Quote:
Originally Posted by calia
You know, and despite some of my own recent rants, I think things aren't as bad as we think. Consider:
1. We lost to Philly (in Philly) by 2 in week 1 (and before they lost Hurts). Even though we didn't play all that well (offense was very slow to get moving), it was a tight game.
2. We lose to Dallas after JD5 goes out -- and the game only got out of hand thereafter (and after a few horrible calls by the refs).
3. We beat last year's champs (Seattle) at home.
4. We lose to Indy -- again, after Mariota goes out injured.
5. We tie NY -- admittedly a game we had no business failing to win.
6. We lose by 6 to the best team in the league (in their stadium) with a chance to win in the last minute that slipped through our fingertips (literally).
Our record isn't great (ad we knew the first part of the season would be rough), but I am coming around to the idea that the sky isn't falling. We were a few plays away from winning 3 of these games (Philly, NYG, SF), and QB injuries hobbled us for the other 2 (DAL, IND).
To be clear, I am not saying our O line is good -- it isn't. And I am not saying the injuries aren't really concerning -- they are. But the only 2 games where we weren't competitive were the ones where our QBs were injured during the game (and, I would add, they were far from the only injuries we were dealing with).
If they show up on Nov. 1 at home against Philly and lay an egg, then I'll have a hard time believing that all isn't lost. (Not to mention, I will be at the game (my first in years), and I'll be mightily pissed.) But I think I've convinced my self not to panic just yet. That said, I definitely want to see them do something to improve our O line performance (no idea what that could be). To me, that is the thing holding us back the most right now as we haven't been consistently sustaining drives and keeping our D off the field (not to mention, we've gotten our top two QBs nearly murdered). With just average O line play, I think we're in a materially different place. Gibbs always understood this -- the year they won the Superbowl with Rypien, he was sacked only 7 times during the entire season. For those who don't remember, it was like sandlot football -- guys running around forever until someone got open. Imagine if JD5 -- a more talented QB than Rypien, Williams, or Theismann -- had that kind of time.
Anyway, a little breathing room, and then time to shit-stomp Philly.
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I was feeling the same way earlier. Injuries and bad officiating have cost us so far. Though the latter has cost others too, it's easy to argue the Indy game was turned on multiple awful calls. Then we get Monday's 'H2H contact is fine' game.
But that said, the lack of OL quality is a big factor, and it showed Monday. Some of that blame has to go on AP (fluffing C and having virtually 0 quality depth along the line). Hopefully Tunsil is back while we can still benefit from him this year, but we should be scouring the FA and trade market to bolster the line. If we don't protect JD5 better, this will be a long painful season.
On that subject, I'm not saying JD5 is getting jittery (he's stayed in the pocket and taken some shots), but some of his decision making and situational awareness has been woeful at times. Throwing away on 4th down, not realising he had to spike the ball v the Giants, missing Diggs and Williams wide open on plays and throwing tough catches instead. Is he maybe mindful that the OL don't have him covered?