Something was off last night.

[ivotuk]

I got the feeling from the very start and felt like it was going to be a bad game. I don't see last night's game as a representation of who this team is. But the loss will be a motivation to finish strong. And I firmly believe that's all we need.

But it's like they weren't on the same page, almost as if they were all in a fog. Especially Russell. I wonder if they were feeling the effects of that flu still? Either way, I expect a better game next week.

Also, I saw Aaron Donald loaf some times last night. Got the distinct impression that his only job was to take up as many OLinemen as possible. Kind of like sending out your most dangerous receiver, even if he's not fully healthy, to take up one or two DBs.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I said a month ago that this was the one game left on our schedule that worried me the most.

- short week
- lots of players nursing injuries
- Rams desperate, healthy and playing their best football of the season

All spells what we saw last night, beatdown city. Pete didn't help by continuing to play the same schemes on both sides of the ball that have never worked against the Rams. That's really what troubles me most about this continued stubbornness on Pete's part to mix up his schemes and gameplanning against McVay, who obviously knows how to easily break down our stupid 4-3 zone.

But never the less, win out and everything we want is still there for the taking. Just have to hope other than Penny, the injury report isn't long and extensive today.

 

[GLio14]

I'll refer to my post in the Aros' thread:

Interesting quote from Lockett on Michael-Shawn Dugar's Athletic piece:

Lockett: “Yeah, but we haven’t been running plays to be explosive. We’ve been running plays to run the ball and control the clock. We haven’t been trying to go over the top like we normally have because teams have been game-planning that.”

In hindsight, defenses are daring the Hawks to run the ball. They essentially can live with Carson running for 80-100 yards a game, but as long as they stop the passing game, that makes Russ so dangerous. Which is why we're running on 2nd & 10 sometimes.

Last night reminded me of the playoff game against Dallas (minus the bad run game). There was no flow, and the play calling was out of wack. It seemed like the coaches didn't know how to answer what LA was giving us, and it resulted in the poor play we saw.

 

[Mistashoesta]

They stunk it up bad. Reminded me of...

[youtube]4vOk15OtwAo[/youtube]

https://youtu.be/4vOk15OtwAo

 

[ivotuk]

I think Pete felt it too. I was disappointed when he went for it on 4th down so early in the game when it was obvious the offense was struggling.

If you want to play conservative ball and run it a lot, then stick with conservative scoring too! Take those 3 points when they are available and stop giving your team the impression so early in the game that you're panicking!

 

[jammerhawk]

The game felt like the Dallas playoff game last year.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

I think Pete felt it too. I was disappointed when he went for it on 4th down so early in the game when it was obvious the offense was struggling.

If you want to play conservative ball and run it a lot, then stick with conservative scoring too! Take those 3 points when they are available and stop giving your team the impression so early in the game that you're panicking!

Hard to blame Pete for going for it, he saw how this game was going, a FG was not going to be enough to keep up with the Rams scoring on our defense like a hot knife through butter.

btw, if Pete kicks the FG then today we're crucifying him for not going for it.

 

[TwistedHusky]

I don't know there was much Pete could have done.

We don't match up well with the Rams.

The things that tend to derail us are all things that they are very good at.

Generally, you can rely on Goff being bad enough you get a few chances to stay in the game with them. But with Goff being reasonably sharp, there was not much chance.

Combine that with a less sharp Wilson, not sure there was much we could do.

 

[GeekHawk]

I wonder if Pete just didn't want to tip his hand to any of the other 3 teams we're laying, on the assumption that last night was against an opponent we won't see in the playoffs? Deliberately, infuriatingly, vanilla?

 

[flmmkrz]

I wonder if Pete just didn't want to tip his hand to any of the other 3 teams we're laying, on the assumption that last night was against an opponent we won't see in the playoffs? Deliberately, infuriatingly, vanilla?

id be lying if I said that conspiracy theory hadnt crept into my head as well but not sure how much I believe...but it has crossed my mind

 

[nanomoz]

There's two or three of these WTF-they're-off games every year. I could feel it coming. There is seemingly always one in the last quarter of the season. This was it.

I've come to think it's a trapping of a Pete team that plays "on the edge" (his words) all the time. It's honestly like they have a hangover after a crazy, emotional win or two (or 10).

 

[RW92]

Hey let's not panic, but there are few things that jumped out to me yesterday that if not addressed will render a bad performance in the playoffs.
1.) Need to find a way for either D.K , Gordon, Turner, or Moore to stretch the field. Tyler in my opinion is still hurt from his leg injury and his break away speed isn't there right now. Need to find out in practice who the fastest is and start changing things up a bit offensively. If we don't and stick to 2 WR sets most of the time, the defense crowds the line of scrimmage shortening the field, playing the run, knowing they don't have to fear the deep threat. And the short passing game is only going to take us so far.
2.) And lastly, hope and pray that Clowney isn't too hurt (his strength to the quarterback seem limited yesterday, hard to push off with the core injury),... and that Ansah comes back strong. The pass rush we all saw against the 49er's has to return. If it doesn't, trouble is on the horizon. Teams that are successful in the playoffs and go deep into January get to the quarterback. No exceptions. Forget about the early season stats. That doesn't matter at this time, December going into January. If you can find lightening in a bottle for 2 months great things just may happen. Go Hawks. Love them win or lose.

 

[seahawks08]

I have a theory but it’s a pure guess. They were all featuring cleats for a cause. They were not comfortable in those shoes. I saw people slipping. It could also be the reason for Penny’s injury when he fell awkward. Once you slip you can’t hold the line and you were out of rhythm. Yes the Rams we’re playing like wounded teams do, they are used to playing in their stadium. That’s one thought. They confused the defense that we stopped trusting each other.

Monday night was an emotional and physical strain for the team to overcome.

Defense was getting fooled with all the shifts that they were doing
The weather was humid as I saw players gassed out early.

Game plan and practice was build around run, losing and upcoming running back took away our plays. We didn’t practice short throws or no play action developed.

No rhythm, drop ball threw Russ out of rhythm.

Anyways happy it happened sometimes to teach rookies how to overcome and play championship football.

 

[olyfan63]

I wonder if Pete just didn't want to tip his hand to any of the other 3 teams we're laying, on the assumption that last night was against an opponent we won't see in the playoffs? Deliberately, infuriatingly, vanilla?

id be lying if I said that conspiracy theory hadnt crept into my head as well but not sure how much I believe...but it has crossed my mind

Conspiracy theory? How about our week 16 loss, AT HOME, to the Cardinals, in 2013, yes, the year we won SB48?
We ran a vanilla offensive and defensive scheme, and didn't really play like we cared that much. Arizona came in highly motivated, needing to win to make the playoffs. We played and schemed like we didn't care that much about W/L in that game.

SO THERE IS A PRECEDENT FOR THIS "CONSPIRACY THEORY" THEN? YES!!

I don't think Pete EVER sets out to lose a game, but Pete is a long-game thinker. I will *hypothesize* in Pete-think, for reading amusement.

* LA is going to come in fresher, with more energy than our guys, based on an extra day of rest
* LA has had an extra day to game-plan and study film and install things for this game
* Their playoff life is on the line, and Sean will be pulling out ALL the stops
* The REAL division championship game is Week 17 vs. the 49ers
* I could pull out ALL the stops for this game and still lose
* Ziggy and Kendricks could really, really stand to rest their wounds so we have them for 49ers
* We can probably win next two games without Ziggy and Kendricks
* We probably can't win vs SF without Kendricks; let's rest him.
* A healthy Ziggy vs 49ers could be the X-factor that tips the game in our favor; let's rest him
* I really don't want to put anything new on film for future opponents
* Historically, other top teams often stumble unexpectedly in the last few weeks
* We've got Carolina on the road next week, team in chaos, no Cam, Rivera fired, interim coach--VERY WINNABLE GAME
* We've got Arizona in Week 16 at home, a VERY WINNABLE GAME
* I like our chances of getting to Week 17 at home at 12-3, and playing for the Division Title then
* Let's try to beat the Rams with our basic schemes and see if we can out-execute them
* Let's see if the Rams show us anything new that causes us problems and see if we can beat it without showing new wrinkles
* I really, really don't want to put anything new on film for future opponents before the playoffs
* In 2014, we got HFA with a 12-4 record
* Our odds of being #1 seed and HFA with 13-3 record are still decent
* The guys might need a little bit of an ass-kicking to get their attention, get them refocused for the playoffs, stop the false invincibility BS mindset we're falling into
* We really, really MUST win the Division, and that's still in our control, even if we lose to the Rams

OK, so that is my attempt at Pete-think. Maybe only a few of them are on target, or maybe the vast majority of them are on target.

SO YOU'RE SAYING THIS ISN'T EVEN A CONSPIRACY THEORY, IT'S JUST REASONABLY PLAUSIBLE LOGIC BASED ON PAST HISTORY AND THE CURRENT SITUATION?
Yeah, that's what I'm saying.