adam

That is a pretty good analysis about practice versus game days, but I completely discount anything Dilfer says about playing football. He was arguably the worst QB to ever win a Super Bowl and I never understood why ESPN felt he had any credibility. I agree about the OLine and lack of protection. Those ghosts are real, and Carr never truly recovered and had similar bad habits.

Cutler is not the biggest problem, but you are right that the QB position has the most impact on the game. However, some other positions and impact players can have close to the same amount of impact on our team. Just think if we had JJ Watt? How about Suh in the middle? How about Kuechly as MLB? The defense has allowed the most points in team history in back to back years. It has been historically bad and not even Wilson makes this magically a playoff team. Do we win a few more games with Wilson, sure, but we probably go 8-8 with him at the helm. We only lost 3 games when the defense allowed less than 30 (BUF, MIN, and MIA). Do you really think Seattle is a playoff team if they had our defense? I don't think so. However, I could easily see them still being a playoff team with Cutler at QB. Besides our ridiculously bad defense (of all-time), we had one of the worst Special Teams units in football with us giving opponents the best field position in the league starting at the 32 and giving our offense the 7th worst starting position in the league at the 26. That is over 1000 yard difference over an entire season and about 64 yard swing per game.

I agree Cutler is not the biggest problem, but he remains part of it. When evaluating INTs, you almost have to look at all attempts versus just INTs. Cutler had some INT's that were definitely not his fault, but he also had a bunch of near miss INTs that should've been INTs (dropped by defender). So in the end it almost evens out. If you look at Cutler holistically, he has some serious flaws and actually took a step backwards this year (for some reason), but in the end still remains a viable option at QB. One of the biggest things was with expectation management. Everyone expected a huge year from him and the offense this year and the consistency was not there. Some have pointed to the fact that Cutler had the ability to audible out of plays and switch from run to pass or pass to run at the line, and this led to most of the confusion this season. So as the season went on, teams just showed a certain front to initiate the audible, only to drop into the coverage needed for the expected play. The team also had a bunch of pre-snap penalties that can be linked to these line calls. Not that any of the audibles were right or wrong, they just added a layer of complexity to the offense that seemed to be one of the roots of the problem. To Cutler's defense, the offense play calling was horrible. Even when there was no audible, the offense was never in rhythm. I also believe the team had a bunch of dropped passes that were legit drops and not necessarily bad passes. In the end, I still believe we can win with a Cutler-caliber QB, but not unless the defense gets back to at least a respectable level and the Special Teams doesn't pin us behind the 20 every drive.

Gase and Quinn interviews complete, next up: Lake Dawson on Tuesday Chris Ballard on Wednesday

The GM and HC need to be on the same sheet of music. It would seem whoever gets Ryan will get someone who already has ties with him previously.

Absolutely Polian would be first choice, but he has to be willing. It seems that he has turned down all offers and is content where he is at. Holmgren has been out of football since 2012 and didn't really do anything that spectacular other than when he was a HC. He was actually relieved of his GM duties in Seattle 3 years before they got to the SB. He also didn't do that well in Cleveland. As bad as it got under Angelo, we did go to a Super Bowl (and should've won). We just needed to cut sling a few years earlier than we did. These are all different guys, you actually have no idea how they will perform until they are actually in the position. All you can do is look at their character traits and past performance as indicators. From what I have read about Ballard, he is more qualified than Emery was at the time of his hiring.

Yeah the defense went to hell after he left. Looking back, he had more of an impact on the defense than Lovie ever did. Look how good TB's defense looked this year with Lovie's touch. They got worse.

I would not mind Ballard, and I don't think you can exclude someone just because they worked for the organization previously. I know there will be comparisons to Emery, but Ballard is currently a Director of Player Personnel for KC, a position Emery never held. Emery's ceiling was probably Director of Scouting. Additionally, Ballard has been a coach and coordinator (in college), another thing Emery never experienced. Ballard seems to be much more well-rounded, coaching on both sides of the ball, spending time as a DC, then Scout, Director of Pro Scouting, and then as the Director of Player Personnel. Emery spent 17 years as a Strength and Conditioning Coach. However, if there is a better candidate elsewhere, go with the best one, regardless of ties or affiliations.

Yeah, that rumor is picking up steam. Would make sense and I prefer him over some of the other candidates. Bowles now available with Cards out of playoffs. However, with Ballard's relationship and knowledge of Toub, that connection makes sense.

Cutler and the offense were only part of the problem, the defense and special teams were historically bad and accounted for most of the problems. 8 of the losses we allowed 27 or more. CAR is going to get blown out the next game but is amazing how good LB play can impact the entire game. Lovie firing Rivera was the turning point in the franchise. We have never recovered from that point.

Jets in the 2nd would be the only team ahead of us that would realistically take him, so I cant imagine it would take that much to move up ahead of them. Maybe Cutler and our 2nd for Titans 2nd? However, a 50% completion % (last 2 games) leaves a lot to be desired.

Looks like DeCosta and Ballard are the only two mentioned previously. Surprised to see another Texan on the list.

Our new HC is more than likely coming from this list. 6 out of the 7 hires last year were recommended by the panel. Surprised not to see Adam Gase. Here’s the list of current NFL coaches recommended by the panel: Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles Miami Dolphins defensive coordinator Kevin Coyle Denver Broncos defensive coordinator Jack Del Rio San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator Vic Fangio Tennessee Titans defensive coordinator Ray Horton Cincinnati Bengals offensive coordinator Hue Jackson Baltimore Ravens offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi Carolina Panthers defensive coordinator Sean McDermott Pittsburgh Steelers offensive line coach Mike Munchak Green Bay Packers safeties coach Darren Perry Seattle Seahawks defensive coordinator Dan Quinn Carolina Panthers offensive coordinator Mike Shula Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton Here’s the list of college coaches recommended by the panel: UCLA head coach Jim Mora Jr. Stanford head coach David Shaw Texas head coach Charlie Strong Texas A&M head coach Kevin Sumlin

With DeCosta declining (again), it seems like it is down to: Brian Gaine, Texans director of pro personnel (only 1 year in Houston, so his time in Miami is the only true measurement of success) Ryan Pace, Saints director of player personnel (has been in the Saints organization since 2001, but team really didn't get better until Payton/Brees arrived) Lake Dawson, Titans vice president of player personnel (I personally don't like the Titans roster) Chris Ballard, Chiefs director of player personnel (KC has a pretty good team, but Emery came from same staff)

Saw this on ESPN: I actually liked what he did in Buffalo.

I will pass on Collins, non factor tonight against Ohio State, literally made zero plays and OSU torched them.

Hell no, he looks horrible. I like Grasu though.

Friday, Jan 2nd - Dan Quinn - SEA DC Sat-Sun, Jan 3rd-4th - Adam Gase - DEN OC TBD - Todd Bowles - ARZ DC (can't interview until after team is eliminated from playoffs)

Happy New Years all, let's ring in the new year with a new GM and coaching staff.

I like the overall combination of positions, but I just can't see us taking back to back safeties in the first two rounds and starting two rookies back there. I would almost rather get one of them two and bring in a free agent to compliment with some experience. The top two picks almost certainly have to be defensive. I like Grasu in the 3rd, but I wouldn't take Everett. He has been burned a lot this year and some have considered shifting him to Safety. I love Ryan in the 5th (probably there due to ACL injury), and Anderson in the 6th is nice, coming from a winning program.

Apparently Marrone asked for an extension and was told no, so he opted out (and gets to keep $4 mil), wow: https://twitter.com/AdamSchefter/status/550429987732750336 http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2308254...ts-and-reaction This just adds another team to the HC hunt, unless he decides to go to one of the other teams, then it would be a wash.

Kinda odd since he already turned down the job in 2012.

Looking at some early mocks, it seems that the consensus is that Mariota, Williams, Cooper, Gregory, and Winston will all be gone in the top 6, leaving only one other player drafted before we pick, probably from the group of: (Beasley, Ray, Scherff, Collins, Fowler, Thompson, Parker).

but I guess Mel Tucker gets the final interview and decision.

I hope so, he would be a great hire. I listen to him all the time on NFL Radio, and he is spot on every time with his assessments. I just hope they move fast because other teams are getting interviews, and I hate to lose time and prospective candidates for GM and HC. The SF job is pretty nice position, and with OAK, NYJ, and ATL open. We might be one of the worst destinations (due to the dysfunction of the organization). Could be seen as a good thing (only one place to go but up), or a bad thing (train wreck impossible to fix in 3 yrs).