CrimsonCrew wrote:Pretty frustrated this morning. Probably my fault for starting to get my hopes up. All season I've just been thinking, "If only we could get healthy, this team could make some noise in the playoffs." Alas, with our two most important (by a pretty wide margin, though Lenoir is also on the short list) defensive players both done for the year, I don't see how we make a realistic move in the playoffs. Just brutal.
The defense has outperformed expectations all year, with the prospect of it improving as the young guys settle into their roles. The offense has been surprisingly effective given the extent of the injuries to the skill positions - granted the shoddy OL play and ineffective red zone offense have remained a problem. We still have a good shot of making the playoffs given the schedule and the expected return of Kittle and Pearsall - and maybe even Aiyuk at some point. But prospects of being legit contenders without Bosa and Warner are exceedingly thin. Just two irreplaceable guys.
Our young players on D will be getting great seasoning this year, but the end result is likely to be a waste of another year of Trent, CMC, and Kittle, all of whom are getting long in the tooth for the positions they play. And given the schedule and our four wins to date, we're probably looking at a draft pick in the high teens or 20s. Tough pill to swallow. Got to hope - yet again - that this team can stay even moderately healthy next year.
I don't think our schedule doesn't quite look as weak as it once was. The Texans, Giants, and Colts could be tough as will all the divisional games. That leaves the Panthers, Browns, Titans, and Bears. The defensive did outperform expectations to date, but even with Bosa the pass rush was not great, now it is almost nonexistent and the safeties are struggling in coverage which is compounded by the lack of pass rush.
