keasley45
Well-known member
This year.
I'll be the first to say it and own looking foolish if it turns out we fall flat on our faces. Over the last 4 weeks I've been listening closely to the coaches and players talk about this team, where it is, how its changing and where they are going. I've listened / watched just about every Hawks related segment that's out there, whether ESPN, youtube, NFLN, Indies..., and i have watched a good bit of film review by others documenting the changes they have seen the team make over the last month, first on defense and now on offense.
We have watched the season unfold and the team not just claw its way back to first place and a winning record, but fundamentally change the way it plays, correcting many of the flaws that were evident on both sides of the ball.
And we have had a front seat to watch this staff and team grow up, grow confidence and grow together at a time in the season when confidence and togetherness are two of the intangibles any team hoping of making a deep run in the playoffs must have.
Then, I look at this roster and try to see a scenario where we can realistically add more talent than what we have across the board now at our 1st and in some cases, 2nd string level. RB, WR, QB (yes, QB) O line bookends and hungry interior talent, solid TE play, one of the top 7 or so D lines in the league, 2 top flight ILB and solid to sometimes spectacular Edge players... Electric CBs ( one, an absolute, elite stud), and a combination of proven, vet talent at one safety spot and a young, hungry and talented player at the other.
There's that saying that life is what happens when you are planning for what comes tomorrow. I'm beginning to get the feeling that our window is just about to break wide open come Sunday night.
That might be counter to the thinking that Mike needs another year to get his pieces in place. Seriously, what are those pieces that we are so lacking that will prevent us from making noise this year? O Line is the only obvious spot where we could use improvement. But given the last few weeks and the revelation our new G has been (along with the improved continuity and play across the board), if they continue to improve week over week between now and the end of the season, i think they will be solid enough to ride with right now.
Add to that, trends that show our D ranked in the top 5 since the bye in a few categories, Geno completing passes at a rate approaching 74% and limiting picks, our running game getting on track, our line not allowing nearly as much pressure, our OC dialing up a nice mix of exotic and ball control plans, and our DC hinting that we haven't really begun to disguise too much on D yet as the guys are still ramping up their knowledge.
All this and at the most important position, i heard a stat quoted today that Geno currently sports the #1 QBR rank throwing on 1st down and is ranked 4th in terms of accuracy when under pressure.
We are a team that is playing REALLY good ball right now and only seems to be getting better. The players don't seem like they are satisfied at all with how they have played and the coaches look to be just now digging into their bag of tricks to build on the foundation they have set over the first 13 games.
When I look around the NFC, i don't see another team that is ramping up the way we are, that has the talent across the board that we do AND has the element of surprise in that our schemes on O and D are just now starting to come into a real groove. The Lions are obviously the No 1 show, but everyone in the league knows their act. Pressure Goff, slow their run game and confuse their defense. Its not like we didn't beat them last year in their house and give them all they could handle with only half a defense this year. The rest? Philly is the Saquon show. I am not buying them at all. GB? they'll be a notch in our axe come monday. Minny? Not buying the QB. We have already seen him wilt under the pressure Detroit put him under. The Rams are the Rams. They will always play us tough but in all honesty, we should have won the first matchup if it werent for self inflicted wounds.
John Schneider's move to let Pete walk was the right one. He has been on a mission to build a contender since the day he shipped Russ out of town. Piece by piece, each year since 2021, he's gone about the work of building a talented roster boasting skill and potential at almost every position. It wasn't always obvious how good we might be because the one thing that needed most to change, the head coach, was for obvious reasons, the one that was allowed the most runway to try to make things go.
And he couldn't.
So, John brought in the one guy who had the traits and potential to shine light on all of the blind spots Pete and his staff could not. Same culture, same players, but a slightly different way to achieve the end goal.
There's a saying in learning organization cultures like the one Seattle has - ' you have are everything you need to succeed '. It's meant as a reminder to never wait for someone else to come along to make you better, to not assume 'your day will come', and rather to believe with every fiber of yourself that you are enough to achieve your goals in the present moment. I'm sure, given Mike's belief in culture that that sentiment has been shared with this team. Belief systems like the one Mike has instilled (or refined) can be extremely empowering, pushing a team to achieve more than they might otherwise, and inspire players on the roster who know they have to fight to just be on the field.
As Marty Schottenheimer famously said to his players in an message before a pivotal game - ' There's a gleam, men. There's a gleam...' . This team, with a win Sunday will have that gleam. If that happens, i think we should all reframe our expectations for what this season's goals should be. If they win Sunday, i think we are in the mix to win this whole damn thing.
I'll be the first to say it and own looking foolish if it turns out we fall flat on our faces. Over the last 4 weeks I've been listening closely to the coaches and players talk about this team, where it is, how its changing and where they are going. I've listened / watched just about every Hawks related segment that's out there, whether ESPN, youtube, NFLN, Indies..., and i have watched a good bit of film review by others documenting the changes they have seen the team make over the last month, first on defense and now on offense.
We have watched the season unfold and the team not just claw its way back to first place and a winning record, but fundamentally change the way it plays, correcting many of the flaws that were evident on both sides of the ball.
And we have had a front seat to watch this staff and team grow up, grow confidence and grow together at a time in the season when confidence and togetherness are two of the intangibles any team hoping of making a deep run in the playoffs must have.
Then, I look at this roster and try to see a scenario where we can realistically add more talent than what we have across the board now at our 1st and in some cases, 2nd string level. RB, WR, QB (yes, QB) O line bookends and hungry interior talent, solid TE play, one of the top 7 or so D lines in the league, 2 top flight ILB and solid to sometimes spectacular Edge players... Electric CBs ( one, an absolute, elite stud), and a combination of proven, vet talent at one safety spot and a young, hungry and talented player at the other.
There's that saying that life is what happens when you are planning for what comes tomorrow. I'm beginning to get the feeling that our window is just about to break wide open come Sunday night.
That might be counter to the thinking that Mike needs another year to get his pieces in place. Seriously, what are those pieces that we are so lacking that will prevent us from making noise this year? O Line is the only obvious spot where we could use improvement. But given the last few weeks and the revelation our new G has been (along with the improved continuity and play across the board), if they continue to improve week over week between now and the end of the season, i think they will be solid enough to ride with right now.
Add to that, trends that show our D ranked in the top 5 since the bye in a few categories, Geno completing passes at a rate approaching 74% and limiting picks, our running game getting on track, our line not allowing nearly as much pressure, our OC dialing up a nice mix of exotic and ball control plans, and our DC hinting that we haven't really begun to disguise too much on D yet as the guys are still ramping up their knowledge.
All this and at the most important position, i heard a stat quoted today that Geno currently sports the #1 QBR rank throwing on 1st down and is ranked 4th in terms of accuracy when under pressure.
We are a team that is playing REALLY good ball right now and only seems to be getting better. The players don't seem like they are satisfied at all with how they have played and the coaches look to be just now digging into their bag of tricks to build on the foundation they have set over the first 13 games.
When I look around the NFC, i don't see another team that is ramping up the way we are, that has the talent across the board that we do AND has the element of surprise in that our schemes on O and D are just now starting to come into a real groove. The Lions are obviously the No 1 show, but everyone in the league knows their act. Pressure Goff, slow their run game and confuse their defense. Its not like we didn't beat them last year in their house and give them all they could handle with only half a defense this year. The rest? Philly is the Saquon show. I am not buying them at all. GB? they'll be a notch in our axe come monday. Minny? Not buying the QB. We have already seen him wilt under the pressure Detroit put him under. The Rams are the Rams. They will always play us tough but in all honesty, we should have won the first matchup if it werent for self inflicted wounds.
John Schneider's move to let Pete walk was the right one. He has been on a mission to build a contender since the day he shipped Russ out of town. Piece by piece, each year since 2021, he's gone about the work of building a talented roster boasting skill and potential at almost every position. It wasn't always obvious how good we might be because the one thing that needed most to change, the head coach, was for obvious reasons, the one that was allowed the most runway to try to make things go.
And he couldn't.
So, John brought in the one guy who had the traits and potential to shine light on all of the blind spots Pete and his staff could not. Same culture, same players, but a slightly different way to achieve the end goal.
There's a saying in learning organization cultures like the one Seattle has - ' you have are everything you need to succeed '. It's meant as a reminder to never wait for someone else to come along to make you better, to not assume 'your day will come', and rather to believe with every fiber of yourself that you are enough to achieve your goals in the present moment. I'm sure, given Mike's belief in culture that that sentiment has been shared with this team. Belief systems like the one Mike has instilled (or refined) can be extremely empowering, pushing a team to achieve more than they might otherwise, and inspire players on the roster who know they have to fight to just be on the field.
As Marty Schottenheimer famously said to his players in an message before a pivotal game - ' There's a gleam, men. There's a gleam...' . This team, with a win Sunday will have that gleam. If that happens, i think we should all reframe our expectations for what this season's goals should be. If they win Sunday, i think we are in the mix to win this whole damn thing.
