Khyber53

Trade for Garoppolo, have a steady player at QB for two years of contract (well what's left of this and next) with Darnold sitting on the bench and competing in training camp. Use the two years to draft and build our offensive line and put our signing efforts into retaining Burns, Reddick and DJ. Perhaps even go all in on Oline in the draft. Field worldbreaker team.

This is a season that is being greatly defined by injuries. Our last four games were definitely defined by injuries. New Orleans just took a big hit. The same could happen to any of the front runners. We are, crazily, just at the halfway-ish spot in the season, with a lot of football left to play. A couple of injuries here and there for our opponents could see some weird things happen in the play offs. Once there, well, anything can happen. Of course, our concussed QB puts a difficult wrinkle into our plans...

Let's see if he keeps improving. Nine more games should tell the tale.

Maybe that hard hit he took shook things back into place for him. Watch him turn into Megatron now. Also, the new hairstyle... much better look. Really, though, I'd love to see him turn it around and turn it on after that hit. We need the guy to be the guy we thought we'd given the contract to.

Carter did really well yesterday and he has been improving. Right now he's about an average MLB for the league, which isn't bad for a guy's first year as a fulltime starter. But let's face it, he's always going to be compared to Luke, Beason, Morgan and Mills. Those are mighty big shoes to fill. I'd say Shaq is filling Davis' shoes really well, but honestly, he's making a name for himself in a different way. Shaq is making plays all over the field like Luke and hitting like Davis, while being a big part in the pass defense. That contract sure doesn't seem so silly now, does it?

Been trying to say it for a couple of years now. He'd have had just as much attention last year but he spent so much time covering for Whitehead...

Sure was nice to have Shaq Thompson back on the field for us. The guy just sets the tone for the entire defense, and in a way, the entire team. That early interception by him changed the course of the game. In addition, Thompson on the field frees the rushers more to get to the ball knowing he's back there to help in the under pass coverage and to lay the lumber to any running backs that make it past the line. He's our MVP on the defense, doing the hard work and keeping it all together. It was against an undermanned Atlanta team, but any time you can keep Matt Ryan off his game and beat a division rival, it's a good thing. Shaq is the difference maker in that defense.

Right now, the kicking game isn't a worry. Gonzalez has been very good and I hope he can keep performing like this and make a home for himself. Punting was pretty decent yesterday, too.

In the end, it's a win, something that has become rare over the past few years. Does the team have a myriad of problems still? Yes. Do we have some concerning injuries? Yes and we picked up a major one yesterday. Do we still have faith in Rhule and Co.? Yesterday helped, but more wins are going to be necessary. But it was a win and a hard fought one. We're a running team instead of a passing team, Brady may have just figured that out.

Hope he heals well and quickly.

It'd be nice, it'd be a start. But looking at things as they are, it's going to be near impossible.

Jeez, can we drop this? This season has become enough of a drag without supposing that we just cut our best player.

Cold leftovers and tap water.

Just can't muster up much hope for this game. I think I ought to be saying more, but the well's run dry.

Let's just put it into one quick reason: We'd never be able to build a line that he would survive behind.

Just another hapless kid to get killed behind our offensive line.

And it would be the worst decision we've made in decades.

Sam's got 10 games to make a case for staying, for better or worse. And Joe Brady has about the same lifespan here. If somehow Brady can dial up some plays and protection, it'd help them both. If the defense can get some turnovers and shorten the field, that'd help. If Darnold would just get out of his own way, that'd help. If the receivers would just catch balls that hit them right in their hands (both hands!!!), it'd go a long way to helping. If CMC would get healthy, that'd help immensely. None of these things seems at thought to be impossible, and yet, here we are. Coach Rhule needs to do some coaching for his players and staff.

Robby has literally managed to make himself not just ineffective, but disposable. I think that we may still be on the hook for $12.5 million in remaining guaranteed money. Is it worth the roster spot to cut him, or do we just make him sit on the bench and collect checks?

Just bench Sideshow Bob and see how bad he wants to get back into the game. This leaving him in play to see if he can find himself is detrimental to the team and is apparently not working for him.

I've never seen so many players get injured this early into the season. Perhaps it's the new IR rules making it a smart move, perhaps it's something else. It's not like we've got Vermillion's Pill Pavilion still open, right?

It's like watching someone kick your favorite dog. Every week.

Yeah. The team's owner is lackluster at best. People used to complain about JR meddling in the team, but Tepper has his handprints all over the team like it was his trophy wife's ass. He's a schmuck going through a mid-life crisis.

It was a roll of the dice. Good coaching and a decent offensive line might have given him a chance. Might. Had it worked, it would have been the genius move. It looked like one for those first three games and even the extension didn't look that bad. Then reality hit. The offensive line sucked and was getting reshuffled every week. And coaching didn't seem to be developing him, but instead just left him floundering with a limited playbook and is best weapon/safety blanket on IR. For one shining moment at the end of the Minnesota game, we got to see what might have been. But it was just a fleeting glimpse. Belichick or Tomlin or Reid could fix him. Rhule and Brady really weren't capable of doing so. But, here we are with 10 games to watch and the knowledge that the back-up QB is even worse. Maybe a miracle will happen and Darnold will develop, the line will gel and Brady will use a full-scale, pro playbook. Our receivers will learn how to catch again and our defense will shut people out again. It ain't gonna happen. It ain't gonna happen, though. We're in the 2020s and our team reflects the times.

Honestly, I hate this. It's two teams that have turned their seasons around and are heading in opposite directions. I think the Falcons are going to hang a 40 burger on us in the most embarrassing defeat of the season. Falcons 44 Panthers 10 And it's not even going to be that close. I think the team has quit on the coach. I hope I'm wrong.