ImfromClayton

To this point, we have the worst pass rush in the league. Nothing in football happens in a vacuum. Corners have been fine. Not great mind you, but fine.

IMO, if Ceedee plays against us, the game probably goes the other way. Same with Tyreek Hill and the Dolphins. Our team just isn't designed to beat teams with two high level receivers like that. But when you look at the league, how many teams really have two guys of that caliber? There's nothing wrong with defensive adjustments, but sometimes I think a lot of fans want Evero to call a different play like a game on madden, and defensive football just isn't like that. That said, I thought we did a much better job this season against the Cowboys of flipping Jaycee and at least making them work for it, opposed to last season when they literally just lined CeeDee up on the other side of the field every single snap. For us to just straight up switch to consistent man coverage, or a different zone, or whatever, we likely would consistently need different personnel on the field. Doing it a few times a game is a gamble and can work, but if we consistently run man coverage against the Cowboys, eventually a RB is going to beat a linebacker, or something of that nature with our personnel. Part of the reason Evero likes this scheme is that, while we have our defaults and presets, what we do is very multiple, and you can do a lot of different things pre and post snap. We are a challenging defense to read. But as you said, if guys are getting beat, it doesn't really matter what you call.

I don't think officials are biased. I think that is lunacy. That would be about the only way to break the multi-billion dollar money printing machine that is the National Football League. I do think some teams are harder to officiate than others. Some teams do a better job taking advantage of the rules. And officials make mistakes. We see it more with teams like the Cowboys and the Chiefs because they are on national TV more often.

I'm not sure how much I'm changing mid year, especially when we are seeing some success. Most Pass Rushers are physically gifted. Scheme and personnel help, but you gotta have the Jimmys and Joes, especially at that position. We will likely lose games when the other team can throw for 400 yards, and has multiple high level receivers, but I think at this point in the development of our franchise, we have to be ok with that. You can't address every single issue at once. Really looks like we have plugged some holes on offense, and definitely in run defense. In the next draft, if we hit on a CB, an ILB and a Pass rusher, we will be pretty dangerous.

We’re 6 games into their careers. it’s never as good as you think it is. It’s never as bad as you think it is. im stoked right now, but let’s pump the breaks on this.

But a bunch of people on this chat page told me Bryce Young can't throw the ball downfield.

These threads really expose some people. First: We run a primary cover 3 zone scheme. We can't just move Jaycee wherever the other team's #1 goes. If you watched us, we did a good bit of randomly switching sides and roles yesterday to try to mess with them. They simply audibled and motioned into plays and packages that put george pickens away from Jaycee. They did the same thing with Ceedee Lamb last season. It's ok to say that the other team did a good job of something. Second, We have allowed about 40 combined rushing yards the last two games. There is absolutely nothing wrong with our defensive game plan. In fact, a lot of folks owe Evero an apology. The issues on defense is that we do not have personnel capable of rushing the passer, and we do not have a 2nd corner capable of covering the best receivers in the NFL. I can live with the 2nd problem, but the 1st one has to be addressed in the draft. Princely and Scourton have been solid, but they aren't going to be 10 sack guys as rookies. They may get there though. The more we can force teams into 3rd and 4th and long, the more chances we will have for turnovers. I think the job Evero has done with this crew has been pretty solid.

I like the wild and crazy stuff. I like the traditional stuff. It's the blend of the two that looks awful to me. When we go all blue, it looks way better with the black helmet. Blue jerseys with silver pants looks better with silver helmet. Every other pair of pants looks better with the black. When we go all black, it looks better with the black helmet. Silver pants = silver helmet. When we go all white, it looks way better traditional, with the silver helmet. Silver pants = silver helmet. black or blue pants = black helmet. ^^^ These should be the rules. I've enjoyed the creativity, but we look downright silly, like a 6 year old with a madden controller some weeks. I'm a sucker for white/white and black/silver though.

I think Rico is really good, but he has an insanely small sample size here. Look at the production in Dallas. He was good there too, with an extremely good O-line. That said, what he's done here the last two weeks is not sustainable. At some point, the production will decrease, or he's the best player in the history of the league. Those are the two options.

Rico has been awesome, but we just played two of the worst run defenses in football. Let's take it easy before we trade away our best players. Rico has definitely earned more carries and a much more expanded role. Multiple things can be true. We also have Dowdle on a one year deal, and I'm not sure how likely we are to extend him. He's 27 and RB's tend to fall off a cliff in their late 20's.

What I like most about Dan is that it appears he values production over measurables. I know that's ironic considering the XL situation, but I also think you are far less likely to miss if you draft that way.

I don't think it's swings as much as the positive people post after wins and the negative people post after losses. Most people haven't changed their minds on much. I'm overly positive. Tend to avoid the board after a loss.

Derrick Brown is one of the most unsung heroes in the history of our franchise. He's played almost entirely through the dark ages, but he is an absolutely dominant, game wrecking force. He's definitely the best player we've had since 1 and 59. If he had played on a better team he'd likely be a HOF type player. The team was absolutely miserable, but if we had even been decent he'd have had a case for DPOY in 2023. He's legit one of the best DT's I've ever seen.

I'm a big fan of Dan. His ability to find productive players deep in the draft will pay off. I'm going to give him 1.5 draft classes right now, because I do think it's a little unfair to evaluate his first year when he got the job in January, especially when we went into that draft not having a first round pick. XL and Brooks are still big time TBD players. Both still have incredibly high ceilings, but both have also given us legitimate reasons to have a lot of pause. Trevin Wallace, Chau Smith Wade and Jatavion Sanders have IMO outplayed their draft position early in their careers. That's a great thing. He also got Coker and Demani Richardson as UDFAs that year. Given the situation we were in, I really don't mind the gamble on the high ceiling guys. Still may work out, still may not, but if you made a checklist of ideal situation for an NFL GM to walk into, ours was near the bottom of that list. Every single 2025 pick is contributing in some way. That typically doesn't happen. I am absolutely blown away by this draft class 6 games in. Even the best GM's miss on occasion, and we can't expect Dan to be 100% on drafts moving forward. Ryan Fitzgerald was an excellent find as well. Comparing our last two drafts to the previous few is pretty shocking. Can you imagine this season without our Rookies? It would not be good. Additionally, this roster only has 6 players with more than 6 years of experience, and two of those are specialist. The next step is equally important, and still very much TBD. We have to avoid Cap Chaos.

We don't have to tear down Dak to appreciate what Bryce did yesterday. Dak had 0 running game. If the cowboys were better, he'd be a legit MVP candidate if he keeps playing this way. They did it with Ceedee last year, but they do a better job of anybody we play consistently of getting their best receiver off Jaycee. Bryce was good too. If we just catch the ball that was intercepted, we probably win by 7+, and Bryce goes over 200 yards passing. Biggest shift the last few weeks has been play calling. I thought Canales abandoned the run game way to early at times last year. This year he really seems to be sticking with it. I still think Chuba is better at making 4 yards when there's nothing there, but Rico is better at making 30 yards when there's 6 there. I like the direction. Hopefully we can get Moton, Sanders and Coker back and really be dangerous. Our play action game is pretty deadly right now. Unrelated: My favorite quality about Bryce right now is his ability to see the defensive hold and throw the ball there. He EXPOSES the officials when they don't call it. That one on Tetaroia yesterday late in the game was a bad miss on their part.