Now onto responding to the opening post.
After yesterdays serial collapse, seemingly as expected when the O was unable to stay on the field for more than 4 sets of downs in the final Q, I had the unhappy drive back home of approximately 325 miles. Normally I listen to postgame interviews and analysis but I was so disappointed and shut off the radio in the car refusing to listen to any postgame analysis of this telegraphed 4th Q collapse. I knew what I had seen and didn't need to be told again and again that the failure of the O in the 4th Q put unfair pressure on the D and the D just isn't up to it's old self so far this season. I still have faith this team can make the playoffs, but there are going to have to be a few come to Jesus moments for the team before that happens as something is missing. Tat said this is still a good team, they don't suck, they just suck at finishing this year, and keep on repeating mistakes.
Numb and generally PO'd by the Coaches inability to accomplish the relatively simple task of protecting what should have been a safe lead and closing things out, I thought back to last season and the difficulty the team had in defending TE- Gates in the San Diego game and how our D has been vulnerable ever since to this pass. We got burned a few other times last season but up until XLIX and this season it hadn't been quite as obvious. Now it's constant game after game. This to me signifies an epic fail in terms of coaching and preparation for the team to continually be exposed by these TE seam passes. Pete needs to have an ass kicking session or two with his coaches as they are not getting it done. As well the team seems to be missing some of it's physicality and feistiness. At 2-4 that is clear.
It seemed to me the only O that was genuinely successful yesterday were the plays when RW was ad libbing or out of the pocket, and not many of the positive plays were those actually designed by our blockhead OC. The flea flicker was an exception but other than that nothing else really stands out as being something special. The protection broke down well before players had run their routes and RW was forced to move. Now I don't need special to be somewhat satisfied with the O b/c Bevell is in charge after all and the team is a run first team, but if the OLine can't effectively block for Lynch it would seem to me to indicate that a change or two might be mandated. Continuing to do the same thing while expecting a different result is a form of insanity.
Here we are again scratching our heads at what seems me to now be a pattern of continuous exploitation. The D yesterday played well enough until the O's second half collapse. Who honestly didn't get that "here we go again" feeling when Car scored and made the score 20-23? After the next offensive series max fail I just knew the team would at least allow Car to tie it up. However to lose the game again at the end on a similar play that cost them the W last week was really concerning. That for me is a raw feeling that has seemed to be a constant since early last year when the close outs were getting harder to accomplish and other team's seemed to have answers for the Hawks O and/or the Hawks D, now it's for both sides of the ball.
