Post#185 » by CrimsonCrew » Mon Oct 4, 2021 5:31 pm
Where to begin on this one (and why does it feel like that's always my reaction after a Hawks game)? Had to watch on tape delay last night, and it made for a bad night of sleep. Basically everything that could go wrong did in this one, and ultimately that shines a pretty stark light on Shanahan IMO.
I'll start with the offense, since that was the bigger issue in this one. Yes, I realize Garoppolo apparently hurt himself in the first series and that probably affected his play, but it's just the same thing over and over. He's not getting it done. Seven points in a half against a defense that is bad (in their prior two games, they allowed 30 points to a team that put up 7 this week, and 33 to a team that just lost to the Jets - admittedly without their two top offensive players). He's not good/consistent enough to sustain the long drives that the offense requires with him at the helm. Another bad INT. He nearly got Kittle killed a couple times. He's not doing what he needs to. Even if he weren't injured, I'd feel pretty strongly that it is time to go to Lance.
Lance has plenty of issues that he'll have to work out, but the best way to do that is to play through them. He's not going to get accustomed to the NFL game without playing meaningful snaps in NFL games, to say nothing of getting practice snaps with the ones. Lance is going to be a major work in progress, and I don't want to read too much into the solid drives he put together late. He had the benefit of four downs - yes, it's impressive that he converted numerous fourth downs, but I would have preferred not to get into those situations - and arguably was facing something of a prevent D.
Lance's early accuracy was awful, though he settled down somewhat. He was still really scattershot, and that's arguably the first area he'll have to improve. He never hit his back foot and made a throw with poise and timing, and that's another big area for improvement in a WCO. But his ability to keep plays alive with his feet - whether running or moving in the backfield and keeping his eyes downfield - is something that Garoppolo just doesn't offer, as is the downfield passing threat. Our offense will have so many more avenues to success with him at QB, and that should open things up for everyone. His mobility should also slow down the pass rush a bit as teams can't just race upfield after him and will need to maintain their rush lanes. I hope Shanahan continues to let him throw and doesn't get super conservative. The draws up the middle on third down are already making me crazy.
The run game was decent in this one, but it seemed like Sermon just didn't quite have the burst to break a couple that could have been long ones. OL had some struggles, of course, though Moore actually appeared to do okay in limited reps. Hopefully we won't need him for long.
I was incredibly impressed with how the D played early in this one. The DL was getting they type of pressure we need out of them, though it tapered off as the game went on, with the result that the Hawks were able to put some drives together. That said, with fringe NFL talent at two of three starting CB spots, we were able to completely corral a good offense for 25 minutes, and get stops late. That's despite two turnovers in our own territory. But as usual, the wheels fell off a little bit as the game progressed. Not confident that dynamic will change this season.
STs...OMG. It's been an issue ever since Shanahan has been here. But today. WTF was up with Gould? Bad game for him to not be able to go. Wishnowsky did alright in general, despite just missing a couple kids. But late in the game he had like a 32-yard punt. And Trent Cannon should never see an NFL field again. Obviously has no idea what the touchback rules are. Caught the ball, rolled through the endzone, and then celebrated. And how many mistakes can you make on one KO? Don't field it, then muff it off the bounce, then fumble it trying to advance it. My lord. Dickson is maybe the toughest punter in the NFL to go against, but Aiyuk couldn't seem to handle his kicks cleanly.