Facing no dominant D-lines

[Uhsplit]

i am fine with saying eff the run game and throwing it 45 times, i can live with that, as long as we are smart about it and throwing to graham and baldwin most of the game. if we give kearse 12 targets we are going to be in trouble.

Too easy to beat. Bracket JG and ADB high and low, leaving single coverage on JK et al.

 

[MrS]

they can try, but remember how bad their pass D is?

if we do it this way, assume our best targets are covered, and throw kearse 9 balls its not going to work out for us.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Am I the only guy that thinks Richardson can go deep on these guys? We are talking about Baldwin,Graham and Kearse understandably and the loss of Lockett is big but the Lions secondary is decimated right now and I think there will be some big plays available. I also think we can make up for the lack of a running game with some short passes to backs sneaking out 3-4 yds and running a little after the catch. Also Luke Wilson can get open in the flat when the other team is concentrating on the other stuff. I do agree that Graham and Baldwin should be our primary targets but you have to take what the defense gives you. If that leaves Kearse open, take it, move the chains and go to the next play. The big thing is punch it in for TD's when they get into the red zone. More TD's, less FG's.

 

[dude82]

Am I the only guy that thinks Richardson can go deep on these guys? We are talking about Baldwin,Graham and Kearse understandably and the loss of Lockett is big but the Lions secondary is decimated right now and I think there will be some big plays available. I also think we can make up for the lack of a running game with some short passes to backs sneaking out 3-4 yds and running a little after the catch. Also Luke Wilson can get open in the flat when the other team is concentrating on the other stuff. I do agree that Graham and Baldwin should be our primary targets but you have to take what the defense gives you. If that leaves Kearse open, take it, move the chains and go to the next play. The big thing is punch it in for TD's when they get into the red zone. More TD's, less FG's.

This game, at least on offense, went counter to what pretty much everyone was expecting to see. Baldwin quietly went for 11 catches, over 100 yards and a touchdown and Richardson got in some good shots of his own, which is what we expected/hoped to see, but the deep shots weren't there for the most part and the running game actually showed up. I think if you'd said before the game that the Seahawks were going to commit to the run early and often despite Detroit's obvious weakness in pass defense, you would have had more than the usual crowd pointing that strategy as exhibit A as to why Bevell should be fired. As it turns out, Rawls and the offensive line played out of their minds and it was the passing game that struggled to do much for most of the game, so it turned out to be a solid gameplan after all.

 

[MrS]

if we can run the ball like that next week we have a real chance of winning that game, especially if the falcons shit the bed like they inevitably do in the playoff.s

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

if we can run the ball like that next week we have a real chance of winning that game, especially if the falcons shit the bed like they inevitably do in the playoff.s

I agree. It keeps Ryan and their offense standing on the sideline which in turn keeps our defense rested and fresh. Atlanta's defense is not a strong one and committing to the run early is play-off football 101. It is also a lot easier for young O-linemen to run block than to pass protect. The Guards and Britt were solid last night. And Rawls ran hard. A good sign for sure. The Lions D helped us look a little better too so we have to take it with a grain of salt but all in all, it was good to see. A good game plan by Pete and Bevell.

 

[chf]

Pretty sure the Atlanta coaching staff is going to be harping about gap responsibility just a wee bit this week.

 

[MKHawk]

Pretty sure the Atlanta coaching staff is going to be harping about gap responsibility just a wee bit this week.

Jeez, can't you enjoy anything? Why do you have to be such a downer?

 

[chf]

Jeez, can't you enjoy anything? Why do you have to be such a downer?

Don't tell me how to feeeeeel maaaaaaan!

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

Atlanta does not have a good defense, 25th overall in total defense... Detroit was 18th overall ... Vs the run they're 17th, Detroit was 18th .... Our O is gonna move the ball on these guy's ...

 

[Anointed One]

@blstoker ... Please post your game summary this week before the game so we can have time to discuss game in the thread prior to the game...

I was going to post a game thread but I know you like to do so...

 

[Anointed One]

Atlanta does not have a good defense, 25th overall in total defense... Detroit was 18th overall ... Vs the run they're 17th, Detroit was 18th .... Our O is gonna move the ball on these guy's ...

My main concern w/ the game is the +/- on the turnover front... Our defense, for some reason this year has not been creating turnovers... This will be key to the game imo... We're currently 22nd in the league w/ only 19 takeaways (11 INT's/8 Fumbles)... Limiting ATL's possessions/opportunities is going to be important... Not sure if our defense is good enough now to hold them to under 20-24... I think we'll need at least 27 to win this game... Turnovers! We're due, no!

 

[MKHawk]

The key to this game is how the Seahawks start. Under Carroll, they have started divisional games on the road...

Down 21-0 at halftime (@CHI)
Down 20-0 at halftime (@ATL)
Down 31-0 at halftime (@CAR)

If we look at the second game of the postseason for Carroll's Seahawks, we can add in

Down 10-3 at halftime (vs SF)
Down 16-0 at halftime (vs GB)

 

[MrS]

Atlanta does not have a good defense, 25th overall in total defense... Detroit was 18th overall ... Vs the run they're 17th, Detroit was 18th .... Our O is gonna move the ball on these guy's ...

They are 26th in yards per rush, last three games 5.5 per. Will we take advantage? Or will we see the OL that had nothing against a worse defense in SF?

 

[Anointed One]

The key to this game is how the Seahawks start. Under Carroll, they have started divisional games on the road...

Down 21-0 at halftime (@CHI)
Down 20-0 at halftime (@ATL)
Down 31-0 at halftime (@CAR)

If we look at the second game of the postseason for Carroll's Seahawks, we can add in

Down 10-3 at halftime (vs SF)
Down 16-0 at halftime (vs GB)

Yeah, I read that too... That's definitely a stat line we can't afford to duplicate this game... They also mentioned that we've been to 8 divisional round road games and have lost the last 7, with the last win in '83 against the Phins...

Definitely going to be tough... In all 5 of the Falcons losses this year, they've scored at least 24 points...

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

My main concern w/ the game is the +/- on the turnover front... Our defense, for some reason this year has not been creating turnovers... This will be key to the game imo... We're currently 22nd in the league w/ only 19 takeaways (11 INT's/8 Fumbles)... Limiting ATL's possessions/opportunities is going to be important... Not sure if our defense is good enough now to hold them to under 20-24... I think we'll need at least 27 to win this game... Turnovers! We're due, no!

It's important that our D shows up, play's smart, Richard's needs to call a good game.. ( Bills just met with him by the way for a head coaching job) ... If our D show's up and play's like they did vs Detroit, even close to the way they played vs Detroit, we'll be fine.. Our O can exploit that Atlanta D, the match-up is good upfront so Russ should have the time, and when he has time we all know what Russ can do ... Hopefully Rawls can continue what we saw last week, he was on fire...

 

[boogiewithstu2007]

They are 26th in yards per rush, last three games 5.5 per. Will we take advantage? Or will we see the OL that had nothing against a worse defense in SF?

Wow , I didn't realize their run D was that bad lately...

 

[JMR]

Atlanta does not have a good defense, 25th overall in total defense... Detroit was 18th overall ... Vs the run they're 17th, Detroit was 18th .... Our O is gonna move the ball on these guy's ...

They gave up 5.9 yards per play in the regular season. Only 3 teams were worse than that.

They allowed 25.4 points per game. Only 5 teams below them there.

4.5 ypc rushing against. Again, only 5 teams worse. Hawks D is #1 here at 3.4.

They're basically bottom half of the league in pretty much every D stat it looks like. Now some of the volume stuff can be attributed to garbage time in games where they built a big lead, but I don't think that explains it all away.

So yeah, the Hawks should have some success offensively. I expected a bit more than what we saw when we faced them early in the season, but it's possible we were held back a bit by RW still being limited and no Rawls or Prosise. I guess we'll see. I think we'll do well enough to win but doubt we're going to put up 40 or anything.

To me this game is going to come down to how well we clamp on their RBs. I expect Julio Jones to get his pretty much no matter what, but I think they'll need their RB combo to be productive to control the game. After all, it's the playoffs and *usually* physicality beats finesse. We will be without ET, but we'll have Kam and Frank Clark (didn't play last time vs Atlanta).