By fellow 12 Clinton Bonner

We sincerely have no alibi this time around… it was just plain ugly.

We’ve all had several days to let this one sink in and frankly move right along as a hopeful blip on the radar, a blemish on a supermodel, a dab of mustard on a cheeseburger …. it just doesn’t belong there people.

Typically, and thankfully, on #3i3o we find ourselves struggling to think of a 3rd OUT, a 3rd nitpick we can find in the Seahawks play that we’d like to see better.

Well, I must say, for the first time since starting this sober Ying, raging Yang weekly article, I’m on the struggle bus searching for a 3rd IN… but as our co-leader Adam so brilliantly stated a few three-wolf moons ago… “When life gives you lemons you don’t make lemonade… You kick life in the balls, and ya demand it gives you somethin’ better… Like bacon, ‘cause bacon’s delicious.”

We’re with you! So, ya know what, let’s kick this game in the balls and start with an IN.

IN – Rawls to the Walls

Stat lines are for robots and algorithms … We’re neither. We’re passionate fanatics and we take a see something, say something attitude when it comes to our ‘Hawks.

Ya know what. Thomas Rawls ran well.

I know that 3.2 yards per carry doesn’t feel like it, but thanks to our friend Samuel R. Gold we have some great footage breaking down why our eyes don’t lie.

The bigger question moving forward isn’t if Rawls can be effective. He certainly can be and then some. It’s more a question of will Britt be healthy down the stretch?

It’s nearly insane to think that the fate of our team rests in the health of Justin Britt, but ‘dems are the facts of Seahawks life right now. I’m as flustered as Mrs. G on parent’s weekend about it too… so let’s go Britt, get healthy #68 !!!

OUT – Kearse these Pirates !!!

Please tell me I’m just caught in a glass case of emotion and I’m wrong about the following sentiment… I want to be wrong… Tell me I’m wrong.

Jermaine Kearse is done. His days of being a valuable Seahawk are over.

In a game where very little clicked, Kearse dropped a few passes that he simply had to haul in. They weren’t the easiest of catches. They weren’t perfectly thrown balls. But they were drops nonetheless in a game where we couldn’t afford additional mistakes.

I want to be wrong. I want Chop Chop to catch a game winning TD in the playoffs this year.

Please, prove me wrong Jermaine!!!

IN – Defense Still Wins Championships

Oh don’t you worry we’re going to talk about our slow defensive starts in a jiffy… But beyond the first 14 points given up in the first quarter our defense was pretty darn sterling wouldn’t ya say?

We must add the caveat that Jameis Winston was allowed to stay wayyyyyyy too clean. We didn’t amass nearly enough pressure on the big man and he made us pay.

With that… I thought KJ Wright was a monster on Sunday. I saw KPL hitting and flying in ways I didn’t think he had in him. And for ¾ of the game, the Bucs didn’t score a point.

There was one series in particular in the 3rd quarter where the Bucs were around mid-field with a 2nd and 2 situation. 2nd down we nearly picked Jameis off at the goal line and then Frank the Tank Clark stuffed a run in the backfield on 3rd and 2 forcing the punt! At the time this was a big series and it all goes back to the fact that our defense is still tops!

Folks, defense still wins championships … Earl and Bennett have been full participants in practice this week and we’re going to need them to bring down a rejuvenated Camthers offense come Sunday night!!!

OUT – 3rd and Forget About It

Sometimes… stats in fact are the story.

1 for 11 on 3rd down. I’m no Nate Silver but I do believe that = ~ 9% conversion rate.

Jimmy. Russell. Baldwin. Rawls. Lockett.

And yet… we were 1 for 11 on 3rd down.

Russell had the read-option working quite nicely against the Bucs.

And yet… we prefer to hand the ball to Mr. T. in a crucial conversion opportunity.

Hey, these things happen and we got our assess whipped on Sunday… but if we go ~9% on 3rd down any other game this year, well… our chances of making it to Planet Houston drop to about that % too.

I know it’s Brandan and Adam’s job to hand out the ‘Do Better’!!! But in this case… Seahawks… Do Better!!!

IN – Russell with a Little Leather Helmet On

As trigger happy as Russ was on Sunday – and let’s be fair, he was and it lead to inaccurate throws early in this match – it was still really cool to see the return of Russell’s run game!

One of my favorite moments in Seahawks life is watching Russell break out an exceptionally executed read-option where he’s got clear running room to go. Not only is it an effective play… BUT if you look closely, Russell turns into a 1950s, leather helmet clad wearing QB and runs in this old school, nearly straight up manner.

It’s like the White Stag of Narnia people… ya don’t see it too often because:

Not that many read-options this year with Russ banged up It’s not typically so clean that he doesn’t have to beat at least one defender on his way to yardage

But on Sunday we saw it folks!!! Russell Carrington Wilson had a 17-yard carry with nothing but open skies in front of him and just for that wrinkle in time, he transformed into that 1950s QB… and it… it was glorious.

OUT – Deferring to Defer

Hey, here’s an idea.

I know we love to win the toss and defer. When we can get an early stop, end the first half with a scoring opportunity and then get the ball in the 2nd half to start… ohhhhh mamma it’s a thing of beauty.

But we have to look at our slow defensive starts this year and realize that maybe we should test the waters and change things up a bit down the stretch and defer to defer or in other words, take the ball first and see how it goes.

The likelihood of this happening? I’d put it near zero as Petey and team certainly have their philosophy and as we know, they stick with it.

But I’ve seen too many games this year open up with our Seahawks in an early hole. In fact, I’m still shuddering a bit from the last time we saw the Camthers and went down early (and often)…

Hey, maybe it will be out of our hands on Sunday night and the Panthers will choose our fate, but I’ll be watching that coin toss a wee bit more carefully than normal this time around. I just want to see us get the ball and shove it down their throats and set the tone !!!

From the Flock!

‘Twas a slow week from the Flock on Twitter using #3i3o and I understand it but certainly would love to see some more action this Sunday night!

With that, Keith Ketover continues to make us smile, even when we decide to go full MegaMaid and go from suck to blow!

1,2,3… What’s Next!?

The Camthers. A team we had under our thumb nearly every time out. A team we methodically eliminated from the playoffs on multiple occasions over the last decade or so.

That all changed last year when they spanked us.

My confidence isn’t turned up to 11 on this one and it has nothing to do with our performance against TB. IMO the Panthers are better than their record indicates and their offense is still quite dangerous.

We need to punch Cam in his face and do it early. Cam is a very, very good NFL QB, but he can be rattled. We need to put last Sunday behind us, feed off the energy of the 12’s at home and punch Cam right in the face.

Let’s go boys… we need this W !!!