BGO Blind Pig: Week 2 at Denver

[Boone]

On this week's episode, the guys talk fan experience at the home opener, review the good, the bad, and the ugly in the win against the Cardinals, and discuss what we might expect in next Sunday's Week 2 road clash against the Broncos. May Washington, like Aaron Rodgers, 'rise again'!

 

[Boone]

There was quite a bit of discussion last night about the ‘pressure’ on the Broncos not to start 0-2 this year.

According to BGO Oracle, teams coached by Sean Payton have started 0-2 or worse 3 times in the last decade:

2007 Saints start 0-4
2012 Saints start 0-4
2016 Saints start 0-3

If you look at the Broncos, they’ve also had bad season starts recently:

2019 Broncos start 0-4
2020 Broncos start 0-3

I guarantee you there was a lot of ‘pressure’ during each of those horrific starting stretches, but pressure alone wasn’t enough to change the results.

 

[Chris]

So…pressure doesn’t make diamonds?

 

[Om]

Here's the video I referenced ... a good watch.

 

[Boone]

Just listened to EB’s presser from earlier today. He talked about guys perhaps wanting the win too much and that they may have needed just to ‘relax and play’. Sounds like my theory about them ‘pressing’ and being a little ‘tight’ may have some basis to it.

 

[SkinsOrlando]

I can't remember which of you stated that Wilson can still move outside the pocket but doesn't really have the legs anymore to take off but I'll agree and the past few years even his last in Seattle support that (he could just be protecting himself from concussions at his age waiting on a tv deal after retirement). I'm expecting us to pressure, pressure, pressure right in his face all day. While we think that the pressure is on Payton to put up a W, the owners and him might have a different trajectory on how long it'll be until the team can really contend and what the early expectations are (hell we don't know if Payton is just marking the days until 2025 when Wilsons contract doesn't kill the cap to cut him). Granted no one likes to lose but if this season is more of a "who do we keep in the future" experiment it might not matter as much. The altitude does concern me as we may see some of our big uglies fatigued earlier than expected and if this game is close if our conditioning isn't up to par could cost us. Much like last week, I think this is a close game but we edge it out because of an early 10-0 lead and finish at 24-20.

 

[Boone]

Just listened to EB’s presser from earlier today. He talked about guys perhaps wanting the win too much and that they may have needed just to ‘relax and play’. Sounds like my theory about them ‘pressing’ and being a little ‘tight’ may have some basis to it.

 

[Neophyte]

So…pressure doesn’t make diamonds?

In the NFL???

What do you think?

 

[SilentThreat]

so happy to be wrong!

 

[Canadian Hog]

Great job by the team today to simply stay composed.

Whether it was being down 21-3 or having to recover and rebound following a Hail Mary touchdown pass at the end of the game, they battled through adversity and prevailed.

They are undoubtedly a work in progress, but these are nice qualities to have in your back pocket.

 

[Knightingale]

I'll say this about the team...

It's not a group of guys who panic or let their heads drop. It would have been so easy to hang it all up yesterday, both when we gave up 3 TDs early and when they Bronco's got that crazy hail mary at the end.
But on the contrary, this team seems to thrive in the face of adversity. It's like they collectively rub their hands together and say "okay, so we effed up, now let's get to work putting this right!"

I think we've seen that attitude seeping into the team even last year, with them feeding off Heineke's attitude of 'never give up', but it's even more pronounced this year. I wonder if that's because of EB. He strikes me as having the same mentality.

It's not a bad identity for a team to have at all.

Now if we could just start out fast and start putting some teams away early... LOL

Truth is, at this point I'm seeing a young flawed team that's learning. I don't expect huge things from them this year, but I do think that we're looking at a very positive future.
I think both games so far this season have encapsulated that. We have these moments where we wet the bed, but then the team starts to collectively figure things out.

My BIG worry now is... if this continues, and EB impresses this year by turning out Offense around, then he'll be looking at a Head Coaching job. And I'd REALLY like him to keep working with Sam. If he's getting a Head Coaching job anywhere I kind of hope it's here.