Am I the only one prognosticating a blowout?

[Fitz the Ram]

Well it hurts your run game. Which works for me because it pretty much gives the same result different means.

It hurts more than you know. When Long was at LT, Saffold was playing at pro bowl level at RG. Him and Barksdale have been amazing at opening holes. With Long out, Saffold moves to LT and we have Shelley Smith and Chris Williamsstarting at the guard positions, unless they throw Harvey Dahl in, who is healed, but has been bad in the run game since he returned. He was actually in and Safold moved to RT for a bit, but our line sucked so they took him out. Its a mess kind of. We really need better depth.

 

[drdiags]

Okung and Breno played in the game last year, both games. Wilson wasn't sitting snug in the pocket or lighting up the Rams then. There could be a blow-out if momentum and turnovers just start cascading down but I seriously doubt it. I guess folks have licked their wounds but nothing from recent trends points to a blow-out.

Who becomes the 3rd WR with Kearse hobbling around? Walters (if he is on the active roster)? Lockette? The running game isn't running at high efficiency. I have no doubt about the defense. I would be shocked if the offense puts up big numbers without the help of turnovers and special teams.

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

Pretty much why I think 10-14 isn't unreasonable especially after that Arizona debacle. You guys have the makings of a good team especially if you draft a quarterback and dump Bradford. This division is getting to be like oldschool NFCE, 4 good teams consistently sending 3 teams to the playoffs.

 

[irocdave]

I see the Hawks being in a fist fight for the first half, probably going in behind by 3 points if Bevel keeps with the mantra of the Hawks being a dominate run team, results be damned. If the coaching staff prepares a game plan that takes advantages of the rams weaknesses the Hawks O should put up at least 21 points. If the Hawks can get on top quickly the Rams O becomes one dimensional and forces them in a direction that will be their weakness / Hawks strength. Symmetry, that is what is needed for the Hawks to pull this out Sunday. Get up early and play to the Hawks strengths which are the Rams weaknesses. I said it last year and will say it again, the weakness of our D is stropping the run, our linebackers are not good at it. The Hawks don't have a run stuffing duo of linebackers....that should be addressed in the draft.

That being said I see the Hawks winning a close one and securing HFA.

 

[Fitz the Ram]

Pretty much why I think 10-14 isn't unreasonable especially after that Arizona debacle. You guys have the makings of a good team especially if you draft a quarterback and dump Bradford. This division is getting to be like oldschool NFCE, 4 good teams consistently sending 3 teams to the playoffs.

I understand people hating on Bradford, but he isn't going anywhere. He also played pretty good this year despite having no running game before he went down. This next year will be his last chance to truly prove if he is good enough, if he wasn't injured, we probably win the game in STL against you and win at least one more game this season and are in the thick of things.

I agree that it might be close, also that we are going to be a division that send 3 teams to the playoffs. Although i hate the 49ers, and dont like the Seahawks much, it is truly awesome to see this division become so amazingly strong.

 

[Hawks46]

We haven't blown the Rams out in over 2 years, and our offense is playing like crap. I don't see it now.

I could go into all the individual matchups, but unless the Rams get a crazy turnover in our redzone, or get a few "gift from God" calls, I don't see the Rams getting into the endzone. I see them getting 3-4 FG's from their very good kicker with a huge leg. On offense, we are banged up at WR and I don't like our depth. Lynch hasn't been seeing the field very well lately and that makes things even tougher against their front 4. Wilson is also in kind of a funk. I don't see us scoring more than 17 to be honest.

None of it really matters from a HFA and #1 seed perspective though. I honestly think the Cards beat the 49ers this week at home.

 

[RiverDog]

I can see a blowout happening. I think it is less likely than a close, defensive struggle, but just the fact that we're playing at home and with nearly everything on the line causes me to think that we'll be flying all over the place.

I'm going with 24-10 Hawks. Not a blowout, but a solid two score win.

 

[Pandion Haliaetus]

Congrats to Plyka, Barthawk, Ariel, and River Dog, (and myself) for some educated belief.

Barthawk actually got the score 27-10 (It was 27-9) and my own pre-game thoughts went almost exactly in accordance to the actual game (which is usually rare for me when making predictions).

 

[djb28]

Whenever I read the majority here ruling a Blowout, we lose. I don't have the stats or a link.. But my broken heart can back me up!

 

[MizzouHawkGal]

I wasn't completely wrong in guessing 24-14 it was in the ballpark.

 

[plyka]

Congrats to Plyka, Barthawk, Ariel, and River Dog, (and myself) for some educated belief.

Barthawk actually got the score 27-10 (It was 27-9) and my own pre-game thoughts went almost exactly in accordance to the actual game (which is usually rare for me when making predictions).

Good stuff...good stuff! Now that we are in the playoffs, the Hawks have the highest probability of winning it all! With this defense and these special teams, and homefield advantage and the first round bye!! It looks so good. The only weakness is the offense and by extension the playcalling. Hopefully they surprise us on the upside, because even an above average offense --say top 10 --will result in a superbowl victory!