Hold Off On Those Super Bowl Plans...

[camdawg]

:141847_bnono: Whoa whoa whoa Panic Button!
I realize its your forum and all, but allow me to respectfully 'agree to disagree' with the pessimistic theme of your analysis & humbly state that...
Superbowls are made of this stuff.
We just won. On the road. At Lambeau.

I'd love to watch a half dozen or so road wins of this nature this coming season.

Call it winning ugly, call it solid "run the ball, and stop the run football", but we silenced their crowd of 80,000 by refusing to back down, and churned it & earned it by locking them down into a brutal defensive battle of attrition that they didn't want to play for 4 quarters. Overall, our style of play, and will to win prevailed in this game. Our run defense was solidified by Tony McDaniel up front, Cristine Michael cleared outplayed Eddie Lacy in this game, and the turnover battle was even. So. Bottomline we won the game. On the road. At Lambeau. In front of 80,000 expecting karma/vengeance.

We took their best shots and punched 'em right back in the mouth. And at the end of the day who looks like "the Champs?"
We do. :thirishdrinkers:

Go Hawks! :th2thumbs:

I generally agree with this viewpoint. It's not supposed to be easy to beat the Packers in Lambeau. You're not supposed to completely shut down Aaron Rodgers. Are there some things to work on? Absolutely! But there are positives to take away from last night.

We outgained the Packers by over 150 yards, IIRC. Now, that gets back to even once you factor in penalties, but still, that's doing a good job.

Yes, Aaron led his offense to a score, the one drive he was in. But of his seven passes, how many were my fellow Hawk fans impressed by? The one longer completion to Finley was a nice play for them. The other three completions, though, seemed to be very short, constraint play type passes. In other words, just so they could move the ball against us, Green Bay was having to resort to their junk passing. While we were able to mostly use our base offense. Like Denver last week, the Pack were using no-huddle a lot. Just to hang with us, two playoff teams are having to use a lot more of their playbook, while running a hurry-up. That's a good sign for us.

 

[ImTheScientist]

Sea-Chicken Little's .... its preseason. We don't gameplan for the other team, we don't run our full offense, and we hold players out.

Chill. :0190l:

 

[LawlessHawk]

Who the Efff blitzes on nearly every play in the pre-season... isn't that just a little taboo? I'd of been just a little offended and a little chippy myself if I were the hawks. Probably why they took Rodgers out after one series when it's the typical norm to go the whole first half or into the 3rd quarter in these games. I'm sure they were intending to get under the hawks skin and didn't want it coming back on Rodgers.

 

[loafoftatupu]

Other than the penalties, I thought the entire team looked pretty good considering the Packers defense came with the kitchen sink. I do think it was a little chicken shit of McCarthy to send blitzes while pulling his guy after one drive. I have no doubt that they intended to add RW to the PUP.

There were a lot of plays made all over and even with penalties, the Hawks were still able to move the ball and keep the Pack from having any real success.

Liked seeing Williams get a short pass and run. Tate lost a catch he usually brings in and really, the refs weren't about to let Seattle get away with anything, calling some legit penalties but a lot of ticky tack stuff.

I just didn't see it as really "bad", especially for a preseason game. McCarthy was obviously worried about the Hawks taking it to Rodgers considering the blitzing.

The Michael run, Lynch busting free and having it called back, Turbo taking yards at will.

And Clay Matthews? Please.. standing over RW after throwing him down was Busch league. Breno held back from truly enforcing anything. I am just glad RW is good and that no one is getting suspended for any chippy play.

SF is going to rip GB a new rim in week 1.

 

[Tical21]

I know, I know, I almost feel like a turncoat for mentioning anything. I'm not going to say anything about a sophomore slump, but does anybody out there feel like Russell may not be quite as good, yet, as the bar his hype has set for him?

Is it completely out of line to have half of one eyebrow raised? That first pick wasn't a batted ball. Russell threw it at the guy's shoulder. That wasn't luck, Russell didn't get to the lane. He threw it anyways. That is a mistake on the QB. The second one was probably the worst decision Russell has made as a pro. I get it, guys are going to have rough games, and rough patches. My bigger concern is how he has looked in practice. I get that he hasn't had his weapons, but during 4 of the 5 practices I went to, he just didn't look as sharp as I was anticipating.

Tonight, as soon as he was sacked by Matthews, and realized he couldn't just peel around the corner and escape anytime he wanted to, I think it changed him. He didn't look like the same confident guy in the pocket. To me, that is a little alarming, because if I was a coordinator, the one thing I would be sure of is that my DE's stayed deep enough that Russell couldn't spin around them out of the pocket.

Another tiny rant.....it really bugs the you know what out of me when people give kudos for winning a preseason game, especially one where the other team's QB didn't play. It was 3 to 3 at halftime. We didn't win. So the other team's backups couldn't stop Christine Michael. We should go celebrate.

I think Russell is going to be fine. I think he is going to be elite. I just am not fully convinced he is there already.

 

[Axx]

Ive been saying for a long ass time now that sweezy is not that good of a blocker
neither will carp when he comes back. Im calling it right now

 

[LawlessHawk]

It was obvious to me that the packers were poking and prodding and trying to initiate something all night... even in to their last play of the game. Going for it on 4th down from like their own 4 yard line...?? Come on... what's that supposed to simulate? You would think that it might have been more beneficial to work on punting one out of your own endzone which is a far more likely scenario than going for it from there. And then on the first kneel down, wasn't there just a little too much surge and push from their Dline? TJ had to high-step it out of the way to avoid getting his linemen pushed back on to his ankles... that Shite kinda pissed me off... I was yelling for Pete to punch it in on the last play, but fortunately Pete's got too much class for that and took the high road...

 

[RamzFanz]

The first drive looked good until it stalled. Then the O line leaked like a siv and the wheels came off.

Secondary looked good, running game flashed, D bent at times but didn't break.

No team can win in the real season with penalties like that. The Hawks are better than that though so, no worries I'm sure.

 

[tdlabrie]

Biggest concern I have was the sacks. Other than Turbo in for Lynch we had all our 1's (cough, cough, Sweezy) and still Russell went down. And, of course, on that one where he tried the "patented wiggle waggle" to escape, it was very disheartening to see him throttled 15 yards back.
I vote we play our 2's and 3's against everybody else's 2's and 3's the whole season! :sarcasm_off: Our depth is so good it would be 19-0 for sure.

All that said, I'm still eagerly looking for the...

(Superb Owl!)

 

[camdawg]

Another tiny rant.....it really bugs the you know what out of me when people give kudos for winning a preseason game, especially one where the other team's QB didn't play. It was 3 to 3 at halftime. We didn't win. So the other team's backups couldn't stop Christine Michael. We should go celebrate.

I don't think people are patting themselves on the back over last night's game anywhere near as much as you suggest.

Did we look great? No. You have every right to be unimpressed by how we played last night.

I suggest that if you're unimpressed by us, you should really be unimpressed by how the Green Bay Packers played, though. More complex passing routes than we're using in preseason, no huddle offense, tons of stunts and blitzes on defense.....and Green Bay did all this, just to play us to a standstill.

I don't mind it, just like I didn't mind Denver's extensive no huddle, bunch formations, rub routes, 3 WR combo routes, etc., from last week. Hey, it's great practice for us against a solid playoff team. I'm just amused that Denver, and now Green Bay, have felt the need to resort to doing all this. We should surely be ready for anything Carolina throws at us in the season opener.

 

[CaptainSkybeard]

But on the flip side we still just won a game on the road in Lambeau Field (one of the toughest venues in the NFL) while playing like crap...

I was thinking this. Greenbay is hardly a slouch (even with their running game consisting of all short passes...heh), and they were SUPER motivated to beat us for "revenge".

I don't know if they were that motivated to win. Sure, their fans were... But pulling Rodgers out so early was as if to say, "hey Seahawks, lets go in the back yard and throw the ball around"

 

[sc85sis]

Green Bay was embarrassed in last year's playoff game versus the 49ers. Last night was a rehearsal for them in seeing if they could pressure and get to a mobile QB. And they largely succeeded, although that success should be tempered by the knowledge that we weren't playing with all our first string or regular game planning. At any rate, it wasn't GB trying to get revenge. It was them practicing for the real games.

 

[loafoftatupu]

But on the flip side we still just won a game on the road in Lambeau Field (one of the toughest venues in the NFL) while playing like crap...

I was thinking this. Greenbay is hardly a slouch (even with their running game consisting of all short passes...heh), and they were SUPER motivated to beat us for "revenge".

I don't know if they were that motivated to win. Sure, their fans were... But pulling Rodgers out so early was as if to say, "hey Seahawks, lets go in the back yard and throw the ball around"

GB is motivated to win every preseason game. Rodgers was out after one drive so that they could come after Wilson and not have to man up with Precious Prince Aaron. The Hawks had a bunch of tackles for loss in that game and McCarthy didn't want that ending up costing him the season.

 

[CANHawk]

some thoughts. not quite random, but bordering on incoherent...

GB was playing with an agenda. whether that was to "punish" us for "fail mary" or use us as a dress rehersal for SF and WAS i dunno, but they were bringing some high tech looks on defence. kudos to Bevel for not tipping his hand and counter-striking with the read option and the bubble screen or the WR pass or whatever other hot shit tricks he has. now DC's are going to think they have some kind of blue print on how to beat us when in reality it will only be a blue print for their own ass kicking cuz GB was leaving some things WIDE open with all their trickery.

Michael is going to be a super star one day. dude has sick skills. run game will be a 4 headed monster this year.

Swenalty. how's that for brevity. i love sweez and think he's going to be fine, but he had a rough go last night.

Brady Quinn is crap and he's gonzo. last night was Pete letting him have an audition for some other teams who might consider picking him up once he hits the street.

hearing all the Kiro sports clowns gush over "playing at the hallowed grounds of Lambeau" in the post game made me realize just how few shits i really give about all the storied and historic franchises of the league. screw the packers, giants, steelers, bears, etc. you're not better than us; you're older than us. there's a difference.

last night wasnt the finest outing, but it doesnt make me fear for the season either. just an off night. we'll bounce back.

 

[CANHawk]

Ive been saying for a long ass time now that sweezy is not that good of a blocker
neither will carp when he comes back. Im calling it right now

good for you. do you get a cookie if you're right?

 

[redhawk253]

Just looked outside, and like i expecte the sky is still there. Its a preseason game a lot of guys looked good. We had some penalty issues.. A lot of biased calls and some guys just screwing up. There was a lot of stuff we did that was great. Oh and lets not forget we were at lambeau against a good defense and we won..


I just dont get some peoples pov of reality

 

[Seahwkgal]

I was not happy at all watching this game. I spent more time bitching about the 1's all across the board. They looked like crap, ESPECIALLY the O-line in pass protection. I really want this team to be as good as the hype but what I saw was blatantly over-rated. Pre-season wins don't mean squat. Remember when Detroit went unbeaten(pre-season) and then set the league record for losses in the regular season? Oh whoopee, we won on the road. All I know is the GB first team looked way better than us, even if it was for a few series. The final out come of the game DOES NOT MATTER.

 

[volsunghawk]

I think Russell is going to be fine. I think he is going to be elite. I just am not fully convinced he is there already.

I think he'd be the first person to agree with you.

I think Wilson has all the intangibles a QB needs in spades, but he's still only going into his second year, and he can and should be expected to develop. He's not going to have perfect games week in and week out. He's going to have a game or two that is just as ugly as this GB game was, and I hope people here can prepare themselves for that. Some all-time great QBs have had some awful damn games from time to time - especially early in their careers. Why should anyone here expect Wilson to be any different?

Where Wilson will shine, though, is how he responds to those awful games and what he takes away from them.

 

[Largent80]

I'm glad GB threw all those blitzes our way. We can use that to guage ourselves and it came in the 3rd pre season game.

I am not going to freak out about the ultimate goal in August.

 

[Milehighhawk]

I could be wrong but I feel too many are looking at this game too holistically. Preseason games aren't neccesarily viewed and evaluated at the 10,000 foot level. Dare I say they aren't even viewed at the unit level (offense, defense, special teams) outside of procedural issues. The major reason for the preseason is to evaluate individual performances. This runs completely counter to how the regular season is planned and executed.

I believe part of the reason coaches don't scheme in the preseason is not so much to not reveal game plans, but rather to not couch a player's individual performance in a scheme. They want to see how players perform on their own merits, not because the OC drew up some super slick play. I propose Carrol and company were looking to put some players in a position to prove themselves (not revolutionary I know) including the below.

1. How would Stephen Williams do going against top level CBs
2. See how some select DT's perform given the injury to Hill.
3. Can Willson be a consistent blocker/reliable reciever against a first team defense?
4. How do both Turbin and Michael fare picking up blitzes (b/c Greenbay blitzes so often it was a given).
5. How would some of our backup lineman perform against 1s (Bailey was slid in I believe at one point?).

Plus many more. Now I am not going to determine how each of these players did as I am no talent evaluator to be sure. But perhaps we should be viewing the game more through an individual performance level than on the team level. Recall how Carrol used the preseason last year in such an unorthodox mannor, but his major goal was not to see how the team was performing but rather to determine who would be the starting QB.

Again, I could be way off base. Just two cents from a fan.