For those of you down on Luke's performance..

[Cpt slay a ho]

 Love luke and this is not a knock on him but Mack is the better defensive player for today’s league, with the bradys, Rodgers,brees ext and passing league we’re in, Mack is more valuable. We’ve seen teams in our division just attack downfield instead of throwing mid range in luke or td’s area. 

[CarolinaSamurai]

It just goes to show you how many deficiencys Luke hides on our team. Bad safety play, bad other LB play, bad edge play, bad corner play. If we don't start putting STARs around him we are screwed

[tiger7_88]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Luke has a bad game here and there. It happens, and usually for the same reason. When the defense is playing like poo, he spreads himself too thin trying to compensate for it. I feel like this was the case on Sunday. When the defense is lazy, as Ron Rivera puts it, Luke tries to do too much. The result is him not looking like the best defensive player in the league, which he still is.

Luke looked tremendous in the 1st quarter but, as the game kept deteriorating, so did his performance.

Its almost as if football is a team game.  Its hard to be perfect or near-perfect when surrounded by the chaos of mediocrity.

[bigdavis]

Let's consider the following extenuating circumstances:

Luke had 8 tackles, on 63 snaps (and that's a "bad day" for him?)

Maybe some fault lies on the other 2 LBs, Thompson and Mayo, who were in on 2 each.  Makes me think Luke might have found himself slightly out of position, taking angles to  cover his mates' deficiencies.

Granted, it wasn't his "best day" because on those, he makes 10-12 tackles.  I say we cut the man some slack, and fully expect that he'll dominate against the Bengals.  He has the competitive fire that compels him to redeem himself (he owned his mistakes in post-game comments, didn't point any fingers), and whomever draws the unlucky straw of being his next opponent will have to accept the consequences.

(and derailing the thread to compare him to Mack is irrelevant, much as comparing a QB to a RB would be).

We are SOOO fortunate to have Cam and Luke -- two of the finest and most entertaining talents of our generation -- to root for, and marvel at, every game.  (and I go back to watching Jim Brown, Ray Nitschke, and Johnny Unitas, just to name a few)  You don't have to be a blind homer to appreciate great talent.

[JARROD]

Lol at people trashing Thomas Davis. Lol now at quite a few wanting him back after trashing him,..

football is a team sport and people have great and bad games often by what’s going on with the TEAM,..

the lack of understanding of it I blame on fantasy football. 

[steven8989]

2 hours ago, mjligon said:

Lol y’all Luke stans upset. Mack can be better than Luke, its not really a slight against Luke...Mack is the DPOTY right now and it isn’t close

Yeah where was Mack last year for the Raiders that's right nowhere to be found. Luke has never gone missing for a whole damn year. One game, all great players have that not a whole damn year go on with ur stupid poo!

 

[UncleWillie]

The Saints and Falcons try to take Luke out of the game because they know how good he is. Quick passes and misdirection seems to work against this defense every time.

[Mr. Scot]

I agree with the premise. I'd add that I don't think our defensive tackles (including the starters) had that great a game, which directly affects Kuechly.

Hope both of these things are an anomaly. Defense is the one thing we've always been able to depend on even when Shula was running the offense. I don't want to see a situation where we finally replace Shula only to watch the defense tank.

[Mr. Scot]

47 minutes ago, NorvGeniusTurner said:

They’re just as dumb as the people down on Cam for hitting the check down. When he’s the only guy open

How you criticize a quarterback for hitting an open receiver, even for a short gain, boggles my mind.

For the first time in years, I feel like Newton is taking what the defense gives him rather than pressing for a big play all the time. Some would say "Why didn't he do that before?" My question would be why wasn't he taught to do that before.

[WarHeel]

3 hours ago, mjligon said:

Kalil Mack is laughing at this.

While I believe Mack is a once in a generation kind of talent, that Defense in a Chicago is waaaaaay more well rounded than ours. Can’t believe how much talent they have. I want nothing to do with them come playoff time.

[Skack25]

3 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

No GM in the league would trade Kuechly for Mack straight up. You crazy.

Goes both ways though.  I love Luke and side with him, but I don't think anyone would give up Mack for Luke either.  Two generational talents.  We should continue to sit back and watch in awe.

[Skack25]

6 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

While I believe Mack is a once in a generation kind of talent, that Defense in a Chicago is waaaaaay more well rounded than ours. Can’t believe how much talent they have. I want nothing to do with them come playoff time.

NFC might be too stout to have 3 teams from one division this year...

[WarHeel]

25 minutes ago, Skack25 said:

NFC might be too stout to have 3 teams from one division this year...

Without a doubt. NFC is nasty.

[Skack25]

14 minutes ago, WarHeel said:

Without a doubt. NFC is nasty.

My brother is a Bears fan and I don't even think he's on the playoff hype train quite yet.  They will need to beat GB and Min at least once to have a shot.