Geaux_Falcons

I'm still blown how Wentz got that Pass off with Vic dragging him down though.

Exactly, and the same could be said about last week. Matt's thrown like 5 int's in the last 2 weeks. Fortunately he played better overall compared to last week, and our defense came to play as well today. We could easily be 2-0 right now with less turnovers and that's after playing 2 very tough teams.

I don't think the offense as a whole is clicking just yet. New guys on the OL,injuries forcing other guys into action on that same OL(Lindstrom, Kaleb somewhat), new offense again, and of course Free coming back from injuries. That's not even accounting for 2 tough defenses we've had to face.

Collins didn't come around until about the 2nd half of the season in his year starting. Oliver still has lumps to take, but he's going to get there.

Defense played a **** of a game. Matt had some miscues, but hey, it ain't always gotta be pretty.

Week 1 is certainly a liar. We had quite a few miscues throughout the game that are easily fixable. We gave up almost 200 yards rushing, but that was due to Kukiak doing what he is known to do in attacking the edges with his outside zone. For the most part, Grady, Davison, & Bailey controlled the interior. If they didn't get a TFL, they were only giving up 0-2 yard gains. We got beat on the edges. It hurts more when you throw assignments out the window, and miss your fits in the run game as well. The good news is, that's fixable. Film study, and coaching can turn all of that around. Getting off the field on 3rd downs is another key factor. We had 1 drive where we got back to back penalties that kept the Vikings drive alive on 3rd down. If we get off the field for that series, we avoid that TD that was given up later in the drive. Offensively is where I think we lost more than anything. Even if the defense gave up points on run plays, the offense wasn't making it any easier by not putting up points. Costly turnovers killed multiple drives including 2 inside the 20 of the vikings. If we convert on both of those drives with points, we're looking at a best case scenario of being down 7 instead of down 21 still going into the 4th Qtr. Pass pro wasn't all that bad. Matthews got beat a few times, while Kaleb had a play where he looked like he got absolutely whooped(Hooper didn't do him any favors really), but we looked solid for the most part. Losing Lindstrom sucked, but hopefully this is where signing Brown & Carpenter will show its value. Many will say otherwise, but I don't feel comfortable with Freeman at RB anymore. I think Kyle got the best out of him, and Teco was a great compliment. Both are now gone, and Dirk may be better running Ito & Quadree, as Ito is more elusive, and Quadree is much bigger and useful as a bruiser up the middle. With that said, I want to see more of Keith Smith lead blocking if we are sticking with Freeman. Keith had a great pickup in pass pro yesterday. Didn't see much of him afterwards. Another thing, we never forced the Vikings to throw the ball. As we all know, throwing the ball can lead to TO's much quicker than hoping the RB will fumble. Of course this was much easier for them to avoid because they had a lead and had success running the ball on the edges, but maybe in a closer game, they may feel the need to throw it a few more times to try and put points on the board. Again, this is all fixable. I'm positive with some actual game tape to critique, and "extra" work in practice, we will see a much better team next week.

You would think they would have learned after 28-3

Was going to say he would have led the receiver to stay in bounds if anything and probably get 6 like he did Ridley today.

Glad somebody noticed we shot ourselves in the foot more than just getting flat out dominated. We turned the ball over 3 times in viking territory and one of those was inside the 5 yard line.

FWIW, Kai Forbath is available, and he's a career 85% FG kicker if we really are that concerned Italian Ice can't cut it. I don't have any worries, but an 8 page thread about kickers seems to suggest, we(as a board) think it will be an issue.

You're not trading up for QW and still having picks left to draft OL later, unless you're throwing a dart at a board and hitting a bulls eye on a 6th rd pick. Factor in the extensions we are giving out, and it makes no sense to trade up for QW given we NEED cheap, rookie contract players.

And this is why I lurk and don't post often. The pessimist want a perfect world where we draft quality players, extend them for cheap, affordable deals, and then turn around to still have money to make big, splash free agent signings. I just don't get it. You can't have your cake, and also get some ice cream as well. Sometimes decisions have to be made to cut veterans that you don't want to. Some of the same guys that are being clamored over as potential signings, are guys that other teams simply couldn't afford themselves anymore. What makes us exempt from being in the same boat as them? Some of those guys needing replacement will be good players that will just need to be replaced via the draft, or on rare occasions, via trade. Sometimes that will result into signing a guy that's a lesser player. The guys that needed to be re-signed to long term deals are getting locked up rightfully so. The cost of doing that business requires letting some other guys go, who are either coming off cheap, rookie contracts or are simply viewed more of a luxury than a need. When you've draft well, that's a good problem to have. Having future outs make these decisions even easier. This year is a perfect example of all that. We cut guys we needed to(Alford) and already had drafted players we felt would be future contributors(Oliver). There's a reason we are hyped as not only a sleeper to win it all, but by some outlets one of the favorites to win it all. It's not because the cap was mismanaged, but because we manipulated it well enough to be in this position, and I'm sure we will do it again next year. May cost us some guys currently on the roster, but we have a drafted next year, and have high hopes the one this year will be ready to supplement the future cuts coming. It's why drafting Ridley(whose on track to be a good #2) 2 years ago will make sense when it comes time to let Sanu go if we can't re-sign him.

Funny enough that is our starting defense sans Senat/Kazee

Or we sign Ajayi, he blows his knees out first day of practice.

I think I would rather see how Ollison, Ito, & Green look in camp. If Free is healthy and productive, then that trio will do fine behind him excelling in different areas. If he's injured, or not as productive, and those 3 come out of camp looking ready, then I would rather go RBBC.