Before we get to the review of the debacle in Pittsburgh, I wanted to comment on Saturday's Washington-Nebraska game. First and foremost, the officials for that game should be forced to give up their game checks for that performance. While obviously the Huskies could have done more, particularly on defense, those catch interference calls, and especially the first one where the Huskies recovered the muffed punt, were inexcusable. As a former fastpitch umpire, one of the first things we were taught is that you are only supposed to call what you see. Under no circumstances are you supposed to guess. If you miss something, you miss something, it happens. But you don't assume that just because someone tripped over the punt returner, it had to be someone from the opposing team. Momentum is so huge in college football, so making correct calls is paramount.
Apart from that, it's time yet again to question the competency of Nick Holt. Going into the game, the Huskies were the worst in the nation on defensive 3rd down conversion rate. While it got slightly better against Nebraska, it's nowhere near where it needs to be. I understand that this is still a rebuilding project but with the progress we've seen on the offensive side of the ball, there's no excuse that the defense is so far behind the offense. Ultimately, Nick needs to put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, stop hiking up the pants to the point we can see you're riding side-saddle, and come up with a scheme that might actually be able to stop somebody.
Ok, I'll step down from the soapbox. Let's re-live the Hawks-Steelers game through the lens of Old School:
"Max, can you earmuff it for me?" Thankfully there are no young children who live either next to or below my condo. They might have learned a few new phrases watching that game. While not to the level of the Ryan Leaf freakout a few years back, we were in the ballpark.
"Damn, I'm gonna end up workin' at Red Lobster". To Brandon Browner. My friend, it takes a special skill to make Seahawk fans long to see Kelly Jennings back at corner. You did that in one half of football. Maybe the definition in the CFL was different, but in the NFL, bump-and-run coverage means you actually bump the guy in the hopes of disrupting his route. It's not "run up and get near the guy then not keep up with him" or "don't bother to wear your jock since Mike Wallace is going to fake you out of it anyway".
"Please be honest with me. Tell me this is the first time this has happened. Well, do you want me to be honest or do you want me to tell you this is the first time?" You know, if gambling were legal, you could pretty much quit your job and just bet against the Seahawks when they play a game in the eastern time zone. I don't know what it is. It hasn't mattered who the coach, offensive coordinator, QB, defensive coordinator, mascot, head cheerleader, or travel coordinator has been, not only can the Seahawks not win these games, they rarely if ever even cover.
"No, that's a piece of crap. We stopped selling that six months ago. Nice gesture though". This can pretty much go out to everyone with the exception of Jon Ryan and Earl Thomas yesterday. When you have as many punts as you do first downs (8), it's going to be a long week in the film room for this team.
"What we need to do is throw a big kick off, kick ass party." Well, that's exactly what we're going to do in 6 days as we get ready to watch the Hawks win their home opener. Hawk Alley will be in full throat on Sunday.
Apart from that, it's time yet again to question the competency of Nick Holt. Going into the game, the Huskies were the worst in the nation on defensive 3rd down conversion rate. While it got slightly better against Nebraska, it's nowhere near where it needs to be. I understand that this is still a rebuilding project but with the progress we've seen on the offensive side of the ball, there's no excuse that the defense is so far behind the offense. Ultimately, Nick needs to put his glasses back on the bridge of his nose, stop hiking up the pants to the point we can see you're riding side-saddle, and come up with a scheme that might actually be able to stop somebody.
Ok, I'll step down from the soapbox. Let's re-live the Hawks-Steelers game through the lens of Old School:
"Max, can you earmuff it for me?" Thankfully there are no young children who live either next to or below my condo. They might have learned a few new phrases watching that game. While not to the level of the Ryan Leaf freakout a few years back, we were in the ballpark.
"Damn, I'm gonna end up workin' at Red Lobster". To Brandon Browner. My friend, it takes a special skill to make Seahawk fans long to see Kelly Jennings back at corner. You did that in one half of football. Maybe the definition in the CFL was different, but in the NFL, bump-and-run coverage means you actually bump the guy in the hopes of disrupting his route. It's not "run up and get near the guy then not keep up with him" or "don't bother to wear your jock since Mike Wallace is going to fake you out of it anyway".
"Please be honest with me. Tell me this is the first time this has happened. Well, do you want me to be honest or do you want me to tell you this is the first time?" You know, if gambling were legal, you could pretty much quit your job and just bet against the Seahawks when they play a game in the eastern time zone. I don't know what it is. It hasn't mattered who the coach, offensive coordinator, QB, defensive coordinator, mascot, head cheerleader, or travel coordinator has been, not only can the Seahawks not win these games, they rarely if ever even cover.
"No, that's a piece of crap. We stopped selling that six months ago. Nice gesture though". This can pretty much go out to everyone with the exception of Jon Ryan and Earl Thomas yesterday. When you have as many punts as you do first downs (8), it's going to be a long week in the film room for this team.
"What we need to do is throw a big kick off, kick ass party." Well, that's exactly what we're going to do in 6 days as we get ready to watch the Hawks win their home opener. Hawk Alley will be in full throat on Sunday.
