12-13-2021, 12:54 PM
Yeah I personally think the response to our team this year has been a little harsh. But then the game day threads usually are.
We were the worst team in the league two years ago. We won 4 games last year. I know Burrow was out for a huge part, but we really weren't a very good team.
This year, we are a pretty decent team. The team building in the offseason has clearly made us better. Our First Rounder has made a big impact. Our franchise QB is making some dumb mistakes, but I feel is improving.
Sure the team has faltered more the further we've gone on, but the Franchise isn't used to winning. A lot of these guys and a lot of the coaching staff has spent the last 2 years losing, so it shouldn't be a shock when we end up on the losing side in a big game. That's not an excuse for it, just saying that sometimes teams need to get used to winning to be better teams when it matters most.
That's not me saying 'YAY 7-6!!!'... but I think if people are being reasonable we have clearly made substantial progress this year. Last year and the year before, we were this season's Jets/Jags/Texans. I know we lost to the Jets, but we're clearly FAR better than those teams currently. No that's not some great success, but it illustrates that we've improved.
The task next year will be to keep that trajectory going, and become the divisional leader and the playoff team we can be. We can still achieve that this year. If you'd have said at the beginning of the year that we'd be right in the mix with PIT/BAL/CLE (Who were all very good teams last year), I think most of us would've been happy with that.
The litmus test as always will be at least a playoff win. Until we achieve that, most of the statistical improvements won't really matter.
We were the worst team in the league two years ago. We won 4 games last year. I know Burrow was out for a huge part, but we really weren't a very good team.
This year, we are a pretty decent team. The team building in the offseason has clearly made us better. Our First Rounder has made a big impact. Our franchise QB is making some dumb mistakes, but I feel is improving.
Sure the team has faltered more the further we've gone on, but the Franchise isn't used to winning. A lot of these guys and a lot of the coaching staff has spent the last 2 years losing, so it shouldn't be a shock when we end up on the losing side in a big game. That's not an excuse for it, just saying that sometimes teams need to get used to winning to be better teams when it matters most.
That's not me saying 'YAY 7-6!!!'... but I think if people are being reasonable we have clearly made substantial progress this year. Last year and the year before, we were this season's Jets/Jags/Texans. I know we lost to the Jets, but we're clearly FAR better than those teams currently. No that's not some great success, but it illustrates that we've improved.
The task next year will be to keep that trajectory going, and become the divisional leader and the playoff team we can be. We can still achieve that this year. If you'd have said at the beginning of the year that we'd be right in the mix with PIT/BAL/CLE (Who were all very good teams last year), I think most of us would've been happy with that.
The litmus test as always will be at least a playoff win. Until we achieve that, most of the statistical improvements won't really matter.
