After reading the posts this week I never realized how negative a fan base can be.
Defense:
So we have looked terrible on defense...counting the pre season games.
We are without our veterans to provide leadership to a still very young defense. Without Flowers and Hali who else has the leadership to hold the D together? I love DJ and his game but he has never shown the maturity to lead a D. You will be hard-pressed to find another team that has 2 starting Wideouts the same quality as the Falcons (Jones and White). We went against an explosive offense without our top 5 pass rusher and corner. There is no amount of depth that can replace that. Remember, we are still in the rebuilding phase and just now, IMO entered the time we can start stocking up certain positions with draft picks.
Offense:
I am not a Cassel supporter since I think he is a slightly below average starting qb and a solid backup in this league. I was happy when we signed him initially because he would have been perfect for 1-2 years of rebuilding mode but his contract is ludicrous. I'm not going to complain because he's our qb and we're stuck with him. We have a young O-line that did a good job of holding up against a very aggressive Defense. Our run game looked very good, this just wasn't a game we could grind it out...our defense will give us those opportunities eventually. On paper our WR's are very talented. Bowe, Breaston, Baldwin, Wylie, McCluster is a very formidable group. It might take a bit to readjust to yet another Offensive gameplay with Daboll. Our Te sets could be fun this year with Moeaki and Boss.
So to sum it up, we lost to a perennial playoff contender that are trying to get over the hump to the elite discussion. They are an air it out football team that our offense can't go point for point with on a good day. They caught us with our pants down on defense with so many impact players out there wasn't a lot we could do unless everything went perfectly. We're 0-1...who cares
Also, remember we have been rebuilding for what seems like 10 years now. We've been flying through coaches and finally addressed our needs in the trenches. It's a talented roster and it will take a while for things to click. It's frustrating because we hear nfl analyst discuss how we are one of the more talented teams on paper and can match up to anyone and we don't see the results immediately. We've been teased with winning the division and making playoff runs only to struggle the next year. Soon enough we'll be back on top to the surprise of everyone.
Also, before anyone starts an attack on Pioli and his draft picks, give them some time to develop. Yes we have a lot of our core from when Herm Edwards did our draft ( I didn't like him ) but it took them several years to develop. 2008 was the year he hit a homerun for us but that was because we stockpiled a ton of picks. All of those picks took 3-4 years to develop into the "stars" that we have now.
Sorry if I rambled a bit. Please don't hijack this thread with "Matt Cassel Sucks" "Pioli Sucks". This is still a young team searching for an identity and it's only the first week.
Stay positive!
