Did Yesterday's Game Move Your Meter?

[mistaowen]

I think we can be the 6th seed. I don't see SF losing more than 4 games this year even with their tough schedule coming up. 5th is more or less locked up by Chicago/Green Bay for whoever loses out on that race. NFC East has become a joke this year as well as the South. Going into this season I thought we could be 10-6 by being consistent at home and dropping some games on the road we could win. So far that seems to be our blueprint.

Few thoughts:

RW is growing every game. He had MANY passes yesterday that were third or fourth reads while still in the pocket. That is a HUGE improvement from early in the season when he looked to run after 1 or 2. Everyone who talked about his work habit to improve after every single game was correct. This guy must live in the film room. I love it....it is the same thing that got Peyton to where he is today. Even though it is unlikely we see him become Peyton Manning, the work ethic is there to be successful.

Sidney Rice is becoming a #1 WR. Anything thrown to him is caught. I'm really glad we are starting to throw to him more. I'd like it if he got even more looks.

Marshawn will consistently be a top 5 RB this season. We are lucky enough to have a guy like him who will get positive yards 9/10 times even when plays blow up. That is huge.

Run defense has been shaky, but we will not face another RB like Peterson the rest of the season. That guy is Minnesota's offense. He made some incredible Barry Sanders like cuts yesterday. If we can shore up our interior rush defense, we should be back where we started the season.

Teams still can't throw deep on us. Once again the majority of their passes were short/middle, and we did a much better job covering that even if Ponder blows. My biggest complaint in the past few games was how deep Earl had been playing, especially with how no teams throw deep on us. Yesterday he was much closer to the line of scrimmage and made a ton of big plays.

Special teams is looking everything but special. There needs to be some major changes there.

 

[ImTheScientist]

My meter is always the same regardless of win or lose. I just take it step by step, one game at at time, one play at a time. Obviously every game is important...obviously.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Of course, my interpretation hinges on the presumption that a guy who is widely considered the key to our defensive scheme isn't a self-centered jerk.

He's not, in fact Thomas is usually one of the quieter defensive players on the field..........even AP said he was confused with how fired up Thomas got, cause he's not normally like that.

My guess is it was a frustration thing. When a back's running the ball down your throat all day, you're extra excited when you finally do make a play. But still, that's kinda bush league stuff. Save the celebration for when you're dominating.

It's like a WR or RB doing a two minute TD dance when his team's down by four scores.

 

[hawker84]

i agree with radish's take... as happy as i was with the win, i felt like we were lucky to have been that successful against this team, my feelings are primarily due to their lack at the QB position... i really felt had they had a somewhat decent QB we would have had a much tougher time winning this game.. ponder is horrible, horrible.. this is what worries me about Sanchez coming in, he's much better than ponder.. as far as the show boating.. get used to it , it's not going to change, i just choose to ignore it.. but tate is a play maker, and a difference maker.. whatever he needs to do to continue playing at that level.

 

[volsunghawk]

Of course, my interpretation hinges on the presumption that a guy who is widely considered the key to our defensive scheme isn't a self-centered jerk.

He's not, in fact Thomas is usually one of the quieter defensive players on the field..........even AP said he was confused with how fired up Thomas got, cause he's not normally like that.

My guess is it was a frustration thing. When a back's running the ball down your throat all day, you're extra excited when you finally do make a play. But still, that's kinda bush league stuff. Save the celebration for when you're dominating.

It's like a WR or RB doing a two minute TD dance when his team's down by four scores.

See, I would see a "two minute TD dance when his team's down by four scores" as the actions of a self-centered jerk.

That's not how I interpreted what Thomas did.

 

[hawkfan1975]

No, sorry to say. If we didn't beat a very rough looking Minnie (after recent losses...at home no less) I would have been shocked. It was somewhat of a much needed little break for our Hawks who've been dealing with a tough first half of a schedule. What concerned me was how close this game was (at home) for most of it...so I'm sorry to add I don't have too high of hopes for some coming games and feel we're still very much in rebuild mode.

It turns out our defense needs a full year before we can paint them as "top #" anything (I know it's a bummer to type that, but well, that's the truth). And I know we see the "rah-rah RW posts" after a win, and he had one of his better games this Sunday, the same goes for our QB. Although I totally understand the excitement some have (just can't shake the reality we were playing a 2012 Minnie in our house. Bigger fish are still on sched). And the biggie for me (and it pains me to type it)...but Pete is still suspect to me as well even after this long.

However "any given sunday" always applies, right? and none of this is to be read as gloom. You just happened to ask the 20K Q. I suppose it's somewhat ok to be in rebuild mode this year given our road issues so far. Next year however? Just fix it, there's too much talent here for that.

 

[scutterhawk]

Just like against the Lions, my meter moved up due to our offense and down because of our defense. We're talking two steps forward, and then two steps back, but...

AP is no joke, besides his 70+ yard run, we did a decent job of keeping him fairly in check. Yes, he still racked up 108 yards on just 16 carries - 6.8 yards per run - (if you remove the 74-yarder) which is waayyy too high for a team that wants to be successful on defense in this league... but I think we're starting to see glimpses of a very good offense.

If we can put them both together, offense and defense, in the same game, I don't see a single opponent on the rest of our schedule that can beat us. Including the Bears in Chicago...

Yesterday exposed our defense—no one can just arm tackle guys like Gore and AP, you have to bring it every. single. play. If we can do that, watch out NFL!

Yep, we beat the Giants in their back yard last year with Jackson at the helm, so with Wilson getting better with each game, the Bears game is very winable, especially if the Defense plays better at defending the middle.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

Yep, we beat the Giants in their back yard last year with Jackson at the helm, so with Wilson getting better with each game, the Bears game is very winable, especially if the Defense plays better at defending the middle.

I think we match up well against the Bears. They've been throwing it all over the field on some bad defensive backfields the past 3-4 weeks, and that's our defensive strength. With Forte out, and their other backs dinged up, it will help our front seven's recent gap control issues.

 

[Starrman44]

My meter moved definitely. The Defense is going to be better vs. the run than they were yesterday. I believe they got embarrassed. However, they killed the pass. The D has to come back to their earlier season form, most definitely.

My meter jumped all over in regards to the offense. I am getting more and more excited about Wilson each week. It's starting to look like this team could be a balanced team. If we can continue, there is no reason we have to be the Ravens. We can have a good offense, too.

Last year I felt like Baldwin was unequivocally better than Tate, but Tate is showing a lot of toughness this year. I don't understand the ripping on him. He's kind of like Sherman where he feeds off his attitude. He had it going full force yesterday. The play he made to get into the end zone was guts and grit. Yeah, he could of fumbled, but he didn't. He got it across the line first. He took a shot, but he played tough the rest of the game. I still feel like he runs a little hot and cold (disappears sometimes), but at least he is showing up.

If Baldwin can get healthy and be that third down specialist... See, that's what I mean. Yesterday was very exciting for me from an offensive standpoint. Almost 200 yards on the ground and 200 yards through the air, that's awesome balance. What they showed in Detroit the week before is telling me we may be close to having a consistent offense at Home and on the road.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

The only thing that's moving my meter right now is the passing game, and the passing game just keeps taking steps forward.

 

[canfan]

In fact if the receiving corp is so in love with itself like it looks they very well could lose one or more at home.

You other concerns are valid, but I'm confused about this one. We FINALLY have a 2nd receiver emerging in Tate that's contributing to the passing offense, and you're criticizing him for showboating?

Everyone's praising Wilson, but one of the big reasons the passing offense is finally succeeding is Tate. If he catches 10 balls with two TD's every game, the dude can grab a microphone and sing We Are the Champions in the endzone for all I care.

What he said!! :13:

 

[volsunghawk]

One of the things that kills me about our fanbase is that we have these expectations of outstanding defensive performances against an upcoming team because their QB (for example) isn't very good. Additionally, we have had some folks here discount outstanding defensive performances if they've come against teams that were offensively challenged. And that happens on the other side of the ball, too. "Yeah, Wilson did okay, but it was against the Patriots' horrible secondary."

But we never seem to be so willing to acknowledge the opponent when our offense or defense performs poorly. If the offense struggles against the 49ers on the road, it's not because they faced an outstanding D, but because the offense sucks. If the defense allows a ton of yardage to Adrian Peterson, it's not because he's the #1 RB in the entire NFL, but because our run D sucks.

That inconsistency is infuriating.

 

[Sarlacc83]

One of the things that kills me about our fanbase is that we have these expectations of outstanding defensive performances against an upcoming team because their QB (for example) isn't very good. Additionally, we have had some folks here discount outstanding defensive performances if they've come against teams that were offensively challenged. And that happens on the other side of the ball, too. "Yeah, Wilson did okay, but it was against the Patriots' horrible secondary."

But we never seem to be so willing to acknowledge the opponent when our offense or defense performs poorly. If the offense struggles against the 49ers on the road, it's not because they faced an outstanding D, but because the offense sucks. If the defense allows a ton of yardage to Adrian Peterson, it's not because he's the #1 RB in the entire NFL, but because our run D sucks.

That inconsistency is infuriating.

It's because a lot of people think they have to be the first to put out a fire (that no one else sees). Usually by pissing on the inferno.

 

[edogg23]

The only meter that moved for me was the Russell Wilson meter. I have been pretty critical of him this year but he seems to have learned from a lot of the rookie mistakes that drove me crazy in the beginning of the year, and is now playing some great football.

 

[Largent80]

My meter is firmly in the road win dept. 0 - 4 sucks ass.

Until they take the Clink on the road we aren't doing squat.

 

[jlwaters1]

It definately went up. Sure I expected the team to win, but the offense is playing much better than I could have hoped. I think poeple need to get a grip with the defense. Who give a rat's behind if we're ranked #1 or #10 it's all irrelevant. The question is are they giving us a chance to win? YES. 2 games they've failed- AZ (We wouldn't have needed RW's final drive if the defense would have buckled down on Kolb) and against DET. So what the Giants defense has cost them 2 games (Dallas and Pitts) this year. The 49ers defense has failed twice against the Vikings and G-men. The point is teams will have issues on either side of the ball.

We don't have a suffocating defense, but no team does in the NFL at this moment. It's who has the most complete team and our offense is developing very fast in that the offense isn't holding back the team anymore. That should be very encouraging moving forward.

I strongly beleive that we have a good chance at going 8-0 this last half of the season. The 3 road games are very winnable. If we are 7-4 heading into Chicago that game will have a playoff game feel to it. Then we get to finish with our division and the Bills. I think 10+ wins is a real possibilty. I also think the defense will get things straightened out and play much better the 2nd half of this year. Alot of the talk shows are mentioned Wagner as a an issue. I think he's doing a great job, Infact I think he's playing just as well as Lofa did in 2005.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

One of the things that kills me about our fanbase is that we have these expectations of outstanding defensive performances against an upcoming team because their QB (for example) isn't very good. Additionally, we have had some folks here discount outstanding defensive performances if they've come against teams that were offensively challenged. And that happens on the other side of the ball, too. "Yeah, Wilson did okay, but it was against the Patriots' horrible secondary."

But we never seem to be so willing to acknowledge the opponent when our offense or defense performs poorly. If the offense struggles against the 49ers on the road, it's not because they faced an outstanding D, but because the offense sucks. If the defense allows a ton of yardage to Adrian Peterson, it's not because he's the #1 RB in the entire NFL, but because our run D sucks.

That inconsistency is infuriating.

With me it has to do with expectations. We have a very good defense, so I expect them to play well every week, even against a back like AP.

I would have been fine with AP getting his 100 yards and one TD............180 yards and 2 TD's? Sorry, can't chalk that one up to "Omg but it was AP!!"

 

[Scottemojo]

One of the things that kills me about our fanbase is that we have these expectations of outstanding defensive performances against an upcoming team because their QB (for example) isn't very good. Additionally, we have had some folks here discount outstanding defensive performances if they've come against teams that were offensively challenged. And that happens on the other side of the ball, too. "Yeah, Wilson did okay, but it was against the Patriots' horrible secondary."

But we never seem to be so willing to acknowledge the opponent when our offense or defense performs poorly. If the offense struggles against the 49ers on the road, it's not because they faced an outstanding D, but because the offense sucks. If the defense allows a ton of yardage to Adrian Peterson, it's not because he's the #1 RB in the entire NFL, but because our run D sucks.

That inconsistency is infuriating.

With me it has to do with expectations. We have a very good defense, so I expect them to play well every week, even against a back like AP.

I would have been fine with AP getting his 100 yards and one TD............180 yards and 2 TD's? Sorry, can't chalk that one up to "Omg but it was AP!!"

They made effective 2nd half adjustments for AP, what more do you want? If they hadn't fixed the problem I would be worried, but they did. I thought it was a very good thing that our defense took a couple of punches from Peterson, and still had the composure to make the fixes they needed to make.

 

[Sarlacc83]

My meter is firmly in the road win dept. 0 - 4 sucks ass.

Until they take the Clink on the road we aren't doing squat.

We're 1-4 on the road, actually, though it's only marginally better.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

They made effective 2nd half adjustments for AP, what more do you want? If they hadn't fixed the problem I would be worried, but they did. I thought it was a very good thing that our defense took a couple of punches from Peterson, and still had the composure to make the fixes they needed to make.

I've heard this a few times today, and am confused. The Vikings only rushed AP like five times the entire 2nd half, and he still gained 40 some yards. How exactly is that the Hawks doing well with 2nd half adjustments? More like the playcalling for the Vikings was the reason, not the Hawks defense.