It depends, but I see our ceiling at 7-10

[Jon Snow]

6 minutes ago, CRA said:

We have a rookie QB, new scheme, and the weakest skill talent around the QB being trotted out in week 1 in a long time.  

I think we will be 2-4 when we hit the bye week.  

It's a good possibility they do start out slow. There's just too many things that have to come together before they can truly compete.  The sooner it starts clicking the better you will be able to determine the true talent on this team.

I just don't think it's deep enough and skilled enough in key areas to be able to compete right away.  They could surprise us all and come out firing on all cylinders.  I just can't see it though because there's just too much turnover to be in a rhythm right out of the gate.

[rayzor]

5 minutes ago, csx said:

Funny as poo how everyone is a critic of everything all of a sudden....after months of optimism everyone fell back in to their regular comfortable lanes. 

not me. i still feel good about the team.

[MechaZain]

2 minutes ago, csx said:

Funny as poo how everyone is a critic of everything all of a sudden....after months of optimism everyone fell back in to their regular comfortable lanes. 

No one has any clue how this team will look week 1 yet that's why we're either going to win the division or do worse than Rhule depending on who you ask

[d-dave]

3 minutes ago, csx said:

Funny as poo how everyone is a critic of everything all of a sudden....after months of optimism everyone fell back in to their regular comfortable lanes. 

It's so easy to be negative.  Optimism is hard - you have to maintain it.  You have to keep believing, even when the road gets tough.

In this case - our team has been pretty poo lately.  It's easier to say "yeah they will suck" because that's just what we've seen.  It's much harder to say "Ok, we're going to be better."  

While I'm not sure our defense will be as good as we hope, I do think that by the end of the season, Bryce Young will be proving his worth.  What will our record be?  I'm not sure.  I think 7-10 (total wins, not record) is possible.  We could be surprising, once we get through the first month of the season.  I just don't see this team being horrible unless all of the wheels fall off the wagon.

I'm going to choose optimism because it's more fun than being a pessimestic.  Also, if the Panthers lose - I'm not going to let it ruin my life.  I'm a fan, but I'm also a father, husband, and educator.  I've got lots more things I care about more the Panthers.  But if they go on a run, I'll be there for the ride!

[csx]

I want to win out of the gate. But have the people who expect everything to gel in first preseason with complete new staff and rookie QB and significantly different players followed this sport?

[csx]

5 minutes ago, MechaZain said:

No one has any clue how this team will look week 1 yet that's why we're either going to win the division or do worse than Rhule depending on who you ask

if you ain't first you're last

[OceanPanther]

16 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

Saints weren't even dominating this division when they had Peyton and Brees. Now all of a sudden they are the superior team with David freakin Carr!

 

Stop it!

During the time Peyton and Brees were in N O ..  There were good teams in the NFC South too. All 3 went to the Super Bowl with  Cam, Matt Ryan, and Tom Brady ..  So  "David freakin Carr"  might not be Brees,, but the other 3 QB's aren't Super Bowl QB's yet either

[gofightwin]

Lets just be competitive the second half of the year. Who cares what the final record looks like. We aren't going to a very good team the first half of the year.  New coach, new offense with a rookie QB and all new offensive weapons. Most of these guys have know each other less than 4 months. We are just looking for glimmers the first half and start to come together the second. Just because we have the parts to be somewhat successful, its gonna take time to oil the machine. 

Will we win some games? Yeah sure! Are gonna look good doing it? Probably not.

[csx]

17 hours ago, CamWhoaaCam said:

Saints weren't even dominating this division when they had Peyton and Brees. Now all of a sudden they are the superior team with David freakin Carr!

 

Stop it!

The Saints had 20 more wins than any other team during the decade of 2010-2020. This was at a time the NFC South was probably the strongest it's been.

20 more than the Falcons

31 more than the Panthers

43 more than Tampa

Edited August 21, 2023 by csx

[CamWhoaaCam]

51 minutes ago, csx said:

The Saints had 20 more wins than any other team during the decade of 2010-2020. This was at a time the NFC South was probably the strongest it's been.

20 more than the Falcons

31 more than the Panthers

43 more than Tampa

 

1 hour ago, OceanPanther said:

During the time Peyton and Brees were in N O ..  There were good teams in the NFC South too. All 3 went to the Super Bowl with  Cam, Matt Ryan, and Tom Brady ..  So  "David freakin Carr"  might not be Brees,, but the other 3 QB's aren't Super Bowl QB's yet either

Gentelemen it's okay for people to have a different opinion.

 

My goodness I can't even say I like the Falcons to win this division and people have to tell me why they don't agree.

 

If you like the Saints to win that's fine. You're not making me change my mind about the Falcons. Enjoy your Monday.

[top dawg]

4 hours ago, X-Clown said:

He has started all of 4 games and was just OK. I saw nothing that made me think that’s a 10 year starter and a thorn in our side. I am not even convinced he won’t be yanked I’m favor of Taylor Heinicke if he struggles this year.  Not sure how you came to the conclusion where you already put him in the Brees/Brady/Ryan/Newton category yet.

I said nothing about him being any of the above. He's obviously a relatively inexperienced QB in his sophomore season.  You can't discount him this early in the game, especially when he's reportedly been solid.

Edited August 21, 2023 by top dawg

[Sgt Schultz]

I think our ceiling is more than 7 wins, but there are a lot of IFs that go along with a ceiling.  IF the OL plays like it did in stretches of last year, IF the WRs play to what we think their potential is, IF Bryce is as good as processing plays as reported, IF the defense can hold its own weight against the run (especially critical against the Falcons, it seems), IF the secondary is decent, IF our coaching staff can steal a win or two, IF our injury situation does not kill us, etc.

I think we settle in somewhere between 7 and 10 wins.  Vegas' 7.5 over/under is reasonable, given the unknowns. 

My evaluation of where we stand at the end of this year is not dependent on that number, but how we play down the stretch and what hope there is for 2024.  I'd love to see 10-7, but that is not my expectation.

IF too many of our IFs don't pan out, and I think the margin for error there is slim, this board may do its best impression of Chernobyl for the next year.

[Brooklyn 3.0]

The proper answer is: how many wins do you think Dalton or Corral can give us? Because we have zero idea how Young will do. The entire season falls on his shoulders and his alone. If his rookie year is a let down (as many rookies have had) our team is then a team with Andy or Matt as the QB.

I think Bryce can get us 7 wins his rookie season. His future is bright though.

Andy gets us 8.

Matt gets us 5.

[X-Clown]

44 minutes ago, top dawg said:

I said nothing about him being any of the above. He's obviously a relatively inexperienced QB in his sophomore season.  You can't discount him this early in the game, especially when he's reportedly been solid.

My response was to a different poster who said because of the last decade's results where the division winner was typically putting up 11 plus wins, that we should expect the same this year if to have a chance to win. My point was that the last 10 years, we've had 4 good to great quarterbacks in the division, whereas none of the starting QBs now have shown the ability of Prime Cam and Ryan/Brees/Brady.

If you don't disagree, then what was the point of your response?