Week 6 Hawks vs Jags in DUUVAALLL!!

[4XPIPS]

I am not going to lay out the full injury report, as it is littered with a bunch of DNPs, and some are for rest or personal reasons. The big key "outs" are

Spoon
Love
Hall

Potentially without Riq due to a concussion, but he may start. They did activate Jerrick Reed, who is pretty much the last member of the draft class that came with the Russell Wilson trade. He hasn't played a whole lot since being off and on with the team, but he is active for depth and special teams. Depending on how things shake up before kickoff, they may elevate Shaq Griffin, albeit he won't be much in special teams, but maybe can come in on critical downs and give us help in our depleted secondary.

We are playing on the road, where the Hawks seem to be sharper and play better, and I am not sure what it is, but that has been the trend, and I hope it continues. Darnold, as of right now, is leading almost every category and is rated the #1 QB due to his high ratings, via PFF, QBR, EPA, and so forth. I am not worried about Darnold's play and the passing game, but I think the run game with Ouzts has been average at best. Need to keep it penalty free, and sustain drives with good runs from K9 and ZC.

One other thing about our passing game, we talked a lot about how DK helped open the game up for JSN to ascend, because of all the attention DK got being the #1 WR for us. Now that JSN is taking that lead role as the #1, I believe it has opened the game for AJ Barner, who is actually developing into a pretty solid TE in the Red Zone, and I love his signature TD celebration. There is a video online with Spoon on the sideline mimicking his TD celebration as Barner scored.

Jags have some signature wins to show for themselves against good teams, they have beaten the Texans(who just housed the Ravens), the 49ers, and recently the Chiefs. Now, if you didn't watch the Jags vs Chiefs game, I wouldn't right away think that the Jags are a powerhouse club, or that Trevor played amazingly. He was good near the end, and made an improv play when he fell and stumbled to get up, and ran it in on a broken play. Also, one single play flipped the entire game to the Jags, and that was a 99-yard PICK 6 that Mahomes threw, which by all accounts is rare for him to do. That single play flipped the game on its head, because the Chiefs were 2nd down at the Jags 3, and Mahomes gets picked off for a 99-yard Pick 6. I don't think Mahomes has ever had a 99-yard pick-six happen in his career. When it came to passing, Trevor was well below average 18/25 221 1 TD and 1 INT, and had a fumble lost. He was effective running the ball, ball and scored two rushing TDS.

What isn't talked about much is the Jaguars' defense, and they have some unknown ballers on their squad. They play fast, and tackle well. Gardeck is a mauler in the run game. They are the reason the Jags even had a chance to beat the 49ers or Chiefs.

So the key to beating the Jags is to play mistake-free ball, and keep Trevor in a collapsing pocket and force him to make deep downfield throws, where he is one of the worst in the league to this point. In the game against the 49ers, he only threw for 174 yards, and his longest completion was a 28-yard catch. They won that game because their defense had two Purdy INTs.

This will be a tough test, but I think the Hawks on the road take this and get back to their winning ways.

Hawks 33
Jags 18

[Aseahawkfan]

I think we should beat the Jags. Probably a tight game if Trevor manages to play well.

[NorthHawk]

The Seahawks are pretty depleted on Defense specifically the Secondary so this could be a real vulnerability. The DL is also nicked up with Derick Hall out and DeMarcus Lawrence coming off injury and our LB play has been sub par.
We don't know how the Jags will perform coming off a big emotional win and a short week.
They are at home, but we play better on the road so for me it's a pick-em. If both teams were at full strength I would say Seattle, but we don't have the quality depth yet in this system.

[4XPIPS]

The Seahawks are pretty depleted on Defense specifically the Secondary so this could be a real vulnerability. The DL is also nicked up with Derick Hall out and DeMarcus Lawrence coming off injury and our LB play has been sub par.
We don't know how the Jags will perform coming off a big emotional win and a short week.
They are at home, but we play better on the road so for me it's a pick-em. If both teams were at full strength I would say Seattle, but we don't have the quality depth yet in this system.

Injuries are what they are. This is where good coaching and preparation come in to get your depth players to step and be ready in a time of need. You are correct, we are depleted in our secondary; however, the Jags are pretty banged up on the OL. They will be without their starting center, and their starting guards, Ezra Cleveland(ankle) and Patrick Mekari(knee), and their the right tackle Anton Harrison are listed as questionable. They were all limited practice, and from what I read Ezra may not suite up this game, even if he does they all will not all be 100%. They also just put their starting TE Brenton Strange on IR.

We should get Demarcus Lawrence for this game back, and even if he is on a pitch count, we just need him to rush Trevor.

[4XPIPS]

Listening to Sam's presser before this Jags game. He does a good job articulating his point.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhI4Z9_9OJc

[River Dog]

I'm getting a bad feeling about this game, with all the injuries that have been piling up on defense. I'm thinking that we lose a close one in another shoot-out.

We're going to have to get the running game going, take the air out of the ball and keep Jax off the field.

[c_hawkbob]

Mina Kimes says we have a .02% better chance of winning this game. Good enough for me, Seahawks 24-21.

[4XPIPS]

As it stands, we will be without Love, Spoon, and now Riq has been ruled out. Looks like we will see Shaq Griffin play in this one. We will be starting Jobe and Pritchett at corners, and Nickleback will be Derion Kendrick. I would expect to see Shaq get some playing time in relief. After Shaq, we are not activating any other cornerbacks to be dressed, so I would imagine Reed or Bell would have to slide over to play corner if there was an injury. Keeping three secondary players on the 53 man roster who are not on IR(Love,Spoon, Riq) is going to make this secondary thin come gameday.

[4XPIPS]

Come on Klint! 3 straight ZC runs, why not try a corner fade? If you don’t complete it then you kick it. Goodness

[River Dog]

Actually, I'm feeling a lot better than I was before the game. Our defense is playing unexpectedly well in the first half, plus we caught a break on that missed FG and a dropped INT.

[4XPIPS]

Halftime

We get the ball back, we are gutting this out with a weakened defense who is playing well. Gotta keep pressuring Trevor, collapsing that pocket. He cannot make those deeper throws under pressure. His only TD PASS came under no pressure and busted assignment.

Let’s keep JSN cooking!

[4XPIPS]

Actually, I'm feeling a lot better than I was before the game. Our defense is playing unexpectedly well in the first half, plus we caught a break on that missed FG and a dropped INT.

Surprisingly he missed his PAT as well. Kid has a rocket leg. He nailed a 70 yarder in preseason, but his kicks weren’t close as they were way off. Maybe he caught the Myers jinx

[4XPIPS]

KUPP TD! Man! Sam is so dialed in on this passing! This first drive to start the second half was a work of beauty.

[burrrton]

Aaaaaaaand... here come the 3-and-outs.

[4XPIPS]

Aaaaaaaand... here come the 3-and-outs.

We just can’t run the ball to close this out.

[Aseahawkfan]

I wasn't very sold on the quality of Jacksonville. I figured we would beat them. Seems to be over at this point unless some miracle occurs for Jacksonville.

[4XPIPS]

Man this depleted defense have stepped up. I just hope this offense can sustain a drive to close this out. We can’t keep relying on this defense to shut them down.

2:53 to go, let’s close this out!

[burrrton]

Why, yes... yes I *can* shut up now...

[4XPIPS]

Game recap. It's always great to get a win. I am still confused as to why we are so much more prepared on the road vs playing at home. Maybe at home, guys are more relaxed vs being closer and buttoned up in a single hotel when playing road games. However, I will take it as this was a good defensive showing. I have always said, and believe that Trevor can't make those deep throws under a collapsing pocket, as we just witnessed when his protection breaks down, he loses complete awareness, scrambles into and out of sacks. We got 7 sacks today, which is huge considering how thin we were in our secondary.

I am still bothered by the very conservative play calling Klint, with the three Zach runs in the redzone in the first half. In the second half, we sort of retreated to running the ball in the redzone and playing for the FG. I know we won, but I would rather from that down and distance take some shots in the endzone, and then kick the FG if we don't complete passes. I get the feeling that game flow was a slow and defensive battle, and Mike preferred it that way.

Our passing game is elite, our run game is weak, our defensive pass rush is great with Demarcus Lawrence coming back, and our defensive pass game still has some holes. Good thing we ran up against a QB who has deficiencies of his own. Great win, let's stay healthy and on to the Texans.

[NorthHawk]

I think conservative play calling early is testing plays that work, how players match up and if they are successful, and set in mind to the opposition that they will run plays that might have been unsuccessful earlier later in the game.
Andy Reid is a master of that - he finds a play that does work then puts it in his back pocket for later or critical times. He also runs plays that don't work because the Defense knows that they will run them and have to account for that possibility later in the game even if they don't use it but have that same formation. Just part of the chess game between OC and DC.
The IOL is still a weakness and JS in my mind didn't fully address that in the draft or off season. Maybe this year he will find a RG and/or a Center.

[Aseahawkfan]

It's year 2 of Mike MacDonald. Still got a lot of holes on both sides of the ball. I think this was a solid win against another team with a lot of weaknesses on their homefield. Stopping the run was the key to winning as the Jags are not winning on Trevor's arm. Even last week two of Trevor's TDs I think were runs into the end zone. I think they wanted to make sure the gangly 6'6" QB wasn't going to win with his legs.

[NorthHawk]

This Defense is producing the way PC wanted but couldn’t deliver the last 5 or so years of his regime. We now have a reasonable pass rush and a pretty good run Defense. On Offense it’s the 1st year of a good OC with modern schemes and seems to be working well but with obvious weaknesses at C and RG. Maybe Sundell can develop into a solid Center but he’s not there yet and RG needs an upgrade. LB and RG should be the priorities next offseason unless a successful trade or two are made.

In all, I’m pretty happy with the direction of this team.