Joe's Doc "all systems go"

[TJ528]

(05-19-2021, 12:52 PM)Wes Mantooth Wrote: It's certainly possible.  It's not like we open up the season with Murderer's Row.  Although I think saying it is likely is rather absurd.

This team has too many question marks for me to make any sort of positive prediction right now.  And question marks aren't necessairly a bad thing, they're just unanswered.  There's nothing to go off of or to suggest the certainity of great deal of success just yet.  And that's ok.  We'll just have to wait to see.

Here are some examples of question marks:

-Is Joe Burrow fully healthy (mentally and physically)?
-Does Joe Burrow play at a higher level than he did as a rookie?
-Is Carman able to start?
-If Carman does start, is he an immediate upgrade over some of OG combinations last season?
-How does Joe Mixon do on 3rd downs?
-Does Joe Mixon look more like 2018 or 2019 and 2020?
-How quickly will Chase become a factor?
-How does Trae Waynes look in this defense?
-Is Henderson as good or better than Lawson?
-Is CJ Uzomah a factor; does his play resemble the first two games of last year or the rest of his career?
-How have our young Linebackers progressed?
-Can Lou produce a quality defense now that he has different personnel?
-Can Zac Taylor prove he's a legitimate head coach?

I don't really know the answers to any of these just yet.  So it feels silly for me to say that it is likley we'll open up with a fast start.

I mean, let's be honest.  History is not on our side with this Head Coach.  You're talking about a coach who started 0-11 and 2-10 these last two years.

We can hope we open @ 4-0 or 3-1.  We can look for signs that it's a possibilty and within reach.  We can explore all of the positives.  All of this is perfectly ok.  I just don't get those that either throw out guarantees (We will roll the Vikings) or pretend that a certain level of success is likely.

Just trying to be real here.  Not going out of my way to rain on the parade.  I just wish people were more careful with their words.

Wes, I believe i posed these questions as well.  Well a lot of the same questions you did but maybe not all. 

A lot of these questions are the reason as a "realist" I can see an 8 or 9 win team or a 4 or 5 win team.  

There are way too many if and buts or what ifs to say this team will come out of the game 4-0. 

Personally, even if all those questions above are answered I can see at best coming out 3-3 out of the gate. 

However, thank you for so eloquently stating the obvious questions this team has going into the 2021 NFL season.