oldmanfan

Love this. Football games are won up front.

Wow. The Mafia is with you, Pegula family.

Crowder in the slot. Shakir as the deep threat. And if we improve the O line then Davis should have more time to get open and be a true #2.

The offensive line. And hope the young guys start playing better on the D line. Football is won up front. Always has been, always will be.

A top QB list without Montana in the top 5 is silly.

Only because of his ACL which falls under stuff happens.

Third and short and goes long into double coverage. Seems familiar.

Without question

I’m good with Tre and Elam as starters. Johnson is one of the best slot guys in the league. Jackson is a decent 4th guy. Benford will likely move to S when Poyer leaves. We can fill a couple other guys in for backups; Lewis is Ok there.

Sing the anthem the way it is written!!! That was God awful!!

My all time favorite movie. As for the suggested moves, I’m all for improving the O line. But assuming we do so keep Motor and pass on Hunt.

That was last week. Look at the performance the three years prior in the playoffs. It doesn’t hold up well. That’s an excuse for last week . What about the previous few years, especially the 13 second debacle?

I’ve been frustrated as many have by the defensive issues seen in the post seasons the past 4 years. I know McD learned at the feet of Jim Johnson, the famed DC for the Eagles. So I went back and reviewed some of Johnson’s philosophies. Like our current D, Johnson believed in making offenses take their time getting downfield, believing that opened up more chances for the opposing offense to make mistakes. But once past the 50 yard line, then Johnson would get aggressive. He was a big believer in zone blitz schemes, was probably the inventor of it. He had very creative blitz calls, would sometimes send two corners out of the blue. He’d move guys around on the line to create mismatches. And his D always ranked near or at the top, despite personnel changes every year. So I’m wondering why McD’s team has strayed so far away from his mentor’s philosophy. We rarely see creative blitz packages. We rarely move personnel around to creat mismatches; we just play the same 4 man rush and it hasn’t worked in the playoffs. Our defense is passive; Johnson attacked. I wonder if McD has acceded to Frazier’s philosophy. If so, then a good reason to let Frazier go and get back to his mentor’s concepts. I don’t see us winning the Lombardi unless we change our defensive philosophy.

1. Let Frazier go 2. Finalize the new stadium construction deal and put shovels in the ground

Both. Improve the lines and Motor will shine. Wake Dorsey up and use Hines all over the field.

Yes

And the overreaction insanity begins...

My focus would be the lines and the offense in general. You win in football by winning up front. So in that approach: 1. Draft a solid G round 1. Or if a solid LT is available then get him and move Dawkins to either RT or inside. Let Morse retire and move Bates to C. Resign Boettger and let him start at LG. Draft another guy lower to compete. Focus on toughness, we need some nastiness up front. 2. Get a guy like Allan Robinson in FA or Hopkins by trade to pair with Diggs. Clear the necessary cap space by restructuring guys like Allen and Milano. This gives you a core with Diggs, the guy you trade for, Davis, and Shakir. Any other WR in the roster is let go unless signing for the minimum. 3. Resign and restructure Hines. Resign Motor; good blocker and tough runner that just needs a line in front of him. Cook of course stays. 4. Bring Allen and Dorsey and the backs and WRs in, go through film of each game, and get them in the same page. We don’t know if the offense suffered because of Dorsey’s calls, or Josh’s choices where to go with the ball. Make using the backs a priority next year. On defense: 1. Don’t resign Frazier. Get a DC that is more aggressive. McD learned at the feet of Jim Johnson who was anything but passive in his approach. Get back to that philosophy. It is not fair to players to bring a guy back whose defensive philosophy has fallen apart in four post seasons now. 2. Keep Jones, Settle and Anjou up front, let Phillips go since he always gets hurt. Oliver stays because you can’t trade him, but I’d experiment playing him outside more. And you have to hope the three young guys step up, although a new DC helps there. As does Miller coming back. 3. Poyer leaves. Would love to keep him but his wife wants him gone. Draft a S round 2, and Benford moves to S with Hyde to mentor. Resign Marlowe, let Johnson walk. 4. Edmonds gets resigned if he asks in the 13-14 million range. If he wants Roquan $$ then no; we already have one All Pro LB and hard to pay big $$ for a second with other needs. 5. We’re OK at Cb with returning guys but draft one in lower rounds or look for low priced vets. Sign Jackson as a FA. Special teams guys: I’d keep Matekevich; others only stay at minimum deals. By focusing on the O line and getting a quality veteran WR, we help Josh. By brining in a new DC we inject new life into the D. But the most important think is Josh and Dorsey. Without them on the same page we can’t win the Lombardi.

His wife and Rosenhaus don’t want him here anymore. Loved what he brought over the years but he isn’t staying no matter what the offer.

You also need to listen to McD’s conference. He specifically said the lines were why we lost Sunday and that work needs to be done there. Neither of these guys are going to throw a specific individual under the bus 48 hours after season’s end. Beane and McD will now evaluate each player and coach, and changes will be made. I hope Frazier is one such change. His D has not answered the bell in the playoffs, and a change in philosophy there is warranted. We need the D to attack more vs. be passive reactors.

We will be back at it next year, and there is no one in the division that should scare us. Do some changes and additions need to be made? Yes. But no way will the bottom just fall out.

He is an easily frustrated guy. This has nothing to do with his long term relationship with Josh.

We all love Josh, or at least we should. He put this team on his shoulders all year long, in a year when the team faced more adversity from outside than any team I can remember. I firmly believe Josh will one day be standing on the podium with the Lombardi trophy. But whether he does or not depends whether the team helps him become Elway, or whether the team “helps” him be Marino. Elway was like Josh, a freakishly talented QB that never won until the brain trust in Denver realized he needed help, and got it for him. They built an O line, they got him a running game with Davis, and Elway wins his Super Bowls. Contrast that with Marino, where Shula never built that complementary ground game, expecting Marino to do it on his own. Marino was also freakishly talented, but never got over the hump. Many say the most important thing for a GM to do is find a QB. Beane has done that. We have our guy. But history tells us you have to have more than that to win it all. It is on Beane now to get Josh what he needs to get over the hump. Beane will determine if Josh becomes the second Elway. Or the second Marino.

Football games are won up front. Always has been, always will be. We need to upgrade the lines.

I posted during the week I did not see us winning because Josh has looked off for weeks. God love him but he cares so much for the team and the fans that he puts it all on his shoulders to have the team succeed. That plus all the adversity the team has faced with Kim and Tops and Damar, there’s only so much you can shoulder before it gets to you.