Russ is only one touchdown behind 1st place (19 - Tua and Allen). Sutton is only one behind 1st as well (8 - Tyreek Hill).
Overall these two are killing it and I don’t think it’s getting talked about enough. Now that our defense has been playing lights out, I’m really looking forward to seeing how the rest of the season goes. This is by far the most excited I’ve been about this team in almost a decade.
i think the reason why we have mixed perceptions about Russ’ play and our offense this year is because we see improvement compared to past years but it doesn’t seem that we are fully functional yet and instead have to rely on a “chunk play”, penalty or an improvised play to get a first down. We’re not able to sustain drives and dictate the game as the elite teams do.
To be fair, Russ is much improved over last year and he’s better than any QB we’ve had since Manning. Putting the contract and value question/argument aside for the moment, I think the question to answer is do you believe we will score when the offense takes the field? I don’t, no matter the field position. I expect more often than not that we will either go 3 and out or see a drive stalled due to consecutive penalties.
Rarely are they able to string together a series of plays that methodically moves the chains and ends with a score. And certainly i don’t think they can do it any time they want. Dont’ get me wrong I’m pleased they have won the games they have, we just have a long way to go before our offense is fully functional.
Teams in the top 3rd of the league typically have offenses that can sustain drives and score when they want, at will, practically. We haven’t had an offense of this caliber since Manning and it starts with elite QB play. What we have right now is average QB play and an offense that relies as much on a chunk play, lucky bounce or a penalty for the first down as they do a the play itself…
Rarely are they able to string together a series of plays that methodically moves the chains and ends with a score. And certainly i don’t think they can do it any time they want. Dont’ get me wrong I’m pleased they have won the games they have, we just have a long way to go before our offense is fully functional.
Yeah, I totally agree. This is a requirement for a top 3rd team and true SB contender, which I don’t believe we are at the moment. But I do think we are moving in the right direction and I don’t think it’s totally out of the question that we steal a wildcard spot by the end of the season. Wishful thinking, but a lot more realistic than it has been for a long time.
For me, the difference is that we actually are scoring touchdowns regularly, even if it’s situational. This has not been the case for the better part of the last decade; we could be less than 10 yards from the end zone and I would have 95% confidence we would settle for a field goal at best.
The numbers say he’s hanging with the upper echelons of the QBs but when I’ve seen Russ play, he doesn’t instill confidence when you need him to move the ball downfield or make intermediate to deep throws. He does enough to not mess up but that’s about it. We’ve been bailed a lot by opposing penalties and the defense this season.
I have been a Russ-sceptic over the past two years but can you ever imagine us getting back to back wins over KC and Buffalo with Keenum, Flacco, Lock or Bridgewater as QB?
Russ is now easily our best QB post-PFM. He is far from perfect and I’m still not a huge fan but he has been much improved this year. I’ll take neutered Russ being careful with the ball and being clutch compared to whatever the fuck was last year.
Yeah he is considerably better than the carousel guys. The frustration is we gave up a lot for him and are paying him a lot. For the cost we were hoping for a difference maker who could elevate the team by making special plays. I think what we have now is a game manager who can execute a system. But to give Russ credit, he is being enough of a professional to play within Payton’s system rather than try to do hero ball.
It’s frustrating but we are where we are and at least Russ is giving Payton a chance to work with something.