Mr. Scot

I can sort of agree, but what I've read about how sh-tty New England's offense has looked this year makes me less certain.

Games that season always seemed to follow that same pattern: Get up big in the first half, fail to adjust at halftime and pray we'd built up a big enough lead that they couldn't overcome it. The Seattle playoff game was arguably the pinnacle of that model.

My worry with the secondary is whether they'll be getting enough help for pass rush. Even a group of really good DBs can't hold up forever. Run defense scares me on that front too. How many tackles are they going to be required to make?

1. Then why isn't he starting now? 2. Gross started right away, though not at left tackle. We had a much more viable option there than Brady Christensen at the time. Even so, could he have started? Based on what we know now, I'd say probably. 3. You acknowledge in your previous answer that it's a hard transition and they need a lot of work, yet turn around and defend not giving them as many reps as we could have. It's kind of a weird position. 4. Are we? I suspect we'll have a better answer to that on Week One of the regular season then we do Week Two of the preseason.

Where was the analysis? Just kidding. Great job, John

Odd thread bump...

1. Do we have a better left tackle on our roster then Ekwonu (or a better quarterback than Mayfield)? 2. Good player? Yeah, but the "competition" was still dumb. 3. Probably harder, but that's why you give them as many reps as possible rather than subjecting them to a stupid competition. 4. A professional staff should be able to do both. In fact, many of them do.

That's the hope...

I actually think it's more fun to watch the behind the scenes videos of that game than it is to see the game itself. Reason being when you watch the videos, you get to see Russell Wilson relentlessly pounding that "greatest comeback ever" mantra. Then you get to watch him fail

The wild card here is David Tepper. Even if we went 4-12 or worse, would it really surprise you all that much if Tepper decided Rhule just needed another year to get things going? I mean, Jay-Z needed at least seven years to build Rome in a day, right?

From the same article... “We’re not winging it,” Rhule said. “We have a really good plan, and sometimes I don’t feel at liberty to share it out of respect for the guys.” We have a great plan. We're just not telling you. Remind you of anything?

More from Person... Panthers coach Matt Rhule said it was disappointing the actions of a few players would take away from the work the two teams accomplished and distract from the football storylines. Like the Panthers’ quarterback competition. Rhule had indicated he could decide between Baker Mayfield and Sam Darnold by the Patriots’ week. But the former Temple and Baylor coach offered no clarity Wednesday after the second of two practices with New England. “I wanted to at least get to this point. When we know, we know. So it could be at any point,” Rhule said. “It could be two more weeks from now. It could be now. … We’re just making sure we’re thorough.” Being thorough is one thing. But the shared reps and alternating series make it hard for either quarterback to develop rhythm and timing with the backs, receivers and linemen. Mayfield played one series in the first exhibition at Washington — a 13-play drive that stalled after Mayfield fumbled an exchange with center Pat Elflein. Maybe the fumble happens regardless of how many reps Mayfield and Elflein had gotten this week. Maybe not. The Athletic

Oy That'd be just as stupid as trying to help PJ Walker get a job with another team.

Sisters of the Deaf and Blind actually look pretty tough this year

It's been expected since the day we traded for Mayfield. The goofball "competition" was stupid and wasted time that could have been put to better use.

College coach...

That entire weekend was one of the best opening weekends in NFL history. Multiple overtime games, several letters coming down to the wire, it was amazing.

For those of us who have been around long enough to remember it, yeah. I think the younger crowd gravitates more to the 2015 games.

We've got a potential successor for Gross. Kalil? Less certain.

Ended last year on IR. Nobody's picked him up this year.

I miss Ryan Kalil

Latest word is they're going to review video of the play before deciding what happens