tukafan21

Ugh, I'd want to hear almost anything other than calf injuries these days, always seems like those tend to lead to Achilles issues lately (knock on wood)

I mean, if he wanted out of Houston because he wanted to be used on the blitz more, I'd think he would just be replicating what we have with Moehrig and Ransom already, what we need is the back end safety.

His Freshman year he played for Jackson State, which is in Mississippi and closer to the Saints and Falcons than the Jags, maybe even the Texans, Cowboys, and Titans as well, lol

Yep, I always said the best way to use him in the NFL is as a full time CB, and then get 8-12 offensive snaps a game. Half those snaps he's out there as a decoy so the defense doesn't know where the ball is going every time he's on the field, the other have are play calls with him as the first read, and likely trying to get it into his hands quickly to let him make plays with his athleticism. That also would mean he needs less practice time on offense too, as he's not trying to get his routes/timing down with the QB as he'd be running a bunch of quick hitter routes or screens to get it in his hands. How NFL GM's didn't see this is beyond me (or maybe some did and it's why the Browns traded the pick and it was just the Jags who were dumb enough to think he'd be able to play both ways full time at an elite level.

Also reading this thread again and seeing that was a clear WoahCam alt, it really makes me wish he was still around to hear his takes on how "his guys" are doing this year. Shedeur can't beat out Gabriel for the #2 job behind old man Flacco, Hunter is struggling on offense and doesn't have a clear role, while T-Mac is proving to be exactly who I said he was and the guy WoahCam was very much down on for a while until he said he was coming around on him, lol

This thread was a fun re-read, and not to toot my own horn, but I'd say I was pretty spot on with the things I was saying about both T-Mac and Hunter, like eerily so. I really wish I had kept a bunch of screenshots/links to all the arguments I got into with people over the last 2 years over T-Mac, would just be fun to look back on them and laugh. To your post though, it's wild that any NFL GM couldn't see this being the case as 90% of fans out there could see it from a mile away, it really was just common sense, you can't be a full time 2 way player in the NFL today, and he's a better CB than WR, always was. The fact that they traded a future 1st and a 2nd in that draft to move up to take a CB and part time WR is beyond comical, and even if he ends up a great player, is more than likely going to be looked back on as a terrible trade by them. Two 1st's and a 2nd to take a CB is just asinine, I'm not sure there has ever been a CB who was worth that, even the peak years of Revis or someone like Asomugha weren't worth that, let alone a full career of play.

Not really sure I’d say we had “constant success” on the ground either. Take away Dalton’s kneel down and Bryce’s scrambles and we had 103 yards on 27 carries. Not garbage, but not constant success to where it wouldn’t have been reasonable to let your QB try and gain some confidence by throwing it a bit more, or even just further down the field. I’m happy we won, but just frustrated in that we somehow didn’t even look that great in a 30-0 win because it was largely due to the Falcons ineptitude and bad mistakes. We only had 2 drives all game of over 30 yards, the 61 yard opening TD drive and a 48 yard drive for a FG. So it’s not like our offense was some well oiled machine that couldn’t have been trying to throw and push it downfield more.

I agree that we already know what we have in Bryce, but the team doesn't, if they did, he wouldn't still be our starting QB right now. Also, for as bad as he is, I do think the players believe in him, so the more we have games like this, the harder it will be for the players if/when we move on from Bryce after the year, which is a good recipe to destroy a locker room. But your point about the team and the fans needing a win is kinda my point. The fact that this franchise and it's fans just "needed a win" is why it's so hard for me to enjoy a win where we could have both won the game and used it as an opportunity to let Bryce loose in the 2nd half to see what he can do when he plays loose.

Do you honestly believe this is a team that will even be in contention for a playoff spot this year? To me, if you're not at minimum a genuine contender to make the playoffs, every win you get is a meaningless win in the end. This is the NFL, it's not peewee league where you just want to win a few games and have fun, you want to get into the playoffs and have a shot at making a SB run. We haven't had a winning season in how many years? Does "enjoying" a small handful of wins every year really make for an enjoyable season for you? I said it months ago and I'll say it forever, I don't care about winning or losing this year, as we don't have a playoff caliber roster yet and I'm a realist about where we are as a franchise. I'd enjoy watching the games so much more if the team and Bryce in particular were just showing marked improvement, even if it came in losses. Because THAT would give me hope for the future of the franchise and the direction we're going. Bryce was complete garbage in Week 1, in Week 2 he was terrible until the Cardinals went into super soft prevent defense and then collapsed gain when the game was in reach, and he was a serviceable game manager today, but didn't make any throws that any college QB couldn't make. This game was a perfect chance to let Bryce go out there and play loose because of the lead, just let him be himself and see if it sparks his college self. But instead, we went unbelievably conservative with the play calling to help ensure the win, when actual wins and losses are the least of our worries this year, it's figuring out what Bryce can be (fans may be decided, but the team obviously has not yet). I don't want to make the playoffs every few years, I want to contend for SBs. I just don't get anything out of 6-11 type of seasons anymore, they're way more frustrating on the whole to be able to actually enjoy the few wins just because our shitty team got a win for a change.

Sure, let's not throw end zone jump balls to a guy who can do THIS................

The point is that we were always going to win this game in the 2nd half, and we just went more and more conservative as the game went on, when we should have been going the other way to let Bryce see what he can do. Hell, I'd have thought it would have been dumb as they need to build their connection, but even if we sat T-Mac but continued to air it out, I'd have been okay with it. Because this season isn't about T-Mac, it's about Bryce and we just wasted a PERFECT opportunity to let him prove himself.

The WR and OL issues have no bearing on how we use Bryce at this point unfortunately. His rookie year, if we were in the same situation, sure, I'll accept this game plan in that case. But this is his make or break it year in the franchise's eyes, if he's going to be our long term solution, he needs to be able to play well as a passer despite those injuries. If we're not even willing to let him attempt to play like that when we do have them, if anything, I think that says a hell of a lot more about Bryce than this win says about anyone involved with this team right now.

Exactly, my frustration today is with the play calling. We had a chance to let Bryce play loose and see what he can do, we didn't even attempt to take advantage of it in the slightest. I'm jealous of the fans who can legitimately get excited about games like today after how everything has gone since the 2015 season. I'm so sick of celebrating a few random wins each year, I'm done with it. I legitimately would be more excited about Bryce looking like a stud in a game we lose than what happened today. Because at least that scenario helps us long term, today literally doesn't help us one bit. And hell, for a fan base that has been calling for our DC to be fired, if anything, a game like this should just piss those people off more if you genuinely think he's a bad coach and needs to go, as this isn't going to help that happen either.

There have been some incompletions on pass attempts to him. But I'm rather sure today's screen pass was his first actual drop this season. Just because he's a great contested catch guy, doesn't mean every contested catch he doesn't make mean it was a drop.

But the point is, given how the game went, we weren't going to lose this game if we let Bryce air it out in the 2nd half. And THAT is what I'm frustrated with. We had an opportunity to let Bryce gain some confidence by playing without fear of losing the game, but we didn't remotely take that chance. I keep going back to the number 9... After the opening drive, we only had 9 targets to WRs the rest of the game. That's an absurd stat for a team that is needing to decide if their QB can be a long term solution or not, regardless of the game situation.

Yea, I want my guy to get more passes, but this has NOTHING to do with that. I get the "you play to win the game" mantra, but at the same time, I'm absolutely sick of winning meaningless games, and we're never going to be in meaningful games until we have our QB situation solved. This year... I'd rather lose a game where we get answers about Bryce (in either direction) than win a game where we get absolutely zero answers on him. Again, we can't go into next year not knowing if he's our long term solution. We had 17 games to decide that, he's looked terrible in the first 2 and we just effectively tossed the 3rd into the trash. Every game we don't gain more answers about Bryce is a loss, whether we win or lose the game, it's just the way this season is going to be and I'll never be convinced otherwise. Sorry, but not sorry, because I want to win over the next 10 years than win a few meaningless games this year.

So? Honestly, this means nothing. Yes, we gifted those teams points and wins, but us doing that to someone else doesn't make me okay with us not taking advantage of the situation and letting Bryce sling the ball all around the field because we weren't afraid of losing due to it.

Us gifting them the opportunity doesn't mean they also didn't give us a bigger gift in return by missing it. The point is just that if THEY didn't make the mistakes they did, it's an entirely different game.

Fair point, but at least for me personally, I'm less upset at Bryce today as much as I am the coaching staff, and I think I've made that clear in my posts so far today. Now, if I were to go back and watch the All 22 view and see Bryce turn down the downfield passing opportunities that were there, that would change things for me and put some blame more on him. But without seeing that film right now, I'm upset with the coaches, not the players. With the one exception being that I still think Bryce NEEDS to call audibles when we're inside the 10 and T-Mac gets 1 on 1 coverage, call a hot route and just throw it up for him to make a play over the DB's head. But again, that still might not even be on Bryce, that might be on the coaches if they're not allowing him the freedom to make those calls at the LOS. But there's also just no way for fans to know the answer to that particular question.

You do realize though that most people don't take notes throughout the game of the issues they had, right? Asking for very specific examples so quickly after a game is tough. Personally, I just found myself, even in a 30-0 blowout win, constantly yelling at the TV for bad play calls and the lack of even trying to pass the ball down the field at all. Just dink and dunk nonstop, just like Bryce's first few years, we learn nothing about who he can be, unless it's the staff's way of flat out telling us that he's just not THAT guy and it's why they do this stuff with him. We played this game like a contending team who was just content to win the game. We needed to play it like a team trying to figure out who their QB can be and use the safety of a blowout victory as a way to let Bryce play loose and throw the ball around the field, instead of him playing tight like usual because he's afraid of losing us the game.

I guess that's my point though, our gameplan sucked and we were just lucky to play a team that poo the bed even more today. 9 pass attempts to WRs after the first drive of the game. If that was our gameplan, then we need to be firing Canales before the day is over. Because, AGAIN, this season isn't about winning or losing games, it's about finding out who Bryce is. And gameplans like that don't accomplish that goal in the slightest, if anything, they just open up more questions than create answers.

And again, if you don't think missed FG's put wind into the sails of the team that didn't give up those points while also demoralizing the team that missed them, then again, purposefully obtuse. Not saying we lose the game if they make those, but it's 100% a different game if they make those two and it's 7-6 into the 2nd Quarter.

Yes. Finding out who Bryce is, is the ONLY thing that matters to me this year, because we need to either extend him or move on from him after this year, we can't go into next year still not knowing if he is our future or not. I don't care about winning games like this, I don't care about winning games at all, just like I don't care about losing games either. I only care about Bryce and the staff proving themselves to be our future or not to be our future, this game didn't move that needle even the slightest. Hate on me for not being able to enjoy wins more, but I want a SB, not meaningless wins in an ugly game in a 6-11 season. The best path to a future SB for this franchise is by learning what Bryce can be (or not be) THIS season and being able to make a long term call this offseason because of it.

If they make those two FGs, it's a 7-6 game into the 2nd Quarter, if you don't think that wouldn't have completely changed this game, then you're purposefully being obtuse.

Oh yea, not giving them credit, but just saying maybe we shouldn't be claiming as much credit as some fans seem to be. Falcons had 2 missed FGs, an INT, and a fumble all in our side of the field. The people celebrating "we blew out a division rival in a shutout" are a classic case of not being able to see the forest through the trees right now. We won, we shut them out, fug the Falcons, all of it, but I'm also always going to call it like I see it, and this wasn't some statement game, we won, but we still didn't *actually* look all that great out there.