Here is a wrap up of what we've been talking about at Field Gulls this week.
The Seahawks' Playbook: Opening Drive in Week 17 Win over St. Louis, Part I - Field Gulls: The Seahawks, and Jeremy Bates in particular, got a lot of praise for their offensive game-planning in their pivotal Week 17 win over St. Louis last season. Their first drive was a good example of what you do when you cannot run the ball if your life depended on it - you use a mix of plays, misdirection, screens, bubbles, a moving pocket, and keep the defense honest by throwing the ball vertically.
The Seahawks' Playbook: Opening Drive in Week 17 Win Over St. Louis, Part II - Field Gulls: A continued look at the Seahawks first drive in their pivotal Week 17 win over St. Louis.
The Replay Booth: The Value of a Dedicated Fullback - Field Gulls: For those of you that are regular readers here you probably already know I've got a soft spot for the old-school, big, huge bruising fullbacks like Mack Strong and often will lament here on Field Gulls the fact that the Seahawks don't have anyone like that on the roster.
Assessing the Seahawks' Roster: Linebackers - Field Gulls: The linebacking corps is one that has been very strong historically for the Seahawks, or at least in the last 5-10 years anyway, and barring any injuries in 2011, should remain relatively strong. That said, the depth there is tenuous at best and will need to be addressed through free agency or trades.
The 2011 Seattle Seahawks Season: All I Want Is Everything I Ask For - Field Gulls: There are some things we all want out of next football season. They are the same things every fan of every team wants every year -- double-digit wins, a deep playoff run, a Super Bowl championship, etc. Those wishes are the driving forces and ultimate ideals of fanhood, but there are a lot of other events and developments that happen along the way. After all, it's likely that less than a third of the teams in the NFL will win ten or more regular season games. Just four teams will have what I would consider a "deep" playoff run. Only one will hoist the Lombardi Trophy.
The NFL Is A Copycat League: The Seattle Seahawks and the New York Jets - Field Gulls: This is just a loose theory and is probably the byproduct of way too much time during the lockout to think about this stuff, but when you look a little bit at the main characteristics of the New York Jets, you might start to see similarities to the Seattle Seahawks.
Seahawks On the Airwaves: Golden Tate on NFL Lockout, His Second Season, and the Seahawks' QB Situation - Field Gulls: Seahawks' wide receiver Golden Tate was on 710 ESPN's Bob and Groz show the other day and had a lot of interesting things to say.
NFL Network's Jason La Canfora on the Seahawks and Matt Hasselbeck, via Mitch Levy 950 KJR - Field Gulls: Jason La Canfora was on Mitch in the Morning KJR 950 yesterday and had some really interesting things to say about the Seahawks' situation at quarterback and specifically Matt Hasselbeck's chances of returning
Seahawks on the Airwaves: DB Roy Lewis on the NFL Lockout, His Rehab, and Matt Hasselbeck - Field Gulls: Seahawks defensive back Roy Lewis was on Dave Softy Mahler's show on Tuesday and talked on a couple subjects. I've transcribed some some of the remarks he made on what he's doing during the lockout, his views on an 18-game season, and what he thinks of free agent Matt Hasselbeck's return.
So We've Got That Going For Us, Which Is Nice: Tom Cable Edition - Field Gulls: I just want to say how stoked I am that Tom Cable got fired from the Raiders. That's not to say I wish him any failure in his career, I am just really glad he's now the Seahawks' O-Line coach and Assistant Head Coach. Why? Find out here...
The NFL Lockout: An Op-Ed Piece - Field Gulls: The NFL lockout has dragged on for over one hundred days now and I've got some thoughts on it. I tried to get the New York Times to publish this in their op-ed section but they won't return my faxes. I'm not even sure if you can return faxes. I'm not even sure if this is a fax machine or a printer, actually.
NFL Lockout, Labor Talks Progressing; "Cautious Optimism" Reported - Field Gulls: As NFL Lockout chugs along past 100 days now, NFL Owners and Players met again for a second straight day on Thursday in an attempt to iron out the details of a new CBA proposal.
NFL Lockout: Proposed CBA Would Make 4-Year Veterans Unrestricted Free Agents in 2011 - Field Gulls: Yesterday rumors spread that Roger Goodell was in Chicago to pitch a new CBA proposal to the NFL ownership group. One of the stipulations of this new CBA would be that restricted free agents with 4+ years of service would become unrestricted free agents. This is pretty big news because this list of RFAs is a long one.
NFL Lockout: Details Emerging From New CBA Proposal - Field Gulls: The NFL owners are meeting in Chicago today and the news coming out from there indicate that they seem to be going well. Rumors and whispers of optimism have flooded the internets, and according to Chris Mortenson, details have been leaked on the proposed CBA Roger Goodell is explaining and pitching to the owners.