Lending some credence that it is still pre-season, there are still some areas that give me concern.
1.) The Vikings in the first half had 4 sacks to our 0.
2.) The Vikings find a way to rush 6 and sometimes 7 at Russell when we only rush 4 for the most part relying on a zone coverage that gives up short pass after short pass.
During our Superbowl run we constantly played on the other side of line with our Defense. I just don't see that just yet.
I do see promise however from our young players like Reed and Clark. Rubin appears to be taking up space, lacking the upside needed to make an impact. Kris Richard will have to do some serious evaluating or the Hawks could get off to a slow start, which includes that 1st game against the Dolphins. I've seen it before when teams go into that first game, take it lightly, are ill prepared and lose that first game at home. Not wishing anything bad on the Hawks, but I just don't like what I've seen so far.
3.) The offensive line is much better than last year. Flat out. But I still am concerned about how teams view our receiving core. When you see defenses line up consistently on passing downs in man coverage, blitzing 6 or 7 people, it demonstrates that they don't have a lot of respect for the speed of our deep threats. Other wise they would have to back off in fear of getting beat. The problem is there isn't any "speed fear" outside of Tyler and occasionally Baldwin. Russ didn't have much time in the pocket to see down the field and got sacked or hurried for his efforts.
4. The last bright spot was Christine Michael. He sees the field and runs well through the seam with excellent acceleration.
Again I know its pre-season, but soon the real season will begin. There are two games left to find that speed to the ball with the defense playing on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. If we accomplish that the O-line will continue to mature and get even better. We must find a way to get to the quarterback; get off the field on 3rd down, and throw the ball down the field, not 3 yards but 15 and 20 yards at a clip. That's the team that will make it to Texas in February.
1.) The Vikings in the first half had 4 sacks to our 0.
2.) The Vikings find a way to rush 6 and sometimes 7 at Russell when we only rush 4 for the most part relying on a zone coverage that gives up short pass after short pass.
During our Superbowl run we constantly played on the other side of line with our Defense. I just don't see that just yet.
I do see promise however from our young players like Reed and Clark. Rubin appears to be taking up space, lacking the upside needed to make an impact. Kris Richard will have to do some serious evaluating or the Hawks could get off to a slow start, which includes that 1st game against the Dolphins. I've seen it before when teams go into that first game, take it lightly, are ill prepared and lose that first game at home. Not wishing anything bad on the Hawks, but I just don't like what I've seen so far.
3.) The offensive line is much better than last year. Flat out. But I still am concerned about how teams view our receiving core. When you see defenses line up consistently on passing downs in man coverage, blitzing 6 or 7 people, it demonstrates that they don't have a lot of respect for the speed of our deep threats. Other wise they would have to back off in fear of getting beat. The problem is there isn't any "speed fear" outside of Tyler and occasionally Baldwin. Russ didn't have much time in the pocket to see down the field and got sacked or hurried for his efforts.
4. The last bright spot was Christine Michael. He sees the field and runs well through the seam with excellent acceleration.
Again I know its pre-season, but soon the real season will begin. There are two games left to find that speed to the ball with the defense playing on the opposite side of the line of scrimmage. If we accomplish that the O-line will continue to mature and get even better. We must find a way to get to the quarterback; get off the field on 3rd down, and throw the ball down the field, not 3 yards but 15 and 20 yards at a clip. That's the team that will make it to Texas in February.