Coffee & Cigarettes: Seahawks links for Thursday

Links.

Russell Wilson Is The Quarterback Darrell Bevell Always Wanted
Nineteen years ago, Darrell Bevell, a redshirt freshman transfer fresh off his Mormon mission, led Wisconsin to its first Rose Bowl win—an ugly 21-16 victory over UCLA that featured seven fumbles. Bevell's clinching touchdown came on a particularly un-balletic play. The video isn't online, but here's how Jon Roe described it in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune:

NFL Draft prospects to watch in bowl games: Part 2 - NFL - Tony Pauline - SI.com
Breaking down the players to watch in the season's first batch of bowl games, as well as a projection as to where they'll be drafted.

Break It Down: Russell Wilson’s offense tears apart San Francisco | Audibles - SI.com
The first time that the Seahawks and 49ers met this season, Seattle mustered all of six points in a loss. Sunday night, Pete Carroll’s team hung 42 on its division rivals. What changed?

Seahawks.com Blog | Carroll: Trufant set for return to practice
Head Coach Pete Carroll addressed the media this afternoon as part of his weekly Wednesday press conference ahead of this afternoon’s 2:00 p.m. practice and preparation for their Week 17 matchup with the St.Louis Rams on Sunday at CenturyLink Field.

San Francisco 49ers – Niner Insider Blog – SFGate.com " Practice-squad WRs Lockette, Hall vying for open roster spot
With Mario Manningham out with a season-ending knee injury, Jim Harbaugh said the 49ers will fill his spot on the 53-man roster by promoting a member of the practice squad. Harbaugh said it wouldn’t necessarily be a wideout. About 30 minutes later, however, Hall said it’s likely a two-man competition. "They told Ricardo and I to be ready," Hall said. "It’s probably one of ya’ll that’s going to be up this week. They’ve definitely hinted at it, but you just take it like I do every other week and prepare the same and always be ready."

Week 17 - Carroll Press Conference Wednesday
Pete Carroll discusses how the team is getting ready for their final regular season game against the St. Louis Rams.

Week 17 - Bevell Press Conference
Offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell talks with the media about the Seahawks' selections to the Pro Bowl as the team prepares for their final regular season game against the Rams.

Boxing Day mock draft " Seahawks Draft Blog
Imagine Seattle’s offense with one more great receiver. The Seahawks are averaging 50 points a game in their last three outings. They’re running the ball efficiently. Russell Wilson is throwing the ball well. Everything is clicking. But just imagine this offense with one more talented wide out to go with Sidney Rice, Golden Tate and Doug Baldwin. Doesn’t Wilson deserve to be complimented with more weapons? Are you not intrigued to see just how good he could be with another game changing receiver on the roster?

Seahawks.com Blog | Up next: St. Louis Rams
Star power: Janoris Jenkins. Yes, he’s only a rookie cornerback. But just look at what this rookie cornerback has done. Sunday, he returned an interception 41 yards for a touchdown. It was his third pick-six of the season, and only two other rookies have done that – the 49ers’ Ronnie Lott in 1981 and the Lions’ Lem Barney in 1967. But that’s not all. The Rams’ second-round draft choice also has returned a fumble for a TD. And his teammates just love watching Jenkins get his hands on the ball. "When he steals the ball, it’s almost like Madden for me," left tackle Rodger Saffold said, referring to the popular video game named after the former Raiders coach, not John Madden himself. "I’m literally like, ‘OK, cut inside! OK, go right! Get in the end zone. Good job!’ " Jenkins is averaging 37.5 yards on his four interceptions, including the one he didn’t score on. During a conference-call interview on Wednesday, Rams coach Jeff Fisher said, "He’s an outstanding young man. Loves the game. Understands the game. And he’s certainly over the last three, four weeks improved significantly. I don’t want to say he’s guessing right, but he’s making good decisions out there and it’s been paying off for him."

NFC West Pro Bowl analysis - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Perfect sense: The San Francisco 49ers put nine in the Pro Bowl. The Seattle Seahawks were next among NFC West teams with five. Arizona had one. St. Louis had none. These results were not shocking.

QBs in focus for Rams-Seahawks rematch - NFC West Blog - ESPN
For the past couple years, the St. Louis Rams could point past their on-field struggles to a brighter future with a franchise quarterback. Sam Bradford was what separated the Rams from their division rivals, at least over the long term. The Rams have improved this season. They are 7-7-1 overall and 4-0-1 against the NFC West. But as they close out their season at Seattle in Week 17, the quarterback dynamics have changed in the NFC West.

Inside Slant: Offensive Rookie of Year - NFC West Blog - ESPN
Andrew Luck and Robert Griffin III were favorites to become offensive rookie of the year in 2012. The online sportsbook Bovada gave odds for Luck, Griffin and 15 other rookies back on Aug. 12. Russell Wilson wasn't one of the other 15. The Seattle Seahawks hadn't even named him their starter.

Division thoughts, including Flynn's future - NFC West Blog - ESPN
As a result, the Seahawks could maintain the status quo at the position if they wanted to do so. They could attempt to trade Flynn if they wanted value in return for a player no longer projecting as a starter. Seattle has already paid a $6 million bonus to Flynn. That bonus carries a $2 million cap charge in each year of the deal. Only the Seahawks would have to account for those charges if Flynn were traded. The acquiring team would be responsible for the $5.25 million and $6.25 million salaries in 2013 and 2014, respectively.

Wilson, Seahawks offense taking off | Seahawks | The Seattle Times
The NFL's most prolific three-game scoring binge in 62 years actually began four games ago with a bit of desperation and a whole lot of urgency.

7 Hawks miss Wednesday’s practice | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
The Seattle Seahawks had seven players miss practice due to injury today.

DE Ray Edwards is not coming to Seattle | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
The Seahawks are not expected to sign free agent defensive lineman Ray Edwards, who they reportedly worked out on Monday. But Seattle did make a roster move, releasing defensive end Monte Taylor from the practice squad and bringing back tight end Cooper Helfet.

Fisher says Seahawks on a mission | Seahawks Insider - The News Tribune
"First of all, I can’t remember a team that’s averaging 50 points a game over three consecutive weeks, so that’s impressive," Fisher said. "And you’re talking about a team that’s one six out of their last seven. They’re younger players are getting better and better. It starts with the quarterback. "They’re healthy. They’re playing hard. And they’re making plays in all three phases. … It’s an improved team that’s playing with a great deal of confidence and emotion, and that’s on a mission."

The cup is half full, half empty when it comes to Richard Sherman | Seattle Seahawks - The News Tribune
’Tis the holiday season … time for the Seahawks to be grateful for their bounty. In fact, their cups runneth over. At least that’s Richard Sherman’s story. This is the gist of Sherman’s reported appeal with the NFL over his four-game suspension for a banned-substance violation: His specimen container sprung a leak and the collector preserved the sample by putting another cup under the first.

2013 Pro Bowl's big snubs: Richard Sherman robbed - NFL.com
1. Richard Sherman, Seattle Seahawks cornerback Was this punishment for Sherman's potential suspension or just a grievous oversight? Sherman was eligible to make the NFC team, but voters must have taken his reported positive drug test into consideration. Most seasons, Sherman would be a candidate for NFL Defensive Player of the Year. It's an absolute joke that Patrick Peterson made the NFC team over Sherman. Peterson is a very talented cornerback and improved this season for the Arizona Cardinals, but his play was too up and down. We'd also put Antoine Winfield on the team over Tim Jennings or Peterson, although Jennings was plenty worthy.

Russell Wilson’s amazing scramble is yet another reason the Seahawks are a dangerous playoff foe | Shutdown Corner - Yahoo! Sports
With 12:56 left in the third quarter of last Sunday's game between the Seattle Seahawks and the San Francisco 49ers, Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson pulled off a scramble that would have made perennially grumpy ex-quarterback Fran Tarkenton happy and proud. Finding his receivers covered, Wilson executed a Tarkenton-like series of moves, juking 49ers defenders Aldon Smith and Ahmad Brooks out of their shoes twice each, and eventually running from the right-side numbers to the left in an amazing play that detailed Wilson's ingenuity and resourcefulness.

5 bold predictions for 2013 | National Football Post
1) A soft free agency period: The amount of yearly cash spent for in-season extensions are down dramatically for 2012. It’s down more than 50% over the five previous seasons. In addition, the annual cap reset historically gave the majority of teams with cap pressures instant relief. Not this year! The 2013 cap has actually gone south thus putting more pressure on teams with hefty cap numbers this year. Don’t expect those with cash and cap room available to go on a spending spree in free agency. The en vogue move to make is to secure your franchise players for the long term, spend on defensive players in free agency, and sign just one big free agent deal versus two or three like we’ve seen in the past decade (minus the cap-less year). The large amount spent by the disappointing Bills and Eagles in free agency in the last two years won’t encourage teams to spend.

This is how you execute the 'Tunnel Screen' | National Football Post
All-22 look at Roddy White's TD vs. Lions.

NFP's Top 200 Draft Prospects - Version 2.0 | National Football Post
NFP brings its updated Top 200 Prospect Rankings.

They may not win, but these guys deserve Coach of Year consideration - CBSSports.com
Pete Carroll, Seattle Carroll hasn't had a winning season in Seattle ... until now, that is. And now he has a team so dangerous, so hot, so freakin' intimidating that nobody wants to meet the Seahawks in the playoffs. In their last three games, they outscored opponents 150-30, and that includes a 42-13 hammering of San Francisco and Jim Harbaugh -- the worst loss in Harbaugh's short pro career. The Seahawks probably won't win the NFC West; the 49ers will. But tell me you'd rather meet these guys now. They're a load. Russell Wilson can't lose. Marshawn Lynch is the league's second-leading rusher. And that defense ... it hits as hard as San Francisco and lately has been more effective. When Carroll this season turned over his offense to an undersized rookie quarterback, I wondered what he was doing. After all, wasn't he the guy who told us Matt Flynn was the answer at that position? But that's why Carroll makes the big bucks. He acknowledged the obvious, which was that Wilson had the better training camp and preseason, and he was willing to take the leap. It didn't matter that Flynn had the experience or the bigger contract. What mattered, Carroll reminded us, was which quarterback gave him the best chance to win. Smart man.

FOOTBALL OUTSIDERS: Innovative Statistics, Intelligent Analysis | Scramble for the Ball: Lead-Back Trends
In the preseason, I had a piece in ESPN: The Magazine's fantasy football issue on Arian Foster. In the piece, I tried to take a broad look at how the role of NFL alpha running backs had changed over five and ten-year increments. One of the things I noticed is that there were many more lead backs (defined simply as backs who led their team in carries) who had few receptions in the early 2000's. Back in 2001, you still had guys like Jerome Bettis and Ron Dayne; backs who were hardly ever thrown the ball. But there were also plenty of backs like Curtis Martin, LaDainian Tomlinson, and Priest Holmes who had a very large amount of both carries and receptions. Foster was one of those few backs who had continued to play both roles.

ProFootballWeekly.com - Wells' Cardinals career hasn't worked out too well
Following in the footsteps of high-profile defenders Adrian Wilson and Darnell Dockett, RB Beanie Wells has become the latest Cardinals player to publicly predict that his days in the desert are probably numbered.

Rams shutout in Pro Bowl picks - Turf Show Times
The St. Louis Rams will not be sending a representative to Hawaii this year. Not yet anyway.

Rams' road record portends big things ahead - Turf Show Times
The Rams are rolling up wins on the road, and that's a great sign for next year.