This game seems so huge to me.

[Hawknballs]

To get a win in this game seems so much larger than your average game vs. a non-conference opponent.

First, a W would get us a win on the road.

Second, it would get us a win on the road at 10 AM. I'm not one of those people who think 10 AM is a huge issue, but I'm also not in the camp that says it doesn't matter. Your body clock is important, and as athletes who's job is to perform at the highest level, you simply cannot say that needing to be your best when your body clock is not at it's peak is a non-factor. It's not the overblown factor it can become, but it is a factor.

Third, it would be a win on the road at 10 am without some of the most important players on our team. To get a win against a dynamic player like Newton without two of our best pass rushers would go a long way in showing just how elite and deep our defense really is. It would give everyone else a huge heap of confidence heading into the next game against SF.

Fourth - for all these reasons and others, in a season with such high expectations, a win here would be great psychologically for a team full of guys that really want it. On the flip side a loss could plant seeds of doubt that we can't have in that locker room for the long haul.

Lastly, given all of these factors, to add this win and follow it up with a win over division rival SF in week 2 would simply be a huge start to the season for us. This really goes without saying but when you add it all up it would be one of the most important 2-0 starts you could draw up.

 

[Chapman]

Agreed.
Also if anyone thinks Carolina didn't do some work this offseason isn't paying attention.
They could be dangerous.

 

[SmokinHawk]

Great test for this team. This is a game we should win. Historically, this team does not win games it should win on the road. Make it happen, Hawks. You beat these guys last year, you can certainly do it again.

 

[TwistedHusky]

Don't forget the other issue.

A loss in Carolina means that the SF becomes almost a must win game to basically save the season.

Because starting out as near SB favorites in a 0-2 hole would result in so much pressure and so much scrutiny on the team it would be very easy to implode from there.

Carolina is not a must win, but it is a game we could easily lose as the other team has been focusing on this game for weeks, if not longer. But if the Carolina game becomes a loss, we could potentially be looking at needing to win the SF just to keep the boat from crashing into the rocks.

It would still be possible to recover, but it would be a hard slog to recover from that kind of hole.

 

[Anonymous]

I agree, Nballs, this game means so much more than just your basic road game. It will serve to set a tone.

Anybody who is anybody will be looking at the results of this one, so as to determine whether we are, or aren't, everything anyone said about us. (did I say that right?).

Big game.

 

[Hawks46]

This game will serve as anything from a litmus test to see where we start out, to a momentum builder going into a short week against a tough opponent.

With all the expectations on our team, and the state of our division, there really aren't any games we can just throw away. The Niners have a much easier schedule than we do, and we need to win all of these games that we're supposed to.

We're going to need every win we can get, plus hang 2 on the Niners, to win the division this year. I see them winning 11 games again, so there's only 4 games we can lose. We can't afford Carolina to be one of them.

 

[ivotuk]

I disagree, this game will be a good test but this team is built for the long haul. Even if we start 0-2 we could still rip off 10 or 12 straight once we get on a roll.

 

[bestfightstory]

Carolina is Intra-Conference. That aside, this season to me is all about HFA and the #1 Seed and starting The Championship Season with a win against an inferior opponent should be expected.

This is our Super Bowl season. Every game will be vital to me until we have that HFA locked up.

 

[FlyingGreg]

This is a huge game, and a "statement" game.

The first half of our schedule is rough, including @ Carolina and home vs SF to start, then back to back weeks on the road against very good teams (Houston and Indy), and then back to back weeks on the road against two feisty divisional opponents (Arizona and St. Louis), both of which beat us in their home stadiums last year. Oh by the way, the game in Arizona is Thursday Night Football so it's a very short week.

I agree with BFS - HFA is the key to our Super Bowl dreams. Do I think we can win on the road in the playoffs? Yes. But it is SO much easier for us to do it at C Link, where our homefield advantage is unlike most other teams in the league.

We do not want to go into the SF game at 0-1. As much as we all think we are better than the Whiners (and we are), that 42-13 game is a distant memory and the Whiners are a damn good team who will test us. The second half of our schedule looks more favorable, and it will include "in season" acquisitions like Percy Harvin, Greg Scruggs (hopefully) and really Bruce Irvin as well, at least after the 4th game.

 

[sutz]

I hate to hang too many expectations on a September game. However, your points are certainly valid. I've always and often said, You can't win a championship in September, but you can lose one. By that, of course, I mean digging too deep a hole early in the season can kill a team's playoff hopes and chances.

Yeah, a loss would not be the end of the season, but it would make things much more difficult. If you're going to be considered a 'great' team, you have to win the games you should win. This is definitely one of those games.

 

[SeaTown81]

I agree with those saying it's a bigger game than your average week 1 road game.

The difference going into that SF game 1-0 as opposed to 0-1 is huge. You will be either looking to go 2-0 with a win over SF in your pocket, or potentially 0-2 with a loss to them. That is a pretty huge difference.

As Leif and Greg have pointed out, the possibility of HFA in the playoffs is GIGANTIC in terms of this team making the SB. Not saying they can't string a couple gritty road wins together. They nearly did last year. But you can see how tricky that can be. Even for a great team. And ESPECIALLY with our HFA. This team in that stadium with HFA? I won't say it would be a lock. But our odds go up dramatically in that scenario. So with that in mind, every game matters.

And not that the opinion of the national media matters. But if the Hawks lose in week 1 to Carolina, prepare to get the wrath of all of the national media who is currently frontrunning with them. After how much praise and hype this team has received this offseason, the national media will be waiting. Waiting to either pump them up more and pat themselves on the back. Or waiting to knock them down and call them out for being frauds who tricked them into thinking they were good.

And lastly, I REALLY, REALLY hope there aren't any Hawk fans out there taking this Carolina game for granted as some easy win against a chump team. Carolina is a young, improving team playing at home in it's home opener. I don't care who the team is, you never take a team for granted in it's home opener. Even the worst teams in the league get up a little bit more for that first home game where their home fans are that much more excited about the potential possibilities of the season to come. Same goes for the players. I mean, just look how good the Cardinals looked the first couple games of last season. There is a lot to be said for player psychology factoring into a team's performance. And in the beginning of the season, any team can think it's better than it is. The Hawks are the better team. But that doesn't always matter. They are going to need to bring it.

 

[C-Dub]

"This game seems so huge to me."

Well duh!!!! It's the first game of our Superb Owl season.

 

[AF_Hawk]

Huge win if we can escape with one.

-10am road game
-conference win (huge factor later on in the season with our tough schedule)
-confidence booster

 

[Attyla the Hawk]

I see it as a very important game. For a few reasons.

One, this schedule has a lot of quality road matchups. If we're going to win the division or even make the playoffs, then we are going to need to succeed in many of those.

Second, this is a tough division. It's not unreasonable to expect a better showing than 3-3 in the division, but it's also really unlikely to see more than a one game improvement. Other than the 49ers, every team is better. The NFC South is also really stacked top to bottom. Teams that don't win divisions are going to have a lot of stiff competition for wild card slots. Carolina is definitely one of those teams. A win against us hurts our chances if it comes to head to head matchups.

Third, Carolina was very much like us in the way they ended last year. They were rolling to end the year and didn't manage to start the season well enough to hold on. That win in Carolina was instrumental in that. Ultimately, Seattle is still a team that doesn't know how good they really are. Seattle has earned a lot of preseason attention but they've not earned that attention on the field as of yet. This team was excellent at meeting the challenges and steadily and incrementally improving with each test. This is just another step. An important step. Seattle needs to show that they can perform and succeed when the spotlight of expectation shines brightly on them. This is not something this team has had to do yet.