Khyber53

This is good, quality analysis. What I see is that Icky is getting better at the pro-level game. Almost nobody has ever come in right out of college and were a monumental success at pass defense from the left tackle position. They get beat, a lot, that first season. And he's there, but I just see that he's learning the position. Run blocking, while still a skill, plays more into the physical gifts he has. Technique and exposure to the game will fix his pass blocking. Giving him extra help on that side during pass plays is exactly what he needed from the looks of it. It does, however, set up a tell that opposing defenses can use against us. Unless we learn to exploit the tell... He's a smart kid, and our coaching just got smarter. This can work out very well. Eventually. And probably sooner than later, but there are going to be some bumps in the road. We just can't shift him away. Let him learn in this very difficult season. He'll be a grizzled vet before it is done and he'll be a monster out there. Our monster.

Yesterday was great. But it was yesterday and whatever happened out there was for about a billion different reasons. Let's let this play out a bit more before we're ready to say the miracle is on. Still, enjoy that win, it sure was something.

You'd think this would be wrong, but the vast majority of #1 picks just seems to bear some level of truth here. A bad season nets you the top pick. A history of being a bad team keeps you picking at the top of the draft. You may be getting the picks of the litter, but if you can't either evaluate or properly use the guys, then it's all a wash. I want a team that can win games more than anything. Even if you are picking in the middle of the pack, with the right evaluations and a real, honest appraisal of your assets and coaching potential, you can make a winner. Sooner or later, every team has to put its future in the hands of some 21-22 year old kid straight out of college. More often than not, it doesn't work out. Taken at the right time, with the right team already on hand, and preferably with a good vet QB in the room, you can make it happen. Brady, Rodgers, Mahomes, Wilson all came out of college into just the right situation with the right coaching and well-built to progressing teams. Are we in that spot? Maybe, if you squint just right. There was a lot about yesterday's game that made me think we might just be a QB away. But that's a lot on just one game. And that's a lot on just one young QB. I sure do wish we had gotten the chance to see Matt Corral in actual game play.

Me, neither and I think that it was a bad line for the NFL to cross over. Nothing good will come of it, but hey, everything in the name of immediate profits, right? Integrity eventually became a commodity that could be sold. The amazing thing was how cheaply it could be had for.

I don't know, but if the NFL has fully gotten into bed with sports betting (and believe me they have) then the idea of a team, or teams, actually throwing games for draft positioning is very problematic. Like 1919 Chicago White Sox (Black Sox) scandal level. Like Pete Rose level. Yeah, to get caught tanking would implicate the team, the owner, the coaches and every player who made it to the field on any of the given Sundays. If you love the game, then you want the competition to stay true.

Let's see how it plays out. One game at a time, but I think he earned his next start.

They were. Both big league throws. I'm of the thinking let him have another game. Let the expensive boys hold some clip boards. Who knows, maybe he can Jake Delhomme the heck out of this thing. That sure would be grand.

It wasn't a blow the barn doors off kind of performance with three TDs and 400 yards, but he certainly got the job done. Better than the first round picks that we've been fielding. Good job PJ! You're going to make a believer out of me if you can keep this up!

There was no way in the world I would have predicted what happened there. That was just a wonderful surprise.

Yug, no.

Who cares? Second most boring sport played in America. THE most boring sport played in America. Our team is there for contractual reasons today. NBA plays so many games that each one is meaningless. NHL season could be five games long and they'd all be meaningless. All I want is a decent Carolina Panthers team and a chance to watch them win a game. Apparently, that's frikkin' impossible.

Henry who?

Someone needs to glue Tepper's ass to his stadium seat. If we've got to watch this crap, he should have to as well.

And yet, he still outperformed every and I mean every offensive player we had. Look, it's just crying over spilled milk now. He's gone. We aren't getting him back. What is done is done. Let's just move on and suffer through the rest of this godawful season they have given us. Suckitude, the gift that just keeps on giving.

It looked pretty rough at the ends of both the Knox and Cowher reigns... just saying.

That sounds completely crazy. Unless you've watched the games. Without CMC, can we even get within FG range unless we somehow get a turnover inside their 30? We were unbelievably bad as of last week. Now, oh this could be historically bad. Like, wish we had Chris Weinke back bad.

Sure, why not? It just means that Rhule, Fit and Tepper have successfully turned us into the NFL's farm team. Woot, we're Triple AAA minor league now. Who else will get called up to the big league. fug this.

Really, sits right there in the middle of league standings since 2007? Why don't you do the math, show me the stats and I'll believe you.

The Saints game was them playing their worst, with a lot of injuries. And if you think we were ever in that game against an injury depleted Rams team, you are just looking at the score. We were downright pathetic. We were getting our asses kicked again and again and again. Getting rid of CMC didn't insure us of losing out, we were going to do that anyway.

I still think he's the unflushed turd in the bowl.

Let me reiterate... it's not tanking if every team was already kicking your ass and you were completely unable to stop it. You can't tank and suck worse than this. We have organically grown, no additives, free range, non-discounted, dyed in the wool suckage of the highest order. To tank would mean we could do something about it. We can't. We are that bad. The stank doesn't lie. It can't lie. It sure will linger, though.

If I had even the slightest bit of confidence in team management and ownership, I'd be looking at a glass half full. Instead I'm looking at a poorly lidded sippy cup knocked onto the good carpet and grape juice is staining the hell out of the rug. None of these guys were ready for the job they have been given.

It's a fair argument. Three wins in the last 10 years. Eight playoff wins, including a Super Bowl, for his career. And since 2007, his team has only missed the playoffs twice. In a league built on parity, his legacy is pretty darned good. Our fanbase would kill for that kind of record.

That should tell us all we need to know. And that was, oh yeah, when Tomlin had all those losing seasons. Oh, I forgot, he still has never had a losing season in his entire career. And Tepper has four in a row... Tomlin is going to go down as one of the great NFL coaches, first ballot HoF guy and one of the pillars of the league. And I am certainly not a Steelers fan, but that guy is one of the best ever and in the top three of this generation. Maybe top two.

You make a lot of sense. I'm still going to be mad about this for a long time. And yeah, I hope CMC has a great career there and gets a ring. Not as revenge, but because he's a dynamite player and seemed like just a great guy and teammate the entire time he was here.