With 20 odd players either out or limited in what they can do and the team falling from 3-2 to 4-6, it would figure to be the time for the 'blow it up' arguments following the season in re coaches and players, etc.
This year for me is a bit different. Outside of the Cousins situation which preceded the 2017 season, things to me are looking up for this team when you think about the future.
We have transitioned in 2-3 years from an older team to a younger team and those younger players are becoming our best players at certain positions.
Allen and Ioannidis are our two best defensive linemen. We have a number of younger secondary players such as Nicholson, Fuller, Moreau, Dunbar who figure to be part of the future here. Nicholson and Fuller appear to be on their way to becoming better than average players at their positions.
The offensive line with Scherff, Moses, Williams appears to have a strong core and my guess is we find a better LG than Shawn Lauvao going forward.
Again, outside of Cousins the things we need to get better are mostly reachable objectives in an offseason.
We need more talent at running back to complement Chris Thompson. This past year's draft shows good running backs were going into the late second early third rounds, players that are impacting their teams as rookies.
Wide receiver is the other glaring weak spot. The Doctson experiment will continue as it should into 2018 but to develop he really needs a premium pass catcher on the other side to learn from and grow with.
That, other than the Cousins extension/search for a new QB in the draft, is going to cost the most and the team is likely going to have bid in free agency for a quality starter.
But comparing this team to where it was in 2013 or 2014 limping home over the last quarter of the season - there is a lot to be optimistic about.
Certainly, Callahan, Manusky, Tomsulla, etc. have done a quality job mixing and matching lineups and putting street free agents out there and not getting embarrassed the way some other clubs have been.