Rhule's transition

[pantherj]

The loose wizard's sleeve pass defense was in full effect last night, and that has to do in part with the players lacking in knowledge how to play, a lack of talent, and coaching philosophy.

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

I'd say it's possible at this point that one of Rhule's first big dilemmas could turn out to be Phil Snow.

It's valid to say that Snow doesn't likely have the personnel to run the kind of attack he wants to. But looking at the atrategies we were using them against Julio Jones last night, NFL Network's Joe Thomas said we were using "high school zone coverages" that just weren't going to cut it.

If Snow becomes a point of contention, things could get interesting.

Meanwhile, Phil Snow is outperforming the highly touted Joe Brady with a bunch of rookies and veterans off the trash heap.

[pantherj]

Burns' ability to rush the passer and knack for sack fumbles can really help a defense lacking in talent overall.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, LinvilleGorge said:

Meanwhile, Phil Snow is outperforming the highly touted Joe Brady with a bunch of rookies and veterans off the trash heap.

Offense and defense are kind of like photonegatives of each other. The defense is solid at the front but lousy at the back seven. Offense looks real good at most of the skill positions but the line is horrible.

If things go how a lot of people are expecting them to though, Rhule isn't going to have very long to evaluate Brady.

[LinvilleGorge]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

Offense and defense are kind of like photonegatives of each other. The defense is solid at the front but lousy at the back seven. Offense looks real good at most of the skill positions but the line is horrible.

If things go how a lot of people are expecting them to though, Rhule isn't going to have very long to evaluate Brady.

I'm not sure Brady is going to be such a hot ticket this year. The hype should be fizzling significantly unless the all 22 is showing lots of guys schemed open but either the OL isn't holding up or Teddy can't/won't make the throw.

[theinstrumental]

It was also his first short prep week in the NFL. He's got a lot of firsts still to come. 

[Martin]

I don’t think he’s overwhelmed or that the job is “too tough”, I think it is as easy as him being frustrated with losing and players not doing their job.

[Mr. Scot]

11 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

I'm not sure Brady is going to be such a hot ticket this year. The hype should be fizzling significantly unless the all 22 is showing lots of guys schemed open but either the OL isn't holding up or Teddy can't/won't make the throw.

I'd agree, though we both know that stuff isn't always logical.

[Seltzer]

12 minutes ago, raz said:

who f'n cares what joe f'n thomas says.    did he mention we're also using high school players?

Exactly.  Joe Thomas was defending Gregg Williams until Smitty tore him a new one a few weeks back...

In spite of everything the defense kept it a 1 possession game until the end.  That to me is impressive considering who we had out there or what kind of "high-school zone" we were playing.

In addition to everything else, b/c of Covid you basically got to roll with guys already on your roster, especially on a short week.

Anyone who follows the team knew we were playing last night with much less than a full deck, especially on defense.

The offense has to be better.  Pure and simple.

And at the NFL level, Rhule is getting an education that the "Jimmy and Joe's beat the X's & O's."

Just look at Belichick this year.  Coaching and scheme matters a lot, but it can't overcome tremendous disparities in talent.  We shouldn't really even be competing, but we are b/c we have good coaching and scheming.

But just like 2015, elite players stand a much better chance at elevating bad coaching and scheme than the other way around.

I'm disappointed that the offense hasn't been able to lift us at the end of games, but I'm not disheartened.

Ultimately, we need another draft like this past year to put ourselves in a position to be successful.

And to be honest, we really have drafted pretty well the last few years despite what people might say.  CMC, Samuel, Moton, DJ, Donte, Burns, Brown, YGM, and Chinn are a lot more talent than a lot of teams have added through the draft.

Anyone can cherry pick this player or that player after the fact.  I have no issue letting Hurney go as GM, but anyone with objectivity should recognize the man has picked a lot of top-end talent in the draft.  The misses in the 2nd-3rd round have hurt, but to me the only years where Hurney really butchered the draft (and deserved to get fired) were how he handled the 2009-2010 drafts.

For all his misses elsewhere, here are the 1st Rounders he's picked:  Peppers, Gross, Gamble, TD, Deangelo, Beason, Stewart, Otah, Newton, Kuechly, DJ, Burns, and Brown.  All Pro-Bowl to All-Pro to HOF-level talent (even Otah who had plenty of ability but got hurt and lazy)

The biggest issue lately has been the misses in FA and the awful contracts given to Matt Kalil and Matt Paradis.  And losing a generational talent like Kuechly was always going to hurt.

I'm still glad we are doing this rather than trying to hold on to the past.  I do believe we are building the team the right way.

[Mr. Scot]

There is one advantage Rhule has over Rivera when he was starting out.

Pretty sure Rhule got everybody he wanted for his coaching staff. If there was somebody he pursued that we didn't end up getting, I don't remember it.

So for good or bad, he got who he wanted.

[Seltzer]

3 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

There is one advantage Rhule has over Rivera when he was starting out.

Pretty sure Rhule got everybody he wanted for his coaching staff. If there was somebody he pursued that we didn't end up getting, I don't remember it.

So for good or bad, he got who he wanted.

He did.  And I have no issue with Snow or Brady at this point. 

Snow is making the best out of a bad hand.

I'm interested in seeing how Brady adjusts.  This is the NFL where the other guys get paid too and you don't always have superior talent.  His scheme has been good, but I think we can see a trend since the Bears game that teams are starting to figure out how to attack it.  This is where the real work starts for Brady.

I'm ok with him being humbled a little bit and hopefully sticking around to get some experience.  This is a learning year for everyone.

But this is still the NFL, and regardless of the "Five-Year Plan," fans don't have the stomach for multi-year rebuilds, and Rhule has set the bar high enough thus far that the expectations are going to be much higher for next year.

Someone said this season felt much more like 2002 than any other year, and I agree.  That was an overachieving bunch who just didn't have the offensive talent to compete with the best teams.  I'm hopeful that this team can mirror that team except we have the offensive talent but not enough on defense.  One can only hope we have a similar trajectory next season.

It will be interesting to see how we bounce back against KC.  I'm expecting a loss, but I want to see the offense look formidable again.

[Ricky Spanish]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Meanwhile, Phil Snow is outperforming the highly touted Joe Brady with a bunch of rookies and veterans off the trash heap.

 

[Sgt Schultz]

1 hour ago, LinvilleGorge said:

No one expected this to be a quick fix. That's not stopping Rhule from trying his best and wanting better.

I've seen nothing to sour me on the staff so far. We're far more competitive as a team than I expected. If anything, I'm much higher on Snow who was a guy who I expected wouldn't be able to hack it in the NFL but has a bunch of rookies and outcasts playing like an average NFL defense. And admittedly, I'm lower on Brady who has more talent to work with but who is fielding a bottom third NFL defense albeit while missing his best player for the majority of the season.

I agree completely with this.  It may take another two offseasons to overhaul this team. 

We added some good pieces to the defense this offseason, and they have looked pretty good, all things considered.  But our OL probably needs four new faces (depending on Okung's longevity and ability to stay on the field, and IF they find a place for Little, which does not look like it is at tackle).  Our LB corp needs help, and our secondary may mature, but could still use help.  We also have major questions at TE, although somebody wearing Thomas' jersey did catch a couple of passes last night.

We knew all of the above information going into the season.  We do have some receivers now, something I never thought I would say.

My main disappointments with last night were we looked unprepared (which I would cut them some slack on if it had been KC and not Atlanta) and they did not play above what we think their talent level is, perhaps for the first time this year.  Maybe that can be chalked up to a short week, especially with the first game of the "double header" being against the Saints. 

[Mr. Scot]

One other thing I forgot to mention...

Rhule sounded a little bit testy and basically refused to answer when he was asked about Eli Apple. The question was framed as to whether it was a mistake to let him go given how thin the secondary was.