We Were All Wrong

[Hawkpower]

The NFC is in shambles, and Pete is great, so what's the problem?



Never said he sucks, I just don't trust Pete can deliver. Most agree with me, and have no expectation he can.




Pete did ruin Wilson to an extent, he got him killed for years behind Tom Cable lines, those hits add up. Bevell did him no favors, his work with Lawrence and other young QBs was uninspiring, which led to impeding of his development.

Schotty, helped Russ a ton mechanically as he is really good in that area, but left a lot to be desired as a playcaller, which is why he will never be one again. Waldron game 1 with Russ was a thing of beauty. It was just too little too late. And the divorce had already taken place. Pete did a piss poor job of giving the support a Franchise QB needs, and investing in the O-Line as compared to what other teams do for their Franchise QBs.

Once they signed Wilson to his first big extension. Pete chose to continue to dump assets into his defense, and running game. Instead of the O-Line, which could've still worked had Pete built a quality defense in those years, but Pete failed. Wilson carried those flawed teams kicking and screaming into the playoffs.

Pete Ball will make it's return. Pete goes to Pete Ball once he is comfortable with his defense controlling the opponent. They came out firing against the Chargers because they are very capable of putting up a lot of

points. When they play more deficient opponents Pete Ball will rear it's ugly head. It's how he prefers to play.

Relying on Russ and his lackluster play rather than our stellar defense, is what caused Pete to "struggle" (lol) in his multiple playoff appearances since 2015

Now that that alabatross is gone, Pete can get back to constructing a team that will cause havoc in the postseason to your lofty standards Fade

 

[GemCity]

If anyone was right about a 9+ win prediction, face it…it was sheer optimism.

It’s a wonderful thing. We should all be happy as hell.

But, no one was claiming Geno would be a top 10 QB, let alone a top 3. It takes more than just being serviceable. I’m at the point where I’d love to see us resign him and focus on D in the next draft. 180 degree turnaround from my preseason thoughts. Crazy.

We came up with some serious ballers in this last draft—also not predictable.

Not hating…I’m grateful, love this team, and realize I was completely wrong about Pete and our potential this year.

I can’t recall looking forward to the next draft so early in a season.

There’s a lot to love!!

 

[Maelstrom787]

If anyone was right about a 9+ win prediction, face it…it was sheer optimism.

It’s a wonderful thing. We should all be happy as hell.

But, no one was claiming Geno would be a top 10 QB, let alone a top 3. It takes more than just being serviceable. I’m at the point where I’d love to see us resign him and focus on D in the next draft. 180 degree turnaround from my preseason thoughts. Crazy.

We came up with some serious ballers in this last draft—also not predictable.

Not hating…I’m grateful, love this team, and realize I was completely wrong about Pete and our potential this year.

I can’t recall looking forward to the next draft so early in a season.

There’s a lot to love!!

There are a few guys here who predicted it on a pretty legitimate basis.

I definitely wasn't one, but a few deserve their props.

 

[morgulon1]

I never predicted a number, but I was always an "over" guy on that 5.5 from Vegas. I figured no way a Pete coached team would do that poorly. I was also a Lock guy, thinking he'd win the job in camp and only failed to do so because of the covid break and other circumstances. Got to admit I'm a bit astounded at how well we're doing, and how well Geno is doing.

Go Seahawks!

This.

I didn't have Seattle at 10 + wins but was pretty sure a Pete Carroll team would win more than 5.5 ( how does a team win 5.5 games anyways?)
Where I wasn't a Geno advocate , I wasn't a hater either and was glad the other guy was gone.

 

[knownone]

If anyone was right about a 9+ win prediction, face it…it was sheer optimism.

It’s a wonderful thing. We should all be happy as hell.

But, no one was claiming Geno would be a top 10 QB, let alone a top 3. It takes more than just being serviceable. I’m at the point where I’d love to see us resign him and focus on D in the next draft. 180 degree turnaround from my preseason thoughts. Crazy.

We came up with some serious ballers in this last draft—also not predictable.

Not hating…I’m grateful, love this team, and realize I was completely wrong about Pete and our potential this year.

I can’t recall looking forward to the next draft so early in a season.

There’s a lot to love!!

Let's be fair; we haven't won 9 games yet, so no one should be celebrating. However, I will say that some of us were not driven by pure optimism.

Geno is not a surprise to me. A handful of reputable media/scouts were singing his praise all off-season. Steven Ruiz is one example. And the consensus emerged before the preseason that he was a good decision-maker with a good to great skillset. Was he a guarantee? No. But it seemed like a pretty good bet because there wasn't a significant weakness in his game, and his sample size as a starter was much smaller than people realize.

As for overall success, the team was only one year removed from a 12-win season, and the last season was full of QB drama and injuries. Moreover, considering we added two above-average starters in the Denver trade and high draft picks, it didn't seem outlandish that the team would improve. I mean, we still won 7 games last season.

So I would argue pessimism toward Pete and an overestimation of Russell led people to underestimate how talented this team was going into the season, particularly the offense.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

No one should be celebrating winning? Screw that, I'm digging all the wins and will continue to do so. Still 10 games left and a lot can happen, but if people can't just enjoy what's going on, they likely never will. And that's fine. Fan how you want.

 

[olyfan63]

I have less than a 20 posts in this whole entire thread (including this post). Not even one page worth of replies. These are not the droids you are looking for.

Just glad it ended so we could get back to football-related discussion. I've enjoyed football-related posts from both of you. Peace. Carry on.

 

[olyfan63]

Let's be fair; we haven't won 9 games yet, so no one should be celebrating. However, I will say that some of us were not driven by pure optimism.

Geno is not a surprise to me. A handful of reputable media/scouts were singing his praise all off-season. Steven Ruiz is one example. And the consensus emerged before the preseason that he was a good decision-maker with a good to great skillset. Was he a guarantee? No. But it seemed like a pretty good bet because there wasn't a significant weakness in his game, and his sample size as a starter was much smaller than people realize.

As for overall success, the team was only one year removed from a 12-win season, and the last season was full of QB drama and injuries. Moreover, considering we added two above-average starters in the Denver trade and high draft picks, it didn't seem outlandish that the team would improve. I mean, we still won 7 games last season.

So I would argue pessimism toward Pete and an overestimation of Russell led people to underestimate how talented this team was going into the season, particularly the offense.

From the 12-win season, we're better at at least half-a-dozen starting positions, and another handful of depth positions.
Geno+Waldron > Russ+Waldron, Cross >= aging DBrown, Lucas > RT, 2022 Dissly > 2020 Dissly, Woolen > Flowers, and all this would take too long and be too subjective. Yeah, Bobby > anyone, Healthy KJ > anyone here, but overall the current talent, experience and skill level on the 2022 roster is a notch or two above the 2020 roster. Maybe a good topic for a new thread analyzing upgrades/downgrades for 2022 compared to 2020's 12-win team.

I've also been pleasantly shocked by the emergence of Colby Parkinson, who I thought would be an always-injured league washout, and is instead contributing at a high level, including key blocks to spring Walker's long TD vs Chargers. Fant was a good add, but to my eyes he's #3 on the TE depth chart, but it's the best TE room the Hawks have ever had, by far IMO. Paired with a QB who uses TEs well, a beautiful thing. TE discussion also probably deserves its own thread.

We still have DE Tyreke Smith from the 2022 draft class on IR who could pull a Parkinson in the future. (To "Parkinson" is to go from rookie oft-injured stiff to quality player, after multiple seasons on the shelf from multiple injuries)

 

[Ozzy]

From the 12-win season, we're better at at least half-a-dozen starting positions, and another handful of depth positions.
Geno+Waldron > Russ+Waldron, Cross >= aging DBrown, Lucas > RT, 2022 Dissly > 2020 Dissly, Woolen > Flowers, and all this would take too long and be too subjective. Yeah, Bobby > anyone, Healthy KJ > anyone here, but overall the current talent, experience and skill level on the 2022 roster is a notch or two above the 2020 roster. Maybe a good topic for a new thread analyzing upgrades/downgrades for 2022 compared to 2020's 12-win team.

I've also been pleasantly shocked by the emergence of Colby Parkinson, who I thought would be an always-injured league washout, and is instead contributing at a high level, including key blocks to spring Walker's long TD vs Chargers. Fant was a good add, but to my eyes he's #3 on the TE depth chart, but it's the best TE room the Hawks have ever had, by far IMO. Paired with a QB who uses TEs well, a beautiful thing. TE discussion also probably deserves its own thread.

We still have DE Tyreke Smith from the 2022 draft class on IR who could pull a Parkinson in the future. (To "Parkinson" is to go from rookie oft-injured stiff to quality player, after multiple seasons on the shelf from multiple injuries)

I didn't expect Lucas and Woolen to be so good and I think both drastically change what this team can do. I've been critical of Pete but for whatever reason he is letting Waldron do more with his offense than in the past. We can debate if it was because of personnel(Wilson) or Pete just giving up some control and really it doesn't matter but Waldron seems much better this year two which in hindsight is to be expected as he settles in. I agree though I think the overall talent level is higher on this squad.

 

[sutz]

I didn't expect Lucas and Woolen to be so good and I think both drastically change what this team can do. I've been critical of Pete but for whatever reason he is letting Waldron do more with his offense than in the past. We can debate if it was because of personnel(Wilson) or Pete just giving up some control and really it doesn't matter but Waldron seems much better this year two which in hindsight is to be expected as he settles in. I agree though I think the overall talent level is higher on this squad.

I suspect that Pete doesn't "interfere" with the offense when it's working. Remember, he stood and watched the "Let Russ Cook" season until Russ threw a bunch of picks in a short stretch of games. Then he stepped in and said "No more." Waldron's offense is working, and not turning the ball over a lot. Pete is always in charge, of course, but he knows the old adage, "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

 

[GeekHawk]

Since the O completely changed (to what was expected from Waldron) during the short stint that Geno had last year, then immediately changed back... Is it possible Waldron was always calling plays like this year, and they were always being audibled away from? Like, maybe PC doesn't actually call plays to cater to his QB (or, doesn't actually call the plays at all, which I think), but his QB was doing what he wanted no matter what? That's what I gathered from that comment that PC or somebody made a couple weeks ago about Geno doing "what he's told". Which would also explain why the front office finally threw their hands up in the air and made the trade last off-season.

 

[HawkStrong]

Since the O completely changed (to what was expected from Waldron) during the short stint that Geno had last year, then immediately changed back... Is it possible Waldron was always calling plays like this year, and they were always being audibled away from? Like, maybe PC doesn't actually call plays to cater to his QB (or, doesn't actually call the plays at all, which I think), but his QB was doing what he wanted no matter what? That's what I gathered from that comment that PC or somebody made a couple weeks ago about Geno doing "what he's told". Which would also explain why the front office finally threw their hands up in the air and made the trade last off-season.

I don't even think it was necessarily audibled away from... There were a few video breakdowns of Russ completely missing wide open receivers the last two/few years here. Not just cherry picked stuff, but legitimately ignoring certain routes and areas of the field in favor of throws he prefers. It's been more of the same in Denver through the first half of this season.

So, I think there is absolutely some valid speculation that Russ would not (or could not) run the offense as intended. That comment by PC about Geno is very telling. The offense feels like it has been much more consistent this year, if maybe a bit less explosive. Geno is completely content taking what the defense gives, rather than searching for the big play all game long. It allows the offense to get into a steady rhythm which is a crucial component that was missing last year especially.

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Go Hawks

 

[BASF]

Go Hawks

No. Go Seahawks

 

[SoulfishHawk]

Go Hawks
Go Seahawks
who gives a rip, they are a YOUNG TEAM, and WE were all wrong. I have been saying Go Hawks since they became a team.

 

[sprhawk73]

I figured Cross and Lucas would make Geno equivalent to Russ but am starting to question if I under-estimated not only their effectiveness but some of the other new players as well.

I would love to eat crow on my original 7-win prediction, but it all rides on Walker's run game. 2 TD's and 168 yards performance is making me hopeful that we have our feature back, but it is way too early to say he'll stay healthy.

This has the potential of becoming an epic Cinderella story season but since our depth isn't so good, it could easily be a terrible train wreck too. You have to love it.

 

[knownone]

No one should be celebrating winning? Screw that, I'm digging all the wins and will continue to do so. Still 10 games left and a lot can happen, but if people can't just enjoy what's going on, they likely never will. And that's fine. Fan how you want.

An interesting takeaway. My point was no one should be celebrating their preseason predictions when there is so much season left to be played. Obviously, people should celebrate wins and enjoy what's happening.

 

[Lagartixa]

Go Hawks

No. Go Seahawks

I always made a point of writing "Go 'Hawks!"
The explanation I'd give is that Atlanta's NBA team can kiss my ass.

 

[LeaveLynchAlone]

An interesting takeaway. My point was no one should be celebrating their preseason predictions when there is so much season left to be played. Obviously, people should celebrate wins and enjoy what's happening.

Perhaps people should do what they want rather than what others tell them what they should or should not do unless that is what they want.

 

[BASF]

As far as being wrong, I wanted Pete gone after he stuck with Norton for so long. It was obvious that Pete was giving Norton too much leeway in how he handled the defense before stepping in. Then he promotes the Miami Cheat (I should let this go, Hurtt had his NCAA punishment, but still don't like him). At least Pete did not give Hurtt as much leeway as Norton.