cranky

Darnold missed part of the early 2019 season and when he came back he threw only 1TD to 3 Ints and the Jets went 1-3. However, over the last eight games of that season, he threw 13 TD's to only 4 Ints and the Jets went 6-2. And this was against the Bills, Ravens and Pittsburg so they weren't exactly against weak teams. Don't be surprised if he bounces back here as well.

Yeah but he also has a heck of an offensive line in front of Winston and Winston has always been better than Darnold. Not taking anything away from Payton - he is a great coach but it's not really a fair comparison.

Actually it isn't. If you look at the last 5 games last year, his catch rate was 57%, 66%, 40%, 70% and 42% so it looks like his downfall actually started last year.

Thanks for the clarification. So basically, if we can find a trade partner, he would basically wind up costing a 2nd, 4th, 6th and an additional midround draft spot in addition to his current pay for this years' performance. It's better than 18M but still -

lol I'm not even sure what your trying to say. Am I off about Rhule not wanting either of them? I thought Rhule had final say in all personnel decisions?

This is what I read: "At one point, Panthers head coach Matt Rhule was watching a New York Jets tape and was impressed with Darnold. He went into Fitterer’s office and wondered if Darnold might be available via trade. Darnold had had a terrible statistical year for the 2-14 Jets in 2020, after all." https://newsbrig.com/the-real-story-behind-why-sam-darnold-became-panthers-qb-instead-of-deshaun-watson/429356/

But I remember reading how Rhule was watching tape of the Jets and became so enamored with Darnold that he "walked down the hallway and asked Fitt to get him" or something to that affect. That sounds like it was all on him.

Exactly. I know hindsight is perfect but if they had, they probably would have had a similar record plus 25 million in cap space, a 2nd, 4th and a 6th round pick.

As I watched the game yesterday, I couldn't help but think of what a ficked up mess Rhule has created. Basically he cut Newton, brought in Bridgewater but then gave up after a single season but is still currently paying him 7 million to play with the Broncos, has already guaranteed Darnold 18.8 million to play next year and gave up a 2nd, 4th and 6th in the draft for him. So to sum up, the Panthers/Rhule have spent 25 million as well as a give up a 2nd, 4th and 6th round draft pick to entertain us with that offensive display yesterday. That is just unacceptable and really makes me question his ability to make personnel decisions going forward.

What's his catch radius: the entire field?

As always, thanks so much for the notes and pics. Regarding Wegher, all the videos I've seen of him show a tremendous burst through the hole. I know speed doesn't always translate to the NFL but if it does, they very well could have struck gold a second time in two years - Norwell last year

Needless to say I disagree. Sometimes not taking a promotion is the best step long term for a career. I've read where a OC or DC has declined an interview for a HC job because they didn't feel they were presented with an opportunity to succeed and given the tenuous between Rivera and JR, I know I wouldn't of had a warm fuzzy feeling about the job/opportunity myself. I'm certainly not defending Shula as I felt it was a terrible choice but do you really think JR's phone was ringing off the hook for the position given his handling of Rivera and Fox. If you felt you only had one chance to show everyone what you could do, would you really have wanted to come here this year to prove it knowing that Rivera could be a fired at any time and with him, would go your one opportunity.

Exactly. What coach would want to uproot his family and move to a situation with an unproven HC and QB knowing it would more than likely only be a 1 year deal.

They had 2 drops out of 33 and 1 of those was by Lynch the RB. The Panther's had 2 drops out of 23 attempts. The Panther's receivers caught a total of 7 passes and 6 of them were to Smith which means the other 3 receivers caught 1 pass between them. The Seahawks receivers caught 15 passes spread between 4 different receivers. Simply put, I think the two teams were pretty evenly matched but the Seahawks receivers simply out played the Panthers receivers. No surprise there.

While I am concerned, I think it's a bit early to start blaming Shula just yet. It seems to me teh big difference between teh two teams yesterday can be summed up with one word: receivers. The Seahawks receivers made some beautiful plays while ours either had untimely drops (Olsen) or just couldn't get open. Between the drops, personal fouls and fumble, we simply beat ourselves. You simply cannot have those mental mistakes against any quality team and expect to win - regardless who the OC is.