. Louis have some value. Can Alex Smith (and the offense in general) go in to a game with a bad team and take care of business. When the 49ers pounded the Rams earlier this year it was primarily because of the defense. We need to see the offense kick it up a gear against bad teams.

Other than that, there is plenty of discussion of the play-calling, the reverse, and of course the refs.

Head Coach Mike Singletary
Press Conference - December 7, 2009
San Francisco 49ers

On whether using RB Frank Gore so little gave the Seahawks an advantage:

"I think there were several advantages in this game for [Seattle coach] Jim Mora, but I won't even address those."

On how much the Seahawks defense dictated the 49ers plan:

"I think nothing out of the ordinary than any other team. If a team sends a particular personnel out on the field, offense or defense, you adjust. That's where you get your matchups. There was absolutely nothing that they were doing - the only problem, what they were doing on the offensive side of the ball is not giving us time. There is a certain amount of time that you - if they send someone out on the field, then, OK, you send them out on the field, you huddle and you go ahead and go from there. But, they weren't giving us time to get our personnel on the field. That's something that's an unfair advantage. You can't do that. We talked to the refs about it. But anyways, those are kind of some of the things that were happening in the game."

On whether the first timeout in the game was because of that:

"A little bit. It's just one of those things where some referees do a better job than others of handling that and making sure that you go over to the sideline and you tell them, ‘Hey, you have to allow them enough time to make sure that they have the appropriate personnel in the game.' Otherwise, everybody could do that and you're always mismatched, and you really can't do that in a game."

On the balance in the first half:

"I think I told you before, and I really do believe this, I want whatever we're winning with. I think if we have a certain package in the game and it's a better thought process to pass the ball rather than run the ball, then that's what we need to do. If it ends in us winning the game, that's what I want. I don't want to try and outsmart ourselves. I don't want to be looking at something where, ‘Let's see now. How many runs have we had? How many passes have we had?' We need to look at what's working. If they have a certain personnel out there on the field and it's better for us to attack it because of the matchups, then we need to throw the ball and take advantage of the matchups. Obviously, if we have our regular people in the game and they come out in nickel situation, we're going to run the ball every doggone down. But I just think you have to be smart about what are the matchups, and I think that dictated some of what we were doing, how many people were in the box? That sort of thing, and I think some plays were running plays at the beginning of the game, but because of what they had on the field, we audibled to a pass because it didn't make sense to run the play that we had. So, that's what was happening on some of those."

On whether it seems weird to fans that at the beginning of the year the team was running against eight-man fronts and now a seven-man front dictates the pass:

"Well, early in the season, we had a totally different situation. You go back and forth, run-pass, whatever. The bottom line is, did you win the game? Did you lose the game? And, I think that's what we need to be talking about. As far as how many times you ran the ball, how many times you threw the ball, you can play cat and mouse with that all year. Just understand that going into the game a balance is what you always want to look for, but at the same time, if your quarterback is given certain parameters - if they are in this, if we're in a two-backs, two-wide outs, one-tight end situation and they come out and they have a situation where it's more nickel, you know what? We want to run the ball because we want to take the shots every chance we get. But, I think they were more focused on the run in this game because of what happened last time. So, I think that made them more vulnerable against the pass. Whether Jim Mora said that not running the ball - I think running the ball maybe would have helped him a little bit more than, I thought, than passing the ball."

On whether QB Alex Smith can become the leader of the team:

"What we have seen so far is so far, so good. But I don't want to jump the gun. I don't want to say, ‘We found him and he is going to be the next great...' No, I don't want all of that. I just want to give him his due. I think he is working his tail off. I think the coaches are doing a heck of a job with him. I think he is using the tools that are around him. I think he is making really good decisions. Hopefully, that will just continue."

On where yesterday's game ranks in Smith's career:

"Obviously, he did a really good job. I thought he made some good changes. I thought he really made some good audibles. I thought he got the ball, for the most part, where he wanted to put it. What we did in last week's practice, some of the reads were exactly what he got in the game and he took advantage of those things. I think any time that you see that, it creates a very positive result."

On whether the team disappointed him:

"No, I won't say this team has disappointed me at all. Quite the opposite. To have the guys that we have, and to do what we do, and to unfortunately be in a situation where six games come down to you having a chance to win at the end and your guys are still fighting, I think that is a special group of guys. We just have to win. But, to say that these guys have disappointed me is far from the truth. Unfortunately, character does not show in numbers in the game. But I cannot tell you how proud I am of these guys. Do we have a lot of work to do? Trust me, you have eyes, we have a lot of work to do. Do we have a lot of great players on this team? We have some players that are really developing and will soon be great players once they learn how to focus, once they learn how capture the vision and understand what it is, once they learn the little things. What they think are secrets are not secrets, it is just a matter of confidence and consistency. No, I am far from being disappointed in this team."

On whether he is frustrated the team hasn't already figured the little things out:

"Frustrated is a great word, for lack of maybe other words. Frustration is a tremendous word to fill in the blank. You go out and you play a game like yesterday and you end up on the losing side, the only thing you tell your players is that we just have to stay together. We have to continue moving forward. The ground work from this, somehow, someway this will be a positive for us going forward, but right now it doesn't feel that way."

On whether there is still a unity of purpose in the locker room:

"There will always be a unity of purpose in our locker room."

On how much he second guesses his or his coaches' decisions in the game:

"I wouldn't say second guessing of myself is something I would do at all, in terms of what I know second guessing to mean. I don't second guess anything about myself. I don't second guess some of the decisions to go for it on fourth down. I don't second guess some of the challenging of the calls. I don't second guess any of those kinds of things. Some things happened yesterday, as far as the punt situation and miscommunication on that, that was just one of those things that happened. Frustrating, but it happened. Just miscommunication."

On what the miscommunication was:

"The miscommunication was - we worked on it in practice, therefore we are going to do it in the game and that was my fault for not articulating that. We might do it in the game, but we're not for sure going to do it in the game. That's my fault for not making that more plain."

On whether the call on the punt return was a reverse:

"Let me just put it this way. It was my fault. Whenever something like that happens it's my fault because the communication should have been better. Because we did it in practice that week, we were going to do it in the game and we did not hit on the same - we didn't touch on it the way we should have, to say we are definitely going to do that in the game."

On whether the weather or the way the game was going that in retrospect, he wouldn't have done the reverse:

"I think it's a situation in which you've got two players back there and the one player, [WR] Brandon Jones, is not really your normal guy to do that. So, maybe you don't want to have him doing that; just go ahead and let [WR] Arnaz [Battle] return punts. Let's just keep it simple going forward with that. We did practice it last week, so it showed up in the game."

On whether they went on the field knowing that they were going to execute the reverse:

"Just to clarify, it was bad communication and it was on my behalf. Nothing more than that. It's starts with me, that's me."

On whether he will be sending any tape into the league on some of the questionable calls the referees made:

"Every week we send a letter to the league about different calls that are made or not made in a game. Just to say this week, there will be several paragraphs that will be going to the league."

On whether there is one call he is particularly upset about:

"There were many."

On the non-call on TE Delanie Walker and whether it was talked about on the flight home:

"Let me say this before I go too far down this road, obviously there were bad calls made and I think in every game there are bad calls made. Yesterday, for me, there were just a few more than I had witnessed maybe since I've been in the league and I just want to make sure that our players, coaching staff, our fans, everybody involved with the 49ers, everybody that cares about the 49ers, I want them to understand that this is not about the referees. They didn't fumble the ball. They didn't throw interceptions. They didn't make bad plays, we did. So I don't want to put this on the referees. I certainly feel that some of those calls were questionable, but if we had done what we were supposed to do, we overcome that and we win the football game."

On why CB Keith Smith was inserted during the game:

"We just had a few guys getting a little tight in the legs and they had to put some receivers on the field to try and get some match ups. A few more receivers, four receivers and we just needed to match up. We just felt that he was a good match up and he really did a pretty decent job coming in and playing the limited amount of time that he did."

On who Keith Smith was substituting for in the secondary:

"Michael Lewis would come out."

On what happened on the team's last offensive drive:

"On our offensive drive, we just didn't make the plays it's as simple as that."

On whether or not he was okay with the calls:

"Once again, you look for better calls after the calls are made. If we make the plays, then we're not talking about the calls. I just wished they would've worked, but no I don't question the calls at all.'

On whether he feels comfortable with Jimmy Raye as his offensive coordinator:

"Absolutely, I think that Jimmy has adapted and adjusted. I think he's going 180, 360 anything that I've asked him to do he's been more than willing to do and I think that he's done a fine job. I think that Alex has adjusted to him well. I think that he and Alex are on the same page along with [QB coach] Mike Johnson. All of the guys are on the same page and I think that it looked that way yesterday. Alex is feeling as comfortably as he feels and I think that everybody's on the same page moving forward."

On how much of a role does quarterbacks coach Mike Johnson have in the team's game planning and is he being groomed by Jimmy Raye for an offensive coordinator position:

"I think that Mike Johnson and Jimmy Raye just continue to develop their relationship. There's a synergy there, a flow there and they spend a lot of time talking, a lot of time in conversation and Alex Smith is also part of some of that conversation in terms of basically asking him the questions as, ‘Are you comfortable with this? Do you like this? What about this?' And Alex is able to have some feedback. So, I think that it's been a work in progress, but I think that it's working very well."

On whether it is part of his long term plan to move Mike Johnson in as an offensive coordinator:

"You know what, I want to talk about the short term plan right now and stay focused on that before I talk about long term plans."

On the slim chances of making the playoffs:

"I think that by the time the last game rolls around they'll play their math game as if this one loses or this - I could care less about that. I think the only thing that we need to be focused on is that Arizona is coming up. I mean, hopefully we can gather the things that we need to gather amongst ourselves. Yesterday was a tough loss. I am not thinking that we might not be able to rally together and play a good game but, I want to win this game Monday night. I want people to see that the 49ers are a team that's out here in the west that really isn't the same team. Something is happening out here and hopefully we can show that on Monday."

On whether it's more frustrating to see the team not play smart or not play well:

"Yes, you could say that. Yes, when the opportunities are there for us to make plays and you don't make those plays, it's frustrating. It's frustrating for the players. It's frustrating for the coaches because you know that making a play makes a difference. But I think that the bottom line is that when you lose games, no matter how you lose them, it's frustrating."

Max Unger Bullies Dre Bly as Justin Forsett Charges By

John Morgan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 23:14:36 -0000

More photos » by Elaine Thompson - AP

It took a lockdown by Chris Spencer, a cut by Rob Sims and pancake by Max Unger to score Seattle's second touchdown.

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As Fox would have it, my broadcast didn't start until the second quarter. It's Seattle ball, third and one on the Seahawks 22. As fate would have it, the Seahawks drove down the field and scored to pull ahead 14-7.

Max Unger mostly did yeoman's work. He started with a modest single block. The next play he pulled out with better release than previously shown and was able to cut across the field and lead block for Julius Jones on the right. Unger ran a long way but never did block anyone. On the third play of the quarter, he single blocked the left defensive end and again held his ground. Seattle had converted two firsts on three plays and gained 26 yards.

Unger was uncovered. Chris Spencer took on the nose and Ray Willis the left defensive end. Unger pulled out and attempted to block out Takeo Spikes, but Spikes started right of center and read and reacted to the play before Unger could pull out and engage him. Spikes capped the hole and took part in the tackle of Just Forsett after a gain of one.

He put a glancing block on the nose tackle when the Seahawks line shifted left. Matt Hasselbeck rolled right and released before Unger could factor further. Hasselbeck found Burleson for eight and a new set of downs. Forsett ran behind right guard on the following play, and Unger teamed with Spencer to turn the nose guard. Seattle fought hard for three.

Finally we see Unger get beat, but unlike previous weeks, Unger wasn't beat back, discarded, thrown or knocked over. Nose tackle Aubrayo Franklin bested him off the snap, but Unger recovered, showing the tenacity he showed at Oregon, and getting stout when it mattered. Franklin pushed no further.

He double teamed the left defensive end on the next two plays. In the first, he attempted to slide off Isaac Sopoaga and block into the second level but never found his man. He held ground but didn't factor otherwise on the second play. Jones attempted a cut block on Manny Lawson, succeeded only in bouncing off Lawson, scrambled to his feet and caught Hasselbeck's outlet pass. The play went for -2.

Forsett curled, caught and unwound towards the end zone to score six and give Seattle the lead. He was in before a defender could touch him. Spencer pulled out immediately and wormed into Willis' body. Last season, Spencer slammed Willis but Willis slammed back, separating and tackling Jones after eight. This time, Spencer stayed with Willis, not attempting the knockdown block, but keeping on him, staying square and jogging the All Pro into the end zone. Sims pulled late but cut Mark Roman on a crucial backside block. Unger pulled cleanly, found Dre Bly and threw a schoolyard beatdown on the former Pro Bowler. He squared, coiled and blocked Bly into the air and onto his back. Touchdown.

Shitcan Your Mock Drafts, the Seahawks of the Future are the Seahawks of Today: Max Unger and Josh Wilson

John Morgan — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 21:55:55 -0000

More photos » by Alex Brandon - AP

Brian Orakpo has seven sacks splitting snaps between linebacker and defensive end. The Redskins are out of the playoff hunt and their defense has declined.

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Mock drafts heat up this time of year as top prospects define themselves and declare, and fans of bad teams begin looking toward the future. It's easy to forget, imagining C.J. Spiller or Gerald McCoy, that every team in the NFL is constructed from draft picks. Draft picks that did not remake the franchise or dominate from snap one, but that struggled to make a roster, struggled as rookies, near-rookies, bounced between teams, or went, within the time of a single season, from savior to goat to savior. Draft picks that started hot and started cold, that were hyped, undersold, called bust and steal, that stole someone's heart in a bowl game and broke it blowing an assignment.

Aaron Curry was the consensus best linebacker in an historic linebacker draft. Factor in Brian Orakpo, who splits time between end and outside linebacker, and the first two rounds produced ten linebackers credited with 59 starts, 21.5 sacks, 28 tackles for a loss, 25 passes defended, six interceptions and eight forced fumbles. The last linebacker selected in the first day, Cody Brown, selected 63^rd overall by the Arizona Cardinals, was placed on injured reserve before the season started.

Not one of those picks has significantly changed his team's playoff chances. Not because they've failed or that linebacker play is trivial, but because the best of the best draft picks, healthy and roaring towards their potential in record time, still can not fix, sink or significantly alter a team's future. One draft doesn't do it.

The future of the Seattle Seahawks starts with the 53 man roster: The imports, the projects, the recent class and the class of two, three and four years ago. So instead of fixating on the devilish lie of what could be, let's immerse ourselves in what is.

Max Unger excited before becoming a professional. Now he's just another offensive lineman. But how good is the rookie doing? He's been outmuscled at times and arguably the worst regular offensive lineman on a mediocre unit. Those are global impressions though, ones I could have written the day after Unger was drafted. What did Unger do yesterday? That's my focus this week.

Unger and Josh Wilson, two second round picks that stuck, that are under contract, and that, no matter the new GM, are Seahawks to stay. And both, either, a more important part of Seattle's future than quarterback x, running back y or Hawkblock's newest Mock Mock.