Khyber53

I went back and looked at that thread and funny, but you didn't hazard a guess back then. And yes, after week 3 and a 3-0 record I thought the GM had been decent and we'd have a .500 team. Guess what, we aren't a .500 team and the GM isn't even decent. So you are blaming me for not warning you the team would be this bad? I'm having a hard time figuring out where you are coming from, man. Good luck to you. Times are hard, this thing is just a little blip in the world. May we all see better days.

Actually, sure looks like I nailed it on the "What I fear" thing. Or got closer than most. Hate that the other predictions weren't right. But I'm generally too optimistic. It's a failing of mine.

I did think we could be good. And after the third game I was like, "Wow!! This is amazing!" Then, well, it all fell apart spectacularly didn't it? Fair to decent to good teams dissected out defense. Our offense was stymied by injuries and any ability whatsoever to produce a pass rush. But we kept grabbing CBs. Sooo many CBs like they'd save this day. This day, because we kept trading away our future to get them, the future days will be barren. Defend Fitterer all you want, but he's a poor hill to die on.

Tremble is currently our best TE. The bar isn't very high, but he was our gem out of this class potentially. But hey, if you want a quick take: bad teams have bad management. Bad managers can't fix bad teams. Edit to add: The guy can't draft. He can trade like an MFer, but he missed a lot of excellent players while being "clever."

That was not a professional football team and it was just beaten by a semi-pro team.

This has proven to be a pathetic draft class for us. -Jaycee Horn looked great those first games. So did the rest of the team. Injury took him out. We never got to see him against actual competition. -Terrace Marshall, Jr. Had some injury time off, but was basically outperformed on the field by Zylstra. The guy is like our #5 receiver on the field. -Brady Christensen Apparently a third stringer since he only sees the field after numerous injuries and is rarely in his normal LT position (even when there's a need). -Chuba Hubbard: Good back-up to CMC, which is a necessity. Has hands of stone, though. Stick 'em is outlawed, so what are we gonna do? Thank goodness for Abdullah being available, huh? Daviyon Nixon: He's been on the field. Not much of a run stopper. Not much of a pass rusher. Might be able to spell some other players in rotation. Keith Taylor: Well, there's a CB, again. We have like 19 of them or something. Deonte Brown: Went to IR for weight issues I guess. Plays on national championship team as a starter. Never sees a regular season snap on a line in desperate need of players. Shi Smith: Training camp hero, scrappy underdog. Couldn't pick him out of a lineup if asked, where is he? I've seen the redheaded trainer on the field more than him this year. Thomas Fletcher: We drafted a long snapper, then Nancy Kerriganed him to send him to the IR because we thought 84-year old JJ Jansen was a better choice (okay, JJ rocks, but still). Phil Hoskins: He saw the field, I know he did, right. Made a bit of an impact, showed some promise. Did he go to IR or did he just get benched for another Temple dude? Ad we've traded away our second and third round draft picks next year for Sam Darnold and CJ Henderson. Those haven't aged well.

Nah, man. It's not convincing anyone.

You start with the lines, picking the best available lineman (offensive or defensive) as your picks come across. Then you work your way out from the lines -- QB, MLB, RB, OLB, WR, DB, S, TE, K, P. That's kind of a multi-year deal, but unless a unicorn falls to you, you get solid value for building the o and d lines. No matter what the situation, those two pay off in spades. And you can't win crap without either.

Before the game, whatever the in-laws are serving. After the game, salmon patty sandwiches and fries.

Swing open the doors, let Rhule bounce once at the curb, then find this guy to hire!

Sadly, I don't think we will break the cycle this year.

Every season a few teams will lose most of their games. Some of those teams always lose most of their games. Some of those are always in rebuild mode, some are just sad sack loser franchises that defy the league's parity. We're becoming one of those teams, and if we don't change coaching and management staff completely, we will be right there with our sibling team, the Jaguars, before we know it. Time to pull the plug on this bad iteration and send Rhule back to a school where he can win something. Give Atlanta and the Saints their wins so their drafting will be after ours (as limited as Fit has left that cupboard), the Bills and Bucs will get their wins, too. Let the cold winds of December and January blow away the last couple of years of bad judgement. Let something new and better find its way to town.

Scary as the thought is, yeah, Urban is worse than Matt.

Robbie will get back to throwing people under the bus momentarily.

And yeah, they are doing well. Once again, pass rush isn't everything, though. The guys at the top of the graph aren't necessarily on the winningest teams. Cleveland, Philly, Steelers, Chargers and Panthers at the top of the charts. All have middling or worse records, sometimes because they can't stop the run or have anemic offenses. Analytics, though, amirite? Our scheme has been to make the most of opportunities for Riddick and Burns, with great success early on. Both draw double teams and break through at a fairly decent rate, about once a game each or thereabouts. The problem isn't them, but there is a problem in the scheme and in the efforts/capabilities of some of their teammates. Right now, for the effort they are putting out, and the attention they each draw from the opposing team, we should be seeing bigger overall results in our defensive efforts. Now before we start getting into that #1 or #2 pass defense remember that we had some absolute walkover opponents in the beginning of the season and a number of games where they've just run and run and run on us, with passes now and then just to keep their WRs from falling asleep. Our defensive performance numbers are definitely skewed. In the end, we have the personnel. We just don't have professional level coaching across the board.

He's been given the benefit of the doubt for almost two years now. I think that Rhule has run out of benefits and is only left with doubts.

Honestly, we need a search committee to help us choose who will be on our search committee. The organization needs an enema.

Your arms are at their weakest fully extended anyway. Besides, arms a yard long won't help if you have feet of cinderblocks and no ability to out think the pass rusher. Please see Daley, et al. And technique is king above all -- and that's where coaches come in. Oh yeah, coaching.

They were far, far too generous to us. Not sure we could beat the Falcons, Saints or Bears on a neutral field right now.

Robby missed the ball on that one like he's pretty much missed the ball all year.

Wild card? Pfft. We'd be lucky to ever challenge for that spot. Five wins a year before the current iteration of the team quits on him is what we're getting. Can't keep turning over the roster until he finds some folks that will hang with him for six. Besides, we're running out of Temple alumni.

Yeah, I do. Or at least one who can make it look like there's some progress being made. Rhule just looks more and more and more out of his depth. He's the dog that finally caught the car... has no idea what to do with it. Edit to add: Just watch Sunday, you'll see.

Deadman walking. Team isn't behind him. Atlanta wants a win, we're not going to be able to keep them from it. It's a sad time for us Pathers fans. Rhule will be out of here by Monday.

I'm not sure we even make it past Atlanta. And New Orleans may beat us with a QB who doesn't even have a uniform yet (man, they've been snakebit this season... that old voodoo hex they bought years ago must have come due). Winning against the Bills and Bucs? No chance at all. We are there to strengthen their playoffs seedings.

Nailed it. The much vaunted plan was chucked out the window early. Then things started getting desperate and we looked and acted like one of the bottom-feeding teams of the league. Now, we're performing on the field like one of those teams. The team has realized this isn't a pro team anymore. Heck, Detroit could beat us on a neutral field eight times out of ten now, simply because their guys are fighting for their coach rather than making vacation plans for January.