-- I think it was the Buffalo game, when we ran the fake punt. It seemed a little out of character to me, and I didn't care for it on the heels of the 58-0 game the week before. I love a blow out as much as anybody, but my empathy kicked in as I knew these teams literally could not put the gloves up anymore. I didn't care for throwing late although I understood the need to get Flynn some reps. I figured the fake punt was just one of those plays you show to force other teams to prepare for it. But by the end of the season I realized I was wrong on all counts. Fact is......
-- .... We are A holes and we want you to know it. Once the offense's effectiveness caught up with the defense, I believe Carroll was trying to create a new mindset. Not the classic "we are disrespected" he knew with how we were starting to play that wouldn't last long. Not "we are the underdogs" as that too was going by the wayside as we improved weekly. I think he is going for the "Yeah, we are this tall, we are this fast, we are this violent, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it."
-- I watched the game on Sunday with a Redskins fan, great guy, a realist of a fan. I told him when the game started and the first little scuffle started that his Skins better keep that up. He asked why, trying for cheap yards on personal fouls? I said no, because we are going to keep it up all day. We are going to hit you, hard. We are going to tell you we hit you hard, and if you argue, we are likely to hit you again....hard. By the start of the second half, on one of the Browner throwing Garcon around plays, he said, I get it now. Back down and you're done, and he felt Garcon was backing down. Of course when he was feeling good at the end of the first quarter, I said hey we only average giving up 15.5 per game, so go ahead and assume you are done scoring. He said no way you shut us out the rest of the game..... um....yeah.
-- Last point about this image. When you think about the guys on this team, outside of Sherman talking, and Browner becoming infamous for tossing WRs around (Jerome Simpson suplex anyone?) the other guys on this team aren't really trash talkers or bullies. ET isn't a talker, and seldom gets personal fouls. Chancellor is a ridiculous hitter, but almost always clean. The linebackers just play, and the line just gets it done. Offensively no one is going to claim that Rice, or Lynch, or Okung are somehow big talkers. And Wilson ??? Please. Think of it this way, Sherman doesn't run his mouth anymore than DeAngelo Hall does, yet no one talks about how rough and nasty the Redskins are.
-- So I would suggest that we are hated, and I do mean hated, because the transformation of the old "finesse" Seahawks is officially completed. This is a very talented Falcons team we play this weekend, and losing is quite possible, but frankly, win or lose, I am enjoying the new Hawks. I like not being just a "good little team" anymore. I like the fear, I believe it has a lot more to do with a quiet, almost reverent respect than it does with fans perception of us as dirty.
Hopefully after this Sunday morning, I can adjust the line I said to that Redskin friend. " Just like a Redsk....Falcon, to bring a knife to a gunfight ".
Mase
-- .... We are A holes and we want you to know it. Once the offense's effectiveness caught up with the defense, I believe Carroll was trying to create a new mindset. Not the classic "we are disrespected" he knew with how we were starting to play that wouldn't last long. Not "we are the underdogs" as that too was going by the wayside as we improved weekly. I think he is going for the "Yeah, we are this tall, we are this fast, we are this violent, and there ain't a damn thing you can do about it."
-- I watched the game on Sunday with a Redskins fan, great guy, a realist of a fan. I told him when the game started and the first little scuffle started that his Skins better keep that up. He asked why, trying for cheap yards on personal fouls? I said no, because we are going to keep it up all day. We are going to hit you, hard. We are going to tell you we hit you hard, and if you argue, we are likely to hit you again....hard. By the start of the second half, on one of the Browner throwing Garcon around plays, he said, I get it now. Back down and you're done, and he felt Garcon was backing down. Of course when he was feeling good at the end of the first quarter, I said hey we only average giving up 15.5 per game, so go ahead and assume you are done scoring. He said no way you shut us out the rest of the game..... um....yeah.
-- Last point about this image. When you think about the guys on this team, outside of Sherman talking, and Browner becoming infamous for tossing WRs around (Jerome Simpson suplex anyone?) the other guys on this team aren't really trash talkers or bullies. ET isn't a talker, and seldom gets personal fouls. Chancellor is a ridiculous hitter, but almost always clean. The linebackers just play, and the line just gets it done. Offensively no one is going to claim that Rice, or Lynch, or Okung are somehow big talkers. And Wilson ??? Please. Think of it this way, Sherman doesn't run his mouth anymore than DeAngelo Hall does, yet no one talks about how rough and nasty the Redskins are.
-- So I would suggest that we are hated, and I do mean hated, because the transformation of the old "finesse" Seahawks is officially completed. This is a very talented Falcons team we play this weekend, and losing is quite possible, but frankly, win or lose, I am enjoying the new Hawks. I like not being just a "good little team" anymore. I like the fear, I believe it has a lot more to do with a quiet, almost reverent respect than it does with fans perception of us as dirty.
Hopefully after this Sunday morning, I can adjust the line I said to that Redskin friend. " Just like a Redsk....Falcon, to bring a knife to a gunfight ".
Mase
