Stress free ball

[Hawktawk]

I always love watching my hawks but Its kinda nice to be able to just enjoy some games without needing a BP cuff on. I drink way less beer too. My heart can use a break

[RiverDog]

I always love watching my hawks but Its kinda nice to be able to just enjoy some games without needing a BP cuff on. I drink way less beer too. My heart can use a break

Yeah, and back in the days when I used to bird hunt, I'd be able to take advantage of a Sunday that the Hawks were off.

MNF will be a can't miss game, one of the few where I'll be a Brady fan for 3 hours or so.

[mykc14]

No kidding- we just get to sit back and relax today... pretty nice feeling. Actually next Sunday will be pretty stress free as well!

[jshawaii22]

Maybe no stress... but the last 4 minutes of the Colts-GB game had a flag fest to the point of distraction on holding calls. I can only imagine if that was a Seahawks game. I hope the Colts win, but something like 10 holding calls???

[RiverDog]

Maybe no stress... but the last 4 minutes of the Colts-GB game had a flag fest to the point of distraction on holding calls. I can only imagine if that was a Seahawks game. I hope the Colts win, but something like 10 holding calls???

Yea, I'm watching the same game. I have never seen the number of holding penalties that have been called on Indy. Even after they had already picked up 6 or 7, they had two called on the same play.

[RiverDog]

Colts hang on and win in OT! That takes the Packers down to a 7-3 record. If the season were to end today, we would have the tiebreaker over them.

After they recovered a fumble on the Packer's 30 in OT and given how many holding penalties the Colts had committed, I was halfway expecting them to kick a FG on first down lest they commit another holding penalty and take themselves out of FG range.

[mykc14]

Colts hang on and win in OT! That takes the Packers down to a 7-3 record. If the season were to end today, we would have the tiebreaker over them.

After they recovered a fumble on the Packer's 30 in OT and given how many holding penalties the Colts had committed, I was halfway expecting them to kick a FG on first down lest they commit another holding penalty and take themselves out of FG range.

Yeah a very good result for us. The holding calls definitely took away from the game. Some of those were absolutely holding but a few others were not. There were 2 or 3 where they were engaged inside the frame, you almost never see that being called. It was hard to watch. We need the Saints to lose a game or two and it would be nice if the Rams could do us a favor and lose tomorrow, but so far a good Hawks weekend continues!

[Rambo2014]

For soem real stress free watch the rams beat the bucs tonight...

real football. no bs

Rams 37, Bucs 13

[c_hawkbob]

... it would be nice if the Rams could do us a favor and lose tomorrow, but so far a good Hawks weekend continues!

And them having won is actually better for us. Sure the division is now theirs to lose, but it's also ours to win. And if we do win we also now have a clearer path to the #1 seed with the Bucs knocked down a notch (a team we had no control over and could not catch if they won out). Our destiny is now in our own hands.

[RiverDog]

... it would be nice if the Rams could do us a favor and lose tomorrow, but so far a good Hawks weekend continues!

And them having won is actually better for us. Sure the division is now theirs to lose, but it's also ours to win. And if we do win we also now have a clearer path to the #1 seed with the Bucs knocked down a notch (a team we had no control over and could not catch if they won out). Our destiny is now in our own hands.

Plus it didn't hurt my feelings any to see Tom Brady left holding onto the short end of the stick. Man, did he suck!

[mykc14]

And them having won is actually better for us. Sure the division is now theirs to lose, but it's also ours to win. And if we do win we also now have a clearer path to the #1 seed with the Bucs knocked down a notch (a team we had no control over and could not catch if they won out). Our destiny is now in our own hands.

No doubt at the end of the day we need to take care of our own business. It would have been nice going into that matchup with the Rams with a 2 game divisional lead, but as long as we take care of business these next 4 weeks and beat them it doesn’t matter. I thought about the tie-breaking situation with the Bucs and that might have come into play, but I don’t see them overtaking the Saints at this point for the NFC South, but I know there’s a lot of football left. We are in a great position- we just need to take care of ourselves (and hope the Saints drop a couple!

[RiverDog]

No doubt at the end of the day we need to take care of our own business. It would have been nice going into that matchup with the Rams with a 2 game divisional lead, but as long as we take care of business these next 4 weeks and beat them it doesn’t matter. I thought about the tie-breaking situation with the Bucs and that might have come into play, but I don’t see them overtaking the Saints at this point for the NFC South, but I know there’s a lot of football left. We are in a great position- we just need to take care of ourselves (and hope the Saints drop a couple!

As I said earlier, I normally don't start looking at possible playoff scenarios until after Thanksgiving, but after reading your comments, I took a look at the Saints remaining schedule. They have games against Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Minnesota, all three of whom we have or will have beaten (assuming we take care of business next Monday). If we run the table and they lose to one of those 3 teams, we'd own the tiebreaker over them as we'd both have identical conference records but we would have a better winning percentage vs. common opponents, so it's not necessary for the Saints to lose 2 in order for us to get HFA.

[mykc14]

As I said earlier, I normally don't start looking at possible playoff scenarios until after Thanksgiving, but after reading your comments, I took a look at the Saints remaining schedule. They have games against Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Minnesota, all three of whom we have or will have beaten (assuming we take care of business next Monday). If we run the table and they lose to one of those 3 teams, we'd own the tiebreaker over them as we'd both have identical conference records but we would have a better winning percentage vs. common opponents, so it's not necessary for the Saints to lose 2 in order for us to get HFA.

I'm just glad I got you to look at playoff scenario's before Thanksgiving!!!

At the end of the day we do need to run the table. I wonder if the above still holds true if you throw in the Packers at 7-3? The other unfortunate truth is it might actually be better to be the 5 seed than the 2 seed this year. I know you always want a home game but I would probably rather play the NFC East champs on the road than the Bucs, Rams, or Cards at home... Never mind- you want as high of a seed as possible!!! Let's go get the #1, 2 or 3 seed!!

[RiverDog]

As I said earlier, I normally don't start looking at possible playoff scenarios until after Thanksgiving, but after reading your comments, I took a look at the Saints remaining schedule. They have games against Atlanta, Philadelphia, and Minnesota, all three of whom we have or will have beaten (assuming we take care of business next Monday). If we run the table and they lose to one of those 3 teams, we'd own the tiebreaker over them as we'd both have identical conference records but we would have a better winning percentage vs. common opponents, so it's not necessary for the Saints to lose 2 in order for us to get HFA.

I'm just glad I got you to look at playoff scenario's before Thanksgiving!!!

At the end of the day we do need to run the table. I wonder if the above still holds true if you throw in the Packers at 7-3? The other unfortunate truth is it might actually be better to be the 5 seed than the 2 seed this year. I know you always want a home game but I would probably rather play the NFC East champs on the road than the Bucs, Rams, or Cards at home... Never mind- you want as high of a seed as possible!!! Let's go get the #1, 2 or 3 seed!!

You can thank my being retired for my looking at the playoffs before Thanksgiving!

As it stands now, should we have a two way tie with the Packers we'd own the tiebreaker, best record vs. common opponents. They've lost to the Vikings, a team which we've beaten. The Packers have a pretty easy remaining schedule, too: Eagles, Lions, Panthers, Bears x2. The only playoff contender they have left are the Titans.

If we can stay healthy down the stretch, I think we have a shot at getting back to the Super Bowl. I really liked what I saw last Thursday.

[Rambo2014]

I get a charge out of all your talk about an "easy" schedule ahead. LOL what a bunch of tools!

Hears how it will go for you, and I am being reasonable... BTW Rams finish 12-4 and loss is not to the Hawks

Sea 27 Philly 17
Giants 24 Sea 23 yes you heard it first here
Sea 34 Jets 16
WA 17 Sea 6 cold dreary game on road
Rams 26 Sea 17
Sea 16 SF 10

Season 10-6 third place behind Rams and ARZ no playoff

[NorthHawk]

If we can stay healthy down the stretch, I think we have a shot at getting back to the Super Bowl. I really liked what I saw last Thursday.

We’d have to get a lot of lucky breaks to get to the SB, I would think. Our Defense has played better
the last couple of games, but it’s a far way from being good enough yet. Maybe if it improves more
we could have a chance.

[obiken]

I agree a 100% NH!!

[RiverDog]

If we can stay healthy down the stretch, I think we have a shot at getting back to the Super Bowl. I really liked what I saw last Thursday.

We’d have to get a lot of lucky breaks to get to the SB, I would think. Our Defense has played better the last couple of games, but it’s a far way from being good enough yet. Maybe if it improves more we could have a chance.

So now who's the optimist and who's Debbie Downer?

If we played in the AFC, I'd be more concerned. There are a lot of very good teams over there, including the Chiefs, Steelers, Ravens, Bills, and Titans. Even the Raiders are looking pretty solid. But the NFC really doesn't have a team comparable with the top teams in the AFC. Take a look at how the Packers fared against the Colts last week, or how we fared against the Bills. And are the Saints going to be able to keep winning with Drew Brees on IR?

There's still a ton of football left to play, but I'm feeling better at this point than I have at any other since the start of the season.

[Hawktawk]

Lol thread turned into playoff scenarios
I feel pretty good right now. The D has played 6 solid quarters vs very good offenses to boot. Russ got his head out of the clouds as did Schotty and realized you can't just throw it up all the time. We get back Carson and I hope the reason he was gone so long is to be absolutely sure and if he's the load he can be thats huge . Hyde was a huge upgrade last week as it was. We should have our starting line and our receivers should be healthy for the stretch run.

My biggest wild card is Rashaad Penney. I look at him as the Percy Harvin factor 2020. Not the terrible attitude but the ability to house it from anywhere, coming back from injury late in the season to create another mismatch. Maybe its just wishful thinking but that guy the last 3 games before his injury was about as electric as any back i've seen wearing the colors as far as a top end burst.

[RiverDog]

My biggest wild card is Rashaad Penney. I look at him as the Percy Harvin factor 2020. Not the terrible attitude but the ability to house it from anywhere, coming back from injury late in the season to create another mismatch. Maybe its just wishful thinking but that guy the last 3 games before his injury was about as electric as any back i've seen wearing the colors as far as a top end burst.

I haven't heard too much about Penny lately. He still hasn't practiced and when he does, it's going to take several weeks before he sees any contact. I wouldn't count on him making too much of a contribution this season. Besides, Carson was head and shoulders above him as the better back, and now that Carlos Hyde seems healthy, there isn't a huge role for Penny outside of a change of pace type back.

[mykc14]

My biggest wild card is Rashaad Penney. I look at him as the Percy Harvin factor 2020. Not the terrible attitude but the ability to house it from anywhere, coming back from injury late in the season to create another mismatch. Maybe its just wishful thinking but that guy the last 3 games before his injury was about as electric as any back i've seen wearing the colors as far as a top end burst.

I agree and am crossing my fingers that he has the same explosiveness as last year, but there is no guarantee that he will. what I’ve read it sounds like there’s at least a decent chance that he practices next week. He really does have the potential to be an X factor, though. Another guy who MIGHT be able to help is our #2 pick Darell Taylor. Sounds like he might be practicing within the next week or so as well. I’m not expecting much, obviously, but he has the potential to help the pass-rush at the right time!

[NorthHawk]

I don’t have much hope for Taylor this year. It’s hard enough for a rookie to make
an impact, but missing TC and most of the season makes it almost impossible except
for maybe the elite players. The last part of the season or playoffs is no place to learn
how to play at the NFL level or at least to contribute.

[obiken]

Penny just gives us more depth, and I think it takes 2 years for them to come back at full strength.

[mykc14]

I don’t have much hope for Taylor this year. It’s hard enough for a rookie to make
an impact, but missing TC and most of the season makes it almost impossible except
for maybe the elite players. The last part of the season or playoffs is no place to learn
how to play at the NFL level or at least to contribute.

I agree I’m not thinking he’s going to be a game changer or anything like that but he supposedly was good at getting to the QB in college... he might give us a guy who can add some pressure in obvious passing downs. Obviously he’s a rookie, who’s coming off a serious injury and it is unlikely he offers much help, but as a situational pass rusher he might offer us something. One thing we don’t have is a pass rusher with speed off the edge. Dunlap has been great but he doesn’t beat guys with speed. Taylor might be able to contribute.