The Tape: John Carlson's and Josh Wilson's Second Quarter

by John Morgan on Nov 19, 2008 2:31 PM PST in Game Recap

Matt Hasselbeck has avoided blame, but played terrible. Excuses abound, valid and otherwise. When a fan favorite declines, fans tend to take the long route to accepting it, ripping through the new, disliked and provably bad player's first. And though I'm a long way from saying Hasselbeck has spiraled into an inexorable decline towards retirement a la Shaun Alexander, it's overdue we recognize that this season might be Hasselebeck's first step towards losing it. It's not controversial to say a 33 year old quarterback with an intermediate peak and a lengthy injury history might be in the midst of decline, it's controversial to say your team's 33 year old quarterback with a intermediate peak and a lengthy injury might be in the midst of decline. This isn't just about timing, injury and surrounding talent, Hasselbeck is making bad reads. On both of Rogers-Cromartie's picks, the pass was thrown slow enough that Rogers-Cromartie simply overtook the receiver without breaking coverage. I want the Beck of old back as much as anyone, but what has he done to make us believe that's possible?

John Carlson

Quick Curl in the middle, open
Blocks out Gerald Hayes
Good block
Slow release, Beck sacked
Motions right to left, pulls right in front of Julius Jones, blocks DB
Outlet right
So-so block against Chike Okeafor
Trips, does not factor

Second Drive

Seam route
Drag, completely open, Hasselbeck throws a pick

Third Drive

Double hitch corner route; awesome route, wide open, drops ball
Good block, outlets right

Curl, decoy, Morris for the score. Carlson is Seattle's first tight end since Stevens opponents are clearly game planning for. Assuming this offense progresses, Carlson's presence should help open up plays underneath.

Josh Wilson

Off to Man cover, tight cover down the sideline, nearly tips it, no deep help, a second early on the jump. Wilson is coming down as Fitzgerald is receiving the pass.
Dime, drops, tackles Jordan Babineaux's assignment. Gets shoulder pat from Tats.
Dime, does not factor.
Blitz, blocked in back.
Blown coverage Babs, Wilson tackles Babs assignment.
Dime, does not factor.
Dime, does not factor.
Dime, does not factor. (Tapp sack)

Second Drive

Run, blocked out by Fitz
Dime, does not factor. (Seattle played a lot of Dime)
Dime, tracks Jerheme's Urban's route perfectly, tracks Warner's eye, pass, breaks on ball, picks, nearly runs it in for the score. Wilson is remarkably advanced at shadowing routes while simultaneously tracking the ball in flight. Trufant didn't show such ball skill before last season.

Third Drive

Dime, does not factor.
Dime, covers Urban
Dime, does not factor.
Dime, does not factor.
Protect right mid-flat, does not factor

0 recs | Comment 13 comments

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How much of Hasselbeck's poor reads

can be attributed to rust? I know he was playing injured at the start of the season and missed some of preseason, and he just came back from several weeks off against Arizona. Can his reads just be due to not being up to game speed or still being injured? He also seemed to be a bit out of it after the Arizona game, so could he have been not his usual self during the game?

by SuperShadow on Nov 19, 2008 3:03 PM PST 0 recs

I don't think his usual self is every going to come back on semi-consistent basis

Not with his injury history and age creeping up on him. When he gets back in to the flow of things, I think we can still expect him to be an above-average QB.

by SeaTownBlueDevil on Nov 19, 2008 3:33 PM PST up 0 recs

for Matt to make "bad reads" because he's aging doesn't make any sense

You get BETTER at making reads as you age.

It makes far more sense to say that being out due to the injury has made him rusty. And that’s not even considering that Branch was just coming back too, or that the last time Matt threw a ball to Robinson was like three years ago.

I’m not saying that Matt’s going to stay perfect until he’s 40. But since John was talking about how good Kurt Warner was (a guy who’s been injured constantly, with much less playing time), I don’t see why Matt can’t stay an effective QB for at least another few years.

by djafrot on Nov 19, 2008 3:26 PM PST 0 recs

Read can decline with age, because ability can decline with age.

When a player can no longer do what he thinks he can, a good read can turn bad. Furthermore, when a player knows he can’t do what he must, a bad target might be selected instead of a pass that can’t be made.

by John Morgan on Nov 19, 2008 3:47 PM PST up 0 recs

so you're saying that Matt's arm strength is now in decline?

Could be true. That last pass to Branch that was intercepted didn’t look completable by anyone, the defender had exemplary coverage.

Certainly a bad back doesn’t help. He looked quite good on a few deep outs/corners.

But… isn’t the fact that our offense doesn’t rely on deep throws mean that Matt could stay a viable QB here for some time?

by djafrot on Nov 19, 2008 3:55 PM PST up 0 recs

It's not just about the deep throw

In fact, almost any quarterback can throw it deep. It’s about getting enough zip on a pass that the defender can’t jump the route or clobber the receiver. I haven’t seen Hasselbeck throw into a tight window and recently, even good passes seem to turn bad.

by John Morgan on Nov 19, 2008 4:04 PM PST up 0 recs

I do think the back contributes

I only wonder if we can be sure his back is really fixed. Hearing that report about specialist in Canada, I had flashbacks of Alexander’s magic foot.

by John Morgan on Nov 19, 2008 4:05 PM PST up 0 recs

For what it's worth...

If the back is a consistent injury that is going to really be dragging Matt’s play down, than I am completely on board with you about next year.

"Hey, guess what? Nobody cares who would win in a crazy fantasy fist-fight between Anne Frank and Lizzie Borden." The Monarch

by crushedoptimist on Nov 19, 2008 4:15 PM PST up 0 recs

huh, I'll have to watch that last game again

because I thought his zip was pretty good.

Of course, that was after watching Seneca for a few games.

by djafrot on Nov 20, 2008 2:29 AM PST up 0 recs

Talk about jumping to conclusions

Judging a quarterback with no WR corps to speak of before he got injured, who has just come back and played with two days practice and no games in four weeks, still with barely anything wrt effective WRs, is a way of judging QBs that is virtually guaranteed to be mistaken.

by VBJohnson on Nov 19, 2008 8:14 PM PST 0 recs

it's a fair point that injuries stop being flukey as you get older

as Hasselbeck ages, it’s likely he’ll be more and more likely in this situation, rusty after an extended injury. At some point, that’s the deal you’re getting, sort of like the Crushing Drew Bledsoe Interception or the Agonizing Kurt Warner Fumble.

And no one’s using this game to say Matt’s done.

by Will Kier on Nov 19, 2008 8:32 PM PST up 0 recs

We have never seen Hasselbeck

with a great WR corps. And each year after Ruskell arrived the WR corps has declined to its present state: totally ineffective. Even before then it was mediocre at best.

With a good WR corps comprised of one or two guys getting open on every play, and then able to catch the ball. Hasselbeck will be back to Pro Bowl level instantly. There are plenty of QBs older than Hasselbeck in the NFL playing without significant injury.

by VBJohnson on Nov 20, 2008 7:42 AM PST up 0 recs

Rusty..

That was the story in the beginning of the season too. I think Hasselbeck is still the starter here until he plays himself out of the job or gets hurt again… I think we should get the next QB and put him in a backup role, and maybe Hasselback will play 16 games in true from next year, maybe not, either way we have chase daniel or matt stafford or something to step in.

We will get a better picture of where Matt is and is going over the next few games..

by michaelfox99 on Nov 20, 2008 5:21 AM PST 0 recs