Could it be that Hawthorn's golden AFL era is over and a brown phase has begun?
There was plenty of evidence suggesting a downturn for the modern-day powerhouse out of the Hawks' round two loss to Adelaide at the MCG.
For three quarters, Hawthorn were off the pace against the Crows, over-possessing by hand and erring with decision-making.
That was Alastair Clarkson's assessment after the 24-point loss, which followed up a first round defeat to Essendon.
Consider two decidedly un-Hawthorn statistics from Saturday's 24-point loss:
The Hawks made 46 clanger or ineffective handballs, a tally Clarkson said he couldn't recall for a dry-weather match during his time as coach.
And following quarter-time, Hawthorn started 29 chains in their defensive 50 for just one inside 50 and no score. Not a single point.
The 37,420 mostly Hawthorn fans at the MCG were witnessing something they weren't used to and they didn't like it.
But Clarkson isn't buying into the negativity.
The four-time premiership coach isn't giving up on this group adding a fifth trophy to the collection at Waverley.
"All we look for is the next opportunity for us to win a premiership (and) we believe we've got a group of players that can help us deliver that despite what everyone else thinks," he said.
Clarkson hailed his new midfield duo of Tom Mitchell and Jaeger O'Meara, who tallied 75 disposals.
A fine performance from fifth-gamer Ryan Burton, who helped subdue Taylor Walker, also won commendation.
The Hawks coach also wanted his side's injuries - to key runners Grant Birchall (facial), Isaac Smith (corked hip) and Liam Shiels (corked leg) - noted.
Then there was the first quarter, when the Hawks played fine running footy to leap to a four-goal lead.
The positives were enough for Clarkson to warn fans and pundits alike against writing his side off.
"We've got some pretty formidable players and two blokes that have come in ... as we saw today, (Mitchell and O'Meara) can win the footy," he said.
"We're 0-2 so it's easy to point the finger but they were pointing the finger at GWS last week too.
"They play a good side in Adelaide, get beaten and they wonder whether (coach Leon Cameron) should get the sack.
"With anything in this game, it's not always great and it's not always that bad either.
"Our midfield got their hands on the ball a lot. We still had 412 disposals. That's really positive. We just need to be making some better choices.
"We need to play better but we feel like there's plenty of upside."
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