KSpan

As if him being currently employed actually prevents anything... come on now. That's exactly why there wouldn't be anything publicly known, but we aren't naive enough to think that the conversations like that don't take place. They absolutely do, and quite often, in one way or another. It's the same thing with fans declaring "Why didn't we talk to So-and-So player?!?" when they sign with someone else; in many cases preliminary conversations took place, it was just clear it wasn't going to work and there was no upside to either party disclosing that. Exact same thing that happens in every business and industry in the world. With respect to Evero, I've never been a big fan and don't like the kind of scheme he runs (which is not exclusive to him or Carolina these days). I do believe/am willing to give the benefit of the doubt that if Canales and Morgan (or any other staff in this situation) thought a better option was available and viable at this time, they explored it before this particular news about Evero staying came out.

Who says they didn't? We have absolutely no idea what all goes on behind the scenes, be it the coaching staff, free agents, or anything else. No reason to automatically assume that anything the public didn't hear about never happened... in fact, I'd say that a sign of a good staff and FO is the ability to operate without everyone knowing every detail.

Which has nothing to do with the comment that was made responding to the claim that Teddy never had a game 'half as good' as Bryce vs Atlanta, which is demonstrably refuted. Caveats, qualifiers, disclaimers... that game goes both ways. The definitive statement about franchise QB status will be made throughout the first half of next season.

Nothing I said was incorrect or twisting any kind of truth. Penix did not cause the Falcons to lose, which is exactly the position people have been making about Bryce for weeks now. It's the same thing and the only point I was making.

Absolutely, but while signs are pointing up it's still too early to know Carolina did just that. With respect to the general question, does he deserve credit for maybe finally getting the f out of the way like he should have done from Day 1? Same standard of proof here... jury's out. Seems like he may have actually gotten something right, but the first half of next season will be much more definitive for everyone IMO. The bar has been raised - can it continue to raise?

Obviously, yes - I live in KC and have watched the entire Reid era (and long before as well) firsthand. But he absolutely was Smith's competitive spark that year, and if Smith had not come out firing Mahomes would have been on the field. Reid and the FO kee what needed to be done.

Did you seriously just suggest using social media comments as some sort of barometer for athletic performance? What an absolute clown show of a comment.

No, it would not - Dalton was clearly enough. All i said was that they need to keep an air of competition. You are flat out making things up at this point.

Where did I say to spend a draft pick or a bunch of money? Hint: I didn't. The threat of Dalton was clearly enough this year as. A 'cheap vet backup'. Stop putting words in my mouth, you look foolish doing so. That aside, Bryce absolutely did not prove anything long term - that can not happen until next year. No player can do so with a samp size this small and with the abysmal performances put on film previously. It would be foolish for the team to not have a continuing development plan that does not include a viable alternative.

No, you made up the BS strawman that you posted first and I responded to for giggles. All I said was that the team should consider keeping competition if they feel it would benefit him.

Point being what exactly? The corollary here of course is that if he had been challenged sooner instead of anointed and not challenged, he would have performed better throughout his career. Which is almost what I'm suggesting the team continue to consider with Bryce... Craziness, I know. I mean, who would think that a guy that clearly benefitted from competition might still benefit from some degree of it in the formative years of his career?

Where did I say any of that? I didn't. However, let's pretend for a second that I did. If the competition is indeed a catalyst of Bryce's performance, and it sure appears to be, would it not be sage to keep that solidly in place rather than risk decline in performance? Is that not worthy of prioritizing in some way, shape, or form? And is that not the responsibility of the FO to address such priorities? Boy, if you don't stop...

That goes both ways. Carolina should have lost vs the Cardinals and today if not for Kyler and Atlanta's kicker and defense, and the Saints and Giants games were both FG margins as well, and those games were not high scoring. Last year and earlier this year can't be ignored completely - it doesn't work that way for such a drastic shift and small sample size. However, there is a definite trend of notable improvement and scoring in recent weeks and IMO Bryce and the offense coming out strong next season can carry a lot of weight toward that trend being permanent.

Except Lamar did it yesterday. Has to be shared at best, unfortunately.

Your last sentence is completely disingenuous. Having an alternate viewpoint is not attempting to 'prevent you from being happy'. Bryce needs a larger body of work for a definitive assessment either way, full stop, and discussing it all around is completely fair. Deal with it.

Yup. The excuses/rationale that folks made for Bryce in recent weeks apply for Penix today - drops, missed kicks, and defense. Game would have gone the other way with any of those elements absent.

Completely fair, but we know what it took to drag Bryce out of the gutter. Plus, your last sentence goes both ways - is this stretch a mirage or were the first 17 starts? Only time will tell.

What is your point? Consistency makes the best the best - Matt Flynn had a great couple of games once too. Keep Bryce competing and when he continues to show this type of command for more than a game and into the first half of next year, that will be a stronger indicator. Until then, jury is still out. That's all I'm saying.

Alex Smith had an aberrant season with 26 passing TDs the year they drafted Mahomes as well, a.k.a. clear competition. That is an example of why I think Carolina would be remiss to take all competition off the table at this point. Need to keep things rolling strong into next season.

Would be great if they know what they're doing, but competition is what brought him around this time. Hopefully their chosen course of action, whatever that ends up being, continues this trajectory.

For perspective, the Chiefs never got over the hump until they got Mahomes and then got Spagnuolo. Bryce needs to show he is beyond the Alex Smith/Teddy tier of QBs to get past the hump that matters.

Nope, not yet. If things continue this way for the first half of next season though, odds at better.

Think what you like, it's a moot point until next year anyway. I hope that Carolina continues to keep competition for Bryce, as that seems to have been a motivator for him this year. Don't fix what isn't broken.

Nah, Bridgewater had games like this with New Orleans. Atlanta put up no real resistance. Bryce and the offense did exactly what good offenses do in that situation and scored nearly at will, but Atlanta's defense was every bit as atrocious as Carolina's today. Again though, I said that if he continues then I'll be wrong and we all win. It appears a much stronger possibility then it did this time last year. At this point only time will tell.