Khyber53

We're six games in, and sitting at .500. We have injuries, a bad o-line and a college coaching staff. This year was going to be tough no matter what, but we're still in this. If Sam can be that guy he was at the end of the game, he'll be a world beater. If he can be that guy and we can just hold our own until CMC and Shaq come back, then we've got a chance to do more than exist. There are still 11 more games left and nine after CMC comes back from IR. Those will be our toughest nine, but our opponents have to go through a lot to get there, too. It ain't over yet folks, but if you want to head on out to the parking lot, see ya next year. Me, I'm here to the end, just live every year.

Remember how y'all said I was crazy for even considering that Matt Rhule could be on the hot seat before the end of this year? That if he didn't post a better than .500 season things would get dicey for him. Well, the locals are calling for blood. The team seems to have lost its identity due to a couple of key injuries (we talk about CMC a lot, but we REALLY missed Shaq Thompson out there on Sunday). Big, long contract people said. Tepper will give him time people said. It's amazing how many people who said those things are now just fuming. poo takes time folks, and some things aren't nearly as bad as people think. Heck, my mind has changed and I can see some thing headed in the right direction. I can also see some things going way wrong right now, too. There's a lot of games left to play this season. It's going to be a bumpy ride, but we're going to come across some teams that have already packed it in, we're going to come across some teams that are more injured than we are. It ain't over yet. It might get better. It might get worse. But I think Rhule needs to start coaching like his career depended on it.

In their defense, they were gassed. But they seem to be that way by the third quarter anymore. Of course, they don't get much bench time anymore. If Brady could call a game instead of polishing up his resume` for LSU.

I agree with you on that. Maybe we saw Darnold growing a pair yesterday during that moment. The kid is just 23, but for a moment there he looked like a 10-year vet QB who deserved to be here.

That last series by Darnold was totally off script from the rest of the game and had urgency and effort throughout. Something they didn't have all game until then. Sam almost won us that game after just about every player not named Luvu had tried to lose it for us. If you weren't cheering in just abject amazement as he flung us down that field, you'd either already turned off your TV, headed to your car or are just dead inside. If you're a coach, you encourage that guy to be that man from here on out. That guy will win you games.

We've moved on. He's moving on. Time to quit crying over the breakup.

On 4th and 10 from the 4 yard line, Darnold just went out there and Delhomme'ed the hell out of it. The kid carried an entire team down that field and willed a touchdown and two-point conversion into existence. Had the coin toss gone the other way, we'd have won that game. Or had say two passes not been dropped at any point in the game. The kid is a fighter.

Yeah, we're going to kill them. There are jobs at stake over this next game.

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.