Anybody worried that the band wagon might flip over?

I'm not happy with a team that flounders for a 1/2 season year in and year out. This season seems such a repeat of last except we did get that one win in early. We were exceptionally inconsistent last year and Jake looked very uneven - here we are doing it all over again. The ideal scenario for any team is home field throughout and to do that every game should matter very much. Sure no one is going 16-0, but I want my team focused on the up coming game week in and week out. I want my coaches to have a solid game plan in place and my players to execute. It can be done - while NE may be much less smooth then they have been in the past, they've still got a way to go before they're not ALWAYS favored in every game they play. It can be done - I want that and I want the team to want that and work damned hard to get it.

 

we have the same record after 3 games as we did last year

 

Sacks, yes, but no on the other two. I'd say that our third down defense ('02 - 32.9%, '03 - 34.7%) and rushing defense ('02 - 103.3 yds & 12 TDs, '03 - 107.6 yds & 10 TDs) were pretty close to identical.

 

rushing D stats could be a tad skewed by the fact that in 2002 we were behind in the 4th Q more often and teams tend to run more when they are ahead than when they are trying to play catchup ... but yes our D played very well in 2003 despite the loss of Fields and his replacement. Grant's and WW's and even Howard's play improved considerably.

since you don't buy into the afterglow theory that i worry about, what is yours? oh yeah injuries. could be. they were pretty significant ... Jenks, Morgan (though we won more games we he was than when in). Branch replacing Grant (though you insist Branch wasn't that bad). Gamble in his rook year. still, other than perhaps Grant, the only players we lost in FA we pushed out. we are into our 3rd year of rebuilding this D since Del Rio left and yet we have slipped (and meanwhile Jax's D is at the top of the league again) ... some would say dramatically despite significant improvement at the corners. so please answer this one simple question. in your opinion is Trog blameless? well maybe two questions. in your opinion is he as good a DC as Del Rio?

 

Collin's opinion is that coaching matters little, if at all.

 

the panthers are just like NC State....all kinds of hype (i.e. the SI cover and super bowl prediction) and no substance.

 

I think Trgovac could do better, but yes, I think he's as good as Del Rio. That's not because I see Trgovac as being that great, but rather because I think people like you grossly overestimate Del Rio's value. I don't think he was a very good DC. I've never heard of anyone actually working in the NFL praise him as a defensive mind, and it seems pretty clear that he rode his charisma and not his brain to a head coaching job. In my view he's a smooth-talking scam artist, just like Jim Mora Jr.

 

i tend to watch the game, with actual people rather than chat it up during the game. i'll come in at halftime occassionally, and i've commented on the running commentary once or twice. my beef is not the bad start because i'd love to see us better off. my beef is the people who are questioning the franchise, jake, playcalling and such. maybe i'm just a homer, but there ain't shit i can do about the way we play so i just watch and accept who we have and what we do. whine all ya want, 1-2 isn't horrible.

 

If coaches do not matter how do you explain the Pats? They do not have superior talent.

 

his D was #2 while here. his D is #2 now. would seem to speak well for him but am open to explanation as to why not.