Projected Vibe in the City & Nationally after Week 5 going into the Bye

[Luvnit2]

(05-26-2017, 06:26 PM)Pat5775 Wrote: I'm going to leave coaching completely out of this for a change.

Staying healthy will absolutely be the key to a successful season. Obviously, it always is. We had key injuries and out of shape starters before training camp ended last year. No doubt that was a killer.

The offensive line really worries me though. The line from last year had never been more offensive, and after losing the only decent linemen from 2016 I just don't think we did enough to fix that issue. I guess time will tell... But I think the main reason we seem to fall apart is injuries to key players. This roster is very talented, but we especially need our key players healthy to make any real noise. Who knows how 2015 would have ended had Andy not broken his hand...

(That's not to take anything away from McCarron, he did an admirable job and pretty much won us a playoff game of it weren't for Hill and the ensuing meltdown... But I'll always wonder if we had a healthy 2015 Dalton would that game have even been close?)  

Good reminders of a tale of 2 seasons. In 2016, we had issues out of the gate with some key guys like Burfict and others. In 2015, we started 8-0 and then our QB breaks his thumb and we still managed to get to the playoffs, we were still in a position to beat the Steelers, but lost. Why? We had a very good complete roster on both sides of the ball and ST.

Our roster was extremely talented 2 years ago, yet 2 years later guys I respect like Gil Brandt say we are not a top 10 talent team this year. That is fair, but my guess a year ago many also thought the Falcons were not top 10. What happened? They added a few key pieces with Sanu and Mack in FA, but they also had 3 or 4 guys from the 2014 draft step up and become starters, quality starters. I am hoping we see the same thing from our 2015 and 2016 draft class, guys stepping up. If so, it could be a very fun team as 2 of those guys are projected starters at LT and RT and the scary OL concerns we share.