By far, the biggest reason the Hawks could lose tomorrow is their reputation when playing on the road. I decided to look specifically at road openers during the Holmgren era to see if it was as bad as it feels like its been.
First Road Game
2007 Loss 20-23 @ Arizona
2006 Win 9-6 @ Detroit*++
2005 Loss 14-26 @ Jacksonville*++
2004 Win 21-7 @ New Orleans*++
2003 Win 38-0 @ Arizona
2002 Loss 17-31 @ Oakland*
2001 Win 9-6 @ Cleveland*++
2000 Loss 0-23 @ Miami*++
1999 Win 14-13 @ Chicago++
*First game of season
++10 AM PST start
TOTALS:
5-4 overall
3-3 if first game of the year
4-2 in road openers starting at 10 AM PST
Avg 15.78 pts for
Avg 15 pts against
That’s not nearly as bad as the perception would indicate. This is not arguing that the Hawks are a great team in these situations, but a .500 record in road openers is completely respectable. The offense certainly is not likely to be firing on all cylinders, but I find encouragement in what these numbers show me.