By fellow 12 Clinton Bonner

Whether it was the fellas from the pod, Hawkblogger, or Mamma Cleo herself… we all had this sense that this game v. the Percy Harvin led Bills was going to be a tight one. Sure there were things we didn’t expect like a blocked punt to open the game, a half-ending fueled by what turned out to be a lawful Richard Sherman, or that Tyler Lockett would be our leading rusher.

The pundits predicted a defensive battle and well, we all saw how pundits and predictions went the rest of this week now didn’t we?

While the Seahawks haven’t played their best football quite yet, we still find ourselves with a healthy lead in our division and within striking distance of the 1 seed in the conference. In other words, we’re right where we need to be at the halfway point of this 2016 campaign.

Some games it’s truly difficult to come up with 3 specific INs and 3 unique OUTs that aren’t just chock full of the most obvious things… Then there are games like this MNF tilt against a very scrappy Bills team.

Before we get going, can we just recognize that Chip Kelly is an even bigger maroon than we already knew he to be? Chip… don’t know if you realize this but LeSean McCoy is ridiculous. I mean what the CATFISH were you thinking!!!??? Oh and did we mention our leading rusher was Tyler Lockett? Yeah… Que lastima!

OK, onto the basket of INs and OUTs … let’s get this one thing clear OUT of the gate.

OUT – Lane Violation

The week previous we discussed how Snead kept on finding nooks and even some crannies on slot like check downs from the cool Brees himself and how it worried us so. We pondered if Snead could do that, what would an Edelman be able to muster from the arm of Tom Patriot???

Well, the check downs to Snead paled in comparison to the consistent wide-openness of myriad Bills receivers being covered by Lane. Hey, I really like Jeremy Lane, in fact, he’s found himself on the other side of the ledger earlier this year!

So, what was it then? Was it just Tyrod’s scrambility causing confusion? Was it the Seattle scheme simply being exploited on-demand? Perhaps the Bills receivers had so little tape to examine due to recent injuries to their WR core???

I’m unsure. But I know we all saw Lane several steps behind his guy on a handful of key plays. Credit Tyrod, he played some exceptional football, but boy oh boy, Jeremy looked all outta sorts in this one.

Between check down success the Sunday previous and mid-level timing routes consitently burning us on MNF… I’m just a wee bit concerned that the Pats will be more than ready to take advantage of both.

Of course, let’s not forget that we will be getting Kam Chancellor back for this primetime cage match!!! His impact can not be understated.

IN – Mount. Rush More.

Quick! What do you remember about Tyrod Taylor from this game? What memory comes up immediately in your noggin???

Is it him narrowly escaping sack death only to make some nice toss for a first down completion? Yeah, samsies.

Now quickly without looking tell me how many sacks the Seahawks registered on MNF???

A few right?… try 5.

Even though the Bills moved the ball at will at times, and even though Taylor did torch us with some olé and sprays… We put some crazy pressure on Tyrod Taylor for the majority of the game.

Whether it was Wagner flying, Godzilla building homes for Haiti, or Frank the Tank just doing what he just does now… our ‘Hawks not only got home often, we caused havoc throughout the game.

No sack was bigger than this one by Godzilla of course:

And sure you might find it wise to mention that Tyrod was able to escape and burn us several times but I would remind you that we’re here to play chess, not checkers.

I’m no longer worried, concerned, or pondering the pass-escapability of one Tyrod Taylor. I’m simply salivating over the idea of this type of pressure bearing down on #12, Tommy Boy himself.

OUT – It’s All About Angles

“It's all geometry, knowing all the angles, when to make that first turn and then when to swing it back in, that's the key.” – George Costanza

For the Seinfeld fans amongst we Flock, you may recall this wonderful episode centered around a parking space. In fact, just reading the transcript is worth it for the laugh.

But Costanza was 100% right and on MNF this week, quite often our angles were 100% wrong.

Hey we already mentioned just how good Shady is, so this isn’t about Kelcie getting juked out of his underwear in the open field by McCoy – that just happens.

No, no no no, this is far worse. This is Sherman, Kelcie again, KJ, Lane, and even Coyle all taking miserable angles while pursuing varied Buffalo Bills.

With an eye to Foxboro for this upcoming battle, we need to be much, much sounder in the tackling game… and as Costanza put it, it’s all geometry!

IN – Sexy Deep Balls Are Back Baby !!!!!

I’m bringing sexy back… yeah!

Now I can’t take all the credit for the Sexy Deep Reading Rainbow Balls we saw from Russell Carrington Wilson this Monday, but I can say with some confidence that Bevell clearly reads 3I, 3O … You can see what I mean here.

I know all the praise is on Jimmy and well… duh.

I still can't get over this touchdown pass to Jimmy Graham last Monday. It was freaking amazing. #Seahawkspic.twitter.com/WoT4wqDD8o — Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) November 9, 2016

Readers of #3i3o know that I don’t just listen to Jimmy, I hear him and we’ve been one of the most vocal advocates of that trade since day 1. So, it provides me soooo much pleasure to see Jimmy dominating like we knew he could.

But for Jimmy to make those be-dazzlers happen… ‘dem Sexy Deep (and mid-range) balls needed to be put exactly where they were, with the exact right amount of touch on them for Jimmy to do what he did.

And let’s not forget this beauty to Baldwin early as well!!!

Here’s the scoop:

Lockett looks to be 100%

Jimmy is ballin’

Dougie gonna Doug

You add back in the read option. You add back in the play action. You sprinkle some new Prosise into this mix. You make sure you take your Sexy Deep Ball shots… and whattya get?

Watch out now. This man is Dangeruss.

OUT – Contact

Don’t worry, this isn’t some diatribe around that awful Jodie Foster flick. Unfortunately it’s flockin’ worse!

We mentioned Lockett was our leading rusher right???

I realize we ran the ball an incredibly low amount of times and I know our run blocking isn’t how you say… stout.

But can a boy name Christine break a tackle? When there’s a hole, he has often, not always, shown a propensity to hit it as quickly as any runner probably in the league. When there isn’t a hole and he’s faced with some early rush adversity – yeah, the ERA, he folds faster than Glass Joe taking a southpaw haymaker from Little Mac.

It does look like Prosise is about to get more touches and even if he’s more a Von Kaiser, or dare I say a Bald Bull… well, it will likely be an improvement over our current situation.

IN – CNW + Moore, Moore, Moore

Remember 12s… we know everyone else all week has been covering the Jimmy TDs, the Sherman touch-ups, and the Rexy touchy feely whining, but much like an X-Wing in Return of the Jedi… we have to go deeper!

OK, name the 2 dudes who saved this game for us? Sherman, Wagz, Rubin, Shead, Earl… ???

How about Ryan and Moore.

Jon Ryan deserves a tremendous, tremendous IN folks. Punting from his own endzone with waaaaaayyyy too much time left on the clock we couldn’t afford to give the Bills the ball back in good field position.

My man, the Canadian Ninja Warrior himself, boomed a punt that I hear went 70 yards – or 64.008 meters for our ravenous readers from Canadia – in the air and put the Bills as deep as humanly possible given that situation.

That is the definition of clutch and for our purposes, it is the definition of what earns you an IN.

But we’d be remiss to not grant a co-IN to the newest Seahawk, Damontre Moore. What’s not to love.

More is More. Dinty Moore beef stew. Dudley Moore. More is better than less and winning is better than losing !!!!!!

An unsung hero who sang to all us 12s as he blew up to 2 crucial plays during the Bills last drive that ultimately led to their demise… and our rise.

You both deserve the IN and because this is OUR blog… you both get one !!!

From the Flock!

I love that folks take time during the games on twitter and share some #3i3o with us… I love that it’s a thing. I love the observations that we may have missed. I love ‘Hawks fans being passionate ‘Hawks fans!!!

So a special thanks to Ella and Mr. Flocktimus Prime himself, Keith Ketover for these beauties during the MNF rumble!

One of the most fun things each gameday is the often witty banter going on during the games in the Sea Hawkers Ring of Honor page on Facebook. It’s for members of the flock who support the pod on Patreon.

If you dig the show, if you love the ‘Hawks, consider becoming a member, it really is a ton of fun. Stuff like this happens on FB during the game, and it’s funny… because it makes us laugh 🙂

1,2,3… What’s Next!?

Tommy Boy.

Though the media will of course run the obvious narrative of this being the rematch game of the year… we know better. This game has nothing to do with looking back, and everything to do with looking forward, perhaps all the way to the Planet Houston.

As crazy as this might seem, this game has nothing to do with Russell Carrington Wilson. Why? Because he’s going to be Russell.

There is one thing and one thing only to watch in this game. Can we make Tom feel like he felt during both SB losses to the G-Men?

It is the only way to defeat this team.

Are we bold enough to make a prediction? Yes… yes we are.

Seahawks 30 – Pats 20.

#GoHawks

Remember 12s, see something??? Say something on Twitter. Send @seahawkerspod a tweet during the game, tag it #3i3o, and it just might show up in next week’s 3 IN, 3 OUT… and that’s nice!!!