NFL Networks Evans says we lose week one?

[Dismas]

OK, Ima knock on the karma pole a bit here . . .

Every . single . year. in the preseason, people everywhere pick Carolina to be one of the teams that fires things up and emerges as a contender. And every singlew year, Carolina underwhelms.

I'm not calling the game a lock, but until the panthers show me something impressive, they still suck.

 

[lukerguy]

Any given Sunday...
While I hope it doesn't happen, and don't think it will happen...any given Sunday.

 

[onanygivensunday]

You rang?

Since you asked, I believe that the Hawks will dominate the Panthers.

It will be the first opportunity for our new additions to show what they can do... and I believe that they will step up to the plate. I expect Winfield, Harvin, Bennet and Avril to impress... and I expect Clem to play and contribute.

My prediction... Hawks 30, Panthers 17.

 

[amill87]

OK, Ima knock on the karma pole a bit here . . .

Every . single . year. in the preseason, people everywhere pick Carolina to be one of the teams that fires things up and emerges as a contender. And every singlew year, Carolina underwhelms.

I'm not calling the game a lock, but until the panthers show me something impressive, they still suck.

Yeah they are kinda like the cards before this year. It's the first time in awhile the cards aren't being predicted to be a good team. Carolina never lives up to expectations.

As for them finishing the season hot, we were hotter. We were a better team than them last year and had a better offseason this year.

Could we lose to them? Absolutely but we shouldn't. We are the better team. Would anyone say the Niners would lose to Carolina? We are pretty damn close to being just as good if not better than the Niners

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I really do think this week 1 matchup is going to set the tone for the entire season.

There are enough questions and lingering doubt leftover from last year to make this game a real litmus test for both teams. We really do expect great things from this team and think they are a SB contender. But nobody knows this. This team is in the transition phase from believing they are good, to knowing it. How this team handles being a frontrunner in most contests is going to be a strong indicator of how they reach the next phase of championship form.

Carolina is a talented team. They have had issues putting it all together. They ended the season just like us though. A team that seemingly found it's stride and figured out how to be consistent. They likewise think they are a good team and a playoff contender. If we handle this team well, I think that bodes extremely well for Seattle for the season. If we don't, then I think rightly, this team is still in a 'we will see' mode. We can get up for the big games it seems. That is not atypical of young/talented teams. But to stay up for good teams that you should beat and that aren't a big matchup -- that's a different level of championship quality. We need to prove that. These road games against Carolina and Indianapolis are good tests in that respect.

 

[warden]

The opening week of the season is where the most upsets occur. It is the most unpredictable. For those who think going on the road to the east coast and playing a pretty good team in Carolina is easy, well you are just fooling yourselves. Three of our first four games are going to be a big challenge

 

[FlyingGreg]

Carolina is going to be a very tough game to start the season. I sure hope people don't chalk that up as an easy "W". The 10 am start and the weather could be big factors. I think we pull it out, but it's going to be a tough one.

That's a HUGE game. With SF coming into town for week #2, we really really need to start with a win.

 

[Missing_Clink]

Its obviously a game the Hawks could lose. Road games are tough, and it will be hot as blazes over there. Carolina has some very good players, and I'm never going to count a team out on their home opener. If the Hawks truly are elite, they just need to go on the road and beat a solid team like Carolina. Can't wait to find out.

 

[Tech Worlds]

Now that TJack is back in the fold this game is a gimme.

 

[CANHawk]

Hey, it's the NFL and any team can beat any other team at any time, so I won't be gobsmacked if we lose that one... but I don't expect Carolina to be able to handle the Hawks.

This Hawks team in particular has been beating this "championship offseason" drum pretty hard, pretty much since they changed out of their uniforms after the Atlanta playoff game. Everything they've done since that day has been geared toward winning a championship this year. They have, and continue to be in the process of, whipping themselves info a frenzy to take the league by storm this year. They're like a folatilla of crazy viking berserkers that are about 10 miles off shore, about to land on an unsuspecting English villiage. Now once that boat hits the shore, I don't think they're going to lazily hop out of the boat, have a big yawn, stretch their legs and allow themselves to be taken prisioner. No, they're are going to jump out of that boat and kill the ever loving shit out of every living thing in their path as it will be the first real opportunity to release some of the rage that's been building since January.

This is going to be their first opportunity to show the world they weren't kidding around when they said they were winning a championship this year. As such, I highly doubt they just come out and shit the bed in Carolina. Not only do I think they win this game by 20, I think they take Cam Newton's head off and stick it on a pike as a warning to the rest of the league; Seahawks are coming... and Hell is coming with them.

 

[loafoftatupu]

Anything can happen in week one. The Panthers are no slouch and the Hawks are still very young. For me, I actually expect them to have a slow start and probably pick it up in the 2nd half of the game. The week two game I expect Seattle to win, period.

Then again, if these guys stick to it in Camp and through the preseason, it will be a money road win. These guys are just kids and they are wanting badly to prove themselves. Guys like Harvin, Bennett and Avril are going to want to make an immediate impact.

 

[Throwdown]

They're like a folatilla of crazy viking berserkers that are about 10 miles off shore, about to land on an unsuspecting English villiage. Now once that boat hits the shore, I don't think they're going to lazily hop out of the boat, have a big yawn, stretch their legs and allow themselves to be taken prisioner. No, they're are going to jump out of that boat and kill the ever loving shit out of every living thing in their path as it will be the first real opportunity to release some of the rage that's been building since January.

Chill Ragnar

 

[Hawks46]

Carolina scares me a bit after the draft, as they can take away the strength of our offense. Lotuleilei and Kawann Short are going to be hell to run on, and I'm still not enthused with our OL; yea they're good as a unit, but you tell me if you like a matchup of Sweezy vs. Short, or Sweezy vs. Star. We still don't even have LG settled, we keep hearing about Carpenter, but no one has seen any progress. I honestly think they're going to dominate our OL.

That said, they have one of the worst secondaries in the league. If our coaching staff scouts them right, and comes out firing to our talented WR group, we can jump on an early lead, and take awy their strength, which is running the football. Also, as has been said, I don't see our offense playing like last year...Wilson is a different player.

Our defense will literally strangle their passing game. As is the annual concern in Carolina, they have Steve Smith and ???? at WR. Sherman can erase Smith by himself. They might be able to run on us, depending on how our young DL shapes up, and what the FA's (McDaniels, Avril, Bennett) bring to the table.

A loss wouldn't shock me, but it would sure disappoint me. We're going to be in a dogfight with SF for the division, and don't sleep on the Rams. We have to win all these games we're expected to win.

 

[MidwestHawker]

We're favored by 3.5. I think it's a pretty fair line. I expect the Panthers to be plenty of trouble and for us to win this game about 60% of the time.

 

[mikeak]

I think he's right about Carolina. They finished last season white hot and one of the big things that held them back last year (OC / Cam Newton usage) has been dealt with. I think that week 1 game could be the toughest of the year. If Carolina was in the AFC I'd consider them a slam dunk for the playoffs. It's a 10 am Pacific time start in what might be 90+ degrees in high humidity. Yikes. It's going to be a tough game. I hope people around here can handle being 0-1 if it comes to that.

While I 100% agree not to overlook Carolina and how good they played last year the big question is what will the new coaching staff do. Last year the old staff tried to play Cam as a pure pocket passer and that he is not. Then they went back to what made them succesful his rookie year and they played very very well and I think Cam can be a star (not superstar) in this league.

With that said - new staff and if you look at the qb roster nothing indicates a system of running much. I hope they try to go with traditional pocket passer and realize after game 1 it didn't work

 

[mikeak]

OK, Ima knock on the karma pole a bit here . . .

Every . single . year. in the preseason, people everywhere pick Carolina to be one of the teams that fires things up and emerges as a contender. And every singlew year, Carolina underwhelms.

I'm not calling the game a lock, but until the panthers show me something impressive, they still suck.

Yeah they are kinda like the cards before this year. It's the first time in awhile the cards aren't being predicted to be a good team. Carolina never lives up to expectations.

As for them finishing the season hot, we were hotter. We were a better team than them last year and had a better offseason this year.

Could we lose to them? Absolutely but we shouldn't. We are the better team. Would anyone say the Niners would lose to Carolina? We are pretty damn close to being just as good if not better than the Niners

Yep just like the Cards - great point you guys. Exactly like the Cards......................... So no way we lose in Week 1 when would we ever have done that. What a dumb writer for this article

 

[Snakeeyes007]

"I wonder what Heath Evans thinks about the Seahawks Week One match-up?" is the first thing I said to my daughter this morning. And, low and behold, I got the answer.

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

 

[RichNhansom]

Carolina scares me a bit after the draft, as they can take away the strength of our offense. Lotuleilei and Kawann Short are going to be hell to run on, and I'm still not enthused with our OL; yea they're good as a unit, but you tell me if you like a matchup of Sweezy vs. Short, or Sweezy vs. Star. We still don't even have LG settled, we keep hearing about Carpenter, but no one has seen any progress. I honestly think they're going to dominate our OL.

That said, they have one of the worst secondaries in the league. If our coaching staff scouts them right, and comes out firing to our talented WR group, we can jump on an early lead, and take awy their strength, which is running the football. Also, as has been said, I don't see our offense playing like last year...Wilson is a different player.

Our defense will literally strangle their passing game. As is the annual concern in Carolina, they have Steve Smith and ???? at WR. Sherman can erase Smith by himself. They might be able to run on us, depending on how our young DL shapes up, and what the FA's (McDaniels, Avril, Bennett) bring to the table.

A loss wouldn't shock me, but it would sure disappoint me. We're going to be in a dogfight with SF for the division, and don't sleep on the Rams. We have to win all these games we're expected to win.

Good post and along the lines I was thinking also. They do have a poor secondary but most offenses aren't firing on all cylinders right out of the gate and we have new schemes to become proficient in with the addition of Harvin.

I could see them getting pressure on RW and not having a ton of success of our own running game against them. On the other hand they could potentially be able to run on us if our D-line hasn't gelled.

For the first game of the season I don't like how we match up against them and then add in an early east coast start and hot humid weather and the more I think about this game the more it feels like a trap game.

If this were anytime after week 3 or 4 I would be much less worried but their D-line will test our O-line and running game and if Wilson hasn't yet established chemistry with Harvin I could see our passing game struggle. Our D-line also has some proving to do and they do have a couple good RB's and Newton. Maybe the biggest thing though is we don't know if they are going to come out playing the read option and pistol or are they going to play a traditional pocket passing game?

I definitely believe we are a significantly better team but the reality is I seriously doubt we are going undefeated and this is definitely one of those games that could backfire on us.

I could see this being a nail biter down to the wire. Hopefully we come away with a W. On the bright side if Carolina succeeds in making us look less than super the Niners the following week could potentially come in over confident and I think we will kill them if they play their best game, if they are not 100% in the right frame of mind coming into Seattle, that 42-13 game might end up looking like a close game.

 

[AROS]

I can't listen to that tool even when he's glorifying us. I change the channel if that big lug is slobbering over his clip-on mic.

 

[MANUNITED23]

This is the funniest prediction yet.