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Was Rhule Blaming the Defense or Acknowledging Something Else**

SetfreexX

By SetfreexX,
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SetfreexX Mentor

SetfreexX

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A lot was made of the ''Rhule blamed the loss on the defense comments''. 

I took some time to align my thoughts aside from the frustration after the game, and this is what I settled on. 

1) The INVESTMENT in the defensive side of the ball FAR exceeds that of the offense since Rhule became coach, and this is whether Marty, or Fitterer was the respective GM at the time. (11 defensive rookies added between 2020 - 2021)

2) Burns, Brown, Reddick, Henderson, Shaq*, Horn*, are all 1st round picks // Jackson, Chinn, Gross-Matos, are 2nd round selections 

3) Offensively we feature when healthy some of the best skill players at WR & HB - CMC*, DJ, Robbie

4) What has seen little investment is the Offensive Line in recent years - Paradis was a vet signing off a broken leg in 2018, Cam Erving is a 1st round JAG who's been on CLE, KC, and DAL prior to CAR, Elflein has played out of position most of his career after being a Center in college, former 3rd round pick, John Miller another 3rd rounder on his 3rd team, and Moton a 2nd rounder that was worthy of a FT / extension this offseason. (Since Rhule, we've only added 2 offensive lineman in 2 years via the draft, Brady Christensen in the 3rd, and Deonte Brown in the 6th; compare that to 5 DL draft additions since 2020 - Brown 1st / Gross-Matos 2nd / Roy 6th / Nixon 4th / Hoskins 7th)

5) Darnold is a WIP, young enough to get better, but far from a finished product, former 3rd overall pick. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With those 5 items in mind, I don't think Rhule was so much as saying the defense is to blame, so much as he is saying ''Look at the defense we have assembled, with the investment we've made there we should be able to get the stops when we need them'even if the offense is faltering''. 

I think the staff knew coming into this season the OL was a weakness, as was QB in ways and perhaps in the draft they didn't want to reach when they had higher grades on the likes of a TMJ, or Tremble who were 2nd and 3rd round picks. 

It's important to remember we are 2 years into a rebuild, at this point all of our best offensive skill players are locked in, and the majority of the defense is under contract through 2022 (Jackson, and Gilmore pending). We also have considerable cap space, and flexibility. 

With those things in mind I think we see the OL attacked more aggressively this off-season via free agency as we just came off a Covid-19 strapped salary cap this off-season while also having to sign several players at key positions. 

TL;DR - It's not that he's blaming the defense, they simply have a HIGHER expectation than the offense given the investment there, and talent level. QB and OL are the most IMPORTANT aspects of an offense, we saw that with Cam who actually had a pretty good OL in 2015 with a bunch of average receivers (Ginn, Old Cotchery, Funch, Philly). Right now QB, and OL are the hands down WEAKEST part of our team, expecting them to close out games isn't on the table, not as currently constructed. However; based on current construction the defense has that expectation, it's why they built it the way they did. 

 

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hepcat Grand Master

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His wording made him sound like he was blaming the defense. Problem is the defense stood on their head most of the game, forced turnovers the offense was incapable of capitalizing on, and got put in terrible field position situations. The defense had a great game all things considered. The offense was beyond terrible and if that incompetency continues someone needs to be fired. 

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mav1234 Grand Master

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The actual presser, and in context, it did not sound like his message to the team and media has been "the defense is at fault," but that it was a team loss.  I think you're keying in to something important though, he has higher expectations for the D.  But we need the same investment and expectations for our O or we will squander the talent we have on D.

Acknowledging the amount we've spent on D is not blaming them exclusively when it's part of a wider set of comments though. I really think some of this is being taken too much out of context.

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SetfreexX Mentor

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1 minute ago, thennek said:

Actually- one could argue special teams lost the game. That blocked punt was the beginning of the end. Even with all of the offensive woes the Panthers still win without the blocked punt….

I'd go back to the play where Quez Watkins beat our depth Safety Sam Franklin for 56 yards, to me that is what gave PHI life / momentum; because they had been stifled all day, to me they just waited for Darnold to implode as the game went on as they sat on everything intermediate to short. 

Which they could do, due to their IDL - Hargrove / Cox

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SetfreexX Mentor

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2 minutes ago, mav1234 said:

The actual presser, and in context, it did not sound like his message to the team and media has been "the defense is at fault," but that it was a team loss.  I think you're keying in to something important though, he has higher expectations for the D.  But we need the same investment and expectations for our O or we will squander the talent we have on D.

Acknowledging the amount we've spent on D is not blaming them exclusively when it's part of a wider set of comments though. I really think some of this is being taken too much out of context.

The portion I bolded I personally believe is coming, IF he sticks to his turn around track record (paraphrasing below) we are on course.

Rhule Rough Summary Of Program Rebuild Timelines:

Year 1 - Below .500 getting the base established

Year 2 - Acknowledgeable improvement, around .500 (I estimated personally 7-9 wins as I wasn't a huge fan of the Darnold move, and knew we were weak on the OL)

Year 3 - Marked improvement Bowl Game appearance, winning record. In our case a playoff appearance / 10 - 12 wins (I think that is possible with a better OL)

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Luciu5 Veteran

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I didn't get the impression he was blaming defense or saying we lost because of the defense.  He did say when we needed 1 more stop, the defense failed even after the investments made on that side of the ball.  Period.  Take that for what it is.  That statement is not incorrect at all.

The team is built right now for the defense to carry the offense.  I think the defense did an outstanding job with the exception of a couple drives.  It's hard to get a stop on a sudden change on a 27 yard field.  Holding them to a field goal there would have been brilliant though.  That was the 3rd turnover btw (blocked punt basically is a turnover imo).  First one was held to 3 pts.  Second one resulted in a punt, so the defense did it twice already in the same game.

I think this place has a lot of people who a) like drama and b) are very angry people.

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TheWiz Proficient

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Its not hard to see that he wasn't blaming the defense. He was trying to say that its a team loss and that everyone has missed opportunities. 

But coach Rhule does come across as annoyingly passive aggressive. The way he answers questions about the team and personnel are evasive and some stuff is just a flat out lie. Attempting to be "positive about everything" means you end not being honest about anything. 

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