Khyber53

Geez, I can't get mad at Payton for this one (and I hate the guy). Honestly, he saw the opportunity to try out trick plays and some concepts still in the works against another team besides his own scout team. And why not? At this point, we couldn't beat half the scout team squads in the league. And in a year where we've had 50s and 40s laid on us, it's a bit late to start complaining about someone running up the score.

Are they really good, or just good in comparison to the rest of the team? And I'm really wondering myself about this. The o-line? Seems better than before, but think of how bad we've been over the years... getting better has happened, but we may still be way below the mid-mark of quality for the NFL. Chuba looks good, yeah, but that's it. Sanders is well, miniscule and not very helpful, and our great hope is well, coming off of knee surgery and has yet to play a snap in the NFL. Thielen is a good possession receiver but let's face it, if your best WR is a 33 year old dude, then you don't have a long term plan. And DJ, well, he'll probably be the second DJ WR we trade away for beans. This is a badly built team that is playing at league worst levels. It's badly coached, badly managed and badly motivated. It's time to blow this one up and restart from the beginning. And while I can't put all the blame on PeeWee Young, I can say he's the big glaring sign of how bad we have become.

He's not playing on a pro team either.

I'm willing to take a bit of time with Sanders. Greg Olsen took some time to get it right (and a move South).

I guess we're supposed to watch it.

Yanno what? Good luck to him. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised and have to admit how wrong I have been.

Speculation is not breaking news.

For my sports life, it's still the best one ever. Nobody said the ride would be smooth.

He needs a W. However we get it. Our defense isn't able to stop anyone, so it will have to ride on the offense purely. If it means short range passes and a heavy rushing attack, then so be it. Show that he can at least lead that. If it means opening things up and heaving it down the field as far as possible then so be it. The team's got to get a W for anyone to even slightly take him seriously anymore.

Nope. Let me explain a bit more... I would love to see Bryce completely ball out and look like a reasonable young QB during the game. Something with no mistakes and some scores. That way his stock as trade material goes up and we might get some interest out of other teams in trading for him. Because let's face it, whether he can actually ever do the job or not, the whole Bryce and the Panthers thing is already soured. The fan base isn't behind him, the coaches aren't behind him and his offensive players can't be too much behind him after seeing what a pedestrian Andy Dalton can do in comparison. So, the best possible scenario is the Bryce does enough to get some attention elsewhere, but not enough to change Tepper's current opinion of him. Bryce moves on, gets a better shot at a career and we move on with a little bit of currency in the coming or following drafts.

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Please, 289 yards passing, 2 TD, 0 Int and 35 yards rushing. Then let's see about that trade status.

Thomas is a survivor. Like the cockroaches under the fridge surviving and atomic blast kind of guy. His greatest strength is his ability to have his name turn invisible on the chart when they are looking to make cuts. He's made a heck of a career out of being on the depth chart without attracting attention. Just astounding.

Dalton hasn't been doing well since we lost our center. Amazing how important that one guy is. Dalton is a veteran back up QB at this point in his career and as that, couldn't ask for much more from the guy. He can perform and give the rest of the offense a chance to compete more than harm them. He can't do a darned thing to help the defense when they are out there, though. Yeah, he's not the long term answer, but he should be perfectly capable for the role he was intended for. If we can get someone as QB1 and a decent Center in front of him.

Ain't holding my breath.

It's been a while since we were a professional football team. And now the injuries are piling up. This story won't end well.

Great post but honestly I want to see us grab the best DE in the draft this coming season. It is the position on the field that can make the most difference right out of the gate and it is our greatest position of need. And do we have a second round pick this season? Or do the Bears have that one, too?

Let's not bet a single thing on the RB who hasn't made it out of the barn and onto the field yet...

Leave Handjob Henry up there in Cleveland and make them finish it off. The guy is a mess off the field and on. Bad karma, bad play, bad for the team. Let's move on from this crap, huh? When are we going to learn that two trade losers going into a deal trying to take advantage of each other is like watching two morons fighting over who gets to step in the dog poo this time? Let's stop making deals and try to make a frikkin' team instead.

The question for me will Shaq be able or be willing to come back next season. Linebackers set the tone for a defense and have always set the tone for this entire team. It's time to get back to who we really are.

The secret is, that no matter how impressive they were in college, the truth is that the vast majority of college QBs never work out as NFL caliber QBs. Rarest job in the sports world to be able to have and hold onto. 32 teams in the league, maybe 18 players at a time qualified to do the job. At best. Might be best to build the rest of the team and just keep trying to find someone steady and confident. Who knows, you might get lucky and catch a guy at just the right time who has no pedigree, like Delhomme or Purdy. Or who is suddenly capable like Darnold or Mayfield... just missed with those two guys (well, maybe it wasn't them that was the problem here).

You have to build a team. And we haven't really been doing that for a while now. We've been trying to build an idea. Not an identity, not a purpose, just the idea of one. Tepper wanted to transform us from a 4-3 defense to a 3-4, from a run heavy team to a passing team, one that relied on metrics and analytics rather than grit and field experience. And we became, well, soft, ineffective and nearly winless. And we really don't have much of a team or an identity or much of a chance anymore. To misquote the Joker in Batman... "This team needs an enema." We stripped what little we had left (and there wasn't much) when we traded up to take Bryce. And we had traded away assets for Darnold as well. We let McCaffrey go, and Reddick, and Luvu and the list just goes on. And all we got was a handful of sadly non-magical beans. But back to the OP, yeah, you're right. Chasing a QB has been disastrous. So much so that you look at the horrible deal Cleveland made to get Happy Ending Watson and we've not done much better, except we aren't carrying his massive contract. And yet, somehow, even without that, we haven't had a lot of contract space.

But you also never bet on a horse that hasn't gotten out of the barn yet.

We're not real good at this "modern" game. Maybe it's time we zagged rather than zigged with current trends. Maybe I'm a neandertal but I prefer smash mouth football that dictates the pace to the opponent. Ball control rushing attack with play action passing, solid use of tight ends and a dedicated lead blocker who also has good hands. On defense, I prefer the 4-3.

I'd like to see Brooks first...