tukafan21

For me, it's less about the % of downfield passes, it's about that percentage of them in a game against such a bad pass defense. I've said it too many times to count, this season was never meant to be about winning games as the main priority, it was always about the growth of Bryce and if he can be the QB of the future (and same for Canales' future, but to a slightly lesser extent). Set aside whether you think he's already proven he can't be, as that's a different discussion that no matter what fans think, while the season is being played, the team is never going to think he can't be while continuing to play him. So, if you operate under the assumption that the team still thinks he has a chance to be our QB of the future, that is when I then take issue with the percentage of 10+ yard throws in a game against the worst pass defense. I know we won the games and actually looked like a competent NFL team in the process, so don't take me saying this as "being upset" about the game. But yes, I am still disappointed that we didn't use a game against a defense like that to try and further Bryce's development by taking more downfield chances. Which doesn't mean 50 yard bombs, but throwing more 15-25 yard passes downfield would have been nice to see against such a weak defense.

That'a great stat and all, but part of it is also concerning when you really think about it. Maybe it's just because of how well we were running it, but it still means we only threw the ball more than 10 yards down the field only 9 times all game? And even that isn't entirely accurate as at least a handful of those "past the sticks" throws were likely less than 10 yards, such as the 4th down pass to Renfrow. It means at least 16 of 25 pass attempts were less than 10 yards, and since we know the Renfrow one was, that means 17 of 25 passes were 10 yards or less downfield. That might have worked in a game like this, but you're never going to be legitimately successful in today's NFL if you can't throw the ball more than 10 yards down the field with any consistency. Against the worst pass defenses in the league, it seemed like a game where you could get Bryce some more confidence in his downfield passing by taking more down field attempts. And no, before anyone says it, this is NOT a T-Mac post, it's just a legitimate concern that we're flat out afraid of letting Bryce throw it downfield at all. I already gave Canales his props for aclling a great game yesterday, and I still think he did. But seeing a stat like this does give me cause for concern to yet again, have a game where we had a great chance to work on things to help Bryce's development, and didn't take that opportunity (just like the lack of pushing the passing game in the Falcons blowout).

Exactly, this is all I hear when seeing this stat. It's great that he has a bunch of come from behind wins already, but it's also because that was going to be the only way he'd ever win those games, largely because of the way he played early in all of them. It's like the episode of Modern Family where Luke gets an award from the school for putting out a fire... that he also started.

I’m hoping Sauce travels on T-Mac and Bryce isn’t afraid to throw his way. Let the rookie cook up some Sauce

No Enjoy the win(s), but eeking out wins against 3 of the worst teams in the league isn’t going to get you to the playoffs. After next week, the Falcons are the 2nd worst team we play the rest of the season, 3rd worst is a playoff contender in the Seahawks. It would be nice if these game spark us to be competitive the rest of the season, but even with a win next week, playoff talk is WAY too premature.

Even if Rico was calling for it, it’s still on XL for actually trying to lateral it to him, just so dumb

Derrick Brown. End thread.

ehhhhhh, I agree that credit is due for a good game. But... "against a legit team" is a step too far, the Cowboys have a great offense, but they legit might be the worst defense in the league so far this year, and Bryce doesn't play against their offense.

what?!?! This was nothing like last week, last week we had 2 monster plays and then mostly dink and dunk plays. This week was chunk yardage gain after chunk yardage game, we had I think it was 6 runs last week of over 5 yards, the announcers called out today that we had 12 runs of over 7 yards while I think it might have still been in the 3rd quarter. Last week was because of great plays by Rico, this week was because Canales' play calling kept the Cowboys off balance all game long (although yes, credit to Rico again as well) T-Mac scoring has zero to do with this thread, c'mon now

lol... nah, not this time. Like I said, I'll be the first to congratulate Canales on a well called game, and this was his best one yet. Sure, there were a few head scratching calls, but on the whole, this game was night and day compared to what we've seen out of him here so far. This game was everything I was saying I was hoping to see in that other thread last week, if you can't see the difference between these two games, then you just don't know football at all. We kept the defense off balance all game and the big Rico game wasn't because of just a small handful of big plays, but by constant chunk yardage all game long to put up a huge game. Still things to clean up, and this was against one of the worst defenses in the league, but this was a game you can look at as a positive movement forward for what feels like the first time since Canales has been here.

He was just saying he wanted to see him fight through it instead of trying to draw the flag. That doesn't mean it wasn't a penalty, two very different things.

What?!?! How are you blaming him for getting tackled mid route?

Where is the flag?!?!?!

shocking, XL with a mental mistake penalty

Gotta make that tackle, but looked like a clear hands to the face on Pickens before the catch

Would be nice, but my money would still be on Egbuka unfortunately if it's going to be a WR. Godwin hurt again, Evans still not back, and Baker throwing it around like he's Drew Brees. With the stats he's already put up, I think he ends up winning it unless Dart ends up going ham the rest of the year and wins it because he's a QB

Who would have ever thought that throwing to your best red zone target when you're in the red zone would be a good idea? Might have taken us 6 weeks to figure it out, but we're finally getting there!!!

sweet Jesus, it worked, but why the fug are we running it there again on 3rd down with someone other than Rico with how he's running today? Hard to knock Canales for a play that worked, but I did not like that call

Then that's very different, but no matter how the rest of the season goes, that has to be an offseason thing, not an in season extension like Hubbard last year.

Sure, but we can't be paying decent money for 2 RBs in 2026, on top of the recent draft picks, when our defense still has so many needs. It's not about long term cap questions, it's about the overall quality of our roster next year.

Nice run Jimmy, but maybe next time don't try and run the much bigger defender over when you're one stop from the sideline, just step out instead of ending up getting yourself trucked, it's a good way to get hurt.

I'm not defending him, it was 100% a drop on him. But if you watch the replay, it seemed pretty clear that he was starting to turn his head before securing the catch, the same thing as his previous 2 drops. That's 100% a concentration thing and not a hands thing, it's just objectively analyzing what I'm seeing, but it's still not defending him

Terrible call, but I did think it was PI downfield, weird for that one to be picked up but call that roughing

Not sure it's hate as much as nerves. There is a large portion of the fan base (myself included) that is 100% convinced he'll never be a legitimately good starting QB in this league. While sure, I'd love it if he just flipped a switch and becomes one, as it's the quickest way for us to get back to relevance. We're nervous when he puts up the one decent game because it might trick the team into thinking he can still become something and it gives him an extra year that he shouldn't get. It's not rooting against him, it's fear that he's going to do what he did last year, just enough to get another season that he shouldn't be getting.

Well, our actual best WR is also part of why he was wide open, as they had him doubled with bracketed coverage instead of one of them keeping an eye on Rico running right past them all into the open space.