Khyber53

Nothing has changed there.

OP pretty much nailed it.

Oh geez, not this crap again. Don't go back to old girlfriends, it never works out.

"And this is how a legend starts." That's what I said to my wife when the Panthers lined up at their own four yard line on fourth down and ten, behind by eight points. It was meant to be ironic, sarcastic and just a way of saying, it's done, let's call it a day. And then Darnold took the ball, dropped back and threw a dart forty yards down field to Ian Frikkin' Thomas. And then he converted another first down by running it. And then the fourth down conversion to DJ Moore. And then miracle of miracles a pass in the end zone is caught by slick-handed Sideshow Bob Anderson. And then Sam Darnold flicks a shovel pass in heavy traffic to rookie TE Tommy Tremble for the two point conversion and the tie. And then the defense holds up enough for a missed FG to throw this game into overtime. We went from one of our worst games to a nail-biter. It was over after the first Minnesota possession and we're three and three right now, back in the losing skid. But don't hang this one on Sam Darnold. He did the unthinkable, the unimaginable. He put a team on his back and willed it 96 yards down the field to tie a game that we had no business being in. It's a loss, so the legend wasn't born, it'll just fade away into vapors. But don't give up on Sam yet. On a day when everyone else was losing the game for him, he carried the Carolinas on his back and gave us something to believe in, something to grown on.

Somewhere out there in a trailer park outside of Gastonia, a few folks are celebrating what they did today. What a frikkin' embarrassment.

Y'all laughed at me when I said Mac Jones should have been our pick. Of course, he'd be getting killed out there right now and Robby Anderson would drop five to 12 passes a game. But still...

OP, haven't you switched to wearing a Tom Brady jersey yet?

Gotta love Oddball!

I got a bad feeling that this is going to suck today.

This is what I was talking about. A lot of folks like to talk about weight loss and they struggle with the same old 20 lbs, but when you're seriously overweight, it's a whole different ballgame, one you can't understand until you've played it.

Honestly, we could be putting Samuel to better use than Washington is right now.

Truth lived.

Exactly!

Being a lifelong fat guy, I understand what he's going through. I've lost, gained, lost, gained. You feel better, but it's murder on your body. And sometimes that weight loss is in part water loss, which can cause no end of problems. I'm sure they have a nutritionist working with him to make sure he doesn't develop any vitamin deficiencies through this and his protein intake is through the roof, but the process can create so many little problems that extreme physical activity like he's doing can exacerbate them mightily. Heck even a drop in potassium is well within the possible things that can happen, and quickly. That can be near fatal if it goes too fast, potentially causing heart attacks and other serious ailments.

It's the Jake Delhomme guy they need. Probably never a better guy at bringing a team back together and getting them to function when they've been gut punched. That's pretty much the story of every game in 2003 and most of 2005. I want Darnold to be that guy, but like Fiz said, they're all just too damn young. And there's also something you've just got to be born with, a certain charisma for rallying the troops to make that final charge. We really, really do need that guy.

I tried explaining this earlier in the season but I got ridiculed for it. Massive weight loss makes a lot of things worse, especially endurance and the ability to stay hydrated. His muscles are also undergoing a lot of stress during these times, including his heart. Losing weight does not immediately make you healthier, it takes time to recover and readjust. Give the guy some time. Training to be an NFL lineman is a hell of a lot of work and strain on the body. Doing it while in a weight loss plan has to be massively difficult.

Remember when Chase Blackburn was a special teams ace player here? Me neither. His coaching is even less inspiring.

Just commenting that I agreed with what he'd said, no swipe at you intended. Teddy started getting clobbered around this time of the season last year, too, didn't he? Not sure if our inability to make adjustments then isn't the same problem we have now. There's like an entire book of things OCs can scheme up to help when your O-line isn't too strong. Brady must have just skimmed it. The line stuff must be boring for these kids in coaching nowadays.

There's a lot of truth here.

Yanno, he's right.

Maybe a rolling pocket, more bootlegs. Darnold is a much more mobile QB than anyone had given him credit for. Scripted QB keeper runs. Get things mobile, make the defense work harder to catch him. It's not like he's not getting beaten up already, at least give him a chance.

My worry about CMC is the guy might just be over-conditioning himself. We've all marveled at how swole the guy has been each year coming into camp. He's a workout monster for sure. But could he actually be setting himself up time and again for these kinds of soft tissue injuries? Could the added muscle be a bit more than his body can take? Add to that the pounding his body takes each game and it can be worrisome. And if he's been paying too much attention to adding muscle mass and not enough to flexibility...

Go try and punt the ball more than 30 yards. You're gonna learn about 10 ways a punter can hurt themselves. Yeah, I hate to see this. Means punting game will change a lot. Beyond just moving to the new town and settling in, the guy's going to have to work with a new special teams coach, special teams group, long snapper and kicker. Luckily, the guy has some experience holding for Gonzalez but daaaaang that's a lot to take in and get done quick before the Vikings arrive. Good luck to him!

So, let's hope we follow the trend with a bounce back game. Lord knows we need one bad about now.

His most important remark is that this is what we made in the offseason and now we're stuck with it. Four out of five are replacement grade and that's what we were able to scrap together or lure here. I think that he's exactly right. There aren't guys out there waiting to be picked up or traded for now, this is what we have. What's available isn't better. And our young guys, they aren't ready for primetime yet, one might be and one might not even be replacement grade. This team desperately needs to look at who is scouting and assessing OL prospects, fire the guy(s) and hire people with a better track record. Someone told us these guys could do the job and they were obviously wrong. Probably the same guys that have been doing it for near on a decade now. That kind of problem is how you end up with a team like the Lions or the Jags.