KSpan

So glad someone is finally thinking about the concerts in Charlotte.

Oh absolutely. The vitriol and melodrama back when Carolina lost to Buffalo in 2013, as one example, was over the top.

I daresay that for the vast majority, 'wanting him to fail' simply means that they've seen enough and want whatever needs to happen in order to move on... to happen. Few, if any, are actively rooting for him personally to suck. Bryce just happens to be the guy that currently hasn't gotten it done/shown it, like Darnold before him, and Teddy before him, etc.

I'm sorry, but "good-enough" physicality absolutely does not represent majority of championship-winning QBs since the rules change in 2004 or so, which is all that is relevant in this conversation about the modern NFL. Unless you want to back that up with some actual data, such a comment in and of itself seems an idiotic hot take, to use your own words. There is a reason that the same elite QBs dominate for decades at a time and those guys are absolutely above average/top tier in terms of physical capabilities. even the one-offs like Flacco, Goff, and Stafford have at least one top-tier physical trait and it's typically arm strength. Now, that doesn't mean that elite physical tools automatically equal championships. Absolutely not, and the guys that have the physical AND mental tools to set them apart are few and far between. But it does mean that a team has a dimension of capability that is a tangible advantage in today's NFL. I will die on the hill that Brees's lack of arm strength is a big reason why the Saints were never able to reliably get back over the hump for an entire decade despite racking up ludicrous regular season stats - they simply could not capitalize on that extra dimension, overcome adversity vs the highest competition, and exploit opportunities downfield that other QBs in similar circumstances could do.

My god, bringing in Teddy was one of the most limp, milquetoast moves that the franchise could have made in that scenario and just went to show how out of touch Rhule and company were with the NFL. Plenty here knew that was case as well. Blech.

Exactly. Folks are waxing nostalgic about '20 years ago' but 20 years ago was 2005 - 2 years off of the Cardiac Cats Super Bowl run and right in the heart of Fox's on-again-off-again playoff runs, with stars and talent on both sides of the ball. 2010 was rough but it was obvious when Cam joined that he had the talent to elevate things, and even then took only 2 seasons to get to 2013 and the same yo-yo playoff runs. Today, it's been going on 8 years of sheer dumbassery and negligent mismanagement of the team resulting in years of awful, awful football on the field. Not hard at all to understand why cynicism rules the day. Sort of, but that #1 pick and the new regime was supposed to turn things around, not make it even worse. Makes complete and perfect sense as to why perception is still negative. Also, some people are still dishing out what the rose-colored-glasses crew spent the 2023 offseason spewing to those who dared suggest that Burns shouldn't be given a giant bag, that Bryce and Reich weren't great choices, etc.

I loved the Dalton Schultz "his momentum had stopped so it wasn't a fumble even though he wasn't close to being down" BS back in 2021.

Hell, possibly even earlier this year. He got roasted, both by the public and probably internally as well, for some pretty cowardly playcalling and perhaps took some lessons from that.

Coachspeak is great, big what else were they going to do in that situation?

Referring to what exactly?

While I don't agree with your assessment of Witherspoon, I do agree with this.

You can't be serious. Anderson piled up tackles but was in no way near as dynamic or effective as Witherspoon. I'm not saying Witherspoon was HOF worthy or anything because he wasn't but equating those two players is flat out wrong. Witherspoon was way more of an impact player than Shaq or Anderson and is above both of them. Hell, 14 career interceptions and 11 forced fumbles (Spoon) to 3 and 5 (oddly enough both Shaq and Anderson have the same numbers) and he played in the early 2000s for a couple of years when pro sets/ground and pound was still a thing. Shaq was supposed to be a super athlete but effectively took over right where Anderson left off.

Tell me you didn't just lump Will Witherspoon in with James Anderson. Those two are in no way comparable, with Witherspoon being levels above.

This is exactly the crux of it. You don't spend a #1 overall on a player that requires perfection around him to play even decent football, and then when that lack of elevating ability is confirmed you don't continue down that path.