kungfoodude

If we aren't trading for a QB, OL or some draft picks.......I really have no idea what we are doing.

I was down on both signings. The worst part was the size of the Teddy deal and the decision to pick up the 5th year option on Darnold. Those just seemed like such unnecessary financial commitments with little to no reasoning supporting them. I didn't buy into Grier, I didn't buy into Allen, I didn't buy into Heinicke, or PJ Walker or even Cam when we drafted him!! I didn't even buy into Cam Newton! Only one time was that doubt wrong.

Yeah, I just don't want to see some panic signings for too much money. They have already invested way too much in bad players in Teddy, Darnold, Erving and Elflein. It's odd because they have generally made solid financial decisions.

Yeah, it was and is an absolutely mind numbing decision. Jesus, even the Broncos kept Drew Lock when they signed Teddy.

He is tied for 5th in the NFL in fumbles on the season. 5 total, 2 lost. Edit: The 2 lost is tied for 9th in the NFL.

It's hard to really wrap your head around what logic there is in PJ even being the #2 QB. Especially with a shaky QB coming in. I mean....WTF.

We've built an impressive defense and still have talent on offense. I like our roster quite a bit better than 2020. The biggest concern is that we made our biggest weaknesses so much weaker(QB, OL). Run defense is still a concern, as it has not improved much. I think maybe some tinkering with scheme could be in order there or just simply improvements in personnel. Sadly, I don't see a lot of help coming in 2022 because we gutted our draft capital so much. It's likely we only see a single player with day one capability with our current picks. So, they are really going to have to scramble in free agency to make 2022 better than 2021 appears to be going. I have a great deal of concern that we end up overspending in free agency in 2022 and show signs of panic.

Darnold is actually only on pace for like 19-20 INT's. Winston is safe because unlike Arians, Rhule appears to want to take the ball out of Darnold's hands. Also unlike Winston, Darnold doesn't really have any crazy highs to balance out the crazy lows.

I am not sure about the player development yet. At some level, it does seem like our most talented guys are getting by on just that....talent. I'll save that barb for a season or so from now but I share the same general suspicion. At OL, I think the biggest damning thing about how we have operated is just the constant shuffling of the offensive line. I get that you guys all fuged up and have assembled a horrifying pile of turds. However, pick five fuging turds and a few backup turds and roll with them. My God, how often do we have ANY player other than Paradis start at the same position each week? That is a recipe for disaster no matter what level of football you are playing at. I don't know if they just have no clue what to do, or they are just grasping at straws or they have this ridiculous hard on for "versatility" for whatever reason but the WORST thing for an OL unit is constant flux and people played multiple positions throughout the year. That wouldn't work anywhere in the NFL. At QB.....the best thing I think we can do is just take the ball out of his hands as much as possible until CMC returns. Even then, I am not sure it will be as easy for the offense because the flaws have been exposed. The best I have is a run heavy attack(say, 60/40) and just see what happens. It's very obvious we cannot trust Darnold to run the plays. He just doesn't have it and no level of coaching is going to fix it. The Panthers article this week basically telegraphs that fact. As for the defense, I think the biggest issues have been run support but largely just injuries. It's underappreciated how banged up we are on that side of that ball. Furthermore, they have still managed to be a top 10 caliber defense, despite the offense shitting the bed every week. I have minimal issues with that side of the ball. I think we will get better if we get healthier. Special teams.....well......that's another, "I have no answers" group. The returner situation has been bad forever. The kicking situation is just about the worst it has ever been. I like our placekicker well enough but now we have punter issues. I cannot recall a span of time where either our kicker or punter was absolute trash but here we are. All the drops, I suspect it is a product of the overall dysfunction on that side of the ball. The fact that it isn't just one player but most players, that says a lot. It isn't helped by the QB having terrible timing and terrible ball placement. I suspect if we have at least an average QB or, hell, even just Teddy Bridgewater, those drops start to drop dramatically. Not trying to excuse the lack of execution on their part but I don't think all these players just magically turned to poo.

Or Slater. My God...that guy has the look of a surefire thing even now.

I think he was helped by playing poor or depleted opponents, having CMC and the opponents not having much tape on the Brady/Darnold combo yet. Now the offense is predictable and there is no CMC to demand LB or S coverage and create mismatches all game.

52 rushes and 7 passing attempts.

I think he just has problems processing in general. IMO, it's because he is such a career inexperienced guy. Reading these defenses isn't second nature to him like a lot of the QB's that you see in the NFL with years upon years of QB experience. Sam literally didn't have that so I don't think he really developed as a QB. Perhaps had he stayed all four years at USC, it would have put him on a better track but then again, maybe he just doesn't have "it." He wouldn't be the first bust QB to just not be able to see the field.

Teddy was close but he was critically flawed in his ability to take an occasional chance. Give me a Derek Carr, Jimmy G or even Jared Goff. Nothing great, just a decent starting quality NFL QB. If we are still looking at the same BS, then it's definitely mostly Brady's fault.

Yeah, if we merely had a competent veteran, I'd be more inclined to start piling on Brady exclusively. I agree he is PART of the problem, I just am unsure how much of it because Darnold is so terrible.

That's the problem, you are in your head creating scenarios that aren't there. Cam is DEFINITELY a better QB than anything on our roster now. Even the Broke Armed Cam is better than those guys.

We think they want to build for the long term but they make so many moves that seem very "short term" oriented. I am not sure they really understand the "long haul" strategy.

We need to fix the QB and the OL. Without those, Super Bowl caliber is off the table. We also need to retain our core players and get them more experience. Let's say we can accomplish all of those goals. I would think that is a minimum of 2 seasons away and that is if everything goes perfectly for us. Realistically, if things STILL go well, 3-5 seasons.

Yet somehow he has been able to complete 65.9% of his passes with competent OC's. How strange.......... We get it, you don't like him. Get over it.

We get some key defensive players back this week, so it will be a little closer, IMO. Falcons 24, Panthers 10 7 of 10 Panthers points come from a short field forced by the defense.

I mean PBWR, DVOA, Adjusted Sack Rate, etc, etc. We aren't last in any of them. Trust me, I have checked. Like I said, I want to see these other teams just to know how much worse it can be.

The difference between your statement and mine is that mine included actual facts, yours were loaded with "feels." I get it, you hate Cam with a passion because maybe he touched you inappropriately or something.

Have you watched Teddy in Denver much? Spoiler alert....looks a lot like he did here.

You know.....we aren't last in any pass blocking measurement available. Sort of boggles the mind when you watch the team play. Maybe I will watch the teams below us this week just to see how bad it can get.