Random Musings…

AROS

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— Never apologize for an ugly win. 5 years from now nobody on the planet will remember how ugly this win was. Only that it was a win. The W in the win column is all that matters.

— I ended up watching the game live in the last 3 minutes. Holy Hell I was reminded why I don’t watch the games live anymore. I think I died twice, saw the light, was resuscitated, and finally brought back with the Bryant pick to end the game.

— Is this a classic game of looking past/underestimating the opponent while looking towards the game of the year in four days? It’s not to excuse the anemic play but it does make one wonder.

— JSN still got his hundy.

— The natives are getting restless in regards to Kubiak. The murmurs are growing louder.

— Sam is a good QB. Is he great? Hmmm.

— Trying to understand why we made the Colts defense look like the number one defense in the league for much of the game.

— Did Philip Rivers’ performance really shock me? Not at all. I was surprised that he was only sacked once though. I will root for him the rest of the way. Old farts unite!

— People assume we have no shot against the Rams because of how we looked today. Bah humbug that horseshit right here and now. Each game is its own entity, division games hit different. The game plan is different. Schemes are different. I predict the Seahawks will look like a different team on Thursday night.

— I don’t know how you Gameday chatters can stomach it. The negativity in the Gameday forum would only compound my misery. Nothing cathartic about it unless it’s a rainbow and lollipops blowout. But you do you. Not my jam. Misery loves company? Hell no.

— Can’t wait to hear all week how Philip Rivers almost beat us and how the Rams are the better team. Thanks a lot boys.

— Dear Santa. I’ve been a relatively good boy this year. My liver might not agree but it’s the thought that counts. All I ask for is for us to beat the Rams and secure the #1 seed in the NFC.

Amen.
 

Torc

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My thoughts on your thoughts:
- did you end up watching the whole game after you watched the final 3 minutes?

- I've already seen one pundit say "cool story.....but a buck twenty in passing yards". I don't think they're going to credit Rivers with being awesome or anything.

- Whether it was an old man being an old man, or the seahawks defense, the colts were held to 16 points. Only 3 points after half time. And the league's leading rusher didn't get 100 yards, even with the colts having a run-heavy gameplan. The D was nothing to worry about.

- The O is something to worry about. On the one hand...the Colts were the number 6 defense coming into today. On the other hand...18 points won't do it most weeks. If you want to be a great offense you need to beat good defenses. What is the prime reason we talk about the LOB being great? They smashed the best offense of all time in the biggest game of the year. You can't use the quality of the opposition as an excuse.

- I honestly don't think they were looking past the Colts. I've heard MM several times talk about "I'm not such a great motivational speaker that I can come up with 17 stirring speeches a year", and that they focus on their process more than on hyping up players. You could see that even with Kubiak on the sideline talking to the offense and trying to get them going. Our coaches' feedback/criticism of players is based on that process. Sometimes I don't think we understand how very different MM is from Pete. Both great coaches, very different approaches.

- Rivers......neat story and all that. I wonder how he is going to feel tomorrow morning.

- Game day chat - I enjoy reading and participating in it, and I like to think I have a pretty balanced approach to it. But it's fun to see my virtual drinking buddies going to extremes even when the next day when the hangovers wear off they'll be a little more measured. :p
 

jammerhawk

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Is it time to seriously be concerned about the ineffectiveness of the running game..?

Why do we use Walker who is seriously challenged running with or while his blocking? Either that or dancing rather punching through the gaps. He’s not a keeper.

This weakness of the running game is a critical rate limiting problem. To me it is clear problem.
 

Count Hawkula

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Was our lack of run production due to going back to Sundell?
I wondered the same thing. Why on Earth can't this team run the ball. It's sickening! Without a run game you can't run this offense as we saw today. I hope the candles will be burning all night at the VMAC, it's a short week and we need a never before seen by the Rams genius game plan that will scare the rest of the NFL. That shouldn't be too hard to come up with...right?
 

jammerhawk

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Sundell or OLu neither is really special, but do we have a RB that can make a difference on any consistent basis? For sure it isn't Walker, Charbonnet is better but he gets taken out too much for the ineffectiveness of Walker.
 

Hawkpower

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Walker has too many negative plays

He’s a drive killer

Might not be all his fault but he just seems slow to my eye
 

Sperrydogg

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Is it time to seriously be concerned about the ineffectiveness of the running game..?

Why do we use Walker who is seriously challenged running with or while his blocking? Either that or dancing rather punching through the gaps. He’s not a keeper.

This weakness of the running game is a critical rate limiting problem. To me it is clear problem.
Yeah Zack seemed to start getting the carries. We need a north south work horse. Our line doesn’t hold holes long enough for dancing

Velus jones jr was running like his career depended on it last week, not saying he is the answer but he ran like he knew he was only gonna get one chance. His urgency to get yards was awesome and he had 4 carries for like 32 yards. We need a runner who is going to take his four yards every time first then get extra
 

kidhawk

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— Never apologize for an ugly win. 5 years from now nobody on the planet will remember how ugly this win was. Only that it was a win. The W in the win column is all that matters.

— I ended up watching the game live in the last 3 minutes. Holy Hell I was reminded why I don’t watch the games live anymore. I think I died twice, saw the light, was resuscitated, and finally brought back with the Bryant pick to end the game.

— Is this a classic game of looking past/underestimating the opponent while looking towards the game of the year in four days? It’s not to excuse the anemic play but it does make one wonder.

— JSN still got his hundy.

— The natives are getting restless in regards to Kubiak. The murmurs are growing louder.

— Sam is a good QB. Is he great? Hmmm.

— Trying to understand why we made the Colts defense look like the number one defense in the league for much of the game.

— Did Philip Rivers’ performance really shock me? Not at all. I was surprised that he was only sacked once though. I will root for him the rest of the way. Old farts unite!

— People assume we have no shot against the Rams because of how we looked today. Bah humbug that horseshit right here and now. Each game is its own entity, division games hit different. The game plan is different. Schemes are different. I predict the Seahawks will look like a different team on Thursday night.

— I don’t know how you Gameday chatters can stomach it. The negativity in the Gameday forum would only compound my misery. Nothing cathartic about it unless it’s a rainbow and lollipops blowout. But you do you. Not my jam. Misery loves company? Hell no.

— Can’t wait to hear all week how Philip Rivers almost beat us and how the Rams are the better team. Thanks a lot boys.

— Dear Santa. I’ve been a relatively good boy this year. My liver might not agree but it’s the thought that counts. All I ask for is for us to beat the Rams and secure the #1 seed in the NFC.

Amen.

Except for the officials (go back and watch some of the muggings we endured with no call) intended to stay positive all day. Kept repeating the mantra that we would win no matter what. It came to fruition so I’ll use that against the rams this week too.
 

glenwo2

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— Sam is a good QB. Is he great? Hmmm.
I think the question you need to ask is : Do we need him to be great?

Wasn't it the point with this Defense that he doesn't need to be SuperMan for us to win?
 

Bobblehead

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Sundell or OLu neither is really special, but do we have a RB that can make a difference on any consistent basis? For sure it isn't Walker, Charbonnet is better but he gets taken out too much for the ineffectiveness of Walker.
I believe Hawks have a quagmire, Olu is better run blocker, Sundell is a better pass blocker. Our run game picked up considerably after Olu replaced Sundell, perhaps it was the competition, I don't know.
 

keasley45

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My thoughts on your thoughts:
- did you end up watching the whole game after you watched the final 3 minutes?

- I've already seen one pundit say "cool story.....but a buck twenty in passing yards". I don't think they're going to credit Rivers with being awesome or anything.

- Whether it was an old man being an old man, or the seahawks defense, the colts were held to 16 points. Only 3 points after half time. And the league's leading rusher didn't get 100 yards, even with the colts having a run-heavy gameplan. The D was nothing to worry about.

- The O is something to worry about. On the one hand...the Colts were the number 6 defense coming into today. On the other hand...18 points won't do it most weeks. If you want to be a great offense you need to beat good defenses. What is the prime reason we talk about the LOB being great? They smashed the best offense of all time in the biggest game of the year. You can't use the quality of the opposition as an excuse.

- I honestly don't think they were looking past the Colts. I've heard MM several times talk about "I'm not such a great motivational speaker that I can come up with 17 stirring speeches a year", and that they focus on their process more than on hyping up players. You could see that even with Kubiak on the sideline talking to the offense and trying to get them going. Our coaches' feedback/criticism of players is based on that process. Sometimes I don't think we understand how very different MM is from Pete. Both great coaches, very different approaches.

- Rivers......neat story and all that. I wonder how he is going to feel tomorrow morning.

- Game day chat - I enjoy reading and participating in it, and I like to think I have a pretty balanced approach to it. But it's fun to see my virtual drinking buddies going to extremes even when the next day when the hangovers wear off they'll be a little more measured. :p

Yeah. Also not buying that they looked passed anyone. indy has a really good team. If not hit by the injury bug, they'd still be vying for the one seed in the AFC.

We played the way that we did against them because that's what we have done all year against good defenses.

From where I sit, it doesn't seem as though our offense is fooling anyone anymore. It seems simply a question of whether the unit opposite our O is good enough to stop what they know is coming. Whether that is because Kubiak is predictable (its hard for me to believe ANY coach not named Waldron / Grubb is THAT predictable) or whether we are tipping out hand and defenses are getting a jump on our calls. Will have to sit down and watch the all 22 because with every week that goes by since the Rams game, defenses seem to be more and more on top of what we are doing. Makes me seriously wonder whether their really is something to Brandon Mebane saying Darnold is tipping our hand at the line and defenses have figured it out. How else can an offense that is predicated on running multiple plays out of the same formations be so consistently beaten to the punch? We should have an inherent advantage in that only we know what is coming out of a given set. Seems that's not at all the case anymore.
 

Ad Hawk

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Great post, Keasley. I don't buy any of the "they looked past the Colts" speculations, because it's just that: uninformed opinion.

The Colts are/were a balanced team. The Hawks are still learning how to play offense against good defenses. I hope it's not true that Darnold has tells.

Do we have the horses up front to open holes for the running game? Can we throw more RB/TE screens to slow the rush? The offense has some assets, but enough to beat the next three teams and run deep in the playoffs? You'd think so after beating the defenses of Vikings, Falcons, and Colts.
 

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