Khyber53

That's why I'm like give him a chance. But sometimes it also means you happened to catch that magic moment. We won't know really until we're deep into this season which guy he is.

Brees, then Burroughs were his QBs. A loaded Saints team and a loaded LSU teams were where his reputation for genius was fostered. He came to a Panthers team that didn't have any kind of reliable QB situation and wasn't stacked compared to the competition. Honestly, you kind of have to step away from the genius label and give him some room to work. This is an infinitely tougher situation to succeed in, and one that wasn't going to be quick for anyone. So let's give him the season, but withold the genius or immediate HC gig talk until we see what he can do with what we have. Genius is a word thrown around too easily in these days of hot takes.

See, I've sat through this movie before and hoped for just that. Sometimes you just look and hum drumly think: Here we go, again.

I appreciate your effort, but you know what I'm saying. After last year's disappointment, I'd hoped to see something a bit more dynamic being developed, I wanted to see a defense that looked like it belonged in the field in a role of more than a victim, I wanted to see an offensive line that could enforce its will on the opponent. I wanted to see something other than three draw plays in a row at the goal line. I'm hoping that it's just playing things close to the vest, saving the big surprise for opening day. It's just that after two and a half decades of pre-seasons, you kinda get the feel for when things are going to be interesting and when things are going to be yet another disappointing year. I hope it's better than it looks. I've hoped that a lot over the years as the pre-season wraps up.

Sure. I just want us to not look in pre-season a lot like we did last season. There are extenuating circumstances, sure, but they look a lot like they did before.

The thing is, we really didn't get an opportunity to see what this offense is really made to do. Not having CMC for the majority of the year took away the underneath routes, screens and pitchouts that keep linebackers up close and safeties edging into the box. We did begin making the most of Curtis Samuel, but it was already too late. Mixed in with a defense that couldn't hold ground to save its life and yeah, that offense stood no chance. Maybe this year it will be able to work and we can move down the field consistently and give our defense some time on the bench. Sheesh, we really came into this season with a lot to fix.

The crazy weather seemed to affect this year's crop of kickers. Seems to be slim pickings out there. Slye may get by just because of this.

Well, that was a long cup of coffee Perryman had with us. Alright, moving along, best wishes. Looks like Luvu made that decision for us a lot easier.

Water under the bridge. Moving along. Let's just get to the Super Bowl before the Rams do and then be able to look back and see that some blessings are in the things you didn't get.

It's hard to learn to process if your coach has a "idea book" rather than a play book and your QB coach is more worried about updating his resume`. Darnold's in a much better spot than before, here's hoping he can reach his potential.

We are what they say we are until we prove otherwise. So, let's get to work and surprise some folks. We were ranked at the bottom of the league before each of our Super Bowl runs before. We know the road, let's get moving.

Hate to hear it for anyone. Anyone who saw Luke sitting on the field completely overwhelmed after that one concussion has to have some sympathy for the guy. Here's to hoping he recovers completely from this. Competitive advantages be damned, I hate to hear something like this happening to a guy.

He hasn't exactly made a name for himself with blocking, either. I think Ian needs to be someone else's project. He's our team's version of the '66 Mustang rusting under a tarp at the back of our driveway. Time to let it go and free up the space. We're never getting that thing back on the road.

Can't argue with you at all. The worry is always will the next guy be worse?

Except that DJ and Curtis both kept seeing good production throughout the year. TB wasn't doing anyone any favors, but Robby hadn't really completed a whole season before and it kind of looked like he was worn out. Just my opinion and observations. Hopefully he's better conditioned for this year and can keep producing. Imagine if Robby had been able to keep on pace that he set for the first four games...

I guess that it's the cost of doing business. I just hope we don't see his production tail off like it did last season after week 4. If so, it could start early and we could be regretting this. Perhaps it is structured to have most of the guarantee for this season and the rest is just New Orleans-style imaginary money.

The bad part is that there's a lot, a metric f-ton, of worse kickers out there than Joey Slye, some are already employed or will be before the season begins. And there are maybe a handful of kickers available out there that will prove to be better than Joey Slye. The worst of it is you won't know who those were until about the midway point in the season. Some guy who has been kicking lights out in the pre-season will get the yips by the third game. Another guy will pull a hammy or tweak a knee the second week in practice. Another one will nail some 50-yarders and every PAT that comes along while the other one can hit anything under 45 yards, but can't reach the end zone on kick-offs. Another guy will be the next Morton Anderson and roll out a 25 year career as a leg for hire. It all depends on how willing coach is on risking the known kicker on the roster already. If Slye can get over the yips on the relatively short kicks and PATS, then he's a decent kicker. If Slye can't ditch the problems, then things can go south fast for the team. But do you take one of the unproven guys or a vet that got jettisoned for one of those new guys? Helluva situation to be stuck in. Kickers man, amiright?

Hope he heals up perfectly and quickly in time for week 2.

I'm in.

This, 100%. He's got that Ray Guy thing going and it's pretty amazing, with the addition of the bounce finesse that seems to be spot on.

That really was trash, both belt bouts sucked. As was most of that card. Wow, the creatives are really sh!tting the bed over there at WWE. Amazing how hard they are working to put over Roman Reigns as a Godfather-esque heel and Bobby Lashley as someone the fans even care to see. But hey, we've got at least another month or two of watching the same danged matches over and over and over again.

There's much more nuance to the disappointment than just the record. To post another losing season in a row will be devastating. Let's see how the season plays out, I'm personally hoping for a winning year.

I like Rhule, he seems like a decent guy and a heck of a motivator. He brought in Joe Brady who was touted as a wunderkind for his work at LSU. He brought in Snow who had a reputation for being a hard-nosed, experienced defensive mastermind. That being said, last year was a disappointing mess. 5-11 is 5-11 no matter what excuses you give. And he was one of a number of coaches at new gigs, but posted one of the bottom records. Covid, for all it did, hit all teams pretty much equally. Each of those new head coaches last season were headed to bad teams, badly built and poorly led. Rivera (who had certainly worn out his place here) was fighting cancer and undergoing chemo through the season. I think the honeymoon period didn't end with Cam. Cam was shot and was just going to be too expensive to keep. He went to New England and well, yeah, let's move on. It was badly handled but I got the feeling that it was kind of a mutually awkward break up. The honeymoon ended when we went into the off season 5-11, another losing season leaving a taste of ashes in our mouths. And he we are. Rhule, Brady and Snow are still our coaching triumvirate. We've got a new QB and a fair amount of praise for our draft picks. Two games into a meaningless but potentially telling pre-season and we're hearing the same rhetoric and somewhat strained praise again. I hope we have it together this year. I want to cheer and celebrate. I don't want that disappointing feeling that was at the end of most games last year. I don't want to look at the roster and see the CMCs, DJs, Burnses and others that should be doing better than this just being forgotten by the rest of the league. I don't want them to be like Barry Sanders or Megatron stuck on a Lions-like team that will flounder year after year, no matter what they do. The honeymoon is over. Rhule and Co. need to win many games this year. They need to contend in a very weak NFCSouth or they need to perhaps go back to the college ranks. As many can tell you, sometimes a great college resume` just doesn't translate into the real world. And, could someone make a frikkin' stop on third down?

I'm sure there's a place he can get it. Don't think it should be from us.