The panic button has officially been pushed. Fingers are starting to get pointed. Everyone wants answers from Cam Chancellor to Marshawn Lynch's momma.
It is safe and somewhat warranted to understand the frusteration after Sundays's loss in St. Louis. Giving up 34 to Nick Foles in his debut game with the Rams is something us Hawks fans are just not used to. Should we blame Bevell and the run play that ultimately ended the game with Seattle on the losing end? How much of this was due to Cam's absence, and how long can this holdout continue? Maybe it was neither the offenses or defenses fault...?
Things seemed to bode well for the Hawks overall on Sunday. Besides the passing category, they led in every major statistical category including rushing, the turnover battle, and time of possession. Despite this the team still was unable to win in the end. After a 4th and short run that got stuffedby the Rams D in OT, everyone quickly tried to say it was to prove a point, if you will, about the decision not to run in the Superbowl last season.
Attention then turned to the offensive coordinator, and blame quickly fell upon him. Marshawn Lynch's mom even went to Facebook to voice her concerns with Offensive coordinator Bevell and his play calling...or lack there of.
Offense is not to blame though.. The team rushed for over 100 and passed for another 250 while converting over 40 percent of their first downs. They moved the ball well overall. The newly formulated line held up pretty well. Jimmy Graham made plays in his debut, and Russell just made one mistake with a turnover.
Those not pointing to Bevell though turned to the one person who has been missing from the equation, Cam Chancellor. Following the loss Chancellor quickly gained some ground and got people in his corner regarding his holdout. It was easy to try and do so with obvious secondary troubles, but is he really the missing link? Not so much, although if the team loses in GB I feel the team will quickly put an end to his holdout.
Overll the defense still did their thing though. They gave up only 76 yards rushing and still forced 3 turnovers. One of which was a strip sack resulting in 7 of their points. The D did give up some chunk plays, but overall gave up 27 points defensively. This may be higher than their normal average, but they were on the road in hostile environment. They also played against an experienced coach in Jeff Fisher. Everyone seemed to forget what led to the 4th down stuff that ended the game in OT with Hawks leaving St. Louis 0-1
In the end special teams made some of the biggest mistakes. Number one was giving up a TD, but Lockett made his rookie splash to even the score and make special teams whole. Then, however, came the decision that noone seems to be talking about. That is the surprise onside kick to begin the OT period. Ultimately this gave the Rams offense a short field. The same Rams offense that was getting those chunk plays. They easily gotin position for the go ahead FG that left Seattle quickly behind the 8-ball. This deciion really was a baffling one when you have the squad you do on defense..Cam or not. It is the decision that led to Bevell's ultimate decision to make that run call that was denied and sent Seattle packing for their long flight home.
So why everyone else is hung up on the superbowl run that wasn't... or the one player not even on the field, i will point my blame finger directly at surprise OT onside.
Thanks for the article, hawksinsider. Keep 'em coming.
One point, after the game we learned that the "onside kick" was not an onside kick at all, but a mis-hit by Hauschka on an attempted pooch kick. which, of course, was designed to limit any chances of a lengthy kick return. Far from being an overly agressive call, the call itself was very conservative. It just wasn't properly executed.