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So... Sam Darnold. Are you encouraged or discouraged


Zod
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Y’all. This was the Steelers backups. Sam was acceptable against backups. He didn’t light it up and they left plenty of points on the field.

The bigger issue is how horrible the offensive linemen were.

Tampa’s D-Line might end Darnold’s season playing like a bunch of Ray Charles and Stevie Wonders like Smitty said. 

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43 minutes ago, mrcompletely11 said:

He has a better arm than cam

The disrespect around here is wild. Players get older. As a rook he dropped almost 900 yards on two defenses. If Sam can scratch the surface of that in the deep passing game we will be cooking.

  • Pie 2
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Some good and bad tonight. I think Sam will be okay, but we have to keep him upright and not let him start hearing footsteps.

There was a clear difference between "good Sam" and "bad Sam" tonight, and you could see it when his feet started dancing or not.

If we get him right between the ears we might have something here.

  • Pie 3
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The last drive, I saw promise, so ultimately it left me encouraged.  But only slightly.  I'm hoping he can hold onto that momentum and it leads him to reaching his full potential here...  but, as I said in the other thread, the line wasn't terrible while he was in, and yet, he had some very Clausen-like, panic-induced moments early.  Those two extremes bother me, but I feel like watching that last drive, if he can string some great plays and drives together, I think it could change his entire career trajectory once he feels the confidence that he can and is making plays.

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Honestly,  I thought he looked like a rookie.  A good rookie,  but still a rookie. One that is still learning this offense and his targets.  The offensive line is not doing him or this team any favors.  I think Rhule will be forced to throw the two rookies in there if things don't improve in a hurry. 

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