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I was thrilled for the team Sunday. They deserved that W.

I try hard to judge the moment without bias. If it’s bad, it’s bad and if it’s good it’s good. Anyone that had an issue with Bryce today is hedging their bets on history. Last week was awful, this week was pretty damn solid. His numbers should have been a bit better if Thielen pulls in that first deep shot. I wouldn’t dare pronounce Bryce’s ceiling at this point because if he has showed anything this year, he has showed he won’t quit, he will improve and he’s tough as nails. I’ve hated on Bryce plenty, but damn he has some heart.

Does anyone ever miss a long kick against us?

Burn the tape, entire team shat the bed. Trying to take any meaningful information from today is futile. I’m not sold on Bryce, have been very critical of him, and encouraged by his recent play. Bryce hasn’t played well when pressured, that’s really all there is to take from today.

I’m 100% encouraged by how competitive the team has been recently. We still don’t know how to win but the fight is there and the team and staff are improving without doubt. It has been a long time since we saw improvement. It feels like we’re on the right track and that now includes Bryce. I’m actually eager to watch the team play. I’ve been very critical of Bryce and it was deserved at the time. He’s playing much better of late and he deserves credit for that now.

Bryce played a solid game and gave the team a chance today. It’s hard to know if this is an outlier, a stepping stone or the ceiling. He earned the next start.

It’s tied late!

It’s tied early!

The lack of production is especially surprising given how much effort the team put into coaxing the best from him. In just six short years he’s had the opportunity to work with 3 different GMs, 7 different head coaches and 10 different starting quarterbacks. There’s literally no excuse to be made that one of those combos didn’t work. It might be time to look withIAN.

Bryce has already failed. Why is this worded as if it’s yet to happen. I’d prefer he not be on the team at all at this point.

Superb owl?

Many things can be true at the same time. Stroud is good. Stroud isn’t the same good every game. Talent on the team matters. Panthers have no talent. Bryce sucks. These are all true at once. What Stroud would have done here is unknowable and a matter of conjecture and opinion. My opinion is Stroud would be better than Bryce in ANY situation of equal footing.

I think everyone in the NFL is constantly in win now mode. No patience or vision will ever get enough rope to develop if it doesn’t work in the first couple years. Beyond that, NFL maturity and situation make a ton of difference. Geno, Baker and Darnold are great examples of being better than their reputation under different coaches and situations. It has to start with being an outlier athlete first though. You can’t coach size and speed into someone.

How there can be this many terrible teams in a league with 60 years of experience in building a model of parity is frankly quite amazing.

You won't find a ton of support for hyperbole and conjecture. Sources...name them.