Why ***** that much if you're a fan of a team? what happened to support? People here will say "our FO is a bunch of morons." Well then, let's see your heaping pile of credentials that makes you more qualified than them.
losing record?
- Thread starter Fin_Frenzy_84
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Keep an open mind, actually view the roster and coaching staff without a preset hatred. That would be a start. A lot of people see Sparano as coach and Henne as the quarterback and go "Oh well, this team will suck and won't win more than 5 games." Ok, but what about the fact that we have a top 6(likely top 5 this year) defense? One of the best receivers in the game(one of the top receiving corps in the league overall), new offensive coordinator and scheme(our biggest weakness in 2010), improved interior line and a revamped running game(Bush can be electrifying). The team lacked speed last year, enter Bush and Gates.
This team as of today is indeed BETTER than the one that took the field in 2010. That is not "Homer speak" or being overly optimistic, that is a FACT! If the team won 7 games last year, and beat some of the leagues elite teams, why can't they improve on last year? Saying "Well they still have Sparano and Henne" is an blind uneducated response. There is so much more that goes into a team. "Well the team quit on Sparano at the end of the year." True, they did quit in that Patriots game, but what team wouldn't? If the Patriots were in the same spot, I bet they quit on Belichick in Week 17. The players love Sparano, they support him and some even went to Twitter in January and displayed their opinion on how much they wanted him to return. Sure they quit in Week 17 after the season was already mathematically over, but they are back in his corner now.
You also say "minimal changes". Ok, what were the biggest problems last year?
Offensive Coordinator - Dan Henning out, and they bring in a smart young, and well respected(despite what the "He coached in Cleveland and sucks" crowd thinks) in Daboll. Check.
More Speed on offense - They draft one of the fastest players in the entire draft in Clyde Gates. Plus they go out and trade for the speedy Reggie Bush. Check.
Interior offensive line - They spend their first draft pick on the best interior lineman in the draft. They move Vernon Carey over to guard and suddenly the interior line has been greatly boosted. Check.
Running game - Interior of the line has been improved and they didn't bring back Ronnie or Ricky who both were extremely sub par. The spend a second round pick on the Big 12 rushing champion and bring in Reggie Bush. Check
Losing Key defensive players in free agency - People feared that Paul Soliai would not be back and most assumed Tony McDaniel wouldn't be. Both will be back. They also replaced possibly the defenses biggest weakness in Channing Crowder with Kevin Burnett. Check.
Is this team a Super Bowl contender? Probably not. Are they a playoff contender? Absolutely.
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ciscoholgate
Winning is a Habit
I agree Nubs.
jfleag61
Active Roster
Madden baby!!
I really want this team to win and they might, but nobody knows for sure what to expect. They have a really tough schedule this year, but I don't want any excuses for them if they only win around six games. I don't want to hear, "give them another year cuz of this or that." This is the year, either produce or get flushed down the drain.
I won't make any excuses. I am on record saying what I expect with Henne as the QB and that is a 9-7 record and contending for the playoffs. If they have a losing record than they should go. Though I do believe Ireland is safe no matter what happens.
I think we'll go 8-8. See? I'm the perfect balance between an uneducated pessimist moron and a blindly optimistic sunshine-pumper.
Valandui
Lumberjack Batman
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You think 9-7 will contend for the playoffs in the AFC East?
People like ignoring the fact that with Henne starting, we managed to beat 3 of the top 4 teams last year (I count the Steelers game as us beating them, even though we didn't get it shown on our overall record). The one team that ended up in a championship game last year that beat us was when Thigpen was running around like a chicken with his head cut off.
This. Not only that but this is likely to be one of the years where a 10-6(unless you win the division w/ it) will not get you in either. Jets/Pats, Steelers/Ravens, Colts/Texans. One will win the division and the other will take the WC. We will need at least 11 wins.
Maybe Nublar means playoff contender in the sense that we are 6-6, and we see the typical and yearly posts somewhere along the lines of "Don't give up hope, we can still make the playoffs if we run the table against our last 4 opponents, the Bills lose to Jacksonville, the Pats lose to the Jets, and the Ravens tie with the Steelers."
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Where are we better? Seriously, swapping out RB's doesn't make us better. Makes another question mark really. Same QB. Same WR's. O-line still is being shuffled around. How are we better? Who is the "impact" player we added??
MADDEN is for idiots: mental masturbation, and nothing more.
BigNastyDB13
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People exaggerate because our off-season sucked. You can pretend we got "much much" better this off-season but we did next to nothing to improve our offense. We brought in a 3rd down RB/PR, a RT who got abused last year and a handful of rookies. So unless you think these rookies are going to make that much of a difference then its hard to believe we got much better. The only significant improvement we made in my mind is the defense. The extra year of experience to go along with an upgrade over Crowder is more than I can say about the offense. I think we're a 9-7 team, if we stay mostly healthy. Henne, the running game, and the play-calling cant possibly be as bad as it was last year and the defense SHOULD only get better.
Sometimes a change in scheme can make a HUGE difference. Just look at the defense. At this point last year we were saying how much the defense sucked, now they are one of the best in the league. Going from Henning to Daboll alone can vastly improve the offense.
true, like the fans that think we have improved.