Sgt Schultz

So, our search for a starting QB is pretty good because one team grabbed a guy that we exiled and we then basically paid to play for them, one spent a 7th rounder and $850k in salary in the bargain basement, and two that are entering a scorched earth level rebuild sold their QB assets in the process? Is that the barometer you want to use? The Mayfield deal is probably the most solid QB move we have made since drafting Cam (perhaps the only solid QB move we have made since drafting Cam, when cost of acquisition and salary are considered). We hope trading up to the late third for Corral will be included in that, but it is too soon to pass that judgement. Had the Darnold deal looked more like the Mayfield deal, this place would probably be less surly on the subject of QB exploits. But comparing spending a 2nd and then some, then giving the guy a raise to $18.5M, or spending $20M a year on a bridge QB (and then we burned the bridge) to any of these situation is certainly creative.

Yeah, singling out DJ for the fact that we have not done a good job of finishing drives over the last 3 or 4 years is rather myopic. Even under Ron's last year or two, we had trouble on 3rd and 4th and short, probably because our OL was not capable of holding its own. Brady did not exactly show any prowess in calling plays to get people open in the end zone, either. It was more like we did the same things and expected magic despite the fact the field was compressed.

We remember Teddy's demise differently. Teddy was shipped out publicly after he had the audacity to criticize the coaching staff's performance on things like getting plays called in a timely manner, particularly in the red zone. His complaints were largely correct, too, but once he leveled them, he had to be vanquished, even if that meant screwing ourselves further in the process. It always looked and smelled like they were playing CYA over the criticisms at the expense of the original plan. Teddy was not the answer, but we knew he may not be going in and spent a lot of money and resources to arguably not move the needle while sacrificing the original plan. At this point, I think the question for Darnold is whether he stays or PJ stays. I think your last paragraph is probably the most likely scenario: the opening QB depth chart is Mayfield, Darnold, and Corral (in that order) and that may change as the year progresses. Not saying I agree with that or not, just what I think the most likely result will be.

The coaching piece/schemes/game planning is where I suspect the problem lies, and started suspecting that after the Dallas game last year. The players are a bit of an unknown, unfortunately. I THINK we have the talent, and that talent was simply not put in the best position to shine. Last year did not prove our young talent is what we thought it was. If anything, it cast doubt. We should have more "givens" and fewer "question marks" right now. The alternative is we collectively stagnated/regressed in a number of areas. That is possible, too, given the youth of our talent. If this is the case, this year is critical for that talent to either step up or be pushed out. Like you, my strong suspicion is the problem lies in our game planning/schemes. We have some new faces that can lend some NFL experience to this, now we need to see if it works.

That really was the start of the slide for the DL. I'm not sure Rivera decided to run the 3-4 or felt like he had to because he had no answers and the owner liked the 3-4, but regardless, it was half-hearted with miserable results and effects that linger to this day. As Mr Scot mentioned, the current regime seems focused on speed. Problem is, in the NFL your OL and DL need to be able to control territory. That involves strength and brute force more than speed. Speed becomes more of an asset the farther away you get from the trenches. Speed upfront, without brawn, generally gets a defense run over. This is a big year for Brown. He needs to assert himself, which will be easier to do if he is not the only DL the opposing OL has to worry about trying to assert himself.

Definitely. "But, but, but certainly somebody has to be dumber than we are." That is not a bet I would take when it comes to our QB decisions.

That is my fear, too. Rhule holds the idea that he can outsmart others or sees things that nobody else sees. He does see things nobody else sees, but there is a reason for that and it is not what he thinks.....and it has not ended well thus far.

I’m seeing a lot of wishful thinking. The number one qualification for a backup QB in the NFL is to not screw things up when you are pressed into service. In other words, do not make bad decisions with the football. They do not have to be heroes, but they do have to be steady. The exception is the backup who is the future starter (Corral??). The mission is to not hamper the rest of the team. Teams that are extremely QB-centric in wins are screwed when the starter goes down…..period. Unless the defense or the running game can step up and take the pressure off, they live or die with the starting QB. The Rams are not especially that team. Stafford is obviously important, but they are capable of staying on the field, be competitive, and be in a position to win if he goes down. The Chiefs, on the other hand, are much more dependent on Mahomes. Darnold is not steady. Darnold does not process information well and turn that into good decisions. He’d have a better future if he processed information well but had physical limitations. But, he is the opposite.

I have watched less than 3-5 games per season since about 2017. It was a culmination of things that led me to determine watching a game or two every Sunday was not worth my time. A lot of it was on the field stuff, like nobody being able to describe or determine what a catch was, without looking at it on replay with a mechanical engineer and two physicists going over it frame by frame. But, the constant Keystone Kops, reacting to everything (something happened.....we need a new rule.....which will make more problems than it will solve) and various off the field exploits by both players and owners all pushed me away.

As soon as organizations transition from trying to fairly and effectively deal with scandals and misconduct to worrying primarily about "the optics," they inevitably make themselves look about as bad as possible to as many people as possible. One way to make yourself look guilty as he11 is to take actions specifically designed to make you look not guilty.

A cynical part of me wonders if this whole turn of events was orchestrated with that in mind. The NFL turned into the WWE a long time ago. Pretty much aligns with when they named Goodell the commissioner. All they need is the officials not noticing when that linebacker sneaks the chain saw onto the field.

Achilles injuries are nasty. I don't think they ever fully recover. A guy I used to umpire baseball with was also an accomplished NCAA basketball official. Then one night during a game he ruptured his Achilles, and that was pretty much then end of his on court/on field career.

Not really an injury, but my knees are shot. I was a catcher throughout my childhood, and then an umpire at the high school and college level until a career change put the kibosh on that in 89. My knees started acting up in my early 20's, and have gradually gotten worse. It's not constant, but there are days...... My wife asks me when I am going to have them looked at, and my answer is probably if there is an autopsy. As I told her, I have a pretty good idea what the solution is, and I don't want to hear it.

Let's put it this way: The Broncos had two scoring drives that resulted in 6 total points. They had less than 200 yards of offense and turned the ball over twice. If you were to tell any coach that had a team in the Superb Owl, ever, that their opponent would put up those numbers, no amount of officiating incompetence in the world could prevent them from figuring out how to win that game. Maybe the 1970s era Vikings could figure out a way to come out of that with a loss, but they are the only ones that come to mind. As inept as our coaching was, if they find a way to block Von Miller on two plays and then cover one punt, we STILL win that game.

He failed on the janitorial duties. He was fine on the sweeping and mopping, but when it came time to clean the men's room, they asked him to keep people out while the other janitors worked. You guessed it: he barely slowed the people down wanting to enter.

That gives me a warm, fuzzy. If the new staff can add to that by not looking like the Keystone Kops when we get there and they have to get a play called, that would be even better. Of course, maybe the old staff was so shocked to be in the RZ they just couldn't function.

You park it in the garage if you know it will die if you try to move it into the driveway or onto the street, and then, while it is sitting there, leak oil and coolant like a sieve. Right now, even if Sam suddenly looked like he knew what he was doing out there, given his four-year history in games, the best anyone would offer up for him is probably a conditional 6th or 7th, provided we eat all but maybe a token amount of his contract. To use the car analogy, we are trying to sell Sam for parts. We worry about being nice and singing Kumbuya in the parking lot in what is a rather cut-and-dried business based on performance. Most other teams make roster moves as soon as they determine somebody is not part of their future. In this case, it is not like we are dealing with somebody that may have fetched a first to fourth round pick in return, but his status is in doubt due to an injury or sudden down year. Showcasing that person may get some of their lost value back. Darnold is not that person, and trying to prove he is takes reps away from others whose value or potential is much higher.

I'm of that same mindset. Every individual statement I have seen attributed to Tepper, and the totality of everything he has said on the subject tells me that barring a complete collapse and looking lost (again) at what is happening before his very eyes, Tepper didn't buy Rhule, he bought what Rhule was selling: "the process." As such, he needs to come to the conclusion the process is failing or a is just a dead end. The idea that "the process" may work very well in places like Temple or Baylor, or it might even work a the more juggernaut schools, but not at all in the NFL has not dawned on him. As for Ron and McCarthy, those seats are hot constantly. The Foreskins are a complete debacle of an organization starting at the top. As for the Cowboys, Jerrah has not come to terms with the overwhelming fact that his team has not sniffed a shot at a Superb Bowl since JJ's roster left and rebuilding that is beyond him. The problem with both of those places is not who is wearing the HC headset, it is what looks back at the owner when he looks in the mirror every morning. Neither Jerrah nor Snyder can admit that.

Beat me to it. He has been the anointed starter for his first four years, and the results have been consistently bad. And by results, I mean his results. The fact that the four teams he started for were disasters is a footnote, but that does not excuse his own performances. That is no sin. The membership list of that club is pretty lengthy.

More importantly, Walker's name barely comes up at all in the discussion of QBs. That is a small consolation, but at least it is something.

Sucks, really sucks. If there is a silver lining, it is that the 10-year survival rate is 80-90%. The other silver lining is that MD Anderson is in Houston. Regardless, still sucks.

Let's keep in mind when citing rushing statistics that we had 8 games against the bottom 9 teams in the league. We did extremely well against some of them and only had two games in which one of those opponents put up more than 125 yards. If you have half your season against the bottom of the barrel in rushing, you better have decent numbers by season's end. We had 5 games against the top 10 teams and with one exception were not impressive. Those numbers are inherently skewed.

It’s not as easy as letting the defense off the hook because the offense sucked. In 2020, a lot of people made the assumption that if Teddy has just finished our last drive, we would have won 4-8 more games. What they failed to consider is if Teddy finished that last drive with more than about :45 to go, there was a decent chance the defense was going to give it right back. I’m not sure last year was any different, other than there were a lot less potential last drives to finish because the games were out of hand. We didn’t create turnovers or enough negative plays. So, yeah, the offense often left the defense on the field to rot and put them in bad situations, but I’m not convinced things would have been much better had neither of those things been the rule. It is an assumption I am not willing to make. I think Snow is pretty good at getting an under-talented defense to perform over their abilities. The problem is that I don’t think he knows what to do we a defense with reasonable talent in the NFL.

That is perfect. I was sitting here hoping to see a doberman pinscher enter stage right.

Last year, he certainly could have. Last year Russ Grimm could have helped us, even at 63 years of age.