Bye Week Discussions - Where We Are and Where Do You Predict We Go

[tynimiller]

As the title said discuss where we are, where you predict and overall things during the bye.

Rest of schedule left:

@ Bears
Niners
Dolphins
@Lions
@Seahawks
Saints
@Vikings
Bears

Looking back...last year at this time the team was 3-6 and most of us were hopeful on Love's future but not on the team's immediate future. So there is the shred of light there that while yes we just played quite sloppy and took an L, we are sitting at 6-3 and have played overall quite well. Unlike at the beginning of the season I do believe in the first 9 games Hafley has figured out our best defense is when Williams is in and Bull is at slot...outside corner in general needs elevated play and Cooper is on the brink of damn well being a game wrecker (there has to be in week stuff they're not seeing to just make him the starter....I pray this changes asap).

I also think the offense clearly is talented and we can and do produce in big ways when Love simply protects the ball and our pass catchers don't drop the ball. Lead leaders in drops and while Love often times looks like a sheer genius in his decision making...for every ten wise ones, he literally just hands the ball off to a defender it seems - not even hard INTs...

Looking forward... The days of Wicks getting pivotal and/or end game snaps over Watson just needs to be done. His drops are killing him, I think he's pressing now every time he sees the ball coming. Ease down on the snaps, let him relax and even if it isn't until 2025 season again - confidence can be shattered if this keeps happening too much and he is TOO good to not try and lesson the chances of that. Doubs can in many ways do what Wicks does route structure wise, let Watson cook at what routes he excels at and Reed mixes with them well.

Crazy thing is this team doesn't need to change the world...clean up the dumb a** presnap penalties by the offense, have no more than one drop a game and stop thinking Edgerrin isn't one of your best off ball backers and this team can easily still compete for the division. Mix in some of that urgency mentality that folks say MLF is terrible at creating and I for sure could see us in a dog fight down the stretch for the division.

I personally HATE the final eight games...I truly believe they are capable of running the table but that's just not logical in the NFL and especially with some of our health issues....I place 6 of 8 as the realistic ceiling and 3 as the realistic floor...

I predict 10 wins

 

[Krabs]

I don't disagree with a lot of what you posted and I too predict 10 wins. In the same respect, this is not a Super Bowl team. It's disheartening to admit that but they don't have the ability to stop the run consistently. Love forces too many balls and doesn't seem to get that you can't do that. Look at his press conference before the Lions game. Lastly, they just make too many mistakes. 10 penalties again yesterday and most were procedural issues. It's just not going to happen.

With that said, I'm just going to sit and enjoy the games for what they are and curb my expectations. It's not their year.

 

[tynimiller]

I'll also add some trade targets since we are at the beginning of this week in the trade window:

Few Edges

Azeez Ojulari NYG - Giants season is not going to the playoffs...they have Kayvon and Brian Burns as their main edges but Azeez has been gold in filling in, and is in a contract year where the Giants likely won't spend money on him in the offseason as they rebuild elsewhere. He's likely one of the higher priced one year rental piece (but GB could extend him if they are thinking of departing or renegotiating Preston)... In just 210 snaps Azeez has produced 6 sacks / 19 pressures / 24 tackles - he arguably isn't a massive upgrade overall as a player, but pressure creation wise he adds juice we don't seem to have presently.

Jadaveon Clowney CAR (*Tyni's Pick) - I've said it before and I'll say it again Clowney needs to be a Packer. Just this week the against Denver he played the run great, created two pressures and sured up a defense that is STRUGGLING on a STRUGGLING team find an ugly win. Clowney wouldn't have to be a one year rental, he has a 2025 year in his contract with an overall hit of $14M but only a dead cap of $6M...his base could easily be converted to lower his hit or cut clean with very little cost. He is 31 years old and at the age he is likely very desperate to be back on a team with a chance to push for the playoffs. Hunger in him is likely there and you can see he still can make plays...to me he is the perfect trade as he likely doesn't cost a ton - Panthers are a mess, and has the bonus of a doable 2025 year in his contract if he loves GB - even if Preston is retained another year.

Chase Young NOR - This is intriguing to me...I fail to continue to understand how he doesn't find a "home". At only 25 the Saints gave him finally a one year deal...and with the Saints season falling apart he could be trade bait for sure. His void years I'm unsure how those work and/or follow - I believe the Saints are on the hook for them making Young VERY CHEAP to trade for. VERY CHEAP $ wise (under $600K total).


I'll post some CBs here in a bit when time allows.

 

[Magooch]

IMO we “should” be favored against the Bears (twice), Dolphins, Seahawks, and Saints at minimum. And I think we very much COULD beat the Vikings, but couldn’t predict that with any confidence right now. I don’t see us beating the Lions in their house. And I don’t think the 49ers are particularly good right now, but they’ve had our number for ages. So that will probably be an L.

So by my count, out of the next eight I’d say we *should* win five. But I’d also expect us to drop at least one “should win”, so I’d call it 4-4.

On the whole I think if we want to make any serious noise in the playoffs it’s going to take one of those magical runs where everything just clicks and comes together. Still feels a year or so too early for us.

 

[tynimiller]

IMO we “should” be favored against the Bears (twice), Dolphins, Seahawks, and Saints at minimum. And I think we very much COULD beat the Vikings, but couldn’t predict that with any confidence right now. I don’t see us beating the Lions in their house. And I don’t think the 49ers are particularly good right now, but they’ve had our number for ages. So that will probably be an L.

So by my count, out of the next eight I’d say we *should* win five. But I’d also expect us to drop at least one “should win”, so I’d call it 4-4.

On the whole I think if we want to make any serious noise in the playoffs it’s going to take one of those magical runs where everything just clicks and comes together. Still feels a year or so too early for us.

Crazy part I keep coming back to is this team is more seasoned and built better than last years...and look how we nearly made the NFC Ship. There is a lot of sloppy play in this wheel right now...a few things tightened down at the right time they could still be a serious contender...a few things untighten right now and the wheel could fall off too.

 

[XPack]

Only the Lions and Vikings have a winning record, Bears & Vikings are tied even with the rest having losing records.
Outside of division, 49ers is likely to be the roughest game, but having at home helps a great deal.

@ Bears - Win
Niners - Win
Dolphins - Win
@ Lions - Loss
@ Seahawks - Win
Saints - Win
@ Vikings - Toss-up
Bears - Win

We'd likely to finish 12-5 or 13-4 depending on luck, with a good change of getting a wildcard berth with Rams (assuming Kupp is back in top form) being our closest competitor. Though, unless we pull up pants big time, we are not going far post-season.

 

[MJS]

As the title said discuss where we are, where you predict and overall things during the bye.

Rest of schedule left:

@ Bears
Niners
Dolphins
@Lions
@Seahawks
Saints
@Vikings
Bears

Looking back...last year at this time the team was 3-6 and most of us were hopeful on Love's future but not on the team's immediate future. So there is the shred of light there that while yes we just played quite sloppy and took an L, we are sitting at 6-3 and have played overall quite well. Unlike at the beginning of the season I do believe in the first 9 games Hafley has figured out our best defense is when Williams is in and Bull is at slot...outside corner in general needs elevated play and Cooper is on the brink of damn well being a game wrecker (there has to be in week stuff they're not seeing to just make him the starter....I pray this changes asap).

I also think the offense clearly is talented and we can and do produce in big ways when Love simply protects the ball and our pass catchers don't drop the ball. Lead leaders in drops and while Love often times looks like a sheer genius in his decision making...for every ten wise ones, he literally just hands the ball off to a defender it seems - not even hard INTs...

Looking forward... The days of Wicks getting pivotal and/or end game snaps over Watson just needs to be done. His drops are killing him, I think he's pressing now every time he sees the ball coming. Ease down on the snaps, let him relax and even if it isn't until 2025 season again - confidence can be shattered if this keeps happening too much and he is TOO good to not try and lesson the chances of that. Doubs can in many ways do what Wicks does route structure wise, let Watson cook at what routes he excels at and Reed mixes with them well.

Crazy thing is this team doesn't need to change the world...clean up the dumb a** presnap penalties by the offense, have no more than one drop a game and stop thinking Edgerrin isn't one of your best off ball backers and this team can easily still compete for the division. Mix in some of that urgency mentality that folks say MLF is terrible at creating and I for sure could see us in a dog fight down the stretch for the division.

I personally HATE the final eight games...I truly believe they are capable of running the table but that's just not logical in the NFL and especially with some of our health issues....I place 6 of 8 as the realistic ceiling and 3 as the realistic floor...

I predict 10 wins

Some great points here. A few things really bother me. We are nine games into the season and the penalties are just killers. No reason for it, even with the team being fairly young, but every week it's the same story. I like Jordan Love but he is far too careless with the ball, throwing it into multiple coverages every game. Once in a while you have no choice, but on 3rd and 2, he feels the need to heave it downfield into double coverage? MLF needs to reign him in, as this team has too much talent. Finally, special teams and I have no explanation for that. They have been awful for years and we've seen literally no improvement in the past few seasons. Until this gets addressed, it will continue to cost us games.

 

[weeds]

I think they're a 10 or 11 win team but after yesterday's showing, who knows.

 

[milani]

Only the Lions and Vikings have a winning record, Bears & Vikings are tied even with the rest having losing records.
Outside of division, 49ers is likely to be the roughest game, but having at home helps a great deal.

@ Bears - Win
Niners - Win
Dolphins - Win
@ Lions - Loss
@ Seahawks - Win
Saints - Win
@ Vikings - Toss-up
Bears - Win

We'd likely to finish 12-5 or 13-4 depending on luck, with a good change of getting a wildcard berth with Rams (assuming Kupp is back in top form) being our closest competitor. Though, unless we pull up pants big time, we are not going far post-season.

It may be tougher to beat the Bears more than once this season. Vikings and Lions on the road are not games in which we are favored. As much as I think we can beat Seattle we have not won there since 2009. Niners will be very difficult if McCaffrey is back. I believe we would be 10-7 or 11-6.

 

[AKCheese]

I will be disappointed with 10 wins (if realatively healthy). We are NOT the best team in the NFC - Detroit is. That said we have as good a chance as anyone and better than most - to challenge them. We need however many wins we neec to make the playoffs but MOST importantly we need to be playing our best football come playoff time. Thats whats most important, not our record. I personally don’t care who we play or where in the playoffs. You’re either THE best team in the NFC or youre not. My projection is we wind up 11-6.

 

[OldSchool101]

I think 4-4 against an above average schedule is reasonable. Much could change if we get add help through FA. 1 more substantial player on both O + D and maybe getting Musgrave and Lloyd back for needed depth and we could begin to see some spark.

All that said. This season rides on the ability of Jordan Love to regain his health and do a better job both protecting that football and improving decisions towards the final minutes. He needs a course in living to see another day. Particularly when it’s 2nd or 3rd and short

 

[milani]

I will be disappointed with 10 wins (if realatively healthy). We are NOT the best team in the NFC - Detroit is. That said we have as good a chance as anyone and better than most - to challenge them. We need however many wins we neec to make the playoffs but MOST importantly we need to be playing our best football come playoff time. Thats whats most important, not our record. I personally don’t care who we play or where in the playoffs. You’re either THE best team in the NFC or youre not. My projection is we wind up 11-6.

We have to beat a good team during the regular season at least once. It is nice to win the ones against the lesser teams but the confidence of young players depends on that. Last season we knocked off Detroit and KC. It gave us the oomph to go down to Dallas and pull a major upset.