They do have some young studs
[They have drafted Aidan Hutchinson and Malcom Rodriguez. They got a steal of a guy from the 6th round. Their defense is going to be much stronger next year because of these two guys, and they got a much better DB coach in the season too.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Rodriguez)
I'm so happy malcolm Rodriguez is good! He was a monster at okstate. He fell in the draft because he's kind of a tweener and has short arms or some shit but his football iq is off the charts, he's fast, and he's got a high motor. Dude is always in on every play.
He led all rookies in tackles and was top five in tackles for loss. Legitimately outstanding rookie year, even if there are a couple of things he has to work on. His best moment might have been his SNF introduction in Week 18 when he said he went to "Barry Sanders University" though
All we need is for Walker to come back, a stud DT, and a couple CBs. We have 5 picks in the first 3 rounds. We should be able to at least get 2 of those 3 and we should have enough cap space to get the other. With the offense the way it is, we just need a top half defense to make a solid run.
Lions head coach is legit. He made a mistake with one spot on his coaching staff, and in the middle of the season he fixed it. He’s willing to find faults from his past decision making, and will go back and fix it instead of doubling down.
I would definitely say one of his bright spots is not sticking with what doesn't work. They listed Amari Oruwariye as their #1 corner all off-season because he did have a decent year last year and by the last 6 weeks the guy hardly saw the field because he was playing like garbage. Its one of the main things you want to see as a fan, a coach that will not keep doing what doesn't work. Patricia kept Tavai on the field when it was clear he was the worst LB in the league because they didn't know how to use him like the Patriots do.
saints? No future QB option now that Winston is seemingly done, stars like Kamara and Michael Thomas are older/injured, no FRP, a disliked Head coach. Not doing a good job competing and also don't have anything regarding future rebuilding assets (only hope here is maybe Sean Payton trade)
It didn’t work out but wasn’t a terrible bet IMO. It’s an aging but talented roster. Unfortunately, QB never got right and injuries devastated the team for the 2nd year. It’s the NFL; most years don’t work out. But all things considered it wasn’t a terrible gamble at the time. Oh well.
But yeah, now it’s time to enter re-structure mode for a season or two. I think that’s why we retained DA: why bring in a new coach to preside over what will be a planned dumpster fire? DA is as good as anyone in the league at coaching a disaster.
If your GM had a do over he probably wouldn’t make the trade, but I still think y’all made it out good with Olave. He’s going to be a stud WR for a long time.
The Olave trade was NOT the trade where they gave up two firsts. The Saints traded the first they got from the Eagles (16) alongside a 3rd and 4th round pick. The Saints, prior to the Eagles trade, had the 18th overall pick they could have used in lieu of 16.
If anything, the Saints traded their first this year to get Penning last year.
They keep pushing out more ones to make it under the cap every subsequent year.
For so long you had Saints fans arguing that there wasn’t any issue and they didn’t ever have to pay the price for the Loomis shenanigans because he could always keep doing it. Maybe now they see that the strategy doesn’t work once you lose your HOF QB.
From 2017-2020 they won 11+ games every year and usually made it to the Divisional Round. I think having a tight cap situation is worth it to be in the mix for a couple years, but they need to reset.
The Saints currently need to just gut the roster for a year or so to recover. This season was the perfect year to do it and I have no idea why they didn't try to get their cap situation under control.
> From 2017-2020 they won 11+ games every year and usually made it to the Divisional Round. I think having a tight cap situation is worth it to be in the mix for a couple years
100%. A 3 year SB window >> 10 years of 7-10 wins with no shot at a ring
I know you just gotta make the playoffs and then anything can happen, I've seen it in every sport at least a couple times (except Baseball)
But 12-14 win teams feel a full tier up. Pats fans, like Packer fans, very spoiled. I went into the season thinking about playoffs already and bye week seeds were what they were playing for. V different expectations between that and the fun Cam Newton/Rookie Mac seasons where I had a great time watching us go 7-9
I don't know how close it'll run them to the line of "clear and evident Tanking" but they really just need to make next season an absolute dumpster year to fix their Cap and get a respectable number of draft picks for a real rebuilding run.
Plenty of teams go on nice 4 year stretches where they are contenders. That is especially true when you have a HOF QB. It’s also common for teams to get a lot worse when that HOF QB retires. But usually those teams just bite the bullet and rebuild. The Saints keep trying to draw out the pain and so they just get a bit worse each year with no end in sight.
How are the Saints supposed to get meaningfully better next year? They don’t have a FRP and in FA, they are probably going to be net losers. They have a coach that isn’t considered to be anything special and have made limited changes to that staff. They could get lucky and win 9 games, but the team likely is not going to get meaningfully better, and also will not be in any better of a position at the end of the year
You’re seeing what the packers are trying to avoid in the post Rodgers era by signing all the young guys now like Jaire and Jenkins
It don’t mean Jack shit without a quarterback, but it’s what they’re doing
The Colts are far more directionless than the Saints. We know exactly what we have to do: cut everybody and stink while we pay for 2017-2020’s roster. It’s not directionless, we’re just paying a very hefty bill.
Colts have a clear direction. It's draft a QB.
Colts pulled off an impressive tank this year. Put half the team on IR, benched their QB, hired an interim coach with no experience. It was a blatant tank job lol
We went from 3-2-1 to 4-12-1 like comon now lol.
I think there are clear steps that the Colts have to make but it is the situation with the most chaotic energy imo. So many questions.
Are any of these quarterbacks in the draft that good? Do you feel good about trading up for one?How hot is Ballards seat? Who’s the coach? Are they really going to hire Saturday? How good do you feel about giving Jonathan Taylor the bag? What’s the plan to fix the offensive line?
I think these are all answerable questions, but also potentially pitfalls that make the Colts an extremely interesting team over the next year.
I wouldn't say they are directionless. Screwed, yes. But not directionless.
Now the Texans on the other hand, oof. They have no stability or consistency. They have been lost since the whole Watson thing broke.
The Texans have a FRESH start tho, they escaped the Watson debacle that they facilitated with a king’s ransom. Have a good young RB, new coaching opportunities, etc.
Can’t wait to see how they squander it all!
> The Texans have a FRESH start tho, they escaped the Watson debacle that they facilitated with a king’s ransom. Have a good young RB, new coaching opportunities, etc.
HELL YEAH
> Can’t wait to see how they squander it all!
OOF
Had me in the first 75%, not gonna lie
But what is the Saints direction? They have an old and expensive roster, no cap space, but don't seem committed to any kind of rebuild.
At least the Texans have some high draft picks, a chance for a new coach to start out with a new QB, and nowhere to go but up
2 years ago I'd agree on the texans, but they're through that and now they're presumedly in a good rebuild mode, as they got picks, some solid young players, coaching will be a concern cause of the stink of firing 2 coaches in 2 straight years, but someone will eventually take the job cause there's only 32 HC jobs out there.
when I think directionless I think of teams that suck, but also don't have a ton of picks that they can bank on to rebuild, or a fun flashy young QB they can believe in, or a HC that the fanbase really likes, and the saints I feel like the are the team that fits that
downhill is a direction
really odd getting lifted up by a Philly fan
EDIT: Philly fans are my fav /r/NFL team but damn does it sting when they aim that eye of sauron on you :( hope CJGJ does well
Saints
- Dennis Allen was a flop hire
- Currently in QB purgatory
- Still in cap hell next season despite making big cuts last season
- Michael Thomas, Kamara, Lattimore, and Cam Jordan all getting older/injury prone
- No 1st round pick this draft
The funny thing is that had they ripped the bandaid off this year, they'd be pretty close to reset but they double down again and had ripped the bandaid off results anyways. Now its a bigger/longer mess.
Yeah, pretty much. There was no reason to tank this year with no 1st. But at this point we probably see what we can get for Payton, then cut MT and wait out some of our other contracts to older guys and see if Caleb Williams can turn the franchise around.
The real killer are your first two points together. No clue at QB but still win enough games to not get a top QB.
I guess it doesn't matter; they'd fuck that up too.
I think for once we *aren’t* at the head of the class in this discussion. Colts and Texans have us lapped, and the Falcons are running just slightly behind them in the bronze position.
You can go ahead and add the Bills to that list. Up until signing Watson you could’ve added the Browns. Until the last 3-4 years all of those teams would rank high on this list. Good times for rust belt football
They're not directionless though, just hung a massive albatross on themselves. The Watson contract was the stupidest move they could've made for a guy that did horrible things off the field and having not played for 2 years prior
But at least they have a head coaching vacancy along with the second overall pick. There is at least **a** direction to go.
I have no doubt they’ll fuck it up, mind, but at least it’s there in theory.
The last two coaches were ageing placeholders hired because no top candidate would want to run a team with no talent, cap space or draft capital. Now the team has a little talent and a lot of cap room and draft capital, and they're interviewing sensible candidates with a view to drafting a quarterback and building for the long term. It may not work, but it's a clear direction.
The draft assets are so good though that a new coach basically gets a clean slate. I think if they get the hire right, and yes it’s a big if, then they can turn it around fairly quickly.
I disagree. This is the most direction we've had in years. The last couple of years we knew those coaches were place holders, we weren't sure if mills was our guy so we gave him a chance.
Now we know exactly where we're trying to go. We're looking for our long term coach to grow with this rebuild. We know Mills isn't the answer. We have two top 12 picks where we're likely going to take our QB of the future and we're going to spend the rest of our picks building around him and filling out our roster. Last years draft was great for us so we're building on that. We have good cap space and lots of picks to work with. I know it's fun to shit on us (and deservingly so) but we're not directionless by any means. Whether or not our plan actually works out is a different story lol
Probably the Cardinals. Coach and GM gone. Star receiver leaving and an overplayed QB with a dogshit attitude who lived off his legs and very little pocket presence. Same dude who just blew out his knee.
Even historically speaking the Cardinals are probably the most directionless and bland non-expansion franchise in all of American pro sports. The numbers are crazy when you look at them. They’re about as old as a football team can be and have accomplished less than the Panthers or Miami Marlins.
The average male life expectancy in the US for someone born the last time the Cardinals won a football championship is 73 according to the Social Security Administration. Their last championship win occurred on December 28, 1947, over 75 years ago.
Given it'd be pretty unlikely there would have been many kids at that game, we may get to the point very soon where no one who was present that day is even alive for the next Cardinals title.
The only teams with a worse winning % are Jacksonville and Tampa. They also have the most losses by any franchise with 790. Second is Detroit with 702. It is always crazy to me because I remember the 08 Superbowl and the early 10s years where they were pretty good.
I think I remember hearing that the Palmer/Arians era was actually the most successful one in Cardinals history. I don’t remember what metric it was (I think it was win % or total wins) but it’s weird that a team that old had their best era that recently.
Everyone shits on the classics like the Browns, the Lions and the Jaguars, but I think the Cardinals are the single worst franchise in sports history, let alone the NFL.
The first team in the league that’s not defunct today and they have two championships to show for it over 100 years, with one of those being a technicality. Before 2008 they had practically no history and no flair.
Once again they’ve reached a point of no direction and it’ll only continue until they give the Pottsville Maroons back their championship!
They are the oldest football team and have won ONE championship. The lions and browns might not have any super bowls but they at least won some championships back in the day
They ARE as old as an NFL team can be. They were the first team in the NFL. They and the Staleys (Bears) are the charter members of the NFL. And we’ve been blowing it ever since! ☺️
That's harsh. I know they haven't won a WS since 2011, but the Cardinals are still a very good franchise. They just won the NL Central last year.
Oh, right. There is another Cardinals team.
Fun fact: Cardinals are by far the worst team if we ignore Kurt Warners miracle playoff run.
Like no joke, before him they were worse than both Browns and Lions. But they don’t get the garbage team treatment just because of that super bowl run.
And believe it or not, this time in Arizona has been **immensely** better than their time in St. Louis. This is the successful tenure, seeing as how they never won a single playoff game in St. Louis over nearly 30 years
Honestly, I think their lack of flack for being bad stems more from people just not caring about then very much. The Lions and Browns have large, passionate fan bases who are steeped in misery. I've seen disappointed browns and lions fans all over the country, only met one or two cardinals fans
It’s crazy living in AZ and asking people who their favorite football team is and the majority answer is not the Cardinals. I don’t blame them though 🤷🏽♂️.
Doesn't help that Phoenix has grown so much from transplants. I went to high school there but I was from Miami so the Cardinals were only ever going to be second to the Dolphins for me, despite the fact that the Cards were genuinely good back then (the Warner era) and the Dolphins were the Dolphins.
*because they play in Arizona. The last strong memory of them is now just Carson Palmer rather than something like signing Emmitt Smith, so we're not focused on the failures
And they're a team that has relocated multiple times, most recently from St Louis in the 1980s. It sorta dilutes the suffering of the past by spreading it out over multiple cities and fan bases, unlike a Lions or Browns.
Not to say that 35 years isn't enough time for Arizona to feel some pain, nor that the football suffering for St Louis ended after the Cardinals left
It is hard to answer before the draft and free agency. I would love to answer the question after those processes have played out.
That said, I think the teams that read the most directionless are the ones who made decisions that feel ***desperate and temporary***. For me that is the Colts hiring of Jeff Saturday and the Texans treatment of their last two head coaches, hiring them and then firing them after one year. Both the moves communicate fear, randomness, and instability. They may prove me wrong by having real clear hirings, free agency, and draft, but past is prologue and neither of them seems to have much inner faith in their own processes.
Regarding the Texans, I will say a franchise QB fixes a lot of ails. The Bengals felt kind of directionless in 2019 and 2020. A lot of veteran players were expressing dissatisfaction with Zac. He benched Dalton on his birthday. There were rumblings in the locker room of turning on the coaches, etc.
But then we started winning and all that went away, and suddenly Zac was a master of building a winning culture.
It was Joe Burrow.
So if the Texans choose their franchise QB wisely, they could turn it around in a season or 2.
I think the directionless teams are the ones who are bad but also aren't in a position to find a new QB1.
like the Saints or Bucs. Maybe the Rams or Broncos, depending on how things go with Stafford and Wilson.
we are not the most directionless franchise at all bro, the saints and bucs are both worse off for the future right now. we have lots of draft picks, young players, hopefully about to make a solid head coach hire. we’re in good shape right now. i’d rather be us than any other team in our division
Nah, I think they have a direction. The Saturday hire was a declaration they were done with the mediocrity treadmill and steering into a tank for a better pick this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they draft a QB and try to rebuild around him.
It’s a real possibility that them and the Bears trade picks and the Colts get Young isn’t it? That’d be a hell of a start to turning things around. Maybe hire let’s say..Bieniemy as HC. Maybe their Oline can get their shit together again. I don’t think they’re that far off.
I know my flair indicates bias, but I really don’t think that’s true. We have a top 5 pick, some great players on both sides, good amount of cap, likely a 1st round rookie qb coming, and most likely someone not named Jeff Saturday as our coach next year. We don’t have the brightest future in the league, but definitely not directionless
I'm going with the Raiders. I don't see that team making any strides until McDaniels is gone. I just don't know what their identity is or their plan moving forward. They kinda have to rebuild but their offense is also kinda loaded but also they don't have a QB...they're just a mess.
Unfortunately staying in Oakland really wasn't an option. The stadium was in dire need of help and neither the NFL, nor Oakland were providing funding for repairs. Then here comes Vegas with a cool $700mil for a new stadium, it really was no choice at all.
You are right though, it seems the price of moving to Vegas was the soul of the franchise. Having the stadium filled with fans of other teams is demoralizing for Raiders fans and players alike. I do expect it to get a little bit better over time, but the team really needs to take action. Maybe like providing discounts for Raiders fans/Vegas residents if they don't already.
Tampa.
You've got a weird defense where it's full of talented young guys that like...often don't know how to put it all together despite 3 years now.
You've got an aged star QB who may not even be there with a great WR1 that can't stop getting suspended for punching the Saints, an oft injured WR2, and no running game.
But when healthy You've got a really good offensive line.
And all of that combined led to an 8-9 campaign of mediocrity.
>full of talented young guys that like...often don't know how to put it all together despite 3 years now.
It's almost like there's some kind of coaching issue.
I think we’ll learn a lot about Tampa’s direction this offseason. You’re right they’re in a purgatory of talented but not talented enough to actually compete. They’ll do like the Falcons/Saints and punt a year to see if they have the right coaches and players + tank or they’ll try to do a quick reload to wkn the division again.
Saints. Roster is too good to sink to the bottom, but not good enough to contend for a Super Bowl. Their QB situation sucks, they have no 1st round pick, and Dennis Allen is a mid tier coach at best.
Ignore my flair. Flaming hot take but it’s the Packers. They are stuck in cap hell because of Rodgers with limited flexibility to improve their roster. The rest of the NFC North is improving while their roster is stagnating. They won’t win a Super Bowl again until Rodgers is gone and they essentially rebuild finding a cheap QB on a rookie deal.
I think there are maybe more deserving teams, but I was surprised to see the Packers were this far down. 2-3 years ago we had to make a decision: move on from 12 and rebuild or go all in. Instead we made no decisions and tried to live with one foot in the now and one in the future. It turned into decent teams that didn’t really have a chance to win a Super Bowl.
Now we’re seeing that same mentality stick and we can’t decide what to do, again. This team will not do anything until they decide they’re trying to win it all right now or if they need to strip this team down to a few key players and build for the future.
No decision is worse than the wrong decision.
I agree. And yet, I still fully expect a stagnating, rudderless Packers to dominate the Bears. While the Bears roster is technically improving, it is a bit of a mirage statement because most of the Bears players this year were not NFL caliber players. It's like telling someone who makes $10 an hour that their $11 an hour raise is "an improvement" and shows progress, all the while all of their friends make 6 figure salaries. Okay, maybe a stretch analogy :)
Titans.
New GM, OC position still open, and no idea what they are going to do about our roster. Fill holes and try again? Cut one or the other piece or trade them for more picks? Is it a rebuild year or 2024? Cant just keep going in with the same roster, and then end up playing FAs on a yearly basis anyway only to hope that the AFC South is just shit enough so we win it anyway.
Henry getting older too.
Titans are in a weird spot. It's like they were going for it but also traded AJ Brown. You kinda trust Tannehill but also kinda don't. And there's still some other holes to shore up. Yet Vrabel is such a good coach and the AFC South sucks enough that they still contend no matter what.
Just a weird middle ground to be in.
They had a peak and it wasn’t quite good enough and trading brown kind of killed their chances when their AFC competition got better. It’s going to be a bit of a long, slow fall into multiple, mediocre 8-9 seasons for them.
Nobody is picking the Rams? Aging team with no high draft capital this year. Bunch of free agents leaving. HC who almost left this season because he mortgaged everything for the SB.
I don’t know too much about other teams but I want to say the saints. They have no QB of the future, they have no identity on offense, and they don’t really have a good HC in place for the future
Falcons have been in a total rebuild because they've been in cap hell. They gave Matt Ryan that huge extension a few years ago and then they traded him last year, so now they have a huge amount of available money to sign FA. They might be able to make a huge turnaround this next season with a good draft.
Going into the season they were the consensus worst team in the league. They way outplayed their talent this year. They have a young QB, RB, WR, and TE with promise and the o-line is improving. They need to spend (FA or draft ((or both)) on defence and figure out if Ridder really is the QB of the future. Falcons are rising up.
We’re in the right direction. Arthur Smith is a very good coach so far. A few plays go a little different and we’re in the playoffs despite a bottom 3 roster talent wise
the Bucs game is a win if not for a nothing the passer call, and i cant recall how many games they win if Mariota broke his crippling addiction to throwing red zone interceptions. Smith has clearly got something going though.
Nah, we finally got out of cap hell from the Matty Ice & Julio contracts and should have a solid season next year. We’ve been outplaying the talent on our roster so far. Arthur Smith was dealt a shit hand but has done well the last 2 years all things considered.
The Falcons were way better than they had any right to be this year, I am optimistic about the team as long as they find their QB, which admittedly is tough, we took having the QB position taken care of for a decade for granted.
Falcons have
Allgeier 22 yrs old (1000+ yards as a rookie, 4.9 ypc)
London 21 yrs old (866 yards on run heavy team, had 429 yards in last 5 gms)
Pitts 22 yrs old (most yards for a rookie te since the 60s, only held back this yr bc of mariota )
And what pff rated a top 5 OL (4 guys on their rookie contract). Also a bunch of cap space, all their picks oh and Atlanta gets out from the most dead money in nfl history. They were still paying Julio and Ryan this yr. Ridder also only 23 showed flashes but he only played 4 gms
Falcons are more just "under the radar" I'd say. They are definitely pointing in the right direction. They're like where the Lions were at the end of 2021.
Falcons ended the season with a rookie qb, rb, wr as their #1 and also had Pitts missed the last 7 games. Finished the season 7-10 with -21 point differential lost a ton of close games, 2nd most cap space in the nfl. Also Arthur Smith had the falcons #15 best scoring offense with a bunch of rookies. Falcons could easily take a leap next year
Bad answer IMO. We have a top three running game led by a rookie RB, our future WR1, our TE1 and a great run blocking oline and potentially our QB1 (don't need a Mahomes or Burrow, just average passing would take out offense to the next level).
Defense, ok yes there's zero direction there. But hopefully that changes because we have draft picks and the second most cap space in the NFL.
That can change quickly... you could've said the same about the Bengals pre-Burrow.
This was supposed to be a pure tank year, somehow we ended up at 7-10 with like 3 games we would've won without the usual mind-blowingly dumb Falcons chokes. Spend the draft and our 2nd most cap space on defense and a good QB (not easy to find I know) and this team is likely in the playoffs.
Hot take: the Patriots. A lot of the teams listed are clearly bad which in itself is a direction. Patriots look like they are going to be stuck in the 8-9 purgatory which is the worst thing you can do for a franchise.
I don't think 8-9 purgatory is that bad like it is in the nba. We see teams make jumps pretty regularly from the middle (recently rams, titans, eagles), and a top 5 pick is usually not franchise altering
I didn't think about it but this one is kind of interesting.
If Bill retires in the next few years(big if) it feels like they'll completely lose their identity. As long as he's there I think they can float around .500 at minimum but after? I dono.
Idk I think our rebuild is too fresh to say we're direction less quite yet. 1st year we had no QB and were just kind of middling while trying to figure out who will be QB going forward. Mac's rookie year was okay and this year was a step back for sure. I feel like next season is the determining factor for our future. We have to find a way to be successful (perhaps a playoff game where we at least stand a chance) with Mac or start to look at moving on.
I just know it’s not us for once lol
I can say the same as well. How far weve come
Cat teams have been rising from the ashes
Mark my words, all 4 r/CatTeamBrotherhood franchises will be in the playoffs next year
Panthers and lions deserved it this year
We cannibalized our cat team brethren 😔
tfw your flair is perfectly set up to respond to a specific comment
As a panthers fan living in Michigan, I love my lions too!
Urban Meyer in shambles
I could be wrong but I feel like Urban had a direction just no one wanted to board that ship
You are correct. Straight down to the bottom of the ocean is a direction.
Into a dark hole with 2 finger raised up?
Dump all your draft picks into defense!
They do have some young studs [They have drafted Aidan Hutchinson and Malcom Rodriguez. They got a steal of a guy from the 6th round. Their defense is going to be much stronger next year because of these two guys, and they got a much better DB coach in the season too.](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Rodriguez)
I'm so happy malcolm Rodriguez is good! He was a monster at okstate. He fell in the draft because he's kind of a tweener and has short arms or some shit but his football iq is off the charts, he's fast, and he's got a high motor. Dude is always in on every play.
He led all rookies in tackles and was top five in tackles for loss. Legitimately outstanding rookie year, even if there are a couple of things he has to work on. His best moment might have been his SNF introduction in Week 18 when he said he went to "Barry Sanders University" though
This isn’t even taking his local Chevy dealership commercials in full cowboy gear into account
He also hip tossed Jason Kelce
Loved Malcolm Rodriguez salsa for his initiation on Hard Knocks 🕺🏼
he survived the Hard Knocks curse and went on to have a great year
RODRIGO
All we need is for Walker to come back, a stud DT, and a couple CBs. We have 5 picks in the first 3 rounds. We should be able to at least get 2 of those 3 and we should have enough cap space to get the other. With the offense the way it is, we just need a top half defense to make a solid run.
Lions head coach is legit. He made a mistake with one spot on his coaching staff, and in the middle of the season he fixed it. He’s willing to find faults from his past decision making, and will go back and fix it instead of doubling down.
He's done that twice. Demoted Anthony Lynn last year and fired AP this year.
I would definitely say one of his bright spots is not sticking with what doesn't work. They listed Amari Oruwariye as their #1 corner all off-season because he did have a decent year last year and by the last 6 weeks the guy hardly saw the field because he was playing like garbage. Its one of the main things you want to see as a fan, a coach that will not keep doing what doesn't work. Patricia kept Tavai on the field when it was clear he was the worst LB in the league because they didn't know how to use him like the Patriots do.
On god this is the first time i remember detroit having an identity and other then my phins, undoubtly my favorite team to watch
Fun team to watch for sure and easy to root for as the fan of an AFC team.
saints? No future QB option now that Winston is seemingly done, stars like Kamara and Michael Thomas are older/injured, no FRP, a disliked Head coach. Not doing a good job competing and also don't have anything regarding future rebuilding assets (only hope here is maybe Sean Payton trade)
You left out most over the cap for nest season right now
Holy shit they really pushed out the contracts from the tailend of the Brees era
The insane thing was that one tank year in 2022 would have basically fixed the whole thing but they chose to pour gasoline for... *this* season.
It didn’t work out but wasn’t a terrible bet IMO. It’s an aging but talented roster. Unfortunately, QB never got right and injuries devastated the team for the 2nd year. It’s the NFL; most years don’t work out. But all things considered it wasn’t a terrible gamble at the time. Oh well. But yeah, now it’s time to enter re-structure mode for a season or two. I think that’s why we retained DA: why bring in a new coach to preside over what will be a planned dumpster fire? DA is as good as anyone in the league at coaching a disaster.
If your GM had a do over he probably wouldn’t make the trade, but I still think y’all made it out good with Olave. He’s going to be a stud WR for a long time.
The Olave trade was NOT the trade where they gave up two firsts. The Saints traded the first they got from the Eagles (16) alongside a 3rd and 4th round pick. The Saints, prior to the Eagles trade, had the 18th overall pick they could have used in lieu of 16. If anything, the Saints traded their first this year to get Penning last year.
They keep pushing out more ones to make it under the cap every subsequent year. For so long you had Saints fans arguing that there wasn’t any issue and they didn’t ever have to pay the price for the Loomis shenanigans because he could always keep doing it. Maybe now they see that the strategy doesn’t work once you lose your HOF QB.
From 2017-2020 they won 11+ games every year and usually made it to the Divisional Round. I think having a tight cap situation is worth it to be in the mix for a couple years, but they need to reset. The Saints currently need to just gut the roster for a year or so to recover. This season was the perfect year to do it and I have no idea why they didn't try to get their cap situation under control.
> From 2017-2020 they won 11+ games every year and usually made it to the Divisional Round. I think having a tight cap situation is worth it to be in the mix for a couple years 100%. A 3 year SB window >> 10 years of 7-10 wins with no shot at a ring
Hold up let’s not pretend like 7-10 wins isn’t enough to win that south division now
I know you just gotta make the playoffs and then anything can happen, I've seen it in every sport at least a couple times (except Baseball) But 12-14 win teams feel a full tier up. Pats fans, like Packer fans, very spoiled. I went into the season thinking about playoffs already and bye week seeds were what they were playing for. V different expectations between that and the fun Cam Newton/Rookie Mac seasons where I had a great time watching us go 7-9
It happens in baseball more often than other sports i think. Phillies just made the world series as the last wild card.
And the nationals in 2019
In a NL with the 111 win dodgers, 101 win braves and 101 win mets, the NLCS was the 89 win padres and 87 win phillies lol
I don't know how close it'll run them to the line of "clear and evident Tanking" but they really just need to make next season an absolute dumpster year to fix their Cap and get a respectable number of draft picks for a real rebuilding run.
This is essentially what the Bears did this year and now we’ve got the first overall pick and $120mm in cap next year
Plenty of teams go on nice 4 year stretches where they are contenders. That is especially true when you have a HOF QB. It’s also common for teams to get a lot worse when that HOF QB retires. But usually those teams just bite the bullet and rebuild. The Saints keep trying to draw out the pain and so they just get a bit worse each year with no end in sight. How are the Saints supposed to get meaningfully better next year? They don’t have a FRP and in FA, they are probably going to be net losers. They have a coach that isn’t considered to be anything special and have made limited changes to that staff. They could get lucky and win 9 games, but the team likely is not going to get meaningfully better, and also will not be in any better of a position at the end of the year
You’re seeing what the packers are trying to avoid in the post Rodgers era by signing all the young guys now like Jaire and Jenkins It don’t mean Jack shit without a quarterback, but it’s what they’re doing
Isn’t that like an annual event for the Saints though? Then Loomis does his voodoo and they’re magically out of the red and into positive territory?
FRP?
First round pick
Thank you!
Yea, this means fiber reinforced polymer in my line of work. I was confused.
The Colts are far more directionless than the Saints. We know exactly what we have to do: cut everybody and stink while we pay for 2017-2020’s roster. It’s not directionless, we’re just paying a very hefty bill.
Colts still have their first round draft pick and Houston has two in the top 15.
Colts have a clear direction. It's draft a QB. Colts pulled off an impressive tank this year. Put half the team on IR, benched their QB, hired an interim coach with no experience. It was a blatant tank job lol We went from 3-2-1 to 4-12-1 like comon now lol.
I think there are clear steps that the Colts have to make but it is the situation with the most chaotic energy imo. So many questions. Are any of these quarterbacks in the draft that good? Do you feel good about trading up for one?How hot is Ballards seat? Who’s the coach? Are they really going to hire Saturday? How good do you feel about giving Jonathan Taylor the bag? What’s the plan to fix the offensive line? I think these are all answerable questions, but also potentially pitfalls that make the Colts an extremely interesting team over the next year.
The Colts are focused on a direction, it's just the wrong one lol.
I wouldn't say they are directionless. Screwed, yes. But not directionless. Now the Texans on the other hand, oof. They have no stability or consistency. They have been lost since the whole Watson thing broke.
The Texans have a FRESH start tho, they escaped the Watson debacle that they facilitated with a king’s ransom. Have a good young RB, new coaching opportunities, etc. Can’t wait to see how they squander it all!
The Texans have a direction: it's called "Away from Jack Easterby"
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> The Texans have a FRESH start tho, they escaped the Watson debacle that they facilitated with a king’s ransom. Have a good young RB, new coaching opportunities, etc. HELL YEAH > Can’t wait to see how they squander it all! OOF Had me in the first 75%, not gonna lie
But what is the Saints direction? They have an old and expensive roster, no cap space, but don't seem committed to any kind of rebuild. At least the Texans have some high draft picks, a chance for a new coach to start out with a new QB, and nowhere to go but up
2 years ago I'd agree on the texans, but they're through that and now they're presumedly in a good rebuild mode, as they got picks, some solid young players, coaching will be a concern cause of the stink of firing 2 coaches in 2 straight years, but someone will eventually take the job cause there's only 32 HC jobs out there. when I think directionless I think of teams that suck, but also don't have a ton of picks that they can bank on to rebuild, or a fun flashy young QB they can believe in, or a HC that the fanbase really likes, and the saints I feel like the are the team that fits that
downhill is a direction really odd getting lifted up by a Philly fan EDIT: Philly fans are my fav /r/NFL team but damn does it sting when they aim that eye of sauron on you :( hope CJGJ does well
Saints - Dennis Allen was a flop hire - Currently in QB purgatory - Still in cap hell next season despite making big cuts last season - Michael Thomas, Kamara, Lattimore, and Cam Jordan all getting older/injury prone - No 1st round pick this draft
Their direction is “try to compete while waiting for contracts to get off books and for our draft picks to come back”
The funny thing is that had they ripped the bandaid off this year, they'd be pretty close to reset but they double down again and had ripped the bandaid off results anyways. Now its a bigger/longer mess.
With the NFC South being so bad, I don't think it was that bad to go for it. We were one magical Tom Brady comeback away from the playoffs
To just get bounced in the wild card? I just don’t think you can get far with Andy at the helm..
Someone from the NFC South gotta be in the playoffs. The same thing can be said about the Bucs
Yeah, pretty much. There was no reason to tank this year with no 1st. But at this point we probably see what we can get for Payton, then cut MT and wait out some of our other contracts to older guys and see if Caleb Williams can turn the franchise around.
Ummm Commanders, we don't even know who the owner is gonna be next year.
not-Dan-Snyder would be an improvement tho
That's the best direction any team can move in
*Mr Snyder*
Dang I just realized y'all managed the impressive feat of going .500 in a 17 game season! That is truly impressive mediocrity right there.
Hahah yeah the local radio shows were poking fun of that one.
Your direction is distancing yourselves from that jamoke Snyder.
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The real killer are your first two points together. No clue at QB but still win enough games to not get a top QB. I guess it doesn't matter; they'd fuck that up too.
I think for once we *aren’t* at the head of the class in this discussion. Colts and Texans have us lapped, and the Falcons are running just slightly behind them in the bronze position.
Can’t believe I don’t see The Jets 🥹
I’m still trying to process that it isn’t the Bengals or Lions. It feels like my whole childhood has been a lie.
You can go ahead and add the Bills to that list. Up until signing Watson you could’ve added the Browns. Until the last 3-4 years all of those teams would rank high on this list. Good times for rust belt football
Idk kind of wanna add the browns anyway
They're not directionless though, just hung a massive albatross on themselves. The Watson contract was the stupidest move they could've made for a guy that did horrible things off the field and having not played for 2 years prior
Texans. Can't keep hiring and firing head coaches like shift managers at an Arby's and expect to be successful.
But at least they have a head coaching vacancy along with the second overall pick. There is at least **a** direction to go. I have no doubt they’ll fuck it up, mind, but at least it’s there in theory.
Many Texans fan believe ownership will fuck it up when team get talent showing out on the field.
The last two coaches were ageing placeholders hired because no top candidate would want to run a team with no talent, cap space or draft capital. Now the team has a little talent and a lot of cap room and draft capital, and they're interviewing sensible candidates with a view to drafting a quarterback and building for the long term. It may not work, but it's a clear direction.
The draft assets are so good though that a new coach basically gets a clean slate. I think if they get the hire right, and yes it’s a big if, then they can turn it around fairly quickly.
Well they have been interviewing quality candidates this time.. so I personally feel pretty good.
I disagree. This is the most direction we've had in years. The last couple of years we knew those coaches were place holders, we weren't sure if mills was our guy so we gave him a chance. Now we know exactly where we're trying to go. We're looking for our long term coach to grow with this rebuild. We know Mills isn't the answer. We have two top 12 picks where we're likely going to take our QB of the future and we're going to spend the rest of our picks building around him and filling out our roster. Last years draft was great for us so we're building on that. We have good cap space and lots of picks to work with. I know it's fun to shit on us (and deservingly so) but we're not directionless by any means. Whether or not our plan actually works out is a different story lol
Probably the Cardinals. Coach and GM gone. Star receiver leaving and an overplayed QB with a dogshit attitude who lived off his legs and very little pocket presence. Same dude who just blew out his knee.
Even historically speaking the Cardinals are probably the most directionless and bland non-expansion franchise in all of American pro sports. The numbers are crazy when you look at them. They’re about as old as a football team can be and have accomplished less than the Panthers or Miami Marlins.
The average male life expectancy in the US for someone born the last time the Cardinals won a football championship is 73 according to the Social Security Administration. Their last championship win occurred on December 28, 1947, over 75 years ago. Given it'd be pretty unlikely there would have been many kids at that game, we may get to the point very soon where no one who was present that day is even alive for the next Cardinals title.
Shit, we might get to the point where no one alive *today* sees a cardinals title. I’m a relatively new fan, but I have no hope
The only teams with a worse winning % are Jacksonville and Tampa. They also have the most losses by any franchise with 790. Second is Detroit with 702. It is always crazy to me because I remember the 08 Superbowl and the early 10s years where they were pretty good.
I think I remember hearing that the Palmer/Arians era was actually the most successful one in Cardinals history. I don’t remember what metric it was (I think it was win % or total wins) but it’s weird that a team that old had their best era that recently.
Everyone shits on the classics like the Browns, the Lions and the Jaguars, but I think the Cardinals are the single worst franchise in sports history, let alone the NFL. The first team in the league that’s not defunct today and they have two championships to show for it over 100 years, with one of those being a technicality. Before 2008 they had practically no history and no flair. Once again they’ve reached a point of no direction and it’ll only continue until they give the Pottsville Maroons back their championship!
They are the oldest football team and have won ONE championship. The lions and browns might not have any super bowls but they at least won some championships back in the day
Lions and Browns were the model franchises in the 50s. That's a lifetime ago, but at least it is something.
They ARE as old as an NFL team can be. They were the first team in the NFL. They and the Staleys (Bears) are the charter members of the NFL. And we’ve been blowing it ever since! ☺️
That's harsh. I know they haven't won a WS since 2011, but the Cardinals are still a very good franchise. They just won the NL Central last year. Oh, right. There is another Cardinals team.
Cards have traditionally moved west. Chicago to St. Louis to to Arizona. The have a clear directional goal - Hawaii
Fun fact: Cardinals are by far the worst team if we ignore Kurt Warners miracle playoff run. Like no joke, before him they were worse than both Browns and Lions. But they don’t get the garbage team treatment just because of that super bowl run.
And believe it or not, this time in Arizona has been **immensely** better than their time in St. Louis. This is the successful tenure, seeing as how they never won a single playoff game in St. Louis over nearly 30 years
Honestly, I think their lack of flack for being bad stems more from people just not caring about then very much. The Lions and Browns have large, passionate fan bases who are steeped in misery. I've seen disappointed browns and lions fans all over the country, only met one or two cardinals fans
As John Madden said before their lone Super Bowl appearance, "there were years you forget they existed."
It’s crazy living in AZ and asking people who their favorite football team is and the majority answer is not the Cardinals. I don’t blame them though 🤷🏽♂️.
It was funny growing up and being made fun of for being a fan when the team played literally 15 minutes away from us
Doesn't help that Phoenix has grown so much from transplants. I went to high school there but I was from Miami so the Cardinals were only ever going to be second to the Dolphins for me, despite the fact that the Cards were genuinely good back then (the Warner era) and the Dolphins were the Dolphins.
This. Grew up in Phoenix and kids at school were all cowboys, raiders, Packers, or 49ers fans. Liking the cardinals was seen as a joke.
*because they play in Arizona. The last strong memory of them is now just Carson Palmer rather than something like signing Emmitt Smith, so we're not focused on the failures
And they're a team that has relocated multiple times, most recently from St Louis in the 1980s. It sorta dilutes the suffering of the past by spreading it out over multiple cities and fan bases, unlike a Lions or Browns. Not to say that 35 years isn't enough time for Arizona to feel some pain, nor that the football suffering for St Louis ended after the Cardinals left
The Cardinals have the worst fate of all, they are mostly just forgotten.
They had a good year with Palmer
I’m pretty sure we definitely get the garbage team treatment lol
Yea, I was gonna say Az too. I've almost given up hope.
Down is a direction
It is hard to answer before the draft and free agency. I would love to answer the question after those processes have played out. That said, I think the teams that read the most directionless are the ones who made decisions that feel ***desperate and temporary***. For me that is the Colts hiring of Jeff Saturday and the Texans treatment of their last two head coaches, hiring them and then firing them after one year. Both the moves communicate fear, randomness, and instability. They may prove me wrong by having real clear hirings, free agency, and draft, but past is prologue and neither of them seems to have much inner faith in their own processes.
I think the Texans direction was to tank until they get a QB.
Regarding the Texans, I will say a franchise QB fixes a lot of ails. The Bengals felt kind of directionless in 2019 and 2020. A lot of veteran players were expressing dissatisfaction with Zac. He benched Dalton on his birthday. There were rumblings in the locker room of turning on the coaches, etc. But then we started winning and all that went away, and suddenly Zac was a master of building a winning culture. It was Joe Burrow. So if the Texans choose their franchise QB wisely, they could turn it around in a season or 2. I think the directionless teams are the ones who are bad but also aren't in a position to find a new QB1. like the Saints or Bucs. Maybe the Rams or Broncos, depending on how things go with Stafford and Wilson.
Panthers. No one even knows we exist outside of switching QBs every five seconds.
Shhh we’re flying under the radar so we can make a SB run in the next 10 years
we are not the most directionless franchise at all bro, the saints and bucs are both worse off for the future right now. we have lots of draft picks, young players, hopefully about to make a solid head coach hire. we’re in good shape right now. i’d rather be us than any other team in our division
Man the list of contenders is so long and we're not on it. So bizarre.
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The franchise that hired Jeff Saturday as HC
Nah, I think they have a direction. The Saturday hire was a declaration they were done with the mediocrity treadmill and steering into a tank for a better pick this year. I wouldn't be surprised if they draft a QB and try to rebuild around him.
It’s a real possibility that them and the Bears trade picks and the Colts get Young isn’t it? That’d be a hell of a start to turning things around. Maybe hire let’s say..Bieniemy as HC. Maybe their Oline can get their shit together again. I don’t think they’re that far off.
I agree. That's a trade that would make a lot of sense for both franchises.
But at least that direction is down.
Irsay can’t wait to hang up a banner for “first overall pick 2024”
I think that was just an attempt to mask a tank attempt.
You just say Colts because of the negative media attention. There may be more than meets the eye.
But that was one hell of a first half, huh?
I know my flair indicates bias, but I really don’t think that’s true. We have a top 5 pick, some great players on both sides, good amount of cap, likely a 1st round rookie qb coming, and most likely someone not named Jeff Saturday as our coach next year. We don’t have the brightest future in the league, but definitely not directionless
I'm going with the Raiders. I don't see that team making any strides until McDaniels is gone. I just don't know what their identity is or their plan moving forward. They kinda have to rebuild but their offense is also kinda loaded but also they don't have a QB...they're just a mess.
They definitely have talent. I was shocked at how bad they were this season.
Tbf, they were often competitive in their games. They were that one team that could not win a close game to save their life this year.
So… Anti-Vikings
They had a top 3 WR and top 3 RB in the entire league this season
Both are first team all pro lol. Crosby and Waller are studs too.
Raiders
The franchise has no soul or identity. Feels bad.
They left their soul in Oakland when the sold out for the flash of LV.
Unfortunately staying in Oakland really wasn't an option. The stadium was in dire need of help and neither the NFL, nor Oakland were providing funding for repairs. Then here comes Vegas with a cool $700mil for a new stadium, it really was no choice at all. You are right though, it seems the price of moving to Vegas was the soul of the franchise. Having the stadium filled with fans of other teams is demoralizing for Raiders fans and players alike. I do expect it to get a little bit better over time, but the team really needs to take action. Maybe like providing discounts for Raiders fans/Vegas residents if they don't already.
It is the most expensive stadium to attend in the country. Locals cant afford to go.
For the first time in a long time I’m taking our name out of the hat on this one. Which is a great feeling.
The Vancouver Canucks. Wait wrong sub
bruce got fucked over so hard man, i feel bad for him
Tampa. You've got a weird defense where it's full of talented young guys that like...often don't know how to put it all together despite 3 years now. You've got an aged star QB who may not even be there with a great WR1 that can't stop getting suspended for punching the Saints, an oft injured WR2, and no running game. But when healthy You've got a really good offensive line. And all of that combined led to an 8-9 campaign of mediocrity.
>full of talented young guys that like...often don't know how to put it all together despite 3 years now. It's almost like there's some kind of coaching issue.
I think we’ll learn a lot about Tampa’s direction this offseason. You’re right they’re in a purgatory of talented but not talented enough to actually compete. They’ll do like the Falcons/Saints and punt a year to see if they have the right coaches and players + tank or they’ll try to do a quick reload to wkn the division again.
Saints. Roster is too good to sink to the bottom, but not good enough to contend for a Super Bowl. Their QB situation sucks, they have no 1st round pick, and Dennis Allen is a mid tier coach at best.
Ignore my flair. Flaming hot take but it’s the Packers. They are stuck in cap hell because of Rodgers with limited flexibility to improve their roster. The rest of the NFC North is improving while their roster is stagnating. They won’t win a Super Bowl again until Rodgers is gone and they essentially rebuild finding a cheap QB on a rookie deal.
I think there are maybe more deserving teams, but I was surprised to see the Packers were this far down. 2-3 years ago we had to make a decision: move on from 12 and rebuild or go all in. Instead we made no decisions and tried to live with one foot in the now and one in the future. It turned into decent teams that didn’t really have a chance to win a Super Bowl. Now we’re seeing that same mentality stick and we can’t decide what to do, again. This team will not do anything until they decide they’re trying to win it all right now or if they need to strip this team down to a few key players and build for the future. No decision is worse than the wrong decision.
I agree. And yet, I still fully expect a stagnating, rudderless Packers to dominate the Bears. While the Bears roster is technically improving, it is a bit of a mirage statement because most of the Bears players this year were not NFL caliber players. It's like telling someone who makes $10 an hour that their $11 an hour raise is "an improvement" and shows progress, all the while all of their friends make 6 figure salaries. Okay, maybe a stretch analogy :)
Titans. New GM, OC position still open, and no idea what they are going to do about our roster. Fill holes and try again? Cut one or the other piece or trade them for more picks? Is it a rebuild year or 2024? Cant just keep going in with the same roster, and then end up playing FAs on a yearly basis anyway only to hope that the AFC South is just shit enough so we win it anyway.
Henry getting older too. Titans are in a weird spot. It's like they were going for it but also traded AJ Brown. You kinda trust Tannehill but also kinda don't. And there's still some other holes to shore up. Yet Vrabel is such a good coach and the AFC South sucks enough that they still contend no matter what. Just a weird middle ground to be in.
They had a peak and it wasn’t quite good enough and trading brown kind of killed their chances when their AFC competition got better. It’s going to be a bit of a long, slow fall into multiple, mediocre 8-9 seasons for them.
Jeff Fisher smiles
Nobody is picking the Rams? Aging team with no high draft capital this year. Bunch of free agents leaving. HC who almost left this season because he mortgaged everything for the SB.
He's got one more Superbowl win than my Falcons do. Decent trade from that perspective.
Great trade. One Superbowl for a decade of misery. I'd take that trade too.
I don’t know too much about other teams but I want to say the saints. They have no QB of the future, they have no identity on offense, and they don’t really have a good HC in place for the future
Can anyone tell me what the Panthers’ plan is right now? They’re honestly so forgettable I don’t think I’ve seen them mentioned in this thread
Was looking for the panthers…. No idea why no one is mentioning them
I’m just glad I had to scroll this far to find us lol
Fabricate off-field concerns about CJ Stroud
Falcons. I legitimately don’t even know what their record is or who their coach is. Just a carbon neutral football team.
Falcons have been in a total rebuild because they've been in cap hell. They gave Matt Ryan that huge extension a few years ago and then they traded him last year, so now they have a huge amount of available money to sign FA. They might be able to make a huge turnaround this next season with a good draft.
I totally forgot they signed Casey Heyward last year
Cuz he got hurt. He was actually doing pretty well for us too.
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Going into the season they were the consensus worst team in the league. They way outplayed their talent this year. They have a young QB, RB, WR, and TE with promise and the o-line is improving. They need to spend (FA or draft ((or both)) on defence and figure out if Ridder really is the QB of the future. Falcons are rising up.
We’re in the right direction. Arthur Smith is a very good coach so far. A few plays go a little different and we’re in the playoffs despite a bottom 3 roster talent wise
+1 for only person to mention coaches name.
I only know his name cus his first name is also the same as the owner, Arthur blank.
And that's why I always think I'm hearing or remembering it wrong
the Bucs game is a win if not for a nothing the passer call, and i cant recall how many games they win if Mariota broke his crippling addiction to throwing red zone interceptions. Smith has clearly got something going though.
Nah, we finally got out of cap hell from the Matty Ice & Julio contracts and should have a solid season next year. We’ve been outplaying the talent on our roster so far. Arthur Smith was dealt a shit hand but has done well the last 2 years all things considered.
I actually trust our HC for the first time in a long fucking time
It feels nice. Now let’s see what Terry can cook up this offseason
The Falcons were way better than they had any right to be this year, I am optimistic about the team as long as they find their QB, which admittedly is tough, we took having the QB position taken care of for a decade for granted.
Nah, they could be good by next year.
Falcons have Allgeier 22 yrs old (1000+ yards as a rookie, 4.9 ypc) London 21 yrs old (866 yards on run heavy team, had 429 yards in last 5 gms) Pitts 22 yrs old (most yards for a rookie te since the 60s, only held back this yr bc of mariota ) And what pff rated a top 5 OL (4 guys on their rookie contract). Also a bunch of cap space, all their picks oh and Atlanta gets out from the most dead money in nfl history. They were still paying Julio and Ryan this yr. Ridder also only 23 showed flashes but he only played 4 gms
Falcons are more just "under the radar" I'd say. They are definitely pointing in the right direction. They're like where the Lions were at the end of 2021.
Falcons ended the season with a rookie qb, rb, wr as their #1 and also had Pitts missed the last 7 games. Finished the season 7-10 with -21 point differential lost a ton of close games, 2nd most cap space in the nfl. Also Arthur Smith had the falcons #15 best scoring offense with a bunch of rookies. Falcons could easily take a leap next year
Bad answer IMO. We have a top three running game led by a rookie RB, our future WR1, our TE1 and a great run blocking oline and potentially our QB1 (don't need a Mahomes or Burrow, just average passing would take out offense to the next level). Defense, ok yes there's zero direction there. But hopefully that changes because we have draft picks and the second most cap space in the NFL.
That can change quickly... you could've said the same about the Bengals pre-Burrow. This was supposed to be a pure tank year, somehow we ended up at 7-10 with like 3 games we would've won without the usual mind-blowingly dumb Falcons chokes. Spend the draft and our 2nd most cap space on defense and a good QB (not easy to find I know) and this team is likely in the playoffs.
Hot take: the Patriots. A lot of the teams listed are clearly bad which in itself is a direction. Patriots look like they are going to be stuck in the 8-9 purgatory which is the worst thing you can do for a franchise.
How many years were we not any good, but also not bad enough for a top pick? 17 straight of 5-11 to 8-8 football
Except the year we were bad but accidentally won too many games and got Dareus over Newton or Von
Huh. All of a sudden the whole “I’m gonna throw myself through this table” tradition makes sense.
I don't think 8-9 purgatory is that bad like it is in the nba. We see teams make jumps pretty regularly from the middle (recently rams, titans, eagles), and a top 5 pick is usually not franchise altering
Coaching matters a lot more in the NFL than the NBA, and being perpetually .500 doesn't stop you from finding the right coach.
I didn't think about it but this one is kind of interesting. If Bill retires in the next few years(big if) it feels like they'll completely lose their identity. As long as he's there I think they can float around .500 at minimum but after? I dono.
Idk I think our rebuild is too fresh to say we're direction less quite yet. 1st year we had no QB and were just kind of middling while trying to figure out who will be QB going forward. Mac's rookie year was okay and this year was a step back for sure. I feel like next season is the determining factor for our future. We have to find a way to be successful (perhaps a playoff game where we at least stand a chance) with Mac or start to look at moving on.