BrianS

I definitely think a loss to Atlanta will seal Rhule's fate. I still don't think we actually see that until after the season is over. One of the things that I believe is being way over-thought in NFL circles is the concept of finishing a bad season strong. We heard about how good Rivera was at the end of seasons. The more I've pondered this, the more I think it's fools gold. By the end of the season, many of the good teams start resting players for the playoffs. If a player is even mildly injured, no way he plays. The clearer the playoff picture becomes, the stronger this effect becomes. I think things like that sometimes give us these seemingly "good" results for bad teams at the end of a season.

Here's the problem Joe Brady has. It's one thing to look at what our offense has done the last couple years and go "I see what they were trying to do, and they just couldn't pull it off". Whether the failure was personnel or execution, if you could look at our offense and go "Oh, I see what we wanted to do" that's unfulfilled potential that you can work with. That's not what I see when I look at our offense. We definitely have personnel issues, but most teams have them. What I don't see is a consistent plan. "We're going to run the ball more" - Matt Rhule. Did you see it? I didn't see it. All I see is the same failures over and over, and I don't see what we are doing to either work around the issues or correct them. That falls on coaching, and in the case of our offense, Joe Brady.

If Rhule is let go, odds on it won't happen until after the season. There is no benefit. College coaches have already moved around. Pederson is the only unemployed NFL coach out there, and we can't talk to employed coaches. What's the point?

Can we please decide once and for all if Rhule has full roster control or not? I can't keep up.

Gilmore was actually a brilliant move. We gave up a sixth round pick for a high level experienced veteran to come in and set an example for a very young DB room. To top it off, even if we make no effort to resign him, we'll get a BETTER PICK as a compensatory when we lose him. There is no downside to that trade. None.

No. Name a Super Bowl winning coach who didn't win his first within five years of taking over his team. I'll wait. (Andy Reid is the only one I know of)

Faulty logic. Just because you were hired does not mean you are given the tools to succeed. You would think that it should follow, but I assure you that it does not.

I agree with this. Brady needed to go, he clearly wasn't the right guy. That also doesn't invalidate the possibility that he was set up to fail. A real conspiracy theorist might go "Brady was set up to fail so Rhule could claim that he should have appointed his own guy instead of looking for the best". Effectively, it could have been Rhule saying "I know best".

Wrong. That was terrible offensive football. It was admitting that Jones didn't have the arm to throw in that wind. That's all it was. The game was tight. There is no excuse. It's not like the Pats put the game out of reach running. They were a couple dropped passes away from losing the game. That's an offense Ron Rivera would be proud of. BS. It was a terrible display by a team that effectively admitted the limitations of their rookie QB. This was a game the Patriots simply didn't lose. Which is very different than saying they won it. Barely 200 yards of total offense? Come on.

Yea, I'm not sure why so many are lauding a Patriots team that managed to score 14 points. Their only TD was on a LONG run that probably should have been stopped in the backfield. If the Bills just made the plays that were in front of them I think they win the game easily. Jones doesn't have the arm talent to throw in that kind of wind. His one completion beyond the LOS was an amazing catch by the receiver.

Anyone who can't see the red flags with Josh McDaniels is not someone I want choosing our coach. This isn't to say the guy isn't a good coordinator. He clearly is. But he's not head coach material.

Then is irrelevant. Who he is now is relevant, and unclear. Is Cam the guy who went 21 of 27 and 2 TD's? Is he the guy who 5 of 21 with 2 INT's? I don't know. Neither does anyone else. It's no different than Darnold after the Eagles game. Do you assume that the Eagles game defined him? No. Of course not. One game doesn't define any player. Thus, the reason to keep playing him is to reveal the truth of what he can be right now. Has nothing to do with feel good stories, has everything to do with sorting out what we do next year.

Cam plays QB the rest of the year. Period. You need to find out to the greatest extent possible whether he can be an NFL QB in his current condition - whatever that might be. If the answer is that he can be a QB, you can likely get him cheaper than any other QB you may consider. The guy was on his couch remember.

Of course it will. How could it not? I'm still stunned that Sean Ryan wasn't given the OC duties for the rest of the season as a potential tryout for the permanent role.

Leftwich smells like the next Adam Gase to me. Looks brilliant with a HoF QB running the plays, looks very questionable with a lesser talent. Pederson had one good season as a HC. One. How much of that season was Frank Reich? He had two "ok" seasons and two losing seasons. Yes, he had success as an OC under king Andy for a couple seasons. Not sold on Pederson, but he may be the best thing out there. Bienemy is the same thing as Pederson, another king Andy guy. Reid is amazing, but he hasn't yet been able to get any of his magic to rub off on one of his coordinators. Daboll may be good, hard to say. Prior to being with the Bills, his offenses were "underwhelming". He's certainly done well with Allen up there.

Yea, I absolutely do not understand the timing. That was super weird. Brady has been under heat since very early in the season. I suspect Rhule is under a lot of pressure. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that this move was forced on him and that his only recourse was to can Brady or lose his job as well. At least we know the last five games will mean something. Either we compete and win a couple or we lose out and probably end up with a new HC. I suspect it's up to the players. Either they believe in Rhule and fight for him or they give up, letting it be known that he isn't getting his message across.

There is no way Rhule gets fired before the end of the season. It's not happening. In order for him to stay, he does need to win some games. I'd guess two more wins and he keeps his job. Three more wins and for sure he keeps his job.

Right. Except that they have everything to do with it.

He's played for the JAGS! Is that the organization you want to judge for consistency? Really? The stat you need to understand is that for the two years Minshew was in Jacksonville they only won 7 games. However, despite benching him repeatedly they won ZERO games with him on the bench. Here's a little deeper dive into his stats: There are three stats there which I find interesting. One, his completion percentage. It increased dramatically in year two. That's a great sign for a young QB growing into the NFL. Two, his TD%. At 4.6 for his career, it looks very much like another QB who is good but not great, Ryan Tannehill. Good but not great? I can stand a bit of that. Three, his INT%. At 1.4 for his career, it's amazing. Rodgers is one of the best you'll ever see at not turning it over, and his career average is 1.3%. Tom Brady is at 1.8%. Completes the ball, throws TD's, doesn't throw picks? Yes please. Big fan of his. I wanted him way, way more than Darnold. For reference, take a look at the guy we traded for on those same stats.

We're winning two more games. Tackle is NOT OUR BIGGEST PROBLEM! Watch the games! We have no inside anchor at all. Most of the sacks we give up are caused by . . . yes, inside pressure. We can't blow people off the ball for 2 yards. Tackles don't fix that.

Perhaps. But I've got to believe that another season of offensive incompetence like we've witnessed this year will end with Rhule being ousted. Now, I'm not keen to wait another year to see this happen, but at least we know he's feeling pressure now.

Nixon was not named OC, the Panthers only said that he would act in that capacity over the final five games. I'm still hoping we go after an actual NFL OC this offseason.

Ok, the thread title is misleading. The Panthers didn't say Nixon was the new OC, only that he was taking over for the final five games. I don't think he's the right choice, but at least they haven't made him permanent. They really need to go find someone from outside the org and they need to do it early so that person has the FULL offseason to put their system in place.

I do think the Darnold trade looks bad right now. Still, I have to keep reminding myself that we're now on our third QB in Joe Brady's system and NONE of them have looked consistently good. In fact, they all have the EXACT SAME PROFILE. Look good for a week or four, then look like crap thereafter. Teddy looked good . . . then bad. Sam looked good . . . then bad. Cam looked great . . . then bad. Maybe we need to fix the system.

Can anyone explain to me why Brady Christiansen is at left guard here? Even prior to the draft Daley had question marks surrounding his agility, but his strength and power were highly rated. BC was thought to be quick but perhaps not as functionally strong. It just doesn't make any sense. Daley looks like a guard playing tackle. BC looks light on his feet.