Cigar Thoughts: The Final Chapter

It’s been an honor.

“No mother knows she is hearing the word Mama for the last time. No father knows when the book has closed on the last bedtime story he will ever read.”

— Jonathan Safron Foer (my favorite author)

I’ve been recapping Seattle Seahawks games for 13 seasons, and I never expected Cigar Thoughts to become what it has. The community of fans, especially here at Field Gulls, has been incredibly supportive and the fact that this column has created the connections that it has blows me away. I’m grateful for all the excitement, all the memories— but I’m especially thankful for knowing when the last one is the last one.

If you want to skip the sappy stuff and just read about the game, feel free to scroll down. I put the start of the analysis in bold so it’s easier to find.

It was roughly two months ago when I made the difficult decision to make this my final season writing these articles. Since then, I’ve seen a lot of speculation on Twitter, BlueSky, and in the comments sections as to why I’m laying down the pen. The most popular opinions seem to be that I’ve either A) lost my fastball or B) found podcasting to be more lucrative. I can’t honestly speak to A and as of now, B certainly isn’t the case. The real reason is much simpler and much more boring:

I haven’t watched a Seahawks game just for the hell of it in nearly a decade and a half and to be completely honest with you, doing so sounds really nice.

The outstanding characteristic of the success of Cigar Thoughts has been the timing. Danny Kelly offered me an opportunity to start writing about the team on this site right before the Pete Carroll era and I got to cut my teeth as a writer for a plucky team with no expectations. What followed was an unforeseen opportunity to cover the evolution of one of the most dominant and fascinating collection of personalities the modern NFL has ever seen. My efforts crystalized into Cigar Thoughts in 2012, as I gained focus and pupose.

In 2013 I experienced my highest high as a sports fan and one year later, the lowest low. Those 12 months provided an invaluable perspective, knowing that everything else I’ll ever feel as a Seahawks fan would fall between the extremes of those two emotions.Honestly, the frustrations we’ve all felt cheering for a team that has continuously put forth winning seasons is a direct result of the fact that we got to touch the face of God as fans of the best and coolest team the league for a few years. I had nothing to do with that— I simply put digital pen to paper along the way and y’all rallied behind it.

One thing I never anticipated was the way this column has connected me to Seahawks fans in real life. There are no less than dozens of you reading this who have been kind and forthright enough to come up to me in person and express your appreciation for the articles and, more recently, the podcasts. You guys have sent me gifts, bought me drinks, taken me to games, and simply expressed goodwill in casual interactions and I just never properly understood the power of a shared interest until I started doing this. I may never do anything else that creates a bond like this column has and even if that’s the case, I can sleep tonight feeling more blessed than anyone has the right to.

It’s a credit to the zany and, in my opinion, uniquely clever readership that makes up my audience that the most-referenced article of the 200+ I’ve written isn’t any of the great wins. Instead, it was the 9-3 poop egg loss to these same Rams in 2016— still the stupidest title I’ve ever put on anything. Y’all not only appreciated the madness, you embraced it. You made me feel seen, and feeling seen is maybe the most underrated behavioral driver in all of human nature. I wouldn’t have that if it wasn’t for y’all.

CigarThoughts started as a personal therapeutic valve for a simple guy who cares about the Seahawks way too much. But something about it seems to have struck a chord with folks and it became something so much stronger than anything I could’ve created on my own. The reach of the articles, which has somehow miraculously connected me with thousands of fans and dozens of the people I most look up to in the sports media world, has expanded beyond anything I would have dared to consider back when I was a depressingly-broke dude living in a tiny apartment with nothing carrying me but dreams and determination. I mean hell, it even created the connections that allowed me to create my own line of world-class cigars and be sponsored by some of my favorite distilleries. All of that happened because of an unexpected interest from the readership in what I was smoking while I wrote the articles— after all, Cigar Thoughts is called what it’s called because the signature aspect of my process was smoking a stogie while working through the events of the games that had just ended.

Over the past 13 years I’ve dedicated myself to writing this column as unfailingly as I could. I’ve written articles while carsick driving back from Whistler (a win over the Cowboys in 2015), on a Seattle hotel rooftop (a 2021 loss to the Titans because my room’s WiFi sucked), beach in Cabo (Seattle’s miraculous NFC West-clinching overtime win against the Rams), on a plane (the ensuing loss to the 49ers in the playoffs), as well as efforts in a bar in Santa Monica on NYE, in a motel room in Spokane while selling weed, and any number of other grimy circumstances including cigar lounges, random taverns, and friends houses. And I couldn’t have done any of it without the undying support of my sexy, brilliant, and infinitely better-than-me wife Paulina, who has not only tolerated but encouraged the goofy obsession of her sports-addled husband.

There’s not much that I’m sure of so far in this life, but one thing I am confident in is the fact that I’ve left it all on the field when it comes to writing about this team. That I’ve had the opportunity to do so is because of y’all and I couldn’t be more grateful for that. From the deepest recesses of my soul— thank you*.

*and for those who have asked, yes— the podcast will continue

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GAME STUFF STARTS HERE

I suppose it’s fitting that the last Cigar Thoughts article I write is about a game against the Rams. In the entire history of the NFL, no rivalry has ever been more even. So even, in fact, that it’s virtually impossible to surpass. Coming into today, both the Seahawks and the Rams had won 27 of the previous 54 matchups, and the point differential was exactly one. When I look back over 13 years of game recaps, it’s remarkable how many of the most memorable ones involved the Rams. The 49ers may be the team I consider to be the Seahawks’ primary rival but the Rams are the most Cigar Thoughts opponent of them all. Honestly, this just feels right.

Los Angeles received the opening kick and, with Jimmy Garoppolo standing in for Matthew Stafford, immediately went up top. So, my biggest guilty pleasure when it comes to the NFL is Sean McVay; I absolutely adore the way he attacks opponents and he wasted no time doing exactly that today— backups be damned. The result was a pretty completion to Demarcus Robinson on a beautiful throw to let Seattle know that nothing would be given to them in this one.

The Seahawks defense, which has been fantastic over the back half of the season, responded immediately. Two great reps forced a 3rd & long and rookie Tyrice Knight ended the drive with a sack on a well-timed blitz. Geno Smith then took the field for a performance that would forever affect the financial future of him and his family, even with the playoffs out of reach. Not only were there $6M in potential incentives on the line, he’s also building a resume for a potential contract extension that will somehow piss off a bunch of Seahawks fans if it happens. And boy did he meet the moment. It would take a little while for his acumen to turn into points, as a sack chopped the legs out of Seattle’s initial drive, but hje still managed completions to Jaxon Smith-Njigba, Noah Fant, and DK Metcalf for 23 total yards on three attempts during the possession.

Seattle punted, then forced a punt, and that’s when Geno went into god mode. After two nifty runs from Zach Charbonnet gained 20 yards, Smith feathered an immaculate pass to Noah Fant on a wheel route that saw the ball drop over the linebacker while maintaining enough zip to beat the helping defender over the top. Fant caught it at full speed and charged up the sideline for 32. One minute later, Smith dotted Jake Bobo up on a goal line fade that beat perfect coverage for a 7-0 lead.

Los Angeles got on the board with a field goal on their next drive to cut the lead to four, bit Smith kept the gas pedal pressed firmly to the floor. After a nine-yard run from Kenny McIntosh and a pass that was batted down, Geno kept the ball on a read-option for 15 yards before getting freaky. He hit Metcalf for 22 on a deep in-route to the Rams’ 24. On the next play, Metcalf smoked his guy on a double-move up the left sideline but the pass went off his fingertips at the goal line. It was a play you really want to see DK make but he’d make up for it in short order.

After a jet sweep to Smith-Njigba garnered four yards, Geno dropped back and stood tall in a collapsing pocket. As he surveyed his options, a dual tide closed in on him like Moses had just lowered his staff. Unperturbed, Smith spun 360 degrees out of a sack; all the while Metcalf, who was initally covered, worked his way upfield and created a window in the endzone. Geno recalibrated and painted the black with a fastball that hit DK right in the palms for a 14-3 lead.

In the wake of McVay announcing that he’d be resting a number of his starters, Seattle became a seven-point favorite. And at this point of the game, the Seahawks felt like a lock to cover. But I’m old enough to remember McVay beating this team in the playoffs with John fuckin’ Wofford and sure enough, that was as comfortable as Seattle would feel for the rest of the game.

Garoppolo led a confident possession, answering Geno’s score with one of his own to Tyler Higbee in the front right corner of the endzone. That made it 14-10 and it was game on from there. A nine-play drive from Seattle was truncated by a sack on 3rd & 5 but was redeemed by Jason Myers calmly drilling a 56-yard kick to make it 17-10. When pressure forced an underthrow from Jimmy G on the next possession, Julian Love swooped in for the pick to give Seattle a chance to recreate a two-score lead before the half. Unfortunately, the O-line melted down and Seattle punted, giving the Rams a chance to kick a 58-yard field goal before the half to make it 17-13.

Seattle got the ball to start the third quarter but went three-and-out, allowing the Rams to mount another field goal drive to make it 17-16. All of a sudden, the outcome of this game was very much in doubt and another scoreless possession from the ‘Hawks would’ve put them in a very tough position. Smith knew this, of course, and said “I got this, fellas”. He overcame two incompletions to start the series, converting his next three passes and using chunk runs from McIntosh and Charbonnet to get down to the 4-yard-line. From there, he hit first-year tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown to extend Seattle’s lead to eight at 24-16.

The annoying thing about the Rams is that they simply refuse to die. It almost doesn’t matter who is on the field. Sean McVay, man— I’m not sure there’s been a play-caller since Bill Walsh that’s better at getting players open than he is and that was on full display this afternoon. Using a Nobel-level acumen for misdirection, the NFL’s wunderkind drew up easy completion after easy completion for Garoppolo, often with a legion of blockers in front of the receiver. It put LA in position to score and that’s exactly what they did, when a designed rollout led to a TD pass to Tyler Johnson to make it 24-22 early in the 4th quarter. That created an obvious two-point opportunity but Devon Witherspoon, who was just beaten for the touchdown, broke up the potentially game-tying pass at the pylon.

After a Seahawks punt, the Rams hit another long field goal to take their first lead of the game at 25-24 and the gauntlet was lain. Laid? Lain. Here’s the thing about Smith — and it’s something that rarely gets brought up in the tiresome debate over whether he’s actually #good or not: no quarterback in the entire league has led more game-winning drives in the 4th quarter / overtime since he became the Seahawks starter than he has. And staring down one of the highest-leverage financial situations an athlete can face, carrying with it the hopes, sweat, pain, and sacrifice of 52 teammates, Geno simply did what he does.

A trio of runs from Charbonnet and McIntosh gained 17 yards, and Smith took advantage. He hit Barner for 10 and after a couple more handoffs, found Tyler Lockett for 16 to the Rams’ 11. Along the way, Geno suffered some sort of lower-body injury that had him limping and wincing after even the most rudimentary of quarterbacking activities. Not that it mattered— with 3:26 left in the game, Smith dropped back and whipped an absolute rope up the seam to Fant. The throw was high but given the low leverage of the coverage, that’s how it had to be.

It was a classic “trust your guy to be the guy” pass and Fant validated the decision. Seattle’s athletic tight end leapt as high as he ever has, spearing the spiral 10’ above the ground and cradling it to his massive bosom as the defender hit him the back of the knees. fant went ass-over-skull as high as basketball hoop and landed on his god damn head at the goal line. Incredibly, the ball didn’t move a centimeter in his grip as he crashed to the turf with enough force to kill everyone reading this article— including the doofus writing it. The result was a go-ahead score that made it 30-25, further cementing Geno’s value to a deeply flawed team. The idea that (pick your hypothetical replacement QB) could do what Smith has done behind this OL is— and I mean no offense— silly enough to almost be dismissed entirely.

Here’s the thing about scoring a go-ahead touchdown with three minutes left though: now the other team gets four tries to move the chains. And against a McVay offense, that’s a very scary proposition. That fourth chance meant everything this afternoon, with Garoppolo converting a desperate 4th down with a scintillating throw over the middle under pressure. Armed with a full quiver of timeouts and the two-minute warning, Los Angeles was able to utilize their full offensive playbook with an extra try on every series. It’s a recipe for a bunch of first downs and a bunch of first downs is exactly what the Rams accomplished.

In fact, they got all the way to Seattle’s 16 with four tries to end their season with a win. A goal line pass to Robinson was expertly broken up by a perfectly-timed swat from Love and an ensuing swing pass to Johnson gained just two, with Uchenna Nwosu chasing him down in the open field. That set up 3rd & 8, which became a five-yard completion to Tutu Atwell over the middle.

Stage set.

4th & 3, 21 seconds left. The last meaningful snap of the written Cigar Thoughts era. With nothing and everything on the line at the same time, Mike Macdonald drew up one of his complicated pressures and forced a rushed back-foot throw from garoppolo. The pass was broken up by a diving Tre Brown and the Seahawks downed out their 10th win of the season.

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SMOKE RINGS

I’m gonna just get this out of the way— yes, I know everything I’m about to talk about was done against a fair amount of backups. I’ll ask that you keep in mind that I’m aware of that fact as I blow these rings.

~Geno Smith was marvelous today. On a day where he was financially motivated to be safe ($2M to complete 70% of his passes), he relentlessly attacked the second and third levels of the Rams defense, completing 20 of his 27 attempts (74%) to secure the bag. He needed a paltry 185 yards to secure another $2M but pressed the issue to the tune of 223 yards— an impressive 8.3 yards/attempt. Let me tell you when I say Geno Smith has the goods, it’s not some pollyanna Seahawks fans blindly co-signing the front office’s decision. He threw a career-high four touchdowns today to clinch his third $2M bonus with his 10th win as a starter. And every single one of those scoring strikes were sensational. were sensational. He’s a good quarterback, guys— and unless you have a clear plan for a QB that can finish top-5 in completions, yards, and completion percentage for less than what Smith is due,— I’d suggest getting real comfortable with the idea that the most popular guy in the Seahawks locker room will be around for a while,

Geno Smith completed more passes this year than any Seahawks QB ever has in a single season. His final numbers sparkle, with the interceptions being the very glaring exception:

70.4 of his passes were complete for 4,320 yards, 21 TDs, and 15 INTs with a number of game-winning drives. I will sign off as a former Geno-doubter-turned-Geno-believer and I certainly won’t miss the silliest argument surrounding this team when I retire in a few minutes.

~Zach Charbonnet has proven his worth to this franchise in a big way this season, providing meaningful contributions in relief of Ken Walker when he was healthy and offering game-shifting production as a starter when Walker wasn’t. Counting his slick reception on the hook-and-ladder from Jaxson Smith-Njigba, he notched 81 total yards to give him 909 for the season to go with nine touchdowns in less than a 50% work-share. Good player.

~I assume Ken Walker has earned a second contract with Seattle but if there’s one guy who may convince the Seahawks to move on, it’s not Charbonnet. Kenny McIntosh has looked very good with his limited opportunities the last few weeks. This team will not enter 2025 without at least two running backs they feel confident in handling a big workload and while he doesn’t have many NFL touches yet, McIntosh handled the ball 193 times his final year at Georgia and certainly looks the part of an NFL RB so far. McIntosh averaged an impressive 7.0 yards on his seven carries today and is, at the very least, worthy of a roster spot moving forward.

~It is remarkable how much better the entire offense looks when DK Metcalf is a focal point. That was evident in the first half, as he corralled three of five targets for 53 yards and a touchdown. Then, bafflingly, he didn’t see a single look in the second half and the offense struggled accordingly. Metcalf was putting up big numbers before his shoulder and knee injuries this year and it’s not a mystery that Seattle’s offense ranked near the top of the league in production and efficiency prior to him being banged up. Hammering the point home, the Seahawks ofense cratered when his targets per game dropped from nearly 10/game pre-injuries to just over 5/game since. He’s worth it and y’all that don’t think so need to stop depriving yourself of the joy of earnestly cheering for the type of player many teams go a decade between having.

~Jaxson Smith-Njigba has been the most productive offensive weapon this season, and despite a very forgettable four-catch / nine-yard performance today, he still heads to the offseason with 100 receptions (tying Tyler Lockett for the most in a season in Seahawks history) for 1,130 yards and 6 TDs. At 22 years old he ends the season 8th in the NFL in catches and 12th in yards. He had as many catches as Justin Jefferson, in case you wanted context.

~Speaking of… I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Tyler Lockett but if we have, I can’t tip my hat high enough to do justice to his time in Seattle. He had a clutch 16-yard catch on the game-winning drive and while his total numbers this season were well. below his recent production, the plays he did make this year all seemed to come in higher-leverage situations.

~With the Rams making an obvious effort to blanket DK and JSN, Noah Fant and AJ Barner showed out. They shared the team lead in catches with five and touchdowns with one apiece, with Fant getting 63 yards and Barner 34.

~If you’re frustrated with the outcome of this season, direct all your ire at the offensive line. The idea that some other QB or a different collection of skill players would easily be better behind this version of “protection” is— and I’m trying hard not to offend some of y’all— ridiculous. Whatever fantasy you’ve talked yourself into about affordable replacements for Geno, DK, Walker, etc is naught more than dust in the wind behind a blocking performance as despicable as what we saw this season. 10 wins with this OL is a miracle and if you’re placing blame on Seattle missing the playoffs anywhere else, I’m just not sure we can have an IRL sports conversation.

This unit sucks. It sucks so bad. they were actually not-terrible today but on the whole they were atrocious in 2024 and as much as I hate being adversarial, I’m comfortable saying that most of y’all’s hate is severely misplaced. Every other team with terrible O-line play sucked this year, and the Seahawks won 10 games. I can’t wait to no longer have to spend time and energy reinforcing this very obvious point.

Spend every draft pick and every free agent dollar you have on the OL. Cuz the current (read: last 14 years) approach ain’t working.

~Dear sweet immaculate glorious God, the tackling was terrible today. Sure, Sean McVay is a savant at putting defenders in bad positions but even so, the Seahawks defense whiffed on na stunning number of open-field opportunities against players that couldn’t crack the starting lineup before this week.

~That being said, their were plenty of defensive highlights. Tyrice Knight flubbed a punt coverage but still led the team with 10 tackles and an early sack. Seattle found a bgem on Day 3 of the draft this year. Next to Knight, former Rams captain Ernest Jones racked up nine takedowns to go with half a sack. The defense’s transition from very bad to very good this season correlated exactly with his arrival. And to quote him after the game, “Nah, we gonna get it done. I’m gonna be a Seahawk. I trust my agent to get it done.” Big if true.

~Every time I hear Julian Love speak I understand why he was named a captain and why he was the first player extended in the Mike Macdonald era. Six tackles, an interception, and a preposterous three passes broken up in this one. Get used to seeing that dude in Seattle’s secondary because he will be a stalwart moving forward.

~I’ve exhausted the furthest reaches of my vocabulary over the last 13 years and I still lack the verbiage to properly appreciate the season Leonard Williams had. I don’t ever give a fuck about Pro Bowl nominations but I am agog and aghast that Big cat didn’t earn that honor this season. Williams had five tackles and two sacks today, giving him 11 on the year— a comical number for an interior lineman.

~Devon Witherspoon had some great tackles and some really impressive pass coverage reps but he was also beaten for two touchdowns. The first was simply a case of greedy eyes, making him late to cover Tyler Higbee in the flat. The second was just a straight up one-on-one in the endzone that saw the receiver create a sliver of separation and capitalize on a great throw. He did break up the would-be game-tying two-point attempt after the second score, though. I mention this simply as a response to what we saw today; there is nary a doubt in my mind that Witherspoon will etch his name among the great defenders in Seahawks history by the time he’s done.

~Riq Woolen got hurt on a tackle in the second quarter, further complicating one of the toughest personnel decisions the team will face this offseason. From a zoomed-out perspective, Woolen resides in the upper-right quadrant (complimentary) of virtually every analytical chart of cornerback play but that’s mostly because his good games are so exceptional. But the thing about playing corner in the NFL is that when you’re not great, it’s very easy to look real bad. Thing is, Woolen has done enough in his good games that when combined with his elite measurables, he makes a compelling case for an expensive contract from somebody. Especially when teams consider the fact that he didn’t play defense until his last year in college. Lots of meat left on the bone. I’ll be fascinated to see what his market is because I’d love to keep him and replacing his talent is a lot tougher than you might think.

~Shout out Jason Myers, who was fucking awesome this year. He was perfect on extra points again today and drilled a crucial 56-yard field goal. Take away blocked kicks (which are rarely reflective of kicker performance) and he was 26-29 (89%) on field goals and 36-38 (95%) on extra points. I know we all act like every kick should be made but you can count the number of kickers with his accuracy this season on one hand.

~This season saw the Seahawks overhaul their coaching staff and any time that happens, I think you need to extend a two-year window to all involved— barring abject disaster. With 10 wins and a defense that was excellent in the second half of the season, I’m comfortable saying we have proof of concept that Mike Macdonald was the right hire as head coach. Given that his sterling resume is highlighted by exceptional Year 2 performances from his defenses, there’s no reason to believe this team won’t be even better on that side of the ball moving forward as they continue to get comfortable with his scheme.

~It gets more complicated when it comes to Ryan Grubb. The Seahawks offense bailed out a bad defense for most of the first half of the season and it looked like Grubb’;s free-wheeling style was, at the very least, a competent salve for the team’s deficiencies on the OL and defense. But November and December told a different story, as Seattle struggled to move the ball down the stretch. Like I said last week, the coordinator position is unfairly fragile and you have one, maybe two years to either get promoted ort fired. There really isn’t an in-between. I’d vote to give Grubb one more year (after all he oversaw some of the best passing and receiving numbers in franchise history as an NFL neophyte) but I also understand if the franchise feels like they need to go another direction. As always, I believe nearly every criticism of any Seahawks offensive player boils down to the atrocities that Seattle put forth on the front line every week.

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The Seattle Seahawks entered this season with a first-year head coach, a first-time offensive coordinator, a 34-year-old quarterback, an awful offensive line, and a Vegas over/under of 7.5 wins. All the did is go out and win 10 games, missing out on an NFC West championship and a home playoff game on the fifth tie-breaker. And yet there is a robust conversation happening online as to whether this was a successful season or not. One thing that has changed over the lifespan of Cigar Thoughts is the tenor of the comments section, as it has become increasingly argumentative and somehow this season, which I’m guessing 99% of you would have taken if offered in it August, will be Exhibit A for disagreement.

And look, this isn’t singular to the (honestly) brilliant if not truculent Field Gulls readership, nor to Seahawks fans writ large. Internet discourse has devolved at an alarming rate over the last eight or so years and it is what it is. But 2024 has always been, as I’ve said repeatedly throughout the season, a diagnostic year and to win essentially 60% of your games with obvious defincies and blatant inexperience on the coaching staff is, in my eyes, a clear step in the right direction. I will really, really miss writing about these games but I won’t miss arguing for enjoying the relative success of a non Super Bowl team because the alternative is being miserable 97% of the time and if that’s the case, just go hiking instead.

That being said, I understand the frustration with consistently winning just enough games to stay the course but not enough to feel like you’re truly competing. I have two thoughts on that: 1) there are millions upon millions of fans who would kill for that frustration and 2) the Seahawks did not stay the course. They fired the most successful coach in Seattle’s major sports history and won more games with a better point differential in the first year with his replacement. Do y’all understand how rare that is?

I’m not blind to the weaknesses on this team, but I’m most definitely not blind to the fact that most of the ire some fans feel is woefully misdirected. The O-line fuckin’ stinks and 90% of our criticisms about Geno, DK, or whomever else stem from that very important fact.

But I’m not gonna go out like that. There aren’t many teams that have been more compelling to write about or be a fan of over the last 13 years than the Seattle Seahawks, who are third in wins and won a Super Bowl over that stretch. At the end of the day, we’re all just so wonderfully fortunate to get mad abou something as silly as the performance of an NFL team instead of how to keep our child with meningitis alive.

A huge component of success is luck and I’m not ignorant of the fact that I am extremely lucky to have written about, and been a fan of, a team that has consistently won more games than they’ve lost with a ton of fascinating personalities during the time I’ve been hunting-and-pecking about them.

The lows define the highs and I’m grateful that the latter has outweighed the former by a fair margin during the Cigar Thoughts tenure. I think the arrow for this team is pointing decisively up and I look forward to watching this team attempt to reach their highest potential in the coming seasons. I’ll miss writing about it, but I’m also excited to just sit back and take it in as it comes.

I love you guys. I said it at the top but I simply couldn’t have imagined the positive effect that writing Cigar Thoughts would have on my life and that’s 100% because of y’all. Here’s to whatever comes next. In the meantime, onward and upward forever.

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CIGAR THOUGHTS IS NOW ON BLUESKY. JACSON IS ON BLUESKY HERE.

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