I'm not so sure the D deserves many props.  A few drops by Bengal receivers in the 4th quarter really let our D off the hook.  Our pass rush looked pretty inconsistent to me and it seemed as though Lofa disappeared.  But hey, at least we won.  

Brought to you by Shrug!  He'll start a great blog for you and give it up eventually but he sure as fuck wont go away! =D

Just kiddin' ya.

I've been reading this site for a while, and I really respect all your work Mr. Morgan, however I do not agree with your assisment of Alexander. I watched the game today with my father who was a scout and worked in the NFL for over 25 years, and I showed him your past assesments of Alexander from this year, and while he did not completly disagree, with you he did think that you were far to critical of him. He agree's that he's lost a step these past few years, but he still believes that Alexander is a top notch running back, and that fact that he's on pace for over 1,500 yards supports that.

My dad says that Alexander takes advantage of the defense late in the game because they are tired. He belives that Alexander will be helped out by a second back who is more of a bruiser, who will wear down defenses, Weaver might be that guy, but from what I have seen that's not really his style. My dad does agree that his pass protection is horrible, but he believes he is a decent pass catcher it's just his wrist.

The only thing really uncharacteristic about Alexander this year is he is getting off to slow starts every game, it's hard to tell why the o-line seems to be doing a good job, hopefully that will change, and when Mo gets healthy, or Weaver steps up it will help Alexander out.

I read so far about a half a dozen columnist say that the Seattle crowd was worse then Philly fans today when they boo'd Alexander. Again I respect your opinion a lot, but my dad and tons of sports columnist do not share your opinion.    

I've read about a dozen recaps of the game so far and all of them have said that Alexander did not have many holes in the first half, a scout of over 25 years said the same thing. I will say that when he did have a hole he did not hit it very hard, if his wrist is hurt bad I don't blame him. He was effective with his runs off tackle for the most part, which leads me and my father to believe that his wrist is making it hard to run inside.

Welcome Joeshow12 and Kevman24!  Always good to have more fellow 'Hawks around!  Don't let our disagreements put you off.  We're here to cheer our team first and foremost.  John does a hell of a job brining "new" facets of the game to light, so maybe you can take something away from this.

As for me?  I'm still giggling like a girl watching replays of Nate Burleson's 4th quarter touchdown today.  Hee hee hee hee...

First of all, what website is best for obtaining detailed statistics for a game?  The NFL is terrible about which statistics are "official" and most sites don't even include fumbles in their lines.

My impression of Alexander, and I wish I had the numbers to convince me, was that he wasn't getting many yards after contact.  Am I off base in this?  I don't mind if my running back isn't as fast as Warrick Dunn as long as he's not just as easy to tackle as well.  Does the wrist brace factor into this, or is it a more pressing concern?

of putting that foot on the sideline to avoid the hit, and to be honest, it's never really bothered me either.  I've never believed in the argument of his "lacking toughness" that he's earned by everyone in the mainstream media.

It's the arm tackles that worry me.  Avoiding the head-on collision is fine, but it seems like defensive tackles (who were getting blocked fairly well) were able to bring him down at the line before the second wave got there.  

I'm completely exhausted after playing the Lookout Landing softball game, driving back to Portland, getting a call from a friend in Seattle who had an extra ticket, making the drive back up to Seattle, watching the game, then driving back down to Portland again. But it was worth it.

• 
  
• Chad Johnson abused our Cover 2 like the Marquis de Sade abused prostitutes (too soon?). I heard people yelling as we were leaving the stadium that "Ocho F*ck-o didn't do shit against us! We dominated him!" Umm...I guess if you consider 9 catches for 138 yards being dominated...Our secondary really scared me. I understand that we were facing a top-tier passing offense, but when the opposing quarterback passes for as many yards as Palmer did, something's wrong. Sure, we got lucky with some turnovers, but that doesn't change the fact that our defense is extremely porous. The only hard hit I saw today was Hill's hit on Rudi Johnson as he was going out of bounds.
• Hasselbeck was a machine out there today. I was extremely impressed by his even distribution of passes, and his quick reads. The only time he really made a poor decision was the safety play. It looked to be a quick slant sort of play, a one-read play. However, his one read was covered and instead of throwing the ball away, he tried for a second and third read and by that time it was too late. I don't really hang that safety on the offensive line--it looked to be on Hass.
• From my seat in the stadium, it looked as if Shaun was getting plenty of holes in the first half, he just wasn't hitting them. There were several times when he got 3 yards, but looked as if he could have gotten a lot more.
• Pollard did not do his job well today. He got absolutely ZERO separation. I didn't really pay too much attention to his blocking, but he was all but invisible in the passing game. Does he just not have the speed to get more than 5 yards deep on a passing play?
• What's up with Plack? He had a couple of pretty good punts, but he also had a couple of real stinkers. It looked like he was struggling in the pregame warm up too. Did anybody else notice that?
• The halftime show was absolutely terrible. Salsa dancing? Yuck.

there appeared to be holes or creases for Shaun to exploit but for whatever reason he was unable to. When John re-watches the game maybe he can confirm or deny that. I don't blame him for runs of no gain or loss when the D blows up the play (just look at LT this year...you can't run through a wall)but I do blame him  when the O line gives him something that should be positive and he struggles to get back to the line of scrimmage.

He doesn't block well or receive well either.  Does this make any sense people????? HE IS A LIABILITY. As a player, his only redeeming quality is that he rarely fumbles.

John- since the game I've been thinking that yards gained in a game or yards to carries is not necessarily an accurate way to judge a rushing performance. As you know, Shaun rushed for 100 yards on 21 carries yesterday for a nice 4.8 yards per carry average. On the surface, that looks like a solid performance. If you watched the game you know different.

Take a rush of 30 yards compared to 5 rushes for 30 yards. The former will make your stats look good in addition to the obvious benefit of gaining 30 yards. But if you analyze the 5 rushes for 30 yards, it's possible for them to be of more value. Say one run for 4 yards on a 3rd and 6 gets you a first down. And assume the yards were tough - a broken tackle with a couple of nice moves thrown in - with not much help from the line. The above example are what Shaun NEVER gives us. You can extrapolate similiar runs for the other four rushes; you get the point.

Think of all the 3rd and 7's that should be 3rd and 3, 4th and 2's that should be 1st and 10, 2nd and 10's that should be 2nd and 6, etc. This is where games are won and lost. All those drives ended early because key yardage is not gained. Take away the couple long runs of 20 yards or so and you have a 60 yard on 20 carry performance which to me more accurately reflects his performance yesterday.

Agreed...until either Shaun upgrades himself (unlikely) or we get somebody else to assume more of the rushing load, this teams potential will not be realized.