Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

SEATTLE ADVANCES TO CONFERENCE GAME AS CLAYBROOKS COMPLETES EPIC 4TH QUARTER COMEBACK

It was a tale of two halves for the reigning NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks. The offense could only muster up 13 points in the first half, while Carolina put up 27 in what looked like incoming blowout victory.

Nichols kicked a field goal to start the scoring. Jeremy Maclin and Sergio Odrick caught a pair of first quarter touchdowns from 37-yards and 54-yards respectively.

The Seattle defense gave up 10-points early in the second quarter as Carolina quarterback Rucker called his own number and punched it in from 2-yards. Rob Bironas kicked a field goal 3 minutes later to push their lead to 24-3. Seattle answered after the field goal by stopping Carolina after they punted as Claybrooks found Moore for the 5-yard score. Both defenses gave up big plays to allow each team to each kick a field goal before the half making it a 27-13 Carolina lead headed into the locker room.

Coach Carroll gave a halftime speech for the ages, because Seattle came out with renewed defensive vigor as they held Carolina to a single touchdown to Zach Doe, but that was after Marshawn Lynch got a 1-yard touchdown run to keep the game at its current deficit of 34-20 Carolina lead.

Seattle came out in the fourth quarter, refusing to roll-over and surrender. Ray Claybrooks started the comeback by throwing a 32-yard strike to Rob Gronkowski making it a 27-34 hole at 7:27. Rob Bironas added a field goal to make it a 27-37 lead with 2:5( left in the game.

After an intentional grounding call on Claybrooks for not being out of the pocket, he found Eugene Alvarado behind his man for an electric 90-yard catch and score to make it a 34-37 game with 2:37 left.

Seattle couldn’t stop Carolina from getting first downs, but smart use of timeouts allowed Seattle to get the ball back. The downside was they had 0 timeouts and would have to travel 60+ yards to get a chance to tie it up.

Ray Claybrooks started by throwing a strike to Alvarado for a 47-yard gain. The next pass was incomplete, stopping the clock. Claybrooks called a play-action fake which the cornerback bit on. Daryl Clay, went on a post route, caught the ball with a linebacker trying to tackle him. He avoided the tackler, and outran the safety trying to catch up and scored the game winning 33-yard touchdown with :16 seconds left.

“That...was...surreal! I had a minor heart attack.” joked Coach Carroll “for every interception he may throw he does things like that. Our defense came up big to get the ball back and if it wasn’t for them Claybrooks wouldn’t have even had the chance to do what he did.”

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

SEAHAWKS FALL SHORT AS EAGLES OFFENSE TOO MUCH

Seattle and Philadelphia had a game for the ages. Seattle gave up 14 points in the first quarter as Champ Mosling got going early and often in the game as he torched Mitchell for a 77-yard score. Seattle would respond two drives later as Daryl Clay got his own big gain touchdown of 52-yards to knot it up at 7. Thomas would run it in from 2-yard to make it a Philadelphia lead of 14-7 after the first.

The second quarter was all Seattle as they put up 20 on the Eagles defense. Eagles’ Kelly kicked a field goal to make it a 17-7 lead early in the quarter. Seattle quickly responded as Daryl Clay caught the Eagles napping and blew up for a big 76-yard touchdown. After an interception by Carlos Armostrong, Seattle put another 3 points of the board via a 18-yard field goal. Nichols added another field goal at 3:15. Philadelphia scored as Mosling burned Mitchell for a monster 85-yard touchdown reception. With 1:07 left in the quarter, Daryl Clay caught a 11-yard score to make it a 27-24 Seattle lead at the half.

The Eagles put up 13 points in the third quarter as Kelley got a pair of field goals. Sandwiched in between the field goals, Calvin Wallace got a 2-yard touchdown run. Ray Claybrooks tossed an interception which Philadelphia capitalized on as Mosling caught a 29-yard score to go up 37-34 heading into the final frame.

Nichols tied the game after a field goal early on. Calvin Johnson burned Leon for a 77-yard score to put them up 44-37. Lynch got a game tying 1-yard rush at 6:50. The score changed once more when Kelly kicked a booming 51-yard field goal to give the Eagles a slim 47-44 lead.

Seattle chewed up clock and scored with :21 left in the game as Fraser caught the go ahead 19-yard score making it 51-47.

Joe Flacco was precise, and deadly accurate. He was armed with all three timeouts and marched down the field to score the game-winning 18-yard toss to Champ Mosling who was carving up the Seattle defense all game. Seattle couldn’t make the Hail Mary attempt as they lost 51-54.

“Mosling was playing out of this world, and we didn’t have an answer for him all game. 18 catches for almost 400 yards and 4 touchdowns...I mean he had our number. We will regroup for next year after a well deserved rest. Our guys played their hearts out and left everything on the field today...I’m proud of them” Coach Carroll

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

COLTS BEST EAGLES FOR LOMBARDI TROPHY

The Indianapolis Colts beat the Philadelphia Eagles by a score of 17-14 to hoist the Lombardi Trophy. The Colts defense steps up big to keep the Eagles out of the end zone and off the scoreboard for the final 7:25 to secure the Super Bowl victory.

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

COACHING CHANGES

The only constant in life...is change. Football is as much as ‘what have you done for me now’ as is any competitive sport.

Seattle saw their DC Belichick be extended an offer of head coach by their rival San Francisco 49ers. Seattle had to think long and hard. They surveyed the coaching landscape and saw Romeo Crennel, who’d been the Ravens head coach from 2014-2106. He had gone on to hold a 36-20 record in that time, and Seattle felt his defensive mind could help get the team back to the promised land.

The two sides agreed to a 2-year deal worth $3.6M.

San Francisco signed Bill Belichick to a head coach position for 3-years, $5M per.

Other notable positions filled:

Jack Del Rio signed on for another 3-year as the Jaguars head coach, a place he’s resides since 2003.

Joe Curtis who had a Super Bowl as the Jets head coach from 2014-2016 was lured away to become the Chiefs head coach.

Jim Caldwell whom had just WON the Super Bowl had departed for the now vacant New York Jets organization for 3-years, $4.2M per

Mike Tonkin whose been the head coach of the Steelers since 2016, departs for the Super Bowl Champion Colts for 3-years, $3.7M

“Riverboat” Ron Rivera agreed to become the Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator

Sean Payton retired from the New Orleans Saints, and Jason Garrett signed on as their head coach for 3-years, $3.1M

Andy Reid would sign a 3-year extension to helm the Eagles squad, all the way since 1999

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

TROY POLAMALU RETIRES AFTER 14-YEAR CAREER

017CECC0-CD21-4F76-B837-4CAB5B7514A6.jpeg

Troy Polamalu released a statement to the Seattle Media on the Monday evening after the Super Bowl.

“It is with a heavy heart, and much love and adoration for the game of football and Coach Pete Carroll I am announcing my retirement from the game I love. I was lucky enough to play this game for 14-years, and getting to reunite with my old collegiate coach after all these years. While I wasn’t able to help bring home a championship while I was with the Seahawks, I had a absolute blast running around the field with my ‘band of brothers’.

Thank you to the Steelers for giving me a shot, and to the Seahawks for renewed life”

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

NOTABLE RETIRING PLAYERS

Eli Manning, QB, Cardinals
Andre Johnson, WR, Jets
Demarcus Ware, ROLB, Vikings
Wes Welker, WR, Rams
Frank Gore, RB, Chargers
“T-Sizzle” Terrell Suggs, ROLB, Seahawks
Steve Hutchinson, LG, Ravens
Kris Jenkins, DT, Colts*


* Super Bowl Winners

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS

Seattle had two players becoming RFA this offseason; defenaive tackle Randy Schmidt and left guard Larry Mankey. Both men were signed to fair market, 1-year deals in hopes a longer contract could be negotiated before the regular season.

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

Seattle had 10 players, with expiring contracts wanting new deals. Luckily, unlike years prior no players were threatening to ‘hold out’ for a larger more lucrative contract. The downside was, Seattle had about $50M in cap space, while being on the hook for $7.26M in dead money due to trading the previously mentioned players whom were holding out from previous years.

The players were on both sides of the ball and key components in their recent and potentially future success. General Manager Schneider had some tough decisions to make regarding his football team, the direction it was going to head as well as what pieces to keep and whom to let test free agency.

Schneider went down the roster and thought long and hard of who to extend offers to and whom to release/cut. The Seahawks had about $28M after the Schneider was said and done; and the end result was as follows:

Re-Signed:

Trent Boyd, 6yrs/$21M
Bobby Ramey, 4yrs/$14M
Nate Abdullah, 5yrs/$47M
Lamar Sparks, 1yr/ $8.9M (franchise tag)
Patrick Chung, 4yrs/$13M

Released:

Marshawn Lynch
Adam Koets
Mike Patterson
Brice McCain
Kevin Thomas

Cut:

Andre Forrest
Vondrell Blake

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

INITIAL FREE AGENT SCRAMBLE

The Seattle Seahawks chose to stay out with their current roster. They looked at former Seahawk Mike Pollak and Marshawn Lynch, but neither man made sense from a financial standpoint to make an offer to. Schneider also looked at Taylor Mays as the teams backup safety, but felt the draft would be the route to go, to round out their roster. They had added extra picks thanks to the trades from the previous year.

Other teams, like always had made big splashes when free agency opened up:

Colts:
Matt Cassel, QB (even though Scott Randle delivered them a Super Bowl)
Owen Daniels, TE

Dolphins:
Joe Flacco, QB
Santonio Holmes, WR

Rams:
Nick Collins, FS

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

SEATTLE DRAFT RECAP

Seattle had a total of 10 picks in this years draft. They had a pair of 1st round and a pair of 2nd round picks. They made sure to fill holes they had at running back, cornerback, and strong safety within the first three rounds of the draft. It was a long time coming, but McShay and Kiper had something positive to say...

“They saw needs and addressed them this year. While Arden wasn’t a necessity for them, he was a solid pick at 15th overall. I like their 29th pick better in running back Willie Gaffney who I think could start right away” — Mel Kiper

“A solid draft from beginning to end. They reached on a few people on days 2 and 3, like Brent Williams, a wide receiver from USC going 125th overall. He might have gone a round later. Overall, not a bad draft and it sets them up for the next couple years” — McShay

The hardest part now is juggling contracts and the cap, as $28M to go around for 10 newly drafted players isn’t a whole lot. After all the signings were finished, Seattle had about $8M left in cap space and only a few roster spots available.

(15th) Xavier Arden, MLB, Colorado — 5yrs/$31M
(29th) Willie Gaffney, HB, Arizona — 5yrs/$25M
(47th) Toby Field, CB, USC — 3yrs/$14M
(61st) Raymond Suggs, SS, Utah — 3yrs/$6.5M
(85th) Thomas Swarner, C, Washington — 3yrs/$5M
(93rd) Rod Cross, LOLB, Washington State — 3yrs/$4.5M
(125th) Brent Williams, WR, USC — 3yrs/$6M
(157th) Lawrence Bailey, DT, Arizona — 3yrs/$4M
(189th) Nate Erb, FB, Colorado — 1yr/$500K
(221st) Kurt Holcombe, LG, Arizona State — 1yr/$500K

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

POST-DRAFT FREE AGENCY

Plenty of teams were happy with the teams they constructed. Some had a few holes, while some had too many. While the Seahawks division didn’t get considerably better during the draft, as the Rams were graded a “C”, and the 49ers/Cardinals were both given grades of “F”. Some moves were made by teams shoring up loose ends, while others like the Baltimore Ravens loaded up on talented wide receivers.

Rams:
TE Mack Dickerson
C Alex Mack
DT Antonio Johnson
MLB Darick Little

Ravens:
WR Braylon Edwards
WR Michael Hayden
WR Steve Breaston

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

PRE-SEASON ROUNDUP

The Seattle Seahawks finished the preseason a perfect 4-0, giving Seahawk Nation great optimism and Super Bowl aspirations...

Seattle 17 vs Minnesota 13
Seattle 14 at New Orleans 7
Seattle 34 at New England 0
Seattle 22 vs Denver 19

Al Robinson, the backup right tackle suffered a pinched nerve in preseason game number 2, but should be back by the 2nd game of the regular season when Seattle travels to Jacksonville.

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

SEATTLE CLAIMS NARROW 6-POINT VICTORY OVER GIANTS IN HOME OPENER

The Seattle Seahawks came out, with scoring in mind as they hung 14 first quarter points on the New York Giants. It started off with a Calvin Wallace 10-yard run at 3:12, and ended with a 64-yard deep pass down the left sideline to Daryl Clay at 1:01. Nichols botched the first extra point, so Claybrooks at to find Alvarado on the 2-point conversion.

New York put up point in the second quarter as Miles Austin got behind the Seahawk defense on a nice play action fake to score on an easy 30-yard pitch and catch at 11:46. Seattle responded a mere 70 seconds later as Eugene Alvarado scorched the rookie cornerback for an uncontested 57-yard touchdown of his own to go back up 21-7. After the teams exchanged punts, Calvin Wallace got his second rushing touchdown from 5-yards with 2:03 left in the half to go up 38-7. New York responded before the half as Parrish drove 80-yard in 10 plays to score with :35 in the half to cut the lead in half at 28-14.

Seattle had to punt with their first possession after the half, as Seattle’s defense buckled down and held the Giants scoreless in the third quarter. The only points put up as a 47-yard field goal by Nichols.

New York made things tense in the final quarter, as their defense buckled down, and forced multiple punts from Seattle. New York also was able to put up 14-points quickly. A 24-yard pass from Parrish to Thomas at 10:44, followed up by a Parrish touchdown pass to Jones from 37-yards at 8:13 made it a 31-28 game.

Seattle’s defense stood strong as they forced a failed 4th down and 1 attempt, and Seattle put a field goal on the board at 3:43 to make it a 34-28 game. New York then chose to punt on 4th-and-1 at the two minute warning. Seattle ran the clock, but back-to-back holding calls on Stevens forced them to punt with a meager :15 seconds as the held on for the victory.

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

SEATTLE DROPS TO 1-1 AFTER GIVING UP 41 POINTS IN SECOND QUARTER

The Jacksonville Jaguars were at home on a rainy afternoon, as Seattle came to pay them a visit. Jacksonville wasn’t scared of the potent Seattle offense as they held Seattle to 24 first half points and 44 for the game.

Seattle’s defense was giving up giant play after giant play to the Jags. Seattle sole lead came at 5:47 of the first, when Wolford scored on a 1-yard run to go up 7-3. Jacksonville answered when 2nd year quarterback Epps found DeSean Jackson for the 32-yard score to go up 10-7.

Seattle had a good next drive and got within field goal range at least, until Calvin Wallace fumbled the slippery ball, which Rogers from Jacksonville picked up and ran back for the 73-yard score to push their lead to 17-7. Seattle replied on their next drive as Calvin Wallace made up for the blunder by taking it 79-yards to the house down the left sideline to make it 17-10. Jacksonville scored twice within 2 minutes as Jackson and Epps connected for a long 74-yard bomb. Then after an interception by Rogers, Serra was found on a 17-yard post route to expand their lead to 31-14. Seattle got a puny field goal at 6:27, as the Jaguars got their own matching field goal at 3:22 to keep it a 34-10 lead. They added another field goal at 1:55 to make it a 37-10 lead. Seattle got a pair of interceptions with under a minute to go in the half. Armstrong collected the first, and ran it back 23-yards for the pick-6 with :55 in the half, making it 37-17. Seattle stayed aggressive given the large deficit and pushed their luck. Swanno picked off Claybrooks and ran it back for the Jags own 53-yard pick-6, making it 44-24. Then as the clock hit :00, Jackson was found by Epps for his third touchdown on the day for a mind blowing 65-yard score to make it a 51-24.

Seattle added 20 points in the final half, but Jacksonville added 14 more of their own. Claybrooks found Gronkowski at 9:29 of the third, but Seattle gave up a 2-yard run by Thomas at 2:45, followed up by a fumble recovery touchdown from Smith as Claybrooks fumbled after a sack at 1:03.

The final quarter saw Gaffbey score on a 4-yard scamper at 10:04, but Nichols kicked the extra point wide left since the field was sloppy. Claybrooks found Wolford for a 1-yard score, but the game was over long before that.

Coach Carroll stood on the podium after the game and had this to say, “The team didn’t play well, or up to the standards I know they can. Jacksonville came out and kicked our butts, from start to finish. Next week, we travel to St. Louis to face our division rival Rams, who will come in angry after losing to the 49ers this past week. Our defense will have to show up, otherwise it’s gonna be a long season for us”

[Chyli]

Re: Pete Carroll’s PAC-12 Pipeline (PS2 Madden Franchise)

CALVIN WALLACE HAS 6 TOUCHDOWN GAME TO FUEL 66-17 ROUTE OF RAMS

Seattle had a superb bounce-back game versus the St. Louis Rams. Their defense showed up, by limiting the big plays unlike versus the Jaguars. The defense held the Rams to 353 total yards of offense which was amazing given their performance in Jacksonville.

Calvin Wallace came out struggling, but rushing for -10 yards on 4 attempts over their first two series. Nichols got Seattle on the board first, with a 44-yard field goal. Seattle forced back-to-back interception of former Seahawk Kendall Jenkins as he struggled all game long, who went 19/35 for 155 yards, 1 TD and 3 INT.

Of the second interception, Claybrooks found Clay on a little curl route, as he dove for the end zone to make it a 10-0 game at 10:03 of the first. The Rams got a field goal at 5:14 to make it 10-3. Seattle struck before the end of the first quarter as Claybrooks found Alvarado for the 6-yard score to make it 17-3 after one.

Jenkins found Warren for a 15-yard score at 8:46 to make it 17-10 early on in the second. Calvin Wallace then began to find his touchdown stride by scoring a pair of 1-yard rushing scores at 6:10 and then :19 to ballon the lead to 31-10.

The third quarter saw Seattle put up 21 unanswered points on the Rams defense. Clay caught a 58-yard bomb from Claybrooks as he got behind the defender. Wallace then tacked on a 12-yard score as he squeaked over the goal line after catching the ball at 2:47. He then added a 2-yard rushing score at :23 to make the lead insurmountable at 52-10.

The final quarter saw more Seahawk dominance as Wallace got a pair of 1-yard touchdown runs at 9:15 and :25 to cap off his amazing performance. The Rams’ Bundy got a meaningless but morally victorious 2-yard touchdown run at 3:21 to make the final 66-17.

Calvin Wallace got the offensive game ball for his 5 rushing TD & 1 reception TD performance

Benjamin Leon got the defensive game ball for his 5 tackle, 2 interception performance

“It was amazing. I just seemed to see the lanes and find the end zone whenever the team needed. I know not all games will be like that, but it’s a great feeling when they do” — Calvin Wallace

“We needed that win, to stay competitive in the NFC West. The 49ers, Rams, and Cards are all great teams that will always play us tough down to the wire. This year will be as tough as every year before it” — Coach Carroll

Next week, Seattle will take on nobody as they have their BYE week. Rookie linebacker Xavier Arden will have tests done, as he limped off the field versus the Rams late in the second quarter. At least he will time to rest if things aren’t serious.