MasterStrategist

Beane never said shut down for the year. If you actually listen to his PC, he clarified Elam could return in 4 weeks, 5 weeks, etc. Whenever he's ready/ healthy. That's if he goes on IR, Beane likely doesn't mention this though unless it's their plan. Elam did miss practice today.

Good to hear from Beane, always a nice listen. 1. Elam: injury talk is part of it, but sure sounds like alot of mental/confidence concerns right now. Just not playing to his talent level, which happens. Hopefully that "switch" comes on later this season, but early next might be tipping point 2. DT: Beane whiffed at backups, that's clear as day. We all saw a need for a better 1-tech backup, Poona was a "plan b" signing. They should have prioritized that more, hopefully lesson learned and possible they are still looking at some FAs or P/S guys 3. Rasul: sounds like it will be tough to get him meaningful snaps this week. But never rule it out, just think they won't rush him and he will likely be ready for Denver matchup

I'd call it a big game/measuring stick...not must-win (yet). Fact is alot of those other Afc teams play each other, specifically Afc North, and have tough schedules too. Realistically, we need to get to 10-7 for a "very strong" chance at playoffs. That's 5 more wins....Broncos, Jets, Pats, Chargers. Those are basically must wins. Then a win against either Bengals/Boys/Eagles/Chiefs/Fins. Gets us to 10-7, likely a wild card. If we only win 9, then we will likely lose the conf record tiebreaker-unless we get fortunate. I'm with ya its a big game, and team needs to treat it as a must win. But this is just one of 5 remaining games, we might not be favored but need to find a way to win 1. I think our best chance is against Miami week 17, Eagles/Cowboys tougher than this one and Chiefs a bit more favorable matchup.

Did we fill Dawson's roster spot, or still at 52?

Obviously will be a tough matchup, but thr praise on Cincy right now-let's review: 1. dominated 49ers, but coming off a bye week and the 49ers are really dinged up. QB missed time all week, CMac less than 100%, no Trent and no Deebo 2. Struggled, but won against Seahawks. Defense forced critical redzone stops 3. Cardinals are worst team in NFL right now, Dobbs about to be benched All to say, NFL is week to week. We are just as talented and have a QB that can also take over games. Last week we played a great game, albeit scoreboard didn't show it. I think it will be a FG finish, both offenses going to move the ball.

I wouldn't say Shakir has elite hands, given he's shown to drop some easy ones (college, LY, and this year). BUT, he does make the occasional elite contested catch. He also has the "slippery" YAC ability, and should absolutely be getting more reps. He also has ability to get open against man, similar to Harty. Been saying, we needed more Shakir/Harty opportunities. Offense really gets into a rhythm when spreading the targets. Not much to say about Dalton, other than Stud. He's smooth as it comes getting upfield after catch, and he does have elite/best hands on the team. I'll start to feel really confident, if the offense can repeat/show up similar next week against Cinci. We need this type of performance against elite teams.

Fl St -20.5 Penn St -30.5 Oklahoma-7.5

It should be obvious, definitely better. We took our foot off the gas pedal, and went way too conservative with a 14 point lead. TB basically ate up 8-9 min of the 4th qtr with their 1 drive (wo looking up the exact time). If anything we can gripe about their "conservative" playcalls that led to punting on consecutive 4th and short in opponent territory. The offense moved the ball at will for most of the game. Definitely struggled against NE, Gmen, and Jax at even 3 and outs (did we even have any last night?), not to mention other execution. Up tempo / getting to the line of scrimmage sooner, was a clear driver of success.

Refs missed the flag, otherwise its a first down. That simple. Most teams/good QBs fo thr exact same thing

Point isn't the free 5 yards, it's getting a "free play"/5 yards/at worst run out the qtr. Refs missed the offside, decision was smart

And that's the point....blitz early and then those "simulated blitzes" get the oline/QB on edge. Baker has looked jumpy. We sit back the entire game and he just gets comfortable/into his drop back with no concern. I'm pro-blitz, it's not different than KC/Spags

You think it's THAT bad? Based on your source, or just observation? He seems injured but his velocity and touch is much better this week

You notice Josh hold the tablet with his right hand then hand it off... cmon man

@Alphadawg7nice call man

Joe Brady, QB coach. And no, this is what we've been missing on offense Josh legs.

Would like a screen, but know it never happens

Absolutely the opposite. Blitz/aggressive, mixing in dime with Rapp and Poyer at LB. Completely different

Shakir didn't make that "rub" contact, otherwise Diggs gets that. Good drive though

Personally, I think it's more about play selection (1st down execution) than substitutions. We subsituted/had alot of personnel groupings LY too. For reference on 1st down: 1. 2022 : ran the ball 46% of time, for 5.5 YPA 2. 2023: running 47% of time, for 3.5 yards per attempt 2 less yards per carry is very significant on 1st down, especially when we're deploying more 12 personnel this year (you'd think we could run the ball with more success). That to me, in a nutshell, has been the problem (too much 12 personnel and not enough run game execution). We're also getting sacked much more frequently on 2nd down, TY vs LY, causing worse 3rd and long situations: 4.8% vs 2.4%. So less effective running on 1st down, sacked more and less efficient on 2nd downs. Less 12 personnel and more 11 should help IMO...nobody is respecting our run game

Agree Elam isn't good for us right now. I'm not confident he'd be better, even in a more friendly scheme fit for him. He looks horrible this year-regressed, played decent/not good LY. Not saying it's out of the question that he'd become productive elsewhere, he just has the look of BUST. K Toney comes to mind. Super talented, some team's fans would be pumped for Elam too, but he's inconsistent and being coached by one of the best secondary groups in NFL.

Thanks for sharing! If all true, then.... 1. Only 2 callups per week (I think this is still true?): would have expected Wilson and Ankou 2. Likely means Ed is healthy to play 3. Offense must plan to roll with more 4 WR sets. Going from 12 to 4 Wr would be a welcome sight 4. Elam, agree, he's likely being shopped in a trade. No other reason to call up Norman. All I have to say about an Elam trade, is Beane really whiffed/hopefully he's packaged in a deal for a solid player (that would help ease the situation)

Not to undermine your 1st point, because I agree we are 5-2 or 6-1. BUT...we can play this "what if" game on many things: 1. What if...offense hadn't been a mess in our 3 losses 2. What if...offense didn't dominate Miami, do we still win with a healthy defense? On the 2nd point, I do think McD is doing best we can ask for on defense. Offense coaching is clearly underperforming/unit shouldn't be struggling in 1st halves so much. But, on that 2nd point (re:Front Office), we've been good NOT great-bad list: 1. Elam- can't waste 1st round picks 2. Backup 1 tech DT: no plan to address this, sorry Poona wasn't the plan either. Now go into next year with just Ed under contract 3. WR2: ALOT of offseason debate, as of now looks like the Gabe train is off track Lots of games left this year, but if we don't win Thurs night that will be 2 straight "should be" wins (couldve been 3) and that's a coaching issue. Next year, Beane needs to basically hit on every early pick again and be extremely wise spending FA...we are in cap trouble with a handful of poor/underperforming contracts.

Let's go for it...make it an NHL type trade: DHop, Simmons and Henry Give us your best and we'll give you our worst, I mean: Gabe, Elam, and a 2nd Kidding aside, I do think DHop makes a ton of sense at the lower cap hit.

Thanks Alpha! This has McD fingerprints all over it-he wants to sustain a balanced/ball control offense. No better way than a top tier RB who almost automatically gives 3 yards per touch, at minimum. I wouldn't love the move, because I place WR2 at a higher need/impact. But Cook has never been a workhorse type back, still think he's better used with 5-10 carries and 5+ catches per game. In theory, it opens up the passing game/far less 2 high safeties. Perhaps that gets Gabe useful again, and/or more intermediate targets for Kincaid and others. I'd also not be surprised if we reached out to Tenn on other guys. They are definitely "sellers" right now, they'd have a few pieces that'd immediately help us.

Knox is a very good blocker, but for whatever reason is never a consistent option in the pass game. Not just drops, but low target share. Not just this season but years past. He's one tough dude, ie: Rambo, but he's always battling through an injury it seems. Same as college. His biggest challenge is staying healthy for long stretches. Always a fan and up to this point, good value. But starting next yr, $14.4m cap hit (6th highest amongst TEs) will really sting us. I'll be genuinely shocked if we try restructuring his deal....not the type to do it for/injury concerns. $15m+ cao hits in 2025-26 already. No way of getting out of that contract, without $20m+ dead cap until 2025. Hopefully he come back healthy and balls out next year. We will need it for that cap hit