Khyber53

Looking forward to seeing him. We're going to have to lean heavily on the run game and if we could have two guys running like Chuba has been, then we're going to be in good shape going forward. Probably no way we're winning this week, but I just hope we can show a team that is moving in the right direction out there. Little victories, those would be nice. But good luck to the young man. I hope he's brave enough to perform up to his capabilities. Coming off an injury is tough on the confidence.

I keep thinking the same thing. And then... it doesn't happen. Still hoping it will, though.

This line, next year, will be pretty stellar. This year, there's a lot of learning going on, but it has been getting better and better.

Best cornerback hands down that we've ever had. Silent assassin that just retired and faded from memory. The guy completely shut down one side of the field every darned game. He deserves sooo much more credit than he gets.

Cam has not been erased by the Panthers or their fans. Cam just hasn't been beatified here yet. For such an amazing athlete, leader and personality, he has developed a very thin skin. His time will come. Jake, Julius, Gross, Moose, Smitty all had to wait. Just give it some time. None of them were forgotten, neither will he be, nor Luke, Ryan, Kasay, TD, Gamble...

Well, we're gonna watch, though, right? It's going to be like watching Georgia play Thunder Valley Community College for a homecoming game, but hey, there it is. We're going to lose the ones we are supposed to, going to win a couple that we might have been able to, and win one that we had no chance in heck of winning. This will probably not be that game. But it'll be a good learning and evaluating game.

Jacksonville will be getting rid of both HC and GM on Monday. Dallas will be cutting ties with McCarthy after Thanksgiving game. Chicago will ride out the season before letting Eberflus go. Cleveland will probably cut ties with GM and possibly Stefanski. Daboll and staff will be out in NY, GM possibly as well, though not until the end of the season. Just my opinions. And I think Evero will be retained here because I believe he will be part of the Head Coaching interviews around the league. (Not that I think he's ready for HC job, I'm not sure he was really ready as a DC).

Best thing that could happen to us is that we are able to avoid Deon and his kids. If it's because he'd never let them be here, then yeah! Great! Whoever gets the kids will also get him as a head coach, whether they actually hire him or not. And you will see that there's so much more hype and high maintenance that they will be millstones around a team's neck. And you know they will be going to Dallas.

Elite QBs are made and need a team to work around them or you end up with a Phillip Rivers situation, at best. Sometimes the QB is just the missing piece, or the QB finds the other factors that lift their game. You couldn't ask for a better example of both of those situations than looking at the Stafford/Goff trade between LA and Detroit. Send either of those two guys to Carolina or Cleveland and they just flop around on the turf near the 35 yard line, game after game. And as to the Texans and Commanders... those are two well coached and well-built teams. Massive turnarounds in each location, a lot of buy in by players and grabbing solid performers where they could. They got their QBs, but they also put them in the right environment. You claim I'm a 1990s football guy, I claim you're basing your evaluation more on Madden and fantasy football.

See, there's this whole thing about get your "Franchise" QB and you're golden. Except, well, it's crap. Look at the Jets, year after year, trying to draft that dude, never hitting. Then they go out and wrangle Aaron Rogers. And they're still crap. Why? Because they haven't built a team. Their o-line is suspect, their defense is leaky. A QB isn't the answer, until you've got the rest of your units up to at least middle of the pack quality. Think about how long it took us to get right after drafting Cam. Phenomenal talent, impactful player, still took four years of team building before he took off. And on the other side, if you build a strong pair of O and D lines, then work hard at developing your skill players, someone like Jared Goff or Sam Darnold can come in and have success. Brock Purdy can get you to the Super Bowl. Trying to find your "franchise" QB at the top of the draft isn't a luxury pick, it's most often a wasteful pick. Get you the best d-lineman, tackle or linebacker in the draft.

We are one of 32 fanbases in the NFL. We are one of 32 fanbases in the NFL that have this exact same discussion on a regular basis. Let's move along and quit crying over it. Even if it were true, they don't go back a fix things. Ever.

Honestly, bringing Bryce along by playing him, then sitting him and letting him watch with more educated eyes and a different perspective isn't the worst method of getting him worked out. And sending Andy in to perform and then do an after action discussion after each series with Bryce isn't bad either. It gives a guy a chance to get experience, digest it and make use of it. Still, while we are seeing some growth in Bryce, he's still got a long way to go to convince at least me that he's able to overcome his early work and his physical shortcomings. Doesn't mean he can't overcome them and be something special, but there's still a mountain to climb. He's being given a shot and be given the tutoring. The rest is up to him and fate.

Oh, I agree wholeheartedly. Remember when our linebacking corps was the best in the league. Like for all but the last five years as we've gotten more analytics driven and basically, softer. Shaq has been a great player but those injuries are mounting up and this is the second year in a row with a season ending injury. His career is looking like it is in the twilight. Jewell was better than most acknowledged but beyond them, there's really not a lot. Just some edge rushers with LB in their title. This team has been cleansed of grit in the last few years. And it shows.

Green shoots coming up. Finally. Still too early to tell if they'll be fruitful long-term, or if they're just weeds, but at least something is coming up from this manure pile we've made here.

I don't want the guy to fail. I really don't want that for anyone. Have I thought he wasn't the guy and that this was a total swing and miss? Yep and I've said it often. So very often. Would it hurt me to be wrong, dead wrong? Not one bit. I'd happily chirp about how wrong I was. So, he's apparently maturing and the time on the bench seemed to have helped. We've got a bye week and then a game against the World Champ Chiefs coming up. Is he going to play lights out in that one? No chance really, they are the world champs for a reason. But if I can just seem him limit his mistakes, recognize a handful of opportunities and make the most of them, then I'll keep feeling that maybe Canales is helping turn the kid into a QB. But let's get real, really real. QB ain't our only problem. It's a big shiny jangly one, but this is a team that has a bunch of young guys, a couple of good players and a bunch of guys that would have trouble earning a roster spot elsewhere. And we've got to grow the good and be able to figure out which ones are weeds the need to be yanked out and which ones are the good shoots that just need to be tended to carefully. We are at the bottom end of the league, have been here for some time now. Down at the bottom of the well there are three groups: those sinking down fast, those that are long-term bottom dwellers and those that are finally starting to claw their way back up through the mud and muck to the light. The last two weeks have made our long-term bottom dwelling asses look like we are finally starting to claw our way back up. We're going to lose games to the mid to good teams, but we can and should be able to beat the other bottom dwellers and whoop those coming down to climb over their bodies on our way back up. New Orleans and New York just got pushed down and scrambled over. KC will kill us, but maybe we can catch a couple more of those sinkers and stand on them. If we can do that, we will be moving into and then past survivor mode. And maybe that quiet, little and timid QB might find something in himself once he has a few more teams under his feet. That well is mighty deep, though. It could take time. Detroit didn't get there over night, and neither did Kansas City.

This ^ 100%. It was a win, enjoy it. Some young guys, including Bryce Young looked like they might have something. And after the last few years, that says a lot. And Chuba, well, Chuba got a big payday this week and he played like he's still making a case for it. I think he was the diamond in the rough we've been needing. Glad to see him being dominant in a game and getting some notice league-wide. Money well spent. And Wonnum.. wow, can't wait to see him keep developing, too.

That look on his face as he was pacing the sidelines before halftime said an awful lot about whether he thinks the Monday morning meeting will be an exchange of a playbook for a banker's box or not.

W beats any stats. For one game, at least.

He's growing up some very young players very quickly. I'm interested to see how much more he can get out of them, or put into them. I've had my doubts, now he's piqued my interest.

There's no better story than a redemption story. But, we're only on chapter 2. Hope he keeps improving, but there's a lot of pages left to go. Still, it's nice to have two wins in a row and seeing some green shoots coming up from the manure pile we've had sitting there for a few years now. Still too early to tell if those are weeds or not.

It's more than I could have hoped for. And I will cheer and admit my errors of judgement along the way.

Maybe Bryce is loading another river stone in his sling. Kid might go down as the coach killer.

Yanno what? He's showing improvement. I'm going to sit back and let him work it out. Maybe it all comes together and all that hard work starts paying off for him or it will tell another story. It's not like we're planning on going on a tear and get into the playoffs or anything, but that last win kind of took some of the desperation edge away from my thoughts on the team. Let the kid play, he'll either grow up before our eyes or make the case that we undoubtably have to move on. Right now, I have no reason to question his work ethic. I just have questions about the results of it.

Hey, I'm glad for this. Chuba is the kind of guy you build a team around. We need those guys, desperately. Will he still be making less than his stablemate Miles Sanders?

We needed the room, be prepared for a lot of deck clearing over the coming weeks. Trade deadline has passed but releases can happen for folks we decide won't be needed for the rebuild.