Ryan Obviously a Work in Progress

[Radiohead]

Well, here we are. Flat on our backs again. We have a kicker that cannot make a Field Goal to save his life. Cornerbacks who cannot cover consistently... ever. Finally, and most alarmingly, a QB who was put in the Hall of Fame his Rookie year, who now in his 2nd season looks awful. I saw it differently a few weeks back when talk of Ryan's slump were appearing in the national and local media. But, I was in Charlotte for the game yesterday and I could see the fear in Ryan's eyes.

Now, to be fair. Had Jason Elam gone out and made an easy should-be automatic >40 yard FG (what he gets paid 6 figures to do) Ryan would have never thrown that ugly ugly 2nd INT. But, there are more alarming signs than the INT's. Matty Ice does not look the same. He was more confident and way more accurate in his Rookie season than he has been all this year.

I do not know what is wrong with him. He was getting rushed, but I saw it live and in person and there were maybe 2 plays where Ryan got rushed enough to have to fret in the or out of the pocket, but no. Every time a D-lineman got anywhere near him, he was FREAKING out! He looks like a terrified college QB making poor decisions, but even worse, poor throws. As if it wasn't bad enough that he is not making multiple reads and forcing throws, but his accuracy seems to be getting worse and worse.

This is a very serious problem folks. Ryan has got to rebound and start playing better, even if we lose every single game from here on out. I would not care, as long as Ryan was showing the same promise he displyed so candidly last year. Without an accurate, cool, confident QB driving our ship, you can go ahead and welcome in that "rebuilding era", because we've still got holes everywhere folks. This 2nd draft by Dimitroff (or lack thereof) is really beginning to take a toll on our W-L record.