kungfoodude

I view them as one and the same decision. IMO, they completely intended to pick up that option once they traded for him. So, ultra stupid decision, not a calculated gamble. Had they simply turned down that 5th year option, we are basically just making a cheap, longshot gamble. Given that Darnold also cost us significant draft capital, I would have much rather signed Trubisky for 1 year and $2.5 mil. That would have been the much better and much smarter route to get a bust QB.

We'll trade for Collins and Fuller with our 2022 1st and 2nd round picks. We'll lead the league in pass defense as a 6-11 team.

Better version of Darnold but the same sort of bust reclamation project. At least he's a project on a 1 year, $2.5 mil deal. That's the kind of bust I would be after, a very affordable and very ejectable one.

Rhule deserves more blame than anyone in the franchise other than perhaps David Tepper. Ultimately, Rhule took a job where he had complete control of coaching staff hires, general manager hires and final say on personnel decisions. The buck ultimately stops with him. He chose all these coaches and players that aren't performing well. So, he should absolutely shoulder the bulk of the blame for the OL, Darnold and Brady's struggles. Those were 100% his decisions.

Not sure we would see dramatic differences between PJ and Darnold against that pass defense. Historically, there are only two teams that Darnold has a worse career QB rating against(Eagles and Vikings). He also averages the third most TO's/game against NE at 2.67(also behind the Eagles and Vikings). Of course, PJ has almost twice the career INT% that Darnold does. Sooooo....run the ball. A lot.

At least someone is trying to upgrade their QB or backup QB. Must be nice.

This has stood out this season, however if you look at the numbers, this has been a Panthers problem since Matt Rhule became the head coach on the offensive side of the ball(although it has gotten worse in 2021). The PPQ differential in the 3rd quarter this year is a startling -4.5. That is the largest single quarter scoring deficit we have seen since 2017 when we had a -4.5 point 4th quarter. 1st Quarter 2020 Offense PPQ: 5.6 2021 Offense PPQ: 5.5 2nd Quarter 2020 Offense PPQ: 6.7 2021 Offense PPQ: 5.9 3rd Quarter 2020 Offense PPQ: 3.6 2021 Offense PPQ: 2.1 4th Quarter 2020 Offense PPQ: 6.0 2021 Offense PPQ: 7.0 Interestingly, this is not the same for the defense: 1st Quarter 2020 Defense PPQ: 5.3 2021 Defense PPQ: 2.4 2nd Quarter 2020 Defense PPQ: 7.3 2021 Defense PPQ: 4.1 3rd Quarter 2020 Defense PPQ: 5.0 2021 Defense PPQ: 6.9 4th Quarter 2020 Defense PPQ: 7.5 2021 Defense PPQ: 5.8

Last year was a lot easier to watch than this year, TBH. Our offense was far better last year and that kept things interesting for most of the game, although you knew a choke was likely coming. This year has been rough. We are shooting ourselves in the foot left right and center. It's awful.

This is the biggest mismatch of the season, coaching wise. Our staff struggles tremendously with basic things and Belichick has this poo down to a science. But....Ron Rivera didn't really have much trouble with Bill, so there is that.

NE, Miami, ATL, WFT and a Taysom The Golden Calf of Bristol led NO team all give us shots at it. The question is whether our new look offense can maintain their effectiveness. With a hypothetical PJ and CMC combo on Sunday, we will know pretty quickly.

Agreed but it will never happen. This staff can't lose face like that, IMO. They are going to go out on their shields(Darnold/PJ).

I would do the same with Darnold. Frankly, they are probably licking their chops to face our passing offense.

I don't think you are going to see the 49ers give up Jimmy G when they are still battling for a playoff spot. Not to mention, Lance was a guy that had a bigger learning curve than most of the top QB prospects so it makes a lot of sense for them to bring him along slowly and not throw him into the deep end in year one. Jimmy G might get traded but it will probably be in the offseason and not during the season.

I am of the opinion that Brady is not the biggest issue on our offense but Rhule will ultimately can him because someone is going to have to pay for this season's offensive failures(largely created by Rhule). I expect Brady will be the sacrifice and Rhule's public statements seem to indicate he is setting that up.

I actually wasn't aware the Pats forced that many INT's. That is holy poo bad news for us. We have two QB's who never met an INT they wouldn't throw. Ugh.....now I am getting the feeling our defense will be facing some short fields.

New England has a +1 Turnover Differential on the season, which is 13th in the NFL. The bigger worry is our offense. New England is tied for 2nd in the NFL in INT's with 10 total. That doesn't bode well for either Darnold or PJ Walker. On the positive side, they only have the 16th rated rushing defense(by YPG) in the NFL. So, we should be able to run the ball against them.

Mac Jones just generally tries to not fug up for their defense, so we can likely get to him a little. Speaking of, their defense is slightly above average(14th in Pass/Rush DVOA). The offense is a little middling(18th rush and 14th pass DVOA). Their sacks allowed and adjusted sack rate are literally the NFL average. Mac Jones has faced five top 12 rated(DVOA) pass defenses so far this season and has 2-3 record against them. Stats versus top 12 pass defenses: 244.6 Pass Yds, 1.2 Pass TD, 1.2 INT, 66.1% Completion, 2 sacks, 7.2 rush yds, 0.2 Fumbles Lost Stats versus non top 12 pass defenses: 258.0 Pass Yds, 1 Pass TD, 0 INT, 71.4% Completion, 1.7 sacks, 6.3 rush yds, 0 Fumbles Lost

How about New Orleans. If there was ever a team that needed a QB and was completely built to win now, that's it. But, I generally believe he will stay put in Seattle for the meantime. He is just pointing out that he is getting sick of the underinvestment in the OL. I sort of wish Cam had done that during his time in Carolina. But, Wilson has some years left on his career, so if things continue to flounder(by their standards) in Seattle, he may just wait for another landing spot to come available.

I don't see Wilson wanting anything to do with the Dolphins either, unless his wife wants to live in Miami. We don't have one of the worst rosters in the NFL, we have a pretty good roster, actually. The biggest thing we are lacking is experience and that will matter to an elite, SB winning player. The more guys that have been successful in their careers and know what it takes to win in the postseason, the better your chances are. We are just light on those guys because of our youth. They haven't even really learned how to win consistently in the regular season yet. Like it or not, that stuff does matter.

Well, pick your measure? By Football Outsiders DVOA, our best pass defense ranking ever was.....1995 and 2015. We were ranked #2 in the NFL. But do you want to measure it by opponent completion percentage? Opponent passing yards per game? Interceptions? Opponent QB Rating?

Yeah but we have to build something they want to go to. Right now, that is far from the case. Especially for veterans that want to win titles and win them now. Neither our rosters nor our coaching staff is going to attract that caliber of talent. Both of those guys have won titles and they are going to be able to find excellent spots IF they decide to even leave(which I genuinely doubt).

I don't disagree that a draft prospect is the preference but the problem with QB draft roulette for bad franchises(which we definitively are) is that it can end up in a multi-year search. That's why I compared our 2018 to current span to the Browns 1999-2017 span. It looks very similar to that at the moment. It isn't uncommon for the bottom of the league to look that way for many years as they flounder trying to get a QB. This is another issue I had back in 2019 with the "rebuild" idea. Very few successful NFL franchises ever attempt a rebuild of the scale that we were attempting. Of the few that did, most spent a decade or more in the cellar of the NFL. The issue is that in the NFL, windows are short. Rebuilding is never a good idea, you have to constantly retool as you go to stay competitive. Now, on the positive side, we do suddenly have a pretty good and very young roster. We do need to keep retooling and keep improving, because this roster isn't that far from being competitive. In fact, it could compete right now if we just fixed two issues, OL and QB. But, we can't really afford to flounder in the cellar of the NFL for another 1-2 seasons or we won't be retooling, we'll be rebuilding again. That's how you become the Browns, Bengals, Raiders, etc, etc.

That has been my suspicion the entire season, TBH. I see them pulling up short on routes that Darnold is leading them into big hits and I see some frustration when guys are streaking wide open. Plus, the ball placement and timing is so obviously bad. IMO, they have zero confidence in Darnold. They know who he is and they aren't playing hard for him as a result.

Players chase money but winning players also chase opportunity. It's the reason players like Matt Stafford didn't chose us or the Jags or any of the rest of the bad franchises in the NFL. I don't see much in the way of immediate help in the draft, hence why I would rather pursue a competent veteran QB. If we just start the process of getting the OL fixed and then let our strengths(defense, running game) carry us in 2022, perhaps we can attract a top tier QB talent or go for broke in the 2023 draft to get The Guy. We will see what happens.

Yep. I would love to have kept Heineke or Cam or have signed Tyrod Taylor or Trubisky or traded for Minshew or gotten any number of other veterans that could help us just be at least average at the position. I think we are having a completely different discussion about this season had that been the case, poo OL or not.