Buyers
At the trade deadline, some of the teams look to sell and accumulate draft capital for the future, while the other wants to buy and improve their team right away. Sitting at 6-2, Seattle felt that they could be competitive this season, so they were buying. Acquiring Quandre Diggs from Detroit in exchange for 5th round pick is not a "splash" signing by any stretch of the imagination, but it helps them patch some holes in the secondary with a very solid player.
Signing that happened after the trade deadline was much more interesting for the fans. They claimed Josh Gordon of the waivers after he was cut by the New England Patriots. Bill Belichick giving up on you is a bad sign, but Pete Carroll has some experience with handling similar situations. He won a Superbowl with a very "colorful" locker room. And If he succeeds in this case, Seahawks would quietly get one of the best receiving groups in the league with Lockett, Metcalf, and Gordon.
He's not ready to be out on the field vs Buccaneers just yet. It's a must-win for the Seahawks in this stacked NFC West, with three teams above .625 and Niners being undefeated after the first 8 games. They are coming off a win in Atlanta, but I am not sure if they are happy about that performance. They dominated in the first half, but let the Falcons get back within one score at the end. Not a great look considering that Matt Schaub led the comeback attempt.
Turnovers
On the other side, Tampa Bay fell to 2-5 with a loss to the Titans. There will be few tough decisions to make for the front office in the off-season and the first one will be regarding Jamies Winston. We can all see that there is potential there, but he keeps shooting his team in the foot by turning the ball over. It is a major issue and the one he was unable to fix under several different coaching staffs.
And it was probably what cost them the game last week. He turned the ball over twice in the first quarter and both times in his own territory. Titans jumped out into a quick 14-3 lead. Bucs tried to claw their way back into the game. They were probably the better team for the most part but simply couldn't overcome that 14-point gift that they gave Tennessee at the beginning of the game.
Winston's mistakes hurt even more when we look at how well the defense was playing and how many weapons he has at his disposal. Todd Bowles built the best run defense in the league that allows only 3.0 yards per carry. But even vs the pass they are improving and looked pretty good vs the Titans. Carlton Davis and Vernon Hargraves were in good positions all the time and didn't allow opposing receivers to separate. It's gonna be more difficult vs Metcalf and Lockett (+ Wilson's ability to extend the play), but they are improving without a doubt.
Seahawks vs Buccaneers best bet
One bet was on my mind the whole way when thinking about this game. Betting opposing running back under vs the best rush defense in the league makes a lot of sense. And I love Chris Carson. He is a big back that doesn't go down easy, has some burst and can make people miss in the open field. But the problem is that the backs are not seeing a lot of the open field vs this defense. They are setting the edge well, which is important vs players who are running out of the shotgun a lot and are also being careful with the cutback lanes. With both Pocic and Britt (starters on the interior OL) one the IR, I don't see this line getting any push vs the Bucs front.
