Mr. Scot

It's not at all uncommon, honestly. Or at least it hasn't been. Lots of teams gave the head coach final authority in the past. Seattle's been doing it since Pete Carroll was hired. There's a difference between final authority and full power though. Rhule doesn't run the personnel department. Fitterer does. Likewise Fitterer ran the draft and free agency. Naturally, he works with Rhule, but that's not unique either. Every GM works with their head coach to determine what they need to run their schemes and set the roster. Our friend Sanjay has it in his head that this is something unique, never done before and created by David Tepper. None of those things are true.

Two games in...nobody knows.

I'm going to guess they went to Watson to ask if he was willing to play, and in response he gave them a very clear "no".

Brown has been one of the better left tackles in the league and is still pretty good. Leno was never that great and is pretty bad at this point. Plus with Brown, you have the added advantages of Fitterer not only having a connection to him but also one to the people with whom he'd be negotiating. With that said though, Brown would have been a two-year stopgap while we tried to find our left tackle of the future. But obviously, all that is now water under the bridge.

Sando's not a moron. He may in fact be one of the smarter analysts out there. What he may be guilty of though is not doing the thing that Albert Breer said he should, i.e paying attention to the Panthers. That's something a lot of national analysts have done for a lot of years. And to be fair, we generally haven't given them too many reasons to do otherwise.

This is me, as well.

For the record, I did not pick against the Panthers in the Yahoo Pick Em contest. And if the board shows that I did, it's a frigging liar

Sando's generally pretty fair.

New meds?

Slow starts in the first and third quarters of games were a pretty common thing under Delhomme. From what I've seen, it seems to be a characteristic of gunslinger QBs. Saw that in week one with Darnold. In Week 2 we were slow starting in the third, not so much in the first.

From Albert Breer's latest MMQB... You need to pay attention to the Panthers. Two weeks, two wins, and each had a very identifiable look. They were fueled by a menacing defensive front that none of us thought enough about coming into the year and complemented by an improving, efficient offense that Sam Darnold’s steadily getting better at running. What’s more than just that, it sure looks like the program in Charlotte’s taking on the edgy, physical look that Matt Rhule’s been working on cultivating. As such, D-linemen Brian Burns, Derrick Brown and Haason Reddick set the tone in holding the Saints to 2.8 yards per carry and sacking Jameis Winston four times. And the offense maintained balance with a 33-to-40 run-to-pass ratio, that kept a diverse New Orleans defense from getting too aggressive. Which is sort of how Rhule drew this all up. “I think the way that we practiced during training camp, we had two joint practice weeks early on against Indy and Baltimore, and I feel like that helped us a ton, to be able to practice against those teams, really veteran teams, teams that know how to practice,” Darnold told me over the phone, after the 26–7 win over the Saints. “I think that really helped us, and we had a hard training camp in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I think that kind of gave us our edge a little bit. Again, Albert, it’s early in the season, I don’t want to speak too soon. But we’re in really good shape right now. We just got to continue to stay healthy and keep getting better every single week.” And the interesting thing to me, from my talk with Darnold, was that I figured this one would be significant for everyone there because it wa the Saints, who’ve won the division four years in a row and were gangbusters against Green Bay in Week 1. But it didn’t really feel like that was ever part of the coaches’ or the players’ messaging. Maybe it’s because the Panthers have to play again Thursday (against the Texans). Maybe Darnold was just being guarded, after all he’s gone through in three years as a pro. Either way, the quarterback was hesitant to assign meaning to a Week 2 win, impressive as it might’ve been, and even if it reinforced the progress that was visible in Week 1. “Again, it’s Week 2,” Darnold said, laughing. “It is a good win, don’t get me wrong. We’re really happy about that win and the way that we played. But we gotta execute a lot better—in that second half, I feel like we left some points on the board, and just didn’t really end things the way that we wanted to. But a win’s a win, and it’s a good division win and we’re happy about that.” And now, they’re a few days away from, potentially, going into a Week 4 showdown in Dallas on extra rest and with a 3–0 record.

About the only viable scenario I could have seen was a trade for Duane Brown before that situation got resolved. But it did, so it's kinda hard to imagine now.

Speaking as someone with several birds, I can tell you that ain't how it works

You'll never hear me complain about fans being happy. Heck, that's what it's all about.

Look, I know some folks love hitching a ride to the North Pole on The Bipolar Express, but I'm just not one of them. I try to keep an even keel during the season. Don't get too hyped up over wins. Don't get too depressed over losses. That's especially true with only two games under our belt. That's not to say you can't celebrate and enjoy a victory. Absolutely you should. I just wouldn't get cocky. It's a long season and stuff happens.

Because this is...cringeworthy

Yeah, that's a more typical WCO concept. Those bunched up alignments? Not so much.

Its his MO. He picks out something he thinks is a big deal and obsessively spams multiple topics with it till people are sick of hearing about it. Previously it was a two tight end set pic that he found on Wikipedia. Now it's purported insight into David Tepper that he supposedly got by watching "Billions" on Showtime. (guess you could say he has a pattern of questions sources too)

I've never really cared that much about perceptions. You either prove it on the field or you don't.

Depends on how we use them. We've got a very West Coast line but yesterday we tried to use them as if we were a power running team. Didn't go so well.

FYI: The guy you're debating is the latest version of our old buddy Sanjay. And for the record, he predicted that we would keep Marty since he believed Marty was a figurehead and David Tepper was actually making the personnel decisions because that was supposedly the Appaloosa Model. Then when Marty was fired, he said we wouldn't hire a traditional GM (wrong). Once Fitterer was hired, he again said that Tepper was still in charge of personnel moves (wrong again). And lately he's on the notion that Matt Rhule is an absolute monarch because supposedly that's the Appaloosa Model now (what it actually means changes each time he's proven wrong). Basically, he's just desperate to hang his hat on something so he can say he's right and everybody else is wrong. Unfortunately, he knows so little about football that everything he predicts or suggests winds up blowing up in his face. I've told him before he should just be happy to be part of the conversation instead of trying to act like he's some sort of guru (and thus, annoying people) but he never listens.

See what I said "come back to earth" I meant "stick the landing". Yeah...yeah, that's it

Agreed. This is "one year" thinking. With Marty gone, that kind of mindset should be out as well.

Those folks showed up mid-game after Darnold's big mistake, declaring that was the real Darnold and we were headed for a loss. I'm not up for premature celebration, but those folks shot their wad waaaaay too soon.