oldmanfan

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.

I’ve already answered the Knox thing. Other teams scheme their TE open. Cincy did with Hurst today. We don’t for Knox. Edmunds would be a force in the right scheme.

Not a remake, but a pretty big retool. Predictions: 1. Morse retires, and they let Saffold and Bates go. Draft a C and sign a FA guard. Boettger takes the LG spot. 2. Poyer goes. Oliver is not extended. Singletary comes back because there isn’t a big market for RBs. 3. Draft two O linemen and a S the first 3 rounds. Shakir becomes the # 2 to Diggs. 4. Edmunds is signed, and Frazier moves on. We get a DC with a more aggressive mentality.

Today was sad but not painful like last year. We clearly lost to the better team today. Not so last year.

Got our ass kicked. It happens. Doesn’t mean you blow the whole thing up but McD and Beane have to take a critical, objective look at everything.

We need a new interior O line. Boettger could help. Bates may be better at C. But we need significant upgrades either through FA or draft. Let Kromer tell you who he needs.

Knox to me was not but unlike other teams we don’t scheme for him. I question if the D linemen are scheme vs. talent but today they simply did not match up physically.

I have been wondering if it’s the guys or the scheme. Today it was the guys. They simply got beat physically. Groot is a keeper. Basham is a situational guy. Same with AJ. Oliver it’s hard to tell since he was hurt, but if he leaves I can’t say I’d be disappointed.

Close counts in horseshoes, hand grenades, and back seats. Payton had a first ballot HOFer and won 1 SuperBowl. So please just stop. McD has decisions to make this offseason as does Beane. They need to make unemotional decisions whether Frazier or Dorsey come back. They need to overhaul the lines.

An old fashioned ass kicking plain and simple. Out muscled, outcoached, out everythinged.

They dominated the game. Sometimes you can look for reasons to blame coaching or whatever. But sometimes it’s just as simple as their guys kicking our guys in the teeth. We need more toughness.

Continue to build around Josh. Get some O linemen

Has nothing to do with that. They are just kicking the Bills’ asses up front.

Football has always and will always be about beating the guy in front of you. And both their lines are doing that. We had to have a stop and they walk right down the field. Embarrassing

Love Josh. But Burrow is playing better today.