SR711

Gus needs to adjust and bring more pressure. Dare Young to beat you

As long as he takes care of the ball, I’m good with it in this game.

Good point…that obviously can affect how good a QB (especially a rookie) can look

Makes you wonder why it was scheduled for a 4 pm start.

Hate to pile on the guy, but Young looks the worst of any Bama QB that’s come in the last few years. He looks rattled back there. Reading defenses and working through progressions were supposed to be his strong suits. Moores pick 6 sealed it…as long as we run the ball and have no TOS, I don’t see how Panthers come back into this game

First time I’m seeing Young play extensively…he looks by far the worst of the top 4 QBs taken. Wonder what Carolina FO saw to take him over Stroud and there be such a wide gap in their play so far.

Yeah, I didn’t understand the purpose of the 1st down call there. It was essentially a waste of a play considering they were more than a yard out and basically did nothing formation wise to disguise the intention to QB sneak

Panthers look like a real sloppy, undisciplined group so far. If the Colts don’t make a bunch of mistakes, keep ball in Taylor and Moss’s hands, they should be able to win this going away.

Good post and basically summarizes my frustration with how AR was used this year and him getting hurt. I didn’t necessarily have a problem with him starting. However, it seems to me, as a fan, there was not a properly thought out plan on how to use his playing time this year to properly advance his development. For instance, It’s a little disappointed that more caution was not used with putting him in read option situations considering the injuries that occurred with those plays in the games he did play

I agree…I think he is done getting head coaching opportunities.

I don't know if you're deliberately being obtuse, but I think it is a pretty simple thought that, with most sports franchises, a GM is responsible/accountable for the coaching hires they make and how they turn out regardless of bizarre, unique the end result may be. Per reports I can recall at the time, the coaching search was a wide one and Ballard decided on McD after having weeks to go through his vetting process with this being his first major hire/decision here. Keep in mind that the Colts job was a coveted one at the time especially compared to some of other openings that were there so chances are, Ballard was going to get his 1st choice. Yes, McD was spineless. What he did was 100% a low character thing to do. He obviously and justifiably came out looking the worst (by far) of anyone in this after things went down. However, what happened ultimately does not reflect well on Ballard's decision making or more specifically, the process he used to make this decision/offer. Two things can be true at the same time. That may be unfair as there may have been no "red flag" to indicate this would happen, but, unfortunately, that comes with territory when someone is an important decision-making position IMO. As far the "football world" reaction, I don't understand what bearing that has here. Chris Ballard seems like a nice guy who anyone would probably love to have as their neighbor. He probably is a great guy to work with. He is engaging, thoughtful, open and amicable with the media. Therefore, it doesn't surprise me that no one would really want to criticize him. If McD came here and completely flamed out due to a poor W-L record or because he was jerk who could not motivate, relate to the players, would you still not hold Ballard accountable? Btw, McD's performance with the Raiders with him being fired for a 2nd time after less than 2 seasons on the job doesn't exactly prove he was good head coach material. McDaniels looked the worst for backing out when he did on his commitment. Ballard made a mistake in hiring him. If he had found an under the radar grand slam hire like Sean McVay, we would all be praising him. Just my opinion, but we have to take every decision and their results into account when objectively evaluating instead of just rationalizing those that end up negatively.

Glad you posted this as I feel that’s one thing that hasn’t been given enough attention since it happened. After Pagano’s exit, Ballard’s first major decision as GM here with all his preparation through his various stops and experience (remember the binder he had prepared as a special tool to help him hire the right guy) was McDaniels. I said it at the time McD reneged here and holds true today after he was fired by the Raiders after barely 1-1/2 seasons there: Ballard has major egg on his face for that one and it reflects poorly on his decision making.

Ballard probably gets an extra year from Irsay of this retool because of the AR injury so I still think he is here for a while. At this point, he is who he is: an average GM who was/is overhyped and played up by the media (both local and national) and whose accolades are nowhere near what his results, resume support. I think it is very telling that a hallmark of his time is repeatedly the teams season being undermined in multiple years by an area of the roster that he skimped on.

You’re right, but playing zone wasn’t working well either so I kinda feel for Bradley in that situation…it’s like the old saying goes “you’re only as strong as your weakest link”

Brown and Baker might be two of the worst cornerbacks in NFL…you seriously can get guys off the streets to give you what those guys give you…

With who we are rolling out in the secondary now and how teams have exposed that, would not be surprised if Bryce Young sets a few career/season highs against us in several categories next week.

Yeah that was really, really stupid

I agree with this and I will also add that he is way too conservative in addressing clear talent deficiencies on the roster.

That’s an incomplete pass

Hate to say it, but btw the injuries, lack of talent and depth…this team is just not very good right now. You add in a qb who is currently a turnover machine and it’s not a good formula.

In this weeks episode of “What was Minshew doing?”…..

Interesting decision by Steichen on this upcoming series on how aggressive he is considering field position after the punt

Yeah, it would have been a good idea to try a deep shot on 1st down when they were clearly expecting run up the gut

Yeah it’s a still a one score game…gotta get back to running the ball well on the early downs

This secondary is awful and may end costing us this season. Mark this up as another instance where Ballard decided to go into a season with clearly low talented, thin unit while sitting on cap space and it came back to bite him.