Icege

Rodrigue and then Jones are probably my #1 & #2 for beat reporters, but Getzenberg is fighting for that #3 spot. Glad to see her get an "upgrade" by going to ESPN (and to have some familiarity in regards to the Bills!).

Panthers look dominant to start, Jets start to claw back into it but are held off 31 - 24 Sam throws for 300+ yards, CMC 100+ total yards, TDs for DJ/TMJ/CMC. Defense gets 3 sacks, a turnover, and looks amazing until they let their foot off of the gas in the 2nd half and the Jets come roaring back with back-to-back-to-back scoring drives. Defense toughens up at the end to hold them off. Erving surprises as not terrible, Burns makes at least 3 splash plays, Chinn makes at least two splash plays, and people start to wonder why Tommy Tremble isn't on the field when Dan Arnold puts up a 3 catch, sub-50yd stat line. Ian Thomas continues to disappoint.

Looking to see an improvement in all three phases of the game, but I'm especially looking for the defense to be significantly better than last season (those one score games would've been won games had the defense not given up those final scoring drives by opponents). Concerns are the OL and Darnold's bad habits (staring down targets, holding on to the ball too long, and questionable decision making). I've got more faith in the latter, but the former has me most concerned.

Daley has been named the starter, but I'm excited for some potential Deonte Brown if Daley can't stay upright during the game.

Really, really hoping that Brady Christensen and Deonte Brown can show what they need to in order to make their ways into the starting line up.

This. A lot of folks want to put everything on Teddy's shoulders without acknowledging poor playcalling, poor defensive play, poor offensive line play, and all of the other impactful issues the team went through. The team, however, seems to understand that it was more than just the QB. Nearly across the board there have been improvements made: DB - Our DBs were horrendous last season. Troy Pride was on the bubble for this roster while he was a starting CB on last season's. Replace Rasul Douglas with Jaycee Horn, Troy Pride Jr with a healthy DJack, and Corn Elder with AJ Abouye and this looks to be an incredibly improved group. DL - Replace Kerr, Obada, Hamilton, Weatherly, and Larkin with Jones, Fox, Nixon, Hoskins, and Johnson. LB - Get rid of Tahir Whitehead, add Haason Reddick. ??? PROFIT! ST - Santoso replacing Slye. RB - Added Royce Freeman, Chuba Hubbard, and a healthy CMC in place of Mike Davis and Reggie Bonnafon. WR - Losing Curtis sucked, but Terrace Marshall Jr + Shi Smith could end up being upgrades. Especially TMJ. QB - Had issues with opening things up with the deep ball, went and got a stronger armed QB. Could be a push if decision making and accuracy are issues. TE - Dan Arnold and Tommy Tremble replacing Chris Manhertz while pushing Ian Thomas. OL - The only group that might have been downgraded. Okung/Scott and Reed replaced by Erving/Scott + Elflein doesn't exactly give a whole lot of hope. I'm hoping they don't look as bad as Clemson's OL did last night vs. Georgia.

He had a couple where he got blown up (mentioned those in the write up). He also had a few where he was on roller skates (didn't mention those). Elflein was above and beyond the worst player on the OL though.

1st Drive 1st & 10 (Q1 13:30) - Elflein immediately gets his hands swatted down and the DL goes around to the outside. Sam hits Chuba on the check down coming out of the backfield. Erving had his man stonewalled the entire play. 2nd & 6 (Q1 12:55) - Elflein & Erving double team the DL and push him 2yds off of the LOS. Chuba rumbles for the 1st. 1st & 10 (Q1 12:20) - Bootleg play action. Erving has to get a little wider to get his man (while getting a chip from Ricci who was at FB), but is successful in getting there. Elflein completely whiffs on his man, but thankfully Sam is rolling in the opposite direction and gets it out to Ian Thomas. 2nd & 2 (Q1 11:53) - Inside handoff to Chuba. Erving is helping Robbie deal with the edge rusher. Elflein gets a small push off of the snap, but gets his hands swatted down after just over 1sec. 1st & 10 (Q1 11:13) - Erving has been doing a surprisingly good job of getting wide off of the snap vs. the speed rush. Elflein gets pushed 2yds deep after contact is made but Sam gets it to DJ on a quick out. 2nd & 8 (Q1 10:33) - Tricky little OL play on a WR screen. Hats off to the CB that read the play and stayed with DJ on the play fake, though DJ slipping likely allowed the DB a little more time to recover and secure the tackle as Erving was getting there. 3rd & 6 (Q1 9:55) - Elflein got away with a baaaaad hold vs the DT, otherwise it'd have been a sack. Erving again maintained his block the entire play but has getting more chips from the RBs/TEs than folks swore that Daryll Williams got when he was playing well for the team. 1st & 10 (Q1 9:20) - Both down block pretty well on the run. Yaye. 2nd & 7 (Q1 8:42) - Quick pass, both men get their man but have to only hold them up for a half a second. 1st & 10 (Q1 7:57) - Both again hold their blocks long enough for the ball to get out. I would prefer this to be the norm. 2nd & 10 (Q1 7:53) - Erving looks to initially be beat, but recovers well and maintains the block. Elflein does a good job in protection as well. Okay boys, that's 3 in a row! Keep it going! 3rd & 2 (Q1 7:16) - Double team vs. the edge, play sealed on their end. Looks like Miller missed his assignment. 4th & 2 (Q1 6:37) - Well poo... maybe these guys aren't as bad as I thought. Erving definitely hasn't been as bad as advertised. 2nd Drive 1st & 10 (Q1 4:48) - Good protection again. Erving does a good job of reading the delayed blitz on the edge after initially moving to assist Elflein. 2nd & 3 (Q1 4:12) - Elflein is able to engage his man and keep on him, Erving leaks to the second level to seal off an LB. Paradis gets the play blown up (pretty sure he got one blown up on the first drive as well). 3rd & 6 (Q1 3:30) - Erving and Elflein both doing pretty damn well in pass pro. 1st & 10 (Q1 2:49) - Elflein is supposed to engage the DE and get around him to seal him off, but the DE muscles outside and is able to stop Chuba for a short gain. 2nd & 7 (Q1 2:13) - Elflein puts a hand on the DE, but keeps running away and leaves Erving in a less than stellar position to try and block him. Ian Thomas had already gotten beaten on the other side while Paradis was getting beaten inside, so Sam was already pulling the ball down to take off with it. 3rd & 2 (Q1 1:36) - FB dive. Elflein makes contact with his man and maintains the block, but gets no drive. Ricci runs directly into Elflein for no gain. Looks like Thompson made the incorrect block as Erving and him went for the same man and you can see Erving hesitate when he notices Thompson engaging as well. 3rd Drive 1st & 10 (Q1 0:38) - Erving gets muscled into Sam's back, gives up the sack. Elflein did a good job of shoving the blitzing DB on to his back when he tried to jump to bat down what would've been the pass. 2nd & 16 (Q2 15:00) - Elflein got beat to the outside relatively quick, but did a good job staying on the defenders hip and getting him off balance before he could get to Sam. 3rd & 16 (Q2 14:56) - Elflein takes too long to help Paradis and ends up bumping the DL outside and giving him a straight shot at Sam. This was the sack that was called an incomplete pass. 4th Drive 1st & 10 (Q2 (12:00) - Elflein gets a good push, Erving does a good job creating a lane. 2nd & 8 (Q2 11:26) - Good pass pro from both men again. Me likey. 1st & 10 (Q2 10:47) - Playaction bootleg away from both men, but they both do a good job of hitting their blocks. 2nd & 3 (Q2 10:04) - Good run blocking on this snap, especially by Elflein who seals his man off. 3rd & 2 (Q2 9:20) - One of the better pass pro reps for both men, and they've had some decent ones so far. Both hold their blocks, Elflein looks decisive. 5th Drive 1st & 10 (Q2 9:06) - Elflein gets a push of about a yard, Erving gets beat but the play is going to the other side of the line so no impact on the play really. 2nd & 8 (Q2 8:31) - Screen TD to TMJ! Convoy is Paradis-Elflein-Erving. TMJ does most of the work. Elflein doesn't touch anybody. 6th Drive 1st & 10 (Q2 5:29) - Quick screen to the outside. Both do a good job of getting in the way to allow the throw. 2nd & 13 (Q2 5:07) - Elflein gets pushed into Sam's lap. Sam seems used to this and gets the ball out to Chuba who takes off for the 1st. 1st & 10 (Q2 4:28) - Both get their blocks, but Erving stays at the LOS and Elflein gets his man pushed a yard back. 2nd & 5 (Q2 3:51) - DT beats Elflein with a spin move, but the ball was going to Chuba who had a HIDEOUS drop. 3rd & 5 (Q2 3:45) - Elflein looked to have gotten beat wide, but recovered and kept Sam clean. 1st & 10 (Q2 3:13) - EXCELLENT run blocking by both men! Elflein gets his man on the ground, Erving gets to the second level and seals off a defender all while staying with Chuba. 1st & 10 (Q2 2:37) - Another solid run blocking rep. Both get their men pushed backwards on the play. 2nd & 11 (Q2 2:00) - Erving's dude ran right by him and Elflein got knocked back two yards and thrown another yard back to the ground. Things had been looking so much better too... 3rd & 11 (Q2 1:27) - Another rep where Elflein looked to initially be beat, but recovered this time. 4th & 1 (Q2 1:18) - Elflein gets beat bad, but luckily it's a quick out to DJ who secures the first. 1st & 10 (Q2 1:13) - Not the cleanest pass pro rep, but they did their job and helped Sam connect to TMJ for a big gain. 1st & Goal (Q2 0:28) - Good pass pro. Back shoulder strike to RA for 6. Summary Admittedly, Elflein didn't look nearly as bad as I worried. He definitely had the most red marks on his post game report card, and is definitely the weakest link on an already subpar OL, but Erving did a pretty good job aside from the sack he got out muscled for. I understand that this was against the 2nd & 3rd string front 7 for the Steelers when dismissing Erving's performance, but that should create even further concern for Elflein. Can't help but think that the coaches are hoping that SOMEBODY can supplant Elflein which would make him an expensive back up center.

I zeroed in on Elflein/Erving for almost the entire second half. While neither looked like world beaters, Elflein looked bad. Erving looked unremarkable, but (and maybe this is because he was next to Elflein) he didn't look as bad as I was originally fearing. Now I'm going to go do it again, but with focus on comparing the two to see who is ultimately the weakest link on the left side (I'm not worried about Paradis because TYLER GOTT DAYUM LINDERBAUM IS GONNA BE SNAPPING THE BALL NEXT SEASON). Pray for me, Huddle; I am about to suffer again.

Oh sweet. Just what I needed: a reason to be angry today.

New practice squad rules allow two players to be activated from the practice squad on game day (a player can be activated from the practice squad only twice over the course of the season). If Shi Smith's injury is not as bad as originally feared, the team could be looking to give CJ two weeks of return duty to start the season to buy Shi time to recover.

Not necessarily. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-02187-1 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/01/are-covid-vaccines-becoming-less-effective-.html Tldr; vaccinated folks can transmit the delta variant should they have a breakthrough case, however they are not only less likely to be hospitalized and/or die but the vaccines are shown to be crucially effective in surviving and containing the spread of the delta variant. Using circular logic, I can see how an anti-vaxxer can help themselves believe what you proposed. However, anybody with a shred of intelligence can see how stupid that line of thinking is.

He was considered high risk due to a heart condition.

LG for sure Pat Elflein is terrible

Had thought that he would be one of the offseason targets, but then Elflein was signed

Worth mentioning that we can keep 54 since Abouye won't count against the final 53

WHEEL GRIER

LMAO TEPPER

Oh they gonna let OL hold like THAT? Our's might have a chance after all.

Ok Sam

That's a ticky tacky flag

I was just thinking "I wonder how different this would be if Chuba's 11 touches were CMC's." Then Chuba drops it T_T