Idle Thoughts - the bye edition

[tombonneau]

Great piece as usual...

While idly watching other NFL games yesterday was taken back by the quality of coaching, QB game management and team play... the Cincy game, they had the ball with about 1:30 left and in that time got off about 7 plays, and relied on a hail mary to tie the game. There did not seem to be any sense of organization or plan for that contingency...

I found this stunning. The Bengals looked like they could hardly be bothered to get back to the line and spike the ball for the Hail Mary attempt. It was like they had already conceded defeat.

 

[SEA_Pat]

Great piece, and agree wholeheartedly. The braintrust is the foundation that underlies the structure. Bill and Ernie have been living and breathing football for so long they can pull out everything that's ever been tried, and can think of a few things that haven't. They've got the front office and fan support to try whatever they want, and they can therefore take a lot of risks and have a long-term strategy.

They also have the core philosophy that they don't switch from even for stars, and THE star who personifies all those values at the game's most important position. The best guy makes the team and plays, don't matter if they're a UDFA or a 3rd rounder who's about to leave the team and play well a few years later for someone else. You screw up, you're called out and you pay a penance. Next man up. Everyone is treated the same way and their contribution valued and they're reminded of it constantly. It's just a well run organization from the top down. That's how it sustains over what surely is the longest run of any team at the top.