Griffin on the slow starts....

[Ozzy]

I love that he said this. I think Pete needs to reevaluate his first have philosophy. I don't think it happens but I like that players are being vocal about it.

 

[CPHawk]

Hire Kellen Moore to be the OC. Make it worth his while to jump from the Cowboys. Give him full reign over the O, and stay out of his way Pete.

 

[blaisio]

Not sure why this is 100% on the offense. I think the defense making a stop would also help alot. I think that is a huge part of why we are consistently down each game. The defense not making any stops at all.

We had a top tier offense, even with all the injuries, I dont think that is where the improvements need to be made.

 

[2_0_6]

Maybe one day Pete will finally realize that when we go hurry up and let Russ let the game flow good things happen.

 

[Ozzy]

It's not all on the offense but it's tougher on the defense when your offense has 31 yards at the half and a bunch of 3 and outs. That's the whole point. Being more aggressive on offense early on takes stress off of your defense. We did have a good offense, an offense that did most of its damage later in games playing catch up and this is even more evident in playoff games. Their last 5 playoff games they were outscored 115-13 in the first half of games. Does that seem like an optimal way to play football?

 

[Seanhawk]

It's not all on the offense but it's tougher on the defense when your offense has 31 yards at the half and a bunch of 3 and outs. That's the whole point. Being more aggressive on offense early on takes stress off of your defense. We did have a good offense, an offense that did most of its damage later in games playing catch up and this is even more evident in playoff games. Their last 5 playoff games they were outscored 115-13 in the first half of games. Does that seem like an optimal way to play football?

What stress is on the defense when they are a wet paper bag on the first drive of the game before the offense has even taken the field?

I just don't understand the narrative of how the offense's performance, especially in the first half, affects what the defense is doing. Even if the offense goes three and out every drive, they are still the only ones responsible for how long they are on the field. By this logic, we should be against defensive TDs. The stress of needing to go right back out on the field must be awful.

Why don't we bitch when the offense has a long scoring drive and the defense gives up the inevitable quick answer TD drive? I mean, let's give the offense some time to rest.

 

[Ozzy]

You don't think playing with a lead would help the defense? Jumping on a team early doesn't allow you to play more aggressively on defense? How about knowing you're down 21-3 and a td here could end it for your team? How in the world is a more efficient offense in the first half a bad thing?

 

[Jville]

I expect the defensive back seven to play faster thru an accumulation of more familiarity with each other and trust in each other. Although, health will once again be a governing factor.

 

[mikeak]

Not sure why this is 100% on the offense. I think the defense making a stop would also help alot. I think that is a huge part of why we are consistently down each game. The defense not making any stops at all.

We had a top tier offense, even with all the injuries, I dont think that is where the improvements need to be made.

Nobody said it is all on the offense, but the majority of the blame lays On the offense YET AGAIN

 

[Appyhawk]

I've heard more than one HOF coach say "You can't lose if they can't score on you".

 

[ludakrishna]

Hire Kellen Moore to be the OC. Make it worth his while to jump from the Cowboys. Give him full reign over the O, and stay out of his way Pete.

I am happy with Schotty. When Pete takes off the handcuff let’s him call plays, we’re fine. Give Schotty free reigns on the offense

 

[kmeleon]

None of us really have any idea why this happens (Carroll, Schotty, Buhler) but I'm glad at least a player who's going to be here next season has spoken up about it. He's absolutely right, they HAVE TO figure it out and stop waiting until the 2nd half to play. The fact that it happens week in and week out means something.

 

[Mad Dog]

Pretty sure Griffin was talking about his side of the ball. They were far worse in the first half than the offense was.

The inability to get stops on 3rd down is the number one reason we lost that game and has nothing to do with the offense. The defense needed better gameplans coming out of the gate so the offense could have time to get its footing and adjust.

 

[scutterhawk]

It's not all on the offense but it's tougher on the defense when your offense has 31 yards at the half and a bunch of 3 and outs. That's the whole point. Being more aggressive on offense early on takes stress off of your defense. We did have a good offense, an offense that did most of its damage later in games playing catch up and this is even more evident in playoff games. Their last 5 playoff games they were outscored 115-13 in the first half of games. Does that seem like an optimal way to play football?

Outscored 115-13 sounds to me like the Defense isn't holding up their end, by not keeping the opponents from scoring on us.....The sword cuts both ways.

 

[bmorepunk]

You don't think playing with a lead would help the defense? Jumping on a team early doesn't allow you to play more aggressively on defense? How about knowing you're down 21-3 and a td here could end it for your team? How in the world is a more efficient offense in the first half a bad thing?

Teams go up a lot fast and end up losing. The Texans pulled the really extreme version of that this weekend.

We could probably find an exception, but all of us are probably annoyed, frustrated, angry, whatever by the slow starts. But it's actually improved significantly the last two years. The problem is the defense has completely gone to crap the last two years.

It really doesn't matter how much this team does up front on scoring because they just end up losing it on the backend anyway by giving up tons of points when they're ahead. The best case scenario is a Kansas City from the last couple years, where they can sling it around like crazy but they can't survive in the playoffs because they can't stop other teams.

If they can get under 20 PPG allowed with the offense they had this year up until all the RBs died, they would have had a decent shot. They allowed less than 20 points in two regular season games and the wild card game. Consistency in halves on offense is a problem (although less so more recently), but these defensive issues are insurmountable.

 

[scutterhawk]

You don't think playing with a lead would help the defense? Jumping on a team early doesn't allow you to play more aggressively on defense? How about knowing you're down 21-3 and a td here could end it for your team? How in the world is a more efficient offense in the first half a bad thing?

And how is a more aggressive & efficient Defense a bad thing?

 

[scutterhawk]

You don't think playing with a lead would help the defense? Jumping on a team early doesn't allow you to play more aggressively on defense? How about knowing you're down 21-3 and a td here could end it for your team? How in the world is a more efficient offense in the first half a bad thing?

Teams go up a lot fast and end up losing. The Texans pulled the really extreme version of that this weekend.

We could probably find an exception, but all of us are probably annoyed, frustrated, angry, whatever by the slow starts. But it's actually improved significantly the last two years. The problem is the defense has completely gone to crap the last two years.

It really doesn't matter how much this team does up front on scoring because they just end up losing it on the backend anyway by giving up tons of points when they're ahead. The best case scenario is a Kansas City from the last couple years, where they can sling it around like crazy but they can't survive in the playoffs because they can't stop other teams.

If they can get under 20 PPG allowed with the offense they had this year up until all the RBs died, they would have had a decent shot. They allowed less than 20 points in two regular season games and the wild card game. Consistency in halves on offense is a problem (although less so more recently), but these defensive issues are insurmountable.

And to add, what's the old saying?---Ah yes, "Defense Wins Championships"

 

[classicaaron]

everyone pits the defense against the offense but they really go hand in hand. a good defense who can get some 3 and outs and help flip the field will certainly help the offense score as they have to go a shorter distance. also the offense with sustained drives or at least being able to pin the opponent deep in the red zone on a punt will most definitely help the defense prevent points. so this is a total team effort and both sides to drastically pick up the pace. but this is pete carroll thing because at this point all the players are different on the roster but yet the results are the same. pete is the common denominator.

 

[bmorepunk]

It's not all on the offense but it's tougher on the defense when your offense has 31 yards at the half and a bunch of 3 and outs. That's the whole point. Being more aggressive on offense early on takes stress off of your defense. We did have a good offense, an offense that did most of its damage later in games playing catch up and this is even more evident in playoff games. Their last 5 playoff games they were outscored 115-13 in the first half of games. Does that seem like an optimal way to play football?

Outscored 115-13 sounds to me like the Defense isn't holding up their end, by not keeping the opponents from scoring on us.....The sword cuts both ways.

The offense putting the defense on the field more does put them at a disadvantage, but most of the time this year it hasn't been about the defense being worn down. The defense gave up a lot of huge plays, some TDs, that happened because they have serious issues.

The offense has its issues, but the defense has allowed a lot of really big stuff this year regardless of how long they've been on the field.

 

[HawkRiderFan]

When I think of the losses in the second around, if I recall, Carolina got a big run and scored a TD on their first drive. After the Hawks put together a great drive to go up 7-0 Atlanta came right back and tied it at 7. Packers yesterday go down the field and score on their first drive. So the defensive has been just as slow getting started as the O.

Which side of the ball was Pete referring to when he said that like to look at what the other team does and then react? Seems like that's happening on both sides of the ball.