Random Ravens Thoughts: New Forum Edition

[wackywabbit]

If everything is bad (coaching, both coordinators, QB, defense, roster construction...), then how is any single piece there underperforming with a .500 record?

There is just no coherence to the whining going on here. If we have a clear gap holding back the team, it necessarily means that there are some aspects good enough to be held back. But I just hear that everything sucks.

[Ray Reed]

1 hour ago, wackywabbit said:

If everything is bad (coaching, both coordinators, QB, defense, roster construction...), then how is any single piece there underperforming with a .500 record?

There is just no coherence to the whining going on here. If we have a clear gap holding back the team, it necessarily means that there are some aspects good enough to be held back. But I just hear that everything sucks.

Probably because you’re in a sports forum the week after said sports team lost their 3rd game in 5 weeks when leading by double digits in the 2nd half.

And 10/32 teams in the league right now (could be 12/32 after tonight) are 3-3. It’s not a badge of honor to say hey we’re still .500 despite the flaws. That’s like the league as a whole right now. I believe the term I used last GDT was “painfully average” - just like Packers, Patriots, Rams, Bengals, etc. fans probably feel about their team atm as well. 

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

17 hours ago, wackywabbit said:

If everything is bad (coaching, both coordinators, QB, defense, roster construction...), then how is any single piece there underperforming with a .500 record?

There is just no coherence to the whining going on here. If we have a clear gap holding back the team, it necessarily means that there are some aspects good enough to be held back. But I just hear that everything sucks.

I don't understand your position on this, and you've stated things like this multiple times. Do you really believe these issues will just work themselves out over the course of the year?

[wackywabbit]

1 hour ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

I don't understand your position on this, and you've stated things like this multiple times. Do you really believe these issues will just work themselves out over the course of the year?

I've said this repeatedly too, including the post you quoted: No one is defining what "these problems" are well.

I just hear pretty much every aspect of this team being called terrible and suggested for replacement. It's not like discussing a clear fatal flaw in the past like O-line or cornerbacks or not having a QB.

Compounding that is that a lot of the spite comes from blowing leads at the end. Close game results have clearly been proven to be non-indicative of future success even though they stuck in fan's feeling more. We literally saw last year our "clutchness" flip from amazing to terrible from one half of the season to the other.

Finally I've stated that I'm liking what I see from the team and how it bodes for the season and our chances of playoff success MORE than I expected going into the season. So, given the mood here I am an out of touch optimist.... And yet we are currently 6th or 7th in betting super bowl odds right now. Both in rank and odds, Vegas thinks we are in better shape than they thought September 5th. This all aligns with my sentiment and is widely different than what you "everything is an unacceptable issue" people are saying.

Edited October 18, 2022 by wackywabbit

[bmorecareful]

19 hours ago, AngusMcFife said:

 

I agree and am reminded of this exchange between Harbaugh and Lamar:

Can you imagine Bill Parcells or Belichick ever sucking up to a QB this much? Once the HC becomes a fanboy of the QB, it's over. I understand why it happened, Lamar saved Harbaugh's job and Harbaugh has probably cashed about $40 million because of it. But it undermines his credibility as HC. 

Exactly… it’s like anybody that coached Lebron… people be too big of a fan to be honest about where the accountability lies…. look I’m probably the biggest Lamar Jackson fan I kno of but let’s be real… He is the same as he has been since his 2nd season… no better and honestly no worse… but you look at the offense around him… they are no better and actually on the oline… mostly due to injury… they are a little worse… We are treading water because it’s economically correct… We aren’t  looking to truly build a super bowl caliber team… We are flaw as f#%k and everybody watching can see this team is about keeping its bottom line revenue intact more than anything else at this point.. DJax with Robbie Anderson available for Pennies on the dollar is absurd… look man if we don’t make no real push for a real difference maker out wide after seeing what we have had out wide to this point in the season is incompetent and gives “Quit without actually Quit” vibes.. and I’m sick of it

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

41 minutes ago, wackywabbit said:

I've said this repeatedly too, including the post you quoted: No one is defining what "these problems" are well.

I think the problems are defined pretty well, or maybe it's just me?

• Highest level - 4th quarter collapses
  • Offense
    • Bad penalties
    • Lamar making awful decisions / lack of execution
  • Defense
    • 3rd down conversions
    • blown coverages / secondary communication issues
    • Inconsistent pass rush

41 minutes ago, wackywabbit said:

I just hear pretty much every aspect of this team being called terrible and suggested for replacement. It's not like discussing a clear fatal flaw in the past like O-line or cornerbacks or not having a QB.

I think that's because there's no clear one singular aspect of this team that's failing and causing these issues. It's...everything...

Offense will collapse, which leads to the defense collapsing, and then ST's will give up a big return or something as well or have a bad punt or miss a FG.

GREAT EXAMPLE OF THIS: On Sunday we had 2nd and 10 on our 2nd(?) drive. Ricard commits a false start, 2nd and 15. We run JK for -1 yards, 3rd and 16. 3rd and 16 from about the Giants' 41 yard line. Obviously we're not converting that, so Roman calls a swing to Drake to pick up some yards to get into Tucker's comfort zone. Drake is wide open, Lamar throws the ball at Drake's feet - incomplete. Tucker goes on for a 56-yard FG, hits the upright.

Bad penalty > Bad play-call > Lamar missing the easiest throw possible that would've salvaged some crucial field positioning > Tucker misses a 56-yard field goal.

41 minutes ago, wackywabbit said:

Compounding that is that a lot of the spite comes from blowing leads at the end. Close game results have clearly been proven to be non-indicative of future success even though they stuck in fan's feeling more. We literally saw last year our "clutchness" flip from amazing to terrible from one half of the season to the other.

I don't think many people are arguing that we're not closing out close games - they're arguing that these games shouldn't even be close to begin with. That's the whole point of "blowing multiple 10-point leads" thing. Obviously we're also not closing out games late, but that extends back to even last year and highlights one of the main points I said, which is that it seems nobody steps up when needed the most (late in the game in those clutch situations) aside from Tucker.

41 minutes ago, wackywabbit said:

Finally I've stated that I'm liking what I see from the team and how it bodes for the season and our chances of playoff success MORE than I expected going into the season. So, given the mood here I am an out of touch optimist.... And yet we are currently 6th or 7th in betting super bowl odds right now. Both in rank and odds, Vegas thinks we are in better shape than they thought September 5th. This all aligns with my sentiment and is widely different than what you "everything is an unacceptable issue" people are saying.

If you're comfortable with not analyzing the team's issues at all and instead just going "hey Vegas has us at 7th in Super Bowl betting odds so we must be good", more power to you.

[SalvadorsDeli]

On 10/17/2022 at 5:38 PM, Ray Reed said:

Harbaugh has become an objectively worse coach since he’s transitioned from “young hard a$$ who is too tough on the veterans” to “loveable old players coach who doesn’t raise his voice”.

Yeah, the 2012 Ravens had a mutiny mid-season because of how rigid he was, but that was at least an era when we were getting to the divisional/afc championship every year. Maybe him being so tough was what pushed guys.

Just feels like he’s lost his fire, and with it - a lot of accountability from the players has fallen by the way side

The problem to me in regards to Harbaugh's general demeanor is that he seemingly became a 'player's coach' in mostly superficial ways that don't come with the actual benefits of being a coach who is popular with his players while failing to actually ingratiate himself with Lamar in particular in the ways that actually functionally mattered. This just doesn't seem like a team that guys really seem to enjoy or take pride in playing for anymore, starting first and foremost with Lamar, and everything else has sort of flowed downhill from there. 

Keeping Greg Roman and the Hollywood trade are sort of emblematic to me of exactly where EDC and Harbaugh went wrong over the years. Did we get good value for Hollywood? Sure. Should it have ever occurred to this organization to think about what impact it had on Lamar that, in large part because of Roman's scheme, no WR's, including his own best friend, want to play for this team? Roman might not be the worst OC in the league but choosing him and basically telling yourself that the system matters more than the players when you have a special talent like Lamar was the wrong decision, full stop. 

If you're going to be a player's coach then you need your best players to want to play for you. Simply put this should have been a team guys were begging to join but we seemingly kept Lamar an arm's length away from the only kinds of decision making that might have actually meant something long-term. So yeah you have Harbaugh being sort of this softer player's coach leading to basic preparation and discipline issues and an erosion of culture/motivation within the building... but he's also a coach too inflexible to value the happiness of the most valuable assets in the organization over his own personal loyalty and sense of control in staffing. So lo and behold we end up with a QB who basically decided that there's no point in giving an inch in contract negotiations because any money he gives back to the org won't go towards giving him the kind of offensive talent his peers have to work with, so why not ask for the moon in contract negotiations. And honestly on that part I can't blame him. 

And yes blah blah blah we're only 3-3 and all that but anyone with a pulse can see that something is off with this team. None of that absolves Lamar's part in our identity devolving into a team of chokers either but that's not a completely separate issue from the distance between him and the org and the impact that's had on the culture. Post-2019 we should have completely consolidated control at the top of the AFC alongside the Chiefs and Bills, and EDC and Harbaugh completely botched it. 

Edited October 19, 2022 by SalvadorsDeli

[diamondbull424]

3 hours ago, SalvadorsDeli said:

The problem to me in regards to Harbaugh's general demeanor is that he seemingly became a 'player's coach' in mostly superficial ways that don't come with the actual benefits of being a coach who is popular with his players while failing to actually ingratiate himself with Lamar in particular in the ways that actually functionally mattered. This just doesn't seem like a team that guys really seem to enjoy or take pride in playing for anymore, starting first and foremost with Lamar, and everything else has sort of flowed downhill from there. 

Keeping Greg Roman and the Hollywood trade are sort of emblematic to me of exactly where EDC and Harbaugh went wrong over the years. Did we get good value for Hollywood? Sure. Should it have ever occurred to this organization to think about what impact it had on Lamar that, in large part because of Roman's scheme, no WR's, including his own best friend, want to play for this team? Roman might not be the worst OC in the league but choosing him and basically telling yourself that the system matters more than the players when you have a special talent like Lamar was the wrong decision, full stop. 

If you're going to be a player's coach then you need your best players to want to play for you. Simply put this should have been a team guys were begging to join but we seemingly kept Lamar an arm's length away from the only kinds of decision making that might have actually meant something long-term. So yeah you have Harbaugh being sort of this softer player's coach leading to basic preparation and discipline issues and an erosion of culture/motivation within the building... but he's also a coach too inflexible to value the happiness of the most valuable assets in the organization over his own personal loyalty and sense of control in staffing. So lo and behold we end up with a QB who basically decided that there's no point in giving an inch in contract negotiations because any money he gives back to the org won't go towards giving him the kind of offensive talent his peers have to work with, so why not ask for the moon in contract negotiations. And honestly on that part I can't blame him. 

And yes blah blah blah we're only 3-3 and all that but anyone with a pulse can see that something is off with this team. None of that absolves Lamar's part in our identity devolving into a team of chokers either but that's not a completely separate issue from the distance between him and the org and the impact that's had on the culture. Post-2019 we should have completely consolidated control at the top of the AFC alongside the Chiefs and Bills, and EDC and Harbaugh completely botched it. 

Agreed. Almost went and reverted to calling you B-Terp because this was so reminiscent of the kinds of posts I saw when I first joined this website years back.

Excellently worded and wholeheartedly agree. The energy and pulse of this team leaves much to be desired.

Close loss, 4th quarter meltdowns, players playing below potential, and lack of discipline with penalties.. that all speaks to one thing for me, complacency.

Harbaugh changed the energy of the team in the Super Bowl season, so he’s shown himself capable of doing such, so while I’m still confident in making the playoffs, I don’t think the energy of this team as stands will be sufficient in making a deep postseason run. Hopefully Harbaugh is able to figure out how to inject this team with additional passion.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

13 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

Agreed. Almost went and reverted to calling you B-Terp because this was so reminiscent of the kinds of posts I saw when I first joined this website years back.

Excellently worded and wholeheartedly agree. The energy and pulse of this team leaves much to be desired.

Close loss, 4th quarter meltdowns, players playing below potential, and lack of discipline with penalties.. that all speaks to one thing for me, complacency.

Harbaugh changed the energy of the team in the Super Bowl season, so he’s shown himself capable of doing such, so while I’m still confident in making the playoffs, I don’t think the energy of this team as stands will be sufficient in making a deep postseason run. Hopefully Harbaugh is able to figure out how to inject this team with additional passion.

Harbaugh also changed the energy of this team when Lamar became the starter, but again I feel like that energy is starting to wear off because we have a good 2-year window where Lamar was on a rookie deal and we could've really taken advantage of that, but chose not to.

Other teams (LAC, KC before they paid Mahomes, SEA when Russ was on a rookie deal, etc. etc.) load up on talent while their QB is on a rookie deal and maximize that window. What did we do? Nothing. We did what we always do, and the results of that are starting to show - with players excited to play with Lamar, but even more frustrated playing in Roman's system.

And I've been a fierce advocate of late that Roman's system isn't that bad this year, but you do have to step back and ask yourself: "If players don't want to come play with Lamar freakin Jackson because of our system, is it worth keeping this system?". Roman's system might produce results, but it's costing us talented players leaving, and as a result also causing player frustration because of that.

We've all but completely missed our window with Lamar because this organization chose not to be aggressive with him on a rookie deal to go get a Superbowl with the best possible players available because we were afraid to lose draft capital in the future. For all the ways Harbaugh and co have been progressive in certain ways of thinking (particularly on the analytics side and how they turned this entire offensive philosophy around to benefit a young Lamar), they're still very much behind in the FO ways of thinking compared to Buffalo, LAR, LAC, and KC. Those teams all went out and got ELITE players and sacrificed some draft picks to do it, but those players took them over the hump and made them truly elite contenders. We, on the other hand, have not only been forced to sell numerous good/great young players because they weren't happy playing in this offense, but we've completely failed to get elite talent on this team when it's available, either via trade or in FA.

TL;DR --> Our front office is failing Lamar and they completely missed the window to maximize him being on a rookie deal because they only care about long-term results vs. maximizing short-term windows.

[diamondbull424]

5 hours ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

Harbaugh also changed the energy of this team when Lamar became the starter, but again I feel like that energy is starting to wear off because we have a good 2-year window where Lamar was on a rookie deal and we could've really taken advantage of that, but chose not to.

Other teams (LAC, KC before they paid Mahomes, SEA when Russ was on a rookie deal, etc. etc.) load up on talent while their QB is on a rookie deal and maximize that window. What did we do? Nothing. We did what we always do, and the results of that are starting to show - with players excited to play with Lamar, but even more frustrated playing in Roman's system.

And I've been a fierce advocate of late that Roman's system isn't that bad this year, but you do have to step back and ask yourself: "If players don't want to come play with Lamar freakin Jackson because of our system, is it worth keeping this system?". Roman's system might produce results, but it's costing us talented players leaving, and as a result also causing player frustration because of that.

We've all but completely missed our window with Lamar because this organization chose not to be aggressive with him on a rookie deal to go get a Superbowl with the best possible players available because we were afraid to lose draft capital in the future. For all the ways Harbaugh and co have been progressive in certain ways of thinking (particularly on the analytics side and how they turned this entire offensive philosophy around to benefit a young Lamar), they're still very much behind in the FO ways of thinking compared to Buffalo, LAR, LAC, and KC. Those teams all went out and got ELITE players and sacrificed some draft picks to do it, but those players took them over the hump and made them truly elite contenders. We, on the other hand, have not only been forced to sell numerous good/great young players because they weren't happy playing in this offense, but we've completely failed to get elite talent on this team when it's available, either via trade or in FA.

TL;DR --> Our front office is failing Lamar and they completely missed the window to maximize him being on a rookie deal because they only care about long-term results vs. maximizing short-term windows.

Yeah it’s kind of unbelievable to me that DJ Moore is available and could probably be had for perhaps a 2nd round pick and we chose to sign DeSean Jackson.

Now this isn’t to say I don’t like the DeSean Jackson signing, but Moore brings Steve Smith type of playing style and he only costs $1m this season. Unless Carolina’s asking price is a mid to high 1st round pick (and it might be), I just can’t understand not giving Lamar some receiver help- especially when they failed him on that front in the draft.

[wackywabbit]

On 10/18/2022 at 2:35 PM, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

If you're comfortable with not analyzing the team's issues at all and instead just going "hey Vegas has us at 7th in Super Bowl betting odds so we must be good", more power to you.

Not what I said, and you know it. Vegas agrees with my sentiment, I'm not basing my sentiment on what Vegas says. I obviously didn't see the updated odds that were released after this week when I first expressed my lack of concern at the loss. DVOA is overrating us, in my opinion, (3rd in the entire league overall, 3rd offense, 16th defense). I'm bringing these up because they because these are important predictors of future success. Better than what contributes to the majority of the discussion/analysis here. 

Taking a step back what I would have said before the season that I would care about 6 weeks into the season is: 
1. Keeping pace in the playoff and division race
2. Avoiding critical injuries

Given that, I care more about how Marcus Williams' wrist is healing than any of the "concerns" you brought up*. I don't think details about our execution in weeks 1-6 are something that will matter in 2 months. The fact that we lost to the Giants, literally THE ONLY non-common, non-conference opponent for our division, is not going to the reason we miss the playoffs.

* Marcus Williams looks like an amazing FA signing. I've been critical of EDC for not having the hits in the draft that Ozzie did when he was in the top chair (an unreasonable standard), but this looks like this is going to be a home run over the course of the contract, if not this year. Yet, we now we have the fanbase wishing we acted like the Cardinals front office. This was a MUCH better splash move than signing a top tier WR to a market-rate second contract.

What I've also seen in 6 weeks is: an explosive upside on the offense, with Bateman on the field, that enables Lamar to be one of very few QBs that has a chance to out score Mahomes or Allen on a random Sunday in a shootout. If and when Bateman comes back 100%, we have a passing upside as high as any in team history. Penalties are a (correctable over the way too long season) problem, but the O-line pieces look like they can be an asset rather than an anchor. Ronnie Stanley is actually playing football and we have a legit center -> the two most important pieces on the line. Mekari is an MVP for being the emergency depth everywhere. I want to see Dobbins pick up steam and Gus would have been a difference maker. One of my bigger reasons for skepticism going into this year was that the season-ending injuries to guys like them would take more than a year to get right.

On defense, I already see how and why we went with this scheme. There are growing pains and the pass rush is a legitimate problem*, but we've also seen it slow down the best offense in the league. The special teams is elite, obviously. Those factors are why I feel slightly better about the teams' chances than I did going into the season. So, I have alignment with the Vegas odds.

* The issues with the pass rush are the perhaps the ONE item I would point to as a consistent flaw with this team through 6 weeks that is actually worth ranting about. We went into the season with LITERALLY two outside linebackers and one of them got hurt very early in the third game. We don't have to strain too hard to see why we don't have any gas to close the game there. There are no players there. Oweh hasn't taken the leap, but even if he did, we can't expect him to be our sole pass rush for 55+ snaps a game. This is a legitimate concern, but it is not sinking my hopes for this team because JPP already seems like a hit for this year and we have hope for Houston, Bowser, and Ojabo to return and boost this unit. But this is an area to watch.

What I don't understand is:

1. What expectation you all had for this team before the season?
2. Where do you think this team is now relative to those expectations/target you had in mind?

Edited October 20, 2022 by wackywabbit

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

@wackywabbit

RE: Marcus Williams -> he has for sure been an A+ signing, but even when he was here getting INT's left and right the defense was still blowing coverages. Even when we got Peters and Marlo on the field together they were still blowing coverages and giving up points left and right.

We have a TON of individual talent in the secondary, but they're not playing at a high level as a unit. That IS a big concern. They were all healthy, and the defense sucked.

So if I were to boil down my 2 primary concerns for this team that I don't believe get resolved simply by injured players coming back or the law of averages, I would say:

1. Defense's inability to close out games or prevent teams from scoring if they're not creating turnovers. If I'm an optimist, I believe over time the blown coverages and miscommunications will be fixed. However, it seems like especially late in games our defense cannot get off the field and the stats back that up. You could argue perhaps getting Ojabo/Bowser back from injury may improve the pass rush and thus the secondary, but tbh I don't see much of our secondary problems being because we're giving QB's too much time to throw. 
2. The offense (read: Lamar)'s inability to make plays to win/close out games. Again, much like the defense, in the 2nd half and especially in the 4th quarter, we tighten up and make mental mistakes consistently. No amount of Ronnie Stanley coming back or Gus Edwards coming back fixes that. The optimist in me could argue that Lamar being the player he is will "figure it out" and become clutch, but there's not really much proof to indicate that.

Coming into this season (to answer your last 2 questions), my expectations were HIGH for the defense, particularly the secondary. That unit has failed miserably despite the level of talent and depth that's there despite some key individual highlights here and there. 

The offense, I didn't have much expectations tbh. I expected the OL to be better (they are), I expected Bateman to be better (he has been). I expected us to struggle to run the ball (we have) because of our RB room. What I didn't expect was Lamar to take another step backwards in his play, which it seems like he has since those first three weeks. There are areas of this team I expected to be bad (WR's, EDGE) that are bad, and there are areas that I expected to be good (Secondary, Lamar) that have been bad. Everything else has been as advertised really.

[AFlaccoSeagulls]

3 hours ago, diamondbull424 said:

Yeah it’s kind of unbelievable to me that DJ Moore is available and could probably be had for perhaps a 2nd round pick and we chose to sign DeSean Jackson.

Now this isn’t to say I don’t like the DeSean Jackson signing, but Moore brings Steve Smith type of playing style and he only costs $1m this season. Unless Carolina’s asking price is a mid to high 1st round pick (and it might be), I just can’t understand not giving Lamar some receiver help- especially when they failed him on that front in the draft.

Even if he costs a 1st round pick, I would probably do that for a player of Moore's caliber. Lamar simply needs more PROVEN weapons.

[wackywabbit]

6 minutes ago, AFlaccoSeagulls said:

@wackywabbit

RE: Marcus Williams -> he has for sure been an A+ signing, but even when he was here getting INT's left and right the defense was still blowing coverages. Even when we got Peters and Marlo on the field together they were still blowing coverages and giving up points left and right.

We have a TON of individual talent in the secondary, but they're not playing at a high level as a unit. That IS a big concern. They were all healthy, and the defense sucked.

So if I were to boil down my 2 primary concerns for this team that I don't believe get resolved simply by injured players coming back or the law of averages, I would say:

1. Defense's inability to close out games or prevent teams from scoring if they're not creating turnovers. If I'm an optimist, I believe over time the blown coverages and miscommunications will be fixed. However, it seems like especially late in games our defense cannot get off the field and the stats back that up. You could argue perhaps getting Ojabo/Bowser back from injury may improve the pass rush and thus the secondary, but tbh I don't see much of our secondary problems being because we're giving QB's too much time to throw. 
2. The offense (read: Lamar)'s inability to make plays to win/close out games. Again, much like the defense, in the 2nd half and especially in the 4th quarter, we tighten up and make mental mistakes consistently. No amount of Ronnie Stanley coming back or Gus Edwards coming back fixes that. The optimist in me could argue that Lamar being the player he is will "figure it out" and become clutch, but there's not really much proof to indicate that.

Coming into this season (to answer your last 2 questions), my expectations were HIGH for the defense, particularly the secondary. That unit has failed miserably despite the level of talent and depth that's there despite some key individual highlights here and there. 

The offense, I didn't have much expectations tbh. I expected the OL to be better (they are), I expected Bateman to be better (he has been). I expected us to struggle to run the ball (we have) because of our RB room. What I didn't expect was Lamar to take another step backwards in his play, which it seems like he has since those first three weeks. There are areas of this team I expected to be bad (WR's, EDGE) that are bad, and there are areas that I expected to be good (Secondary, Lamar) that have been bad. Everything else has been as advertised really.

I'm going to skip the "clutch" stuff, because... I think that is gobbledygook.

You had low expectations for the offense? So you expected like the 20th or worse offense and we aren't at that level in you. So we're like the 25th best offense in your mind so far? I'm making up numbers for you, but whatever you fill in there based on your statements, I completely disagree with.

Are you really... like seriously... throwing out 3 games when we have 6 games? What happens if you don't throw away any data from an already too small sample size? Is it still disappointing given you "didn't have much expectations"?

We're closer on the defense. It's not just Bowser and Ojabo, Houston has also missed most of the season (only 6 snaps in week 3). And he was critical to the plan in the first half of season. Which I do think was poor planning. 

[diamondbull424]

2 hours ago, wackywabbit said:

1. What expectation you all had for this team before the season?
2. Where do you think this team is now relative to those expectations/target you had in mind?

1. Expectation would’ve likely been at this point 4-2/5-1 start. I expected the secondary to be good, but not elite. I figured the depth and youth could be an issue, but with two ballhawks like Peters and Williams, it seemed like we would be making a leap. I expected the pass rush to struggle and it has, but I feel Duvernay has been better than I anticipated he would be, he’s showing legit Jacoby Jones versatility/talent. 

2. I don’t think they’re terribly far off considering we’ve led games for like 95% of the game and been blowing teams out until the 4th quarter.

3. That said my expectation was for this team to be more energetic to start the season. And that’s my number one issue, motivation. Hopefully that changes.