Bear Hands

The guy I wanted rejected us (Ben J) but I'd be lying if I didn't say I stomached the Reich hire and convinced myself I liked it through the staff he brought in. So then, I accepted it and got excited. Problem is that we now lost 2, arguably 3, VERY winnable games and Young looks much less ready than anticipated. It's just a sour taste when our flaws are the areas we were primed for the biggest improvement. Looking ahead, the upcoming schedule combined with circumstance has us in a bad spot that will get worse. Just be ready folks. Jefferson, then Detroit, then Miami. It could get downright ugly and Reich is obviously not going anywhere in the coming weeks. Could EASILY be looking at 0-6 going into a stretch with 3 teams that were supposedly on our same "tier": Bears, Texans and Colts. This offense needs to be non-Clausen level by that point. Honestly, sh*t will absolutely hit the fan if we're 0-6 and lose to Stroud to get 0-7.

Yup, this seems like an ideal back on track game. Regardless of W/L, we need an emphatic performance reminding everyone why he was the #1 pick. Vikes play sloppy. Let's make some sloppy joes.

Yeah we had to take a gamble and I'm happy we did. Not happy with the results thus far (or) how this HC is working out, it's looking bleak, but we had to shoot our shot at some point. I mean, and in the absolute worst case, if Bryce completely implodes and gets blown into the quantum realm, it's not like we can't take a QB in R2 next year at 33 right? lol

361 yards in one game (AD) vs. 299 in 2 (BY) And yeah I think he was right around 160 yards at the half. Would love to see Bryce get past this sprain and make something happen this weekend. We all want this to work out, really hope he gets something going. It's the Vikes. Jefferson and Addison could go bezerk, but just give us some offense please.

Have they even clarified what the issue with his ankle is? Soreness? Strain? Sprain? It makes people think of all these wild theories but the longer the vague updates continue.

Not to mention, he still isn’t a 3-Down type. There were a few big series where he needed breathers or was on the sideline for critical downs as Seattle was marching. A top-10 paid DL is a 3-down lineman. Period. Stats be damned. I’ve actually leaned into more of the “pay him” side of things but he really is not showing much different than he has his entire career so far. Except he’s got a whiny #0 and darker visor.

There are no quick fixes. We had the opportunity to add speed/playmakers in the draft and FA..then chose not to. We shouldn’t mortgage anymore unless it’s for future assets. We should be done in this dishing-out-picks phase and should be looking to collect more to make up for what we’ve lost. YGM for a 5th is about all I’ve got.

No need to oversell the “I was a CJ fan” route. I think a majority of the fanbase was, myself included. I felt the biggest want pre trade up was Stroud the entire time to the AZ pick. He’s gonna be good. He’s got the accuracy, poise, the arm. He’s got what you want at the position. Hope Bryce starts showing something when he gets back.

Neglecting getting shifty and speedy guys will haunt this team the entire season. Hell, maybe next year as well. We saw DG do the same thing along with reaching for DBs in 2016 and it ended him (well other things did but it was all downhill after SB50)

Troy Franklin it is pretty please

We're basically the 11 gen intel. And just an i5.

Sir I’m going to need you to process the way we’re processing the process of one of the best processors

This guy is good, he understands a lot of NFL concepts. Also, there's not much pre-analysis bs/he gets right to the point. Good breakdown, shows he's processing but making some rookie mistakes. Stuff to learn from. Doesn't push me overly into pushy or complacent territory, but there's a bit for him to work on.

Hubbard shows a bit more burst to the line and you can probably run stretch plays with him more effectively than Miles. Although neither are pure in the receiving department so there's a redundancy. Similar to the WR crew with certain fundamentals down but severely lacking a quick slot guy or reliable deep threat. We're missing two critical pieces most modern offenses should have: RB with receiving skills A Shifty XYZ receiver We decided to sign Miles and draft Mingo with those needs, which was in retrospect starting to seem kind of shortsighted. Guys like Tyjae Spears, Marvin Mims, Tank Dell, or Tyler Scott would have been in a good place here to make an impact.

Just crazy how quickly the wheels fell off this year. Horn is out, Brady C is done, Shaq is done, Bryce is banged up, 0-2. It's just wild. I'm not in market so it will be on my quad sunday ticket box for as long as I can stomach.

It's really about identifying what Tepper's temperature & patience was going into the season. I get the impression he's TRIED to be patient. Didn't want to look brash so didn't immediately clean house when the team was purchased. Then, once Rhule was in place, he tried to be patient and was willing to give him time. However, that backfired after it was one of those super apparent bad hires and the wheels fell off last year. Since Fitterer wasn't on Rhule's timeline, he doesn't ditch him, gives him more leverage at personnel that final season and now with a new hire. So, the new hire is off to a very bad start. The new QB is struggling and now injured. I think it could be otherwise and DT may be done trying to be patient. Maybe he's ready to be more like his ruthless self. 4-13 or worse could cause a Reich ouster. However, beyond the record, there would also need to be some riffs that develop, noticeable player morale dip, or mid-season staff changes that reveal additional fundamental issues. I think it's unlikely given the staff and Reich's character, but it could happen. It would need to be like Mularky/JAX, Tomsula/SF bad.

Fitt is slightly hitting more than missing at FA but draft is a different story... I don't like to compare drafts after the fact because it's all a crapshoot, but the Mingo pick and then aggressive trade up for DJJ (who's been inactive) is just not looking like the best strategy given the holes. I would have loved to target a trade down from 39 (I.E. PIT had 48 and 80) given who was available, but no doubt, that needs a willing trade partner. I just hate to see some draft crushes killing it right now. Tuli is crushing it for the Chargers, Torrence in BUF, Mims in Denver, Spears has looked great for TEN, Byron Young in LA.

Reich's teams historically start slow. Although, the offenses have never looked like what we've sent out, not even remotely. My gut tells me they oversold how much of the playbook they've truly deployed with Bryce combined with the fact our receivers aren't doing diddly minus some nice moments from Mingo and Thielen. Reich's playbooks have been far more nuanced and flavorful than what we've seen utilizing mesh and hi-lo concepts. Rivers knew and worked his system better than anyone in SD and IND. So that's just my gut instinct about Bryce. Combine that with the running game having no explosion, you get a rudderless offense. However, I don't think the OL is necessarily in shambles--we're not going to "ruin" Bryce. He needs the reps. So first things first--I just want to open things up more and see some sort of pulse on offense. We need a reliable speedy receiver. Even if it's Dalton out there at QB. We just don't have that. TMJ is a 4.3 guy who jogs, then Mingo & Thielen aren't providing that and we cannot rely on Chark, Shenault is not a route runner. It's such an obvious need. All of Reich's offenses have that speedster.

It went from optimistic to cautiously optimistic to full meltdown...if the losses continue, memescake factory will be far sooner than expected.

The Italian QB Gino Malnati Smith

Meant to respond to this -- I can definitely agree. Just look at the recently succesful teams and the coaching tree/affiliations: McVay/LAR, Shanahan/SF, McDaniel/MIA, Taylor/CIN, O'Connell/MIN, Staley/LAC...not to mention BJ (under Campbell in DET and Waldren under Carrol in SEA are carving out really stellar offenses. LeFleur is making Love look pretty effective without their main weapons at 100%. They're all intertwined in more than a few ways. The McCoy/Haley tree that Reich, Sirianni, Steichen and a few stem from has promising aspects but it's a mixed bag of old and new. And very dependent on who's running the offense. We just look to be on an entirely different plane than most and it falls like this bc of scheme and their philosophies (and a few other factors I mentioned in the OP). I just thought we were finally pushing past this fragmented cellar we've found ourselves in for some time with the new staff. I officially have some heavy pause. The next few weeks and how this offense progresses/regresses will be telling. I'm of the opinion coaching outweighs QB and player by a little bit of a margin so if you don't have the right coach, you're not getting to the big games. You can make it there with a balance of parts/players...but not without the right coach. Rarely there are players that can supersede -- Brady, Cam, etc.

Okay, Skip mocking our repetitive running game was funny as hell

Reich has mentioned collaborating and working together on building a playbook but I just don't see much at all of what where the philosophy and calls are coming from the wide zone systems/Brown's side of things. That's a huge question for me. I'd really like to know what the deal is with what we've seen. Are they (a) still implementing (b) favoring more generic west coast principles (c) combination? I can see the easy answer being a or c but they need to show it--I see a lot of deep step backs w/ developing routes, they're running dives, some traps, WC 3 WR sets, some pistol, very few stuff like bunch formations w/variable personnel which shouldn't be difficult to throw into the sauce pan.

@TheCasillas Thanks for the context. Will no doubt give it some time. I'd like to think we can still identify the scheme being applied aside from the extent of what is being implemented within the one we have. Given what we're seeing, I'm unsure if the playbook at full deployment will be a wide-zone influenced, diversified spread look. It seems more like his previous offense with some modern wrinkles. But even Reich at his best, there's less sails and mesh right now (maybe what we're easing in) You mentioned you're buzzing out of town but def look forward to your next all-22 look.

Took a minute to digest whatever we saw on offense yesterday (It didn't taste good and didn't digest well, a big ole' sh*t) It's not any one player performance outweighing the others. Not here to mindlessly bash Bryce. I will say, it is absolutely frustrating to see him out there like he's a 3rd-4th round pick thrown in too soon. That's not entirely on him...maybe lining up behind a guard accidentally. Jokes out of the way, what is clear as day after 2 weeks, WR regardless, QB play regardless, this is regarding how this entire offense's architecture looks. We have: Frank Reich - SB winning OC, former QB, NFL lifer Jim Caldwell - SB winning HC, SB winning position coach, NFL lifer Thomas Brown - Former RB, SB winning AHC/position coach, Highly hyped McVay protege James Campen - SB winning OL coach, one of the higher regarded in the league and then Josh McCown, former QB, testing the coaching waters. The #1 Overall draft pick in 2023 And We have: We have 266 passing yards after 2 games. -- I think how upset people about our performance so far is totally valid. The best teams have coaches who can best cater to the talent they have. The reactiveness and craziness here is not all justified, but it's pretty obvious why it's happening and another salty Darrin Gant bashes the fanbase article lies ahead. It is downright inexcusable that they cannot position the players we have to create substantial yardage, sustain drives and create points right now. We have been stifled to the effect of the 2010 lame duck season. You look around the league and there is simply no one as limited on offense as we are right now. Not one. Even Josh Dobbs is moving AZ down the field. So, my general glance, not an in depth study: The outside zone schemes of the Shanahan and McVay disciples had defensive responses in recent years, and the NFL is already in arguably phase 3 of the modern scheme wars--that we're apparently complacent being on the sidelines from, not participating in. There's been an ongoing chess match in this regard with many of the top teams and their schemes and we can't even get in the building to try to keep up with it. Modern spread, wide-zone, deception, misdirection -- is not in the building Reich framed his approach as one learning from past mistakes, being collaborative, but this looks like what he's always brought. What it looks like (so far) is a fixed system that he's used before. There's just no creativity I'm seeing right now, no outside runs, bunch formations, no defensive stretching stuff that keeps them guessing, condensed sets. If there is, it's in such minor doses, that it's irrelevant. So, you get this type of group together, the #1 overall draft pick who can do this stuff (and showed in college), I'm sorry but you 100%, HAVE to look more competent. There's no excuse for looking this bad on offense. I can buy certain aspects, such as, Bryce adjusting, having nice moments here and there and the OL having some decent stretches for backup guards playing. But this is putrid. It is EARLY, but this is a huge early indictment on the coaching staff. They need to make serious adjustments and an early come to jesus about what they've implemented IF this is what they intended to deploy. Show us why people kept saying this was some rockstar group of cats we put together. It's going to be a tough go against a SEA defense that's finding their identity with some quality DBs. Looking forward to some of the deep divers to dig into what we're seeing because, it isn't pretty by any stretch of the imagination. Overall: Hoping for some more enjoyable football ahead. I will say, Evero has our defense looking absolutely awesome. Evero vs. Waldren will be fun. Hope Shaq heals as well as possible. No one on the Offensive staff or players seem like sh*theads, but it looks like sh*t that's for sure. Cheers.