KSpan

Then you must not have watched most of the second half. They were not good enough, like the rest of the team. Still plenty of weeks to improve and I expect it will.

You are the one claiming Atlanta could 'pin their ears back' but it was a 1-possession game for most of the second half and they collapsed. It was not a complete performance and not good enough, therefore was not a 'great game'. Pointing that out is not prohibitive of also acknowledging that the receiver gets sucked, Young was a young QB in his first NFL game ever, and the play calling was suspect. I'm sorry, but it's this kind of nonsense that keeps Carolina in mediocrity. They were decent but not good enough, and the OL can improve just like everyone else.

That's what happens when someone wants to be top-paid. It's not hating, it's simply a high standard - big money requires big performance and gets big scrutiny. I have nothing more to say here. The reality is that unless he improves he is the type of player that will either be surrounded other stars and benefit or else will ultimately hamstring a team by not making true impact plays when it counts most while eating a lot of cap. It is what it is and today was that exact situation, a repeat of the past 4 seasons. This game was not out of reach and he vanished/got bowled over in the second half when a play was needed. I hope he takes that step but today wasn't it. Let's see what happens next week.

Who blamed him for losing? Just saying he didn't stand out when it mattered most. Not all stats are created equal, and it would be less of a point if it wasn't a 4+ season phenomenon.

But I was told TMJ and Mingo were the second coming of Rice and Taylor.

Oh please. OL play breaking downright when they are needed most is not playing well. I'm not saying things can't/won't improve, but today was not good overall. KnOw FoOtBaLl BeFoRe PoStInG.

"Before they were a problem they weren't a problem"

OL wasn't an issue? Bryce was sacked 4 times and harassed almost every play In the second half. It absolutely was a problem.

2 scores down and no visible urgency or extra energy. Wat.

Just get away from the ball you moronic punt returner.

Sure could've used some Burns presence in the second half, eh? I like him but it's a common theme, unfortunately.

Rushing TD literally right at Burns's edge.

That god awful return decision gonna get bailed out by that horsecollar tackle. Edit: Nope. Hilarious.

Was always a bad pick vs. Slater. Bummer how it's gone for him so far.

One game with amidst a contract negotiation... gonna need a little more before declaring him ascended. Seen this movie before.

Horn hurt already? Lolz.

It's also possible that Burns has been operating in good faith and the front office isn't holding up their side of some deal. That's total hypothetical on my part and I don't think it's the case but just a possibility showing hoe we have no idea why this is playing out as it is.

Was really obvious the Rams were going to be down for a couple of years. No, no one guessed it would be Kupp being injured, but that's just part of the 'how'.

I might care more again when it's on the field. But for now, I'm just friends with the team and it's squarely on Tepper's decision-making since taking over. Sucked all the life out for half a decade now and have to earn it back again.

It's not my job to figure all of this out, but it's obvious that having more draft picks and salary cap room with a quality young receiver for your rookie QB is better than not having any of those things. To your second point, DJ is one season older than Burns, so keeping him and letting Burns go would be a wash. Having Burns here is not going to attract anyone - that is overblown. Players have their motivations, but playing along with your thinking it would be pretty attractive to have a bounty of picks and cap. And you say you're open, but there was a deal last year for 2 1sts and what ended up being basically a 1st. If that deal isn't/wasn't good enough for someone then they aren't actually open to trading in a realistic sense.

Having 2 other high draft picks, assuming 1 is used on a rusher as you say, and an extra $30MM in cap prompts the question of where weapons for the offense are coming from? Seems obvious. The better question is where they are going to come from now if that cap room is gone and with no high draft picks. Hell, even trading Burns to Chicago instead of DJ and maybe keeping one of those 1st and/or 2nd rounders would have made more sense then the timeline we're currently travelling.

After declining that windfall last year such a scenario would just be... hilarious. Sad, but hilarious.

Pep absolutely should be first ballot. Smitty, as others have mentioned, should have been as well. Luke... I love Luke, but I'm on the fence about his HoF status. If he would have hung on a couple more years and continued to play like that then it's a no-brainer, but as of right now it's a close call.

The front office, maybe even including Tepper, misjudging where the team was at and the work required to turn things around with a new staff, new schemes, new QB, new skill position players, etc, does not mean it's not a rebuid or restart. It pretty clearly is. To your original question no, you don't always trade players that need to be paid, but in some situations it makes sense to do so. This was one of them and they blew it, a bounty of picks to grow with a shiny new rookie QB and a ton of cap room for a guy that is driving to be paid more than his on-field contribution to date. MAybe he earns it and grows into a more complete player. Only time will tell. The flip argument here is that a team doesn't always have to hang on to every one of their good players - that can be a path to cap purgatory. See Deangelo and Stewart, Olsen, TD, etc.

The atmosphere in KC is pretty energetic but the Canadian wildfire smoke has been crazy these past days and it's rather hazy. Not really here nor there as it shouldn't have much impact on the game, but will be curious if it shows up on camera.