Khyber53

Honestly, say what you will about Ron, but he deserves to be a head coach in the NFL. I'm not seeing Rhule showing that he's there yet or will be. We weren't just outcoached or out game planned. His team (of players that often wouldn't make second string) was motivated and tougher than we were. That's a hallmark of Rivera players -- they're tough and they'd run through a wall for their coach. His guys just got out there and turned it into a back alley street fight and we could not hold our own. Cam and the offense really didn't screw it up and did quite well at times from a limited playbook. Our O-line even performed okay. But our defense got beaten up and stuffed into a locker. That was bad. Rivera won that one, hands down. If you can't beat the old coach (when he's without his star defensive players and is on a guy who was a third string QB here for a hot minute), then maybe you shouldn't be the coach. Rhule's seat should be incredibly hot right now.

He's a pass rush DT in the nature of his play style, he moves forward and that's about it. This whole defense is built to be strong in pass defense. Teams haven't quit running the ball, though. And the smart ones against us really, really run the ball. So much so that I think it may actually be what is making our pass defense look so good statistically. Why pass when your second string back can get 10 yards before a player locks in a tackling grip?

If we can't fix the run defense, nothing will matter.

How'd that go for ya?

Seems like Taylor Heinicke plays his best games against the biggest name QBs. Something tells me he's going to be tough today (and will need to be so, because he's going to take a beating). Ron can put together a defense, even when he's missing the parts. But there's a chance this team has as high spirits as they've had since mid-season 2015. The WTFs can prove they are a feisty, tough team today. The Panthers can prove they belong in the championship discussion. We've got a lot riding on this game, but we have more firepower than ever before and our defense has been phenomenal. WTF hangs in until mid-third quarter but stalls out. Panthers 31 WTF 17

Wife and kids are away, so just a couple of burgers on the grill.

I'll never convince you otherwise, so...

And pay another back up QB, right? Just a few million. No biggie.

Might as well, we're going to be paying for him next season anyway. And giving up that draft pick next season.

Well, let's hope it works out. It never does with any other team, but what the hey. If it's a necessity then we have to. If it continues because they want to get cute, well, it's his career I guess.

Cam's had a season and an offseason learning to read defenses and understand plays under the tutelage of Bill Belichick and Josh McDaniels, probably two of the best coaches a QB could have, definitely the best ones Cam has had. Cam is an experienced and successful NFL QB with a real box of tools at his disposal, but those two coaches have given him something he couldn't have had before. Cam has matured, but hasn't lost all of his fun, but he's going to show he's wiser and more learned out there. His arm might have lost a bit (might not, too -- considering the extended rest) but I think he's going to make up for it in a big way. I never thought we'd see Cam back here, didn't even want anyone to talk about such a crazy thing, it just caused disappointment. Now, he's here and I'm a whole lot happier than I thought I could be with this season. Hope it holds out!

The guy is going to run afoul of the SEC again or the IRS or some other entity before too long. Too much money, too much smarts and too much THC for it not to end up in an accident. As soon as he comes out and says crypto currency is just imaginary money, the game is up. A lot of folks will lose their shirts and everything else they have but he'll still have more money squirreled away than anyone could ever imagine dealing with. Dude just needs to pay his fair share of taxes.

Happy birthday! Hope there's a win in it for you, too!

We've just got to win and things will settle in our favor. It's been a while since we've been at this point in the season and had real optimism.

Nah.

Let it go, man, let it go. We've moved on, he's moved on.

Smitty's stats sucked on those seasons where he was injured, too. He just kicks people when they are down. Loved him when he was on the field, this stuff since then really shows the quality of the man.

To many variables out there, we're just going to have to win out and hope that's good enough. Injuries and COVID have more to do with how this plays out across the NFL than anything else.

Glad to hear your brother is improving and let's hope that keeps happening! Yeah, I held onto hope that the Darnold move would somehow work out. It was a headscratcher when they made the trade, but as we went into the season I'd made up my mind to cheer him on. I even came out with big support for him after the Minnesota game. But truth be told, he's just not been rehabbed and the old gun shy Sam came back. I wrote the season off and our coaching staff. The Cam comes back and it feels like a shot in the arm to the whole organization. I hope he can follow up the magic of "I'm Baaaaaaaack" with the continued chant of "Keep Pounding" as we move on. I want to see us get there, climb the hill and maybe write one helluva story. Certainly makes tuning in each week a lot more interesting.

Donte has become a willing tackler, even an aggressive one, which is a major change from previous years. Could it be he's just become more comfortable with contact, has bought into his defensive coach's attitude or is it the weight of a future contract? Who knows? Who cares? It's working. We're going to have some expensive decisions to make on defense next year. Donte can only keep making his case stronger (here or elsewhere) by continuing on this trajectory.

Heinicke may not be great or even very good, but a handful of teams have gone into games saying this and just got embarrassed by him. He's a strange one -- he beats teams he has no right competing with and gets beaten by teams he should easily handle. One thing about him, though, the kid is impossible to scare. He's got moxie like crazy.

There was a bright spot or two before Cam as well.

He's a gentleman and a first class person all around. Sadly, things just wore down here and it was time for both to move on. I hope he has great success there, just not when he's coaching against us.

Always a big concern, but our 12 year-old is free of it and the bloodlines for the 18-month old should be clean as well. Still, you can never been 100 percent certain no matter how you try. Sadly, the breed has an average lifespan of 10 years. Big ol' dogs with big ol' hearts just don't live as long.

Oh and here's some info on the breed: https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/lifestyle/the-greater-swiss-mountain-dog/