If we were actually contenders and the entire organization believed that we had a shot of making a deep playoff run this year then I love it. That said, the offense has been struggling since last season and outside of a couple okay performances it should have been obvious to Pete and company that this team isnt beating the 49ers Eagles or Cowboys.

I think I am most bothered by the thought process that losing a key trench guy on defense immediately warranted making a big trade, but being down 2 Olineman after week 1 and another 2 after week two warranted no changes at all. I get Uchena was a season ending injury, but for a coach who values a stable running attack he sure doesnt act like it when it comes to his front 5.

I guess at the end of the day I wasnt looking at this team in week 7 thinking man we are only a player away on defense from being contenders. So i struggle with the concept that Pete and John did think that.

The irony is that we were not on the list in 2020 when Russ was “cooking” and Pete specifically mentioned being worried the offense was scoring too fast.

3rd down conversion rate being low, and scoring on explosive plays are the two biggest contributors obviously.

3rd down conversion rate is a huge issue and a fairly complex one. Its also not like we are getting to third and short on most drives then failing either, we have a ton of third and longs which means we just have a bad offense. RB and Oline injuries have been an enormous issue for us and not having much QB mobility during that time period makes those two issues much worse.

People often use the term 1 dimensional to describe NFL offenses that either are missing the running game or the passing game. I would argue that the NFL has in a big way moved past that term as many teams use more advanced play action and rpo schemes with a mixture of QB / WR runs and moving the pocket to blend the run pass games together. The Hawks dont really do any of that, and consequently while I would almost say some offenses are 3 dimensional, ours is as flat as the play book it was written on.

I mean prime Russ I think is the only player that could truly alter this teams course right now I would think. Prime Walter Jones might change the team enough, but my gut tells me we would need more. Prime Alexader or Prime Lynch might also spark the team but they would need a healthier Oline.

Which bad loss are you refering to that we shouldnt be concerned about? The first loss to the Rams without Kupp where we looked like we forgot how to football over the offseason? The Ravens loss that was statistically the most lopsided in the Pete era? The second Rams loss where we looked dominant in the first quarter but then completely gave up on everything that was working? or the loss on Thursday where the only reason we scored any points was because of a defense and special teams play in a game that made us look laughably bad?

100% Steelers. Stalwart coach with a great history of winning season after season in a tough division. Lost their star QB a few seasons ago and currently have a QB that doesnt quite look like the answer, but they dont have an easy or immediate solution to that problem as they rarely have high draft picks. Dominant division rival in the Ravens paralleling the 49ers. Good defense, but struggling offense. Just fired their OC, and are hoping to just barely make the playoffs this season.

Depends on where we end up draft wise. My guess is that the best pick we could end up with even losing out will be 10 which would likely mean 3 QBs off the board before we draft. If we dont lose out but dont make the playoffs then likely 4-5 QBs off the board. Make the playoffs and we are likely not getting a QB with high prospects, but they could try and move up or maybe they like the 6-8th QB in the class.

I think that as deep as the QB class feels right now it wont feel that deep by April as the combine and end of the college football and offseason have their effect. Combine that with the Bears, Patriots, Falcons, and Bucs for sure wanting a QB then likely the Raiders, and maybe Giants and Vikings needing a QB. To me a best case would be to offload Geno to a team like the Vikings, Giants, or Pats for a 2nd or 3rd resign Lock, and shuffle some 2025 picks around to move up to around 8-9 in this years draft and take the QB available there.

I am by no means dissing on you or your wife, but when I was younger this was always my take with Russ and other QBs that got sacked a lot. Time in the pocket goes by so fast that milliseconds improvements in release time and read speed are huge. You also have to help your O line out and throw the ball away. Geno very very rarely just tosses the ball out of bounds when he doesnt see what he wants, other QBs even this years rookies will see a blitz coming and just get rid of the ball. To make matters worse Geno doesnt have quite the arm strength and talent to make most throws without a clean pocket. He obviously isnt a Josh Allen, but its becoming a huge liability that he can’t get enough under a ball when he doesnt have a clean pocket which is leading to more held balls turning into even more sacks or underthrows to DK.

I know we wont be drafting at 3 or 4 in 2024, but take a quick look at the Texans. That roster looked miles away from contending, but adding Stroud instantly took them from bottom feeder to a team I would be way more scared to play than the Hawks. The best QB in a class rarely ends up being the first QB taken, so I believe picking around 12-15 gives us a reasonable shot at someone. This team needs a good QB more than any other single piece right now. More importantly is that you have to buy a lottery ticket if you expect to win, and some teams end up having the buy a few before they win so we better get started otherwise Lockett is going to be 5 years retired, DK finishing his career somewhere else, and that good young Oline will be expensive and split apart.

First off I dont think DK is worth anything on the trade market. The guy is already paid!!! Teams are trading for guys at the end of their rookie deals that are young and still cheap. He is making 24 million next season and will be the 10th highest paid WR while putting up mid tier WR2 stats. Do you really think some team is giving up a first for that? much less 2???

Not saying DK is bad either, but its sort of like the Jamal situation. To expensive to trade, but still productive enough to justify. Honestly, half of DKs drops are squarely on Geno. Its like Geno saves all of his ugly ducks for DK. He never puts the ball up high for DK, and is constantly under throwing him.

Which loss stings the most in the last 4 weeks? 3-37 in the Ravens game where it looked like no one even showed up (statistically one of if not the worst loss in the last decade). 16-17 against a bad Rams team that we were dominating early. 31-13 prime time loss to the Whiners in our house? Any one of these losses could go down as a worst in a long time loss for me, and somehow we still have Dallas, 49ers, Eagles in the coming weeks. We may well see some really ugly games coming up.

Honestly, this week I think Pete needs to walk in tomorrow morning sit down with Geno and Drew and tell them they are competing for the job this week. First team reps for drew, everyone practices unless they are hurt. Heal Geno, and if Drew has a good week in practice consider it. Put Waldron up in the booth, and tell him every coach’s job is on the line right now. This week shouldnt be fun, it should be hard, and everyone needs to compete. Make everyone earn their jobs top to bottom this week. I want more of the fire from Brooks, and we desperately need someone on the offense to light that fire. I feel like that person could actually be JSN, he has a bit of Doug in him I think.

Happy Thanksgiving, and thanks for whatever work you are doing when you could otherwise be with family and friends.

Cant hardly believe that I am about to type this, but Dee Eskridge was the best player on offense and special teams so far.

2 minute drills are always defended differently. The 49ers played soft coverage there and didnt bring much pressure. Not saying you are wrong, but its just hard to judge anything based on 2 min drills. Everything is different when you are in hurry up, and the defense is just trying to prevent the deep plays.

When we inevitably win the final 3 games of the year and finish with a winning record I need everyone to remember this game. I dont want to hear all the “we have a winning record its fine bs”.

What is the point of even having a winning record and contending every season if we cant beat the 49ers and Lambs? I am so done with the Pete keeps us winning argument. This team has talent and shouldnt look this bad.

I just want to feel like this team wants it! They just look so content to wait on defense. I miss when this team had fire. God we need some angry leadership in this lockerroom again.

Can we please just consistently agree as a community that Geno isnt good. That doesnt mean we think Lock is good. It just means Geno is a bottom 10 QB.

Agreed. Three OCs, a decade of bad Offensive lines, 2 QBs, countless running backs, and long developing deep passes that always seem to happen on 3rd short combined with short passes and screens on 3rd and long. With game plans that rarely seem to account for our opponents strengths or weaknesses. I dont think we can fire another OC and expect different results. I also cant imagine wanting this job as an OC given the history.

I am not ready to fire another OC. Bevell, Schotty, and Waldron have all had good moments, but the bad from all of them has been oddly similar. Two different QBs, 3 OCs and more RBs and receivers than I can list and the problems look similar. Not trying to drive home some Pete sucks theory or anything, more so I just dont want to go down the same road again just yet. My best guess is that we just like the same style of OC and prefer OCs with similar tendencies. Honestly, Bevell is the one I feel the worst for, he was saddled with putrid O line play and Tom Cable.

For now I would much prefer we sit tight. The whole organization is having issues, sure the offense is quite bad right now especially later in games, but its not like the defense has been great in recent years either.