What would Hawks record be now using the old gameplan?

If they didn't let Russ Cook what would the Hawks record be at this point? If say either 3-1 or 2-2.

I'll play... We'd be 2-2, maybe 3-1.

Atlanta: WIN
New England: LOSS
Dallas: LOSS | WIN could go either way, comes down to made/missed FGs
Miami: WIN

Wow, check that out... 2 road wins, 2 home losses.

It's important to recognize that it's not just game plan, it's offseason as well. Pete decided to finally turn Russell the Gunslinger loose, and went out and got Greg Olsen, drafted Lewis, Freddie Swain, DJ Dallas and the Stanford TE who's injured, went out and got Carlos Hyde, went after some OL free agents to better protect Russell, and put his trust in Solari-who-is-able, got Schotty on board and prepared, and really went all-in on outscoring teams. Carroll also knew he had some good redshirt/injury return talent on the OL in Jordan Simmons, Jamarco Jones, and Phil Haynes, and bet on Ethan Pocic to do the job at Center.

Pete and John built the team to be able to play and win in the way they've been winning. So I really can't see them going back to so-called "Pete Ball", and I'd argue that what we are seeing now is "Pete Ball, Evolved". Not to say that they won't come out with a run-heavy game plan for a couple games here and there depending on the opponent.

What's exciting is that this young Defense will keep improving. Like the 2005 Hawks, Unstoppable Offense + Average Defense = Superb Owl, Baby! The Holmgren-Hass Hawks could move the ball and score on *anyone* for several years there, but lost a lot of games prior to 2005 due to turnovers and porous, crappy defense. I think this 2020 team has more in common with the '05 team than it does with the 2013-2014 teams.

We'd be 1-3 and it would suck

Sac":3udnkasx said:

We'd be 1-3 and it would suck

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No worse than 2-2. Russell doesn't have that deflected pick-6 vs New England, using the old game plan, so we might still beat them.

To me it's kind of a moot point, just enjoying the new "Pete Ball". Pete has concluded this style of play, outscoring opponents, is the highest probability way to win in this league, given the assets available to him, and his job is take a mostly minimum-wage defense and figure out how to get them to dramatically outperform their contracts. So, defense is still the key for a defensive coach like Pete; stop them more times than they stop us, and get some timely turnovers in the process, and do it CHEAPLY, and in an INJURY-RESILIENT kind of way.

And SO MANY posters here (not you, IIRC) have carried on and on in past seasons about how the game has passed Pete by, can't teach an old dog new tricks, etc., etc., singing the praises of "last year's wonder-boy" Sean McVay and others. Meanwhile, Pete ignores them, and does his version of thumbing his nose at his critics, which is to reinvent his style of play to match the updated demands of the game. It's hella fun to watch, so far!

I'll play. We would be 2-2 at best...probably 1-3. So I'll take the 4-0, no matter how we got it!

Same.. we would have a defense.. and we've played some really crap teams.

Bobblehead":2evhutvj said:

Same.. we would have a defense.. and we've played some really crap teams.

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Last year they didn't play so wide open and the defense was at least similarly problematic. It seems like the Seahawks scoring points fast leads to even more points being scored by the other team with a defense that can't really get stops. 2-2, 3-1, and 4-0 all seem like reasonably possible records if they were playing more like last year.

Hard to say. Running would have eaten up more clock and kept our opponents from at least one TD drive that they now have.

I'll have to agree with the consensus and say 2-2.

I agree with Montana.

Games would have looked differently, but I still think we'd be 4-0. This team has a good vibe, even with all of the injuries. I'll keep pounding the drum, still need a penetrating DT...

I will say, as soon as I saw Brandon Shell coming in to replace Ifedi I thought we might be shifting to more passing. Low and behold, Let Russ Cook!

4-0.

Let's move on.

This is dot negative, moving on isn't the jam here. Dwelling on the bad stuff and refusing to enjoy wins is more the Norm :mrgreen:

SoulfishHawk":tfh5fzmv said:

This is dot negative, moving on isn't the jam here. Dwelling on the bad stuff and refusing to enjoy wins is more the Norm :mrgreen:

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Post about the Seahawks.

Ok......

SoulfishHawk":113td0xs said:

This is dot negative, moving on isn't the jam here. Dwelling on the bad stuff and refusing to enjoy wins is more the Norm :mrgreen:

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Hasn't it been a joy to watch? I'm sure enjoying the Hawks games, except for the part where we're on defense.

Pete and John have made it so the original question for this thread doesn't even make sense for this season. They built this year's team to do exactly what it's doing, especially including the Greg Olsen acquisition. That was a massive signal about their plans. I've been waiting since Russell's rookie year for Pete and the OC to turn the keys over to Russell with the instructions, "Russell. Score EARLY and OFTEN." We got a preview of that in 2015 that was very exciting.

I'm guessing that the playoff losses to GB last year and Dallas the year before were the final straws that convinced Pete it was time to update "Pete Ball" for the current realities of today's NFL. Add in the playoff loss to Carolina a few years back where we were down 31-0 or something like that at halftime. Carroll IS stubborn, but he is also a realist. It's darn near impossible to build and *keep* a dominant D in these salary cap days. What is Carroll's #1 asset? A well-paid 1st ballot HOF-to-be QB. What is one of Carroll's greatest strengths as a coach? It's turning cheap, young defensive players into NFL-level pros, even stars, especially DBs. What is Carroll's greatest weakness? Excessive loyalty to assistants who are not getting the job done (CaBevell). The jury is still out on whether DC Ken Norton Jr. is actually "the problem".

I think we can all agree that trying to play last year's Pete Ball with the current roster and rules would not go well. We couldn't even play Old School Pete Ball at the end of last year after all the injuries, especially at RB, no Carson, no Penny, down to Homer and emergency mode Marshawn. We see this year that Pete & Schotty are trying to keep the pounding of Carson down, limiting his carries, using him as a receiver, so that we have Carson for the playoffs. Playoffs??!! Cue Jim Mora "Playoffs?" rant. 4-0 is a great start, but it's only the end of the 1st quarter.

Best case 2-2, worse case 1-3

1-3 no way we keep up points wise in every game but the last. Teams were scoring pts at will in all 3 games and waiting into the 4th quarter would have been fatal.

austinslater25":1qxa2kn3 said:

1-3 no way we keep up points wise in every game but the last. Teams were scoring pts at will in all 3 games and waiting into the 4th quarter would have been fatal.

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This, though I think we will regularly score in the mid 30’s except when high turnover games or devastating injury’s the happen.

My personal speculation:

ATL = Coinflip. If ATL chokes away a big lead that they would've inevitably built Seattle could pull off the miraculous comeback.

NE = L. The Seahawks couldn't stop Cam, and the Hawks had to play offense for 4 quarters to win that game.

DAL = L. Repeat of NE.

MIA = W. The Seahawks win ugly and pull it out. After the offense sputtered for 2.5 quarters. Russ was unleashed putting up 3 TDs in the final frame to win 24-23.

1-3, or 2-2.

I prefer the current strategy. "Let Russ Cook", and leave no doubt. 4-0.

MontanaHawk05":96v3unhu said:

Hard to say. Running would have eaten up more clock and kept our opponents from at least one TD drive that they now have.

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True running could have eaten more clock but also could have resulted in more 3 and outs.