I think the schemes are a big issue

[Nicomo Cosca]

(10-30-2024, 02:40 PM)TheCincinnatiKid Wrote: We were 2-3 years ago. We were a very good team and had a defence that wasn't shut out, but appeared at the right times. Yes, we've had the luck of drafting Joe and Ja'Marr, but those two weren't really the guys winning us playoff games.

The problem is we haven't transitioned from the Super Bowl team very well. Look at the roster from then and now, and while it's pretty similar in terms of 'key guys', we've not moved forward. We are and will be limited by the Burrow and Chase contracts, but the defence looks an absolute shell of what it was. And it's not like it was phenomenal then either, it just turned up at the right times.

I guess it's a great example of what happens when you need draft picks to pay off and they don't. 

Chase literally set a new rookie record for yards in the playoffs (previously held by Tory Holt) during the Super Bowl run. He had back-to-back 100+ yard games in the wild card and divisional rounds. He was every bit as vital to that run as the timely turnovers from the defense and McPherson was.