The first Jayden Daniels Super Bowl window has shut. Hard.

[Solitary Man]

We are old. And we stink. 2026 will more than likely be a losing season. I wonder if we can be playoff contenders by 2027.

The whole shiny new toy combined with some old hall of famers unfortunately reset the rebuilding process by not one but two years. This will essentially be the beginning of the rebuild. Now

I hope we clean house at the very least of both coordinators. Meaning Dan doesn’t run the defense either. And if I had my way I would send him packing too, but maybe he can let his ego allow a new DC to run things.

As much as I hate the idea of chasing draft picks that we traded away, we are not an Arvell Reese or a Caleb Downs away from being competitive. I really hope we can get a QB needy team to offer up a huge package come draft day so we can really start fixing this roster.

Maybe Jayden can really be given an opportunity then,to shine towards the end of his rookie deal.

I want to enjoy the process but some very tough decisions need to be made. At the top.

 

[burgold]

Just to be a contrarian...

Unless, our health fortunes massively reverse and some of the pups begin to step up.

Lots of ifs, but...

If Sainristil returns to form
If Amos takes another step forward
If the o-line continues to progress
If Kliff will stop trying to be Andy Reid when it comes to the running game
If Magee gets it
If Luke turns those flashes we were starting to see at KR and at receiver into something consistant.
If Armstrong, Baptiste, and others shake the injury bug
If we can develop (or most likely find a receiving tight end who can block a little
If we can draft pass rusher
If we can Luvu returns to form
If we can find or draft a new middle linebacker

Then, this team will make a quick rebound and return to form. Granted, it will take a lot of ifs, but for this season to fall apart the way it did it also took a lot of ifs and every possible negative if permutation came true.

 

[Chris]

I personally don’t think a Super Bowl window was ever truly open. The manic, bipolar nature of the fan base allowed their hopes and dreams to build a false narrative and are now confronted with a stark reality. One exciting, successful season built upon a slew of very late game wins, above average health, an easy schedule, and nearly every bounce of the ball going in your favor does not a Super Bowl window make.

I do think that the organizational leadership seemingly fell prey to the same mirage that fans did. For that there is no defendable excuse. No matter what they may say publicly…the Lattimore trade was the tell and privately I would bet they would agree. They have a lot of work ahead of them to become what I think we all want, to be a consistently competitive team that is of playoff caliber year in and year out. That requires a ‘back to reality’ understanding and mindset that I think is achievable by Peters and Quinn.

 

[Solitary Man]

Just to be a contrarian...

Unless, our health fortunes massively reverse and some of the pups begin to step up.

Lots of ifs, but...

If Sainristil returns to form
If Amos takes another step forward
If the o-line continues to progress
If Kliff will stop trying to be Andy Reid when it comes to the running game
If Magee gets it
If Luke turns those flashes we were starting to see at KR and at receiver into something consistant.
If Armstrong, Baptiste, and others shake the injury bug
If we can develop (or most likely find a receiving tight end who can block a little
If we can draft pass rusher
If we can Luvu returns to form
If we can find or draft a new middle linebacker

Then, this team will make a quick rebound and return to form. Granted, it will take a lot of ifs, but for this season to fall apart the way it did it also took a lot of ifs and every possible negative if permutation came true.

Thems are some ifs!

 

[RedWolf]

No ands or buts though?

 

[Riggo44]

No ands or buts though?

I like big buts.

 

[36ST21]

I like big buts.

And you cannot lie.

 

[Boone]

The original post is pretty accurate. But I think we all need to slow our panic roll and realize, some *miscalculations*, blown opportunities, and some horrific luck on the injury front do not a generation of epic failure make.

We need a legit DC.
We need to shed most if not all of the old vets.
We need to bring in some serious free agency talent and stop bargain basement shopping.
And we need to try to obtain more draft picks.

We don't need to ship out the few marquee talents we have in a panic move.
We don't need to fire the GM or Head Coach or OC.
We don't need to give up on Jayden Daniels who clearly has the talent to be a franchise QB.

This year was a setback, not a disaster that will ruin our playoff chances for a decade to come.

 

[RedWolf]

Boone
I agree wholeheartedly. Rome wasn't built in a day. Constant improvement over time is required

 

[Riggo44]

The original post is pretty accurate. But I think we all need to slow our panic roll and realize, some *miscalculations*, blown opportunities, and some horrific luck on the injury front do not a generation of epic failure make.

We need a legit DC.
We need to shed most if not all of the old vets.
We need to bring in some serious free agency talent and stop bargain basement shopping.
And we need to try to obtain more draft picks.

We don't need to ship out the few marquee talents we have in a panic move.
We don't need to fire the GM or Head Coach or OC.
We don't need to give up on Jayden Daniels who clearly has the talent to be a franchise QB.

This year was a setback, not a disaster that will ruin our playoff chances for a decade to come.

But I'm mad NOW!!!

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I personally don’t think a Super Bowl window was ever truly open. The manic, bipolar nature of the fan base allowed their hopes and dreams to build a false narrative and are now confronted with a stark reality. One exciting, successful season built upon a slew of very late game wins, above average health, an easy schedule, and nearly every bounce of the ball going in your favor does not a Super Bowl window make.

I do think that the organizational leadership seemingly fell prey to the same mirage that fans did. For that there is no defendable excuse. No matter what they may say publicly…the Lattimore trade was the tell and privately I would bet they would agree. They have a lot of work ahead of them to become what I think we all want, to be a consistently competitive team that is of playoff caliber year in and year out. That requires a ‘back to reality’ understanding and mindset that I think is achievable by Peters and Quinn.

Not sure the Lattimore trade was that tell.

I think they calculated correctly on one aspect of that move and missed badly on another.

Personally I think they thought if they get a really solid DB and can upgrade that position group, they make the Super Bowl and who knows- last year. I don’t think guys like these misunderstand the realities of the NFL. There is a lot of chance. At that point in the season though, the playoffs were getting very possible and one really good DB to raise an underperforming unit- it seemed like a no brainer risk to take (I think the main risk they saw was injury).

I don’t think they calculated on how poorly he would end up playing but knowing what they knew then? I think a lot of good GMs roll the dice at that time on that player. It’s rare to have that good of a chance to make some noise and they had a lot of things roll right. So strike if you think you can move the needle enough to maybe get you to the SB. A good risk to take but they miscalculated.

 

[burgold]

It turns out the Lattimore trade was more about Whitt being a bad DC even then a trade that turned bad. Based on what we're seeing in San Francisco, a better coach would have been able to get something out of Forbes and allow us to keep the draft picks.

 

[Chris]

Lattimore was not a ‘really solid DB’ anymore. He was an often-injured DB who struggled to stay on the field for several previous seasons and was a shell of his former self. And, on top of that, he was injured at the time of the trade. It was a fool-hardy trade with a very low probability of upside. It smelled of desperation. Stevie Wonder would have said WTF?

I’m not a critic of a trade to shore up a position of need, I’m a critic of that trade. Now we pay the price for it.

 

[SkinsNumberOne]

I get your position now - well, that's pretty bad on AP. If you think AP's not so bad, then I guess it was a pretty wild risk/reward scenario perhaps (trying to see it how he could have made sense of it). Alternative theory: he had a DC or DB coach begging him to make that move or similar to help out.

The wild "risk/reward" is basically like, OK he may suck, in fact he probably isn't great - but we have this amazing opportunity that may never come around, we are only guaranteed the now and the "now" is we have a real opportunity to make noise in the playoffs. If if if if -- if Lattimore can help us here, we could make the Super Bowl... I mean, that could have been the wild risk/reward calc, IF you think they saw it even marginally close to how you saw it.

My point is, I can still make sense of the Lattimore trade. Last year was a crazy year. My issue is more - I don't think they knew how good or bad their DBs were, and that is on the coaches. That issue is central to this year, potentially. I am in agreement with burgold on that - I think we had observable systemic problems. If your HC is going to be a high-level manager, I wish he could have seen that issue earlier.

 

[Primus Porcus]

This thread screams of a grasp at some sort of planting of the flag to claim 'i told you so' later.

He's in year 2. He's not even in a window where he can negotiate his second contract yet. Not every 'lost' season warrants wholesale changes in the front office. Teams have bad seasons. It happens. 31 teams fail to take home the Championship. Every year teams go from being last in their division to First. Players who struggle develop and get better. Chase Young, Emmanuel Forbes, Kam Curl, Dyami Brown, all guys that this fanbase has wanted launched out of here on a rocket, but are becoming NFL talent. Not premium, but still talent. Players get better from year to year. We don't need to replace 52 player on our roster to be competitive again.

And to further the point, the window may 'open' but that doesn't guarantee a win either.

 

[Solitary Man]

This thread screams of a grasp at some sort of planting of the flag to claim 'i told you so' later.

He's in year 2. He's not even in a window where he can negotiate his second contract yet. Not every 'lost' season warrants wholesale changes in the front office. Teams have bad seasons. It happens. 31 teams fail to take home the Championship. Every year teams go from being last in their division to First. Players who struggle develop and get better. Chase Young, Emmanuel Forbes, Kam Curl, Dyami Brown, all guys that this fanbase has wanted launched out of here on a rocket, but are becoming NFL talent. Not premium, but still talent. Players get better from year to year. We don't need to replace 52 player on our roster to be competitive again.

And to further the point, the window may 'open' but that doesn't guarantee a win either.

We can’t even keep Jayden on the field.

You know how teams often go from last to first in their divisions? By firing their entire staffs. See the Bears. So kinda thinking ya swung and missed there. What are we good at? What is Dan Quinn good at? What is Kliff Kingsbury good at?

Play Jayden? Don’t play Jayden? Play Jayden. don’t play Jayden. Is it safe? Will Kliff teach him to get rid of the ball quicker? Or will he hope Jayden scrambles to save the day?

I think we hit on our two first picks this past year.
Adam deserves credit for that. There is so much more to being a GM though. Honeymoon. Meet over.

 

[Boone]

I think Primus is right. Look - anyone looking at how bereft of talent this team was when Peters took over who thinks a complete roster and coaching turnover is likely to produce a Super Bowl ‘window’ right out of the gate - well, it’s just delusional. Yes we likely found our franchise QB, and yes all of the stars aligned in that first season. But no one should expect to be competing for a Super Bowl early on. Jayden’s 2nd contract but not now.

 

[Primus Porcus]

We can’t even keep Jayden on the field.

You know how teams often go from last to first in their divisions? By firing their entire staffs. See the Bears. So kinda thinking ya swung and missed there. What are we good at? What is Dan Quinn good at? What is Kliff Kingsbury good at?

Play Jayden? Don’t play Jayden? Play Jayden. don’t play Jayden. Is it safe? Will Kliff teach him to get rid of the ball quicker? Or will he hope Jayden scrambles to save the day?

I think we hit on our two first picks this past year.
Adam deserves credit for that. There is so much more to being a GM though. Honeymoon. Meet over.

Quinn is good at what he’s always been good at. He’s a leader of men. Despite the down season you still have guys like Cosmi saying they’re 100% behind him and a HOF vet in Miller saying he absolutely wants to run it back because this is the type of odd, down season that is followed by a drastic rebound.

Kliff has largely been an offensive injection. This offense even with the injuries has been able to produce with some of the best in the league at times… just look at the game vs Denver. This past week it was obvious something was off. It sucked, it was an ugly gut punch against an opponent we shouldn’t have lost to like that, but I simply can’t subscribe to the idea that with everything that has happened to this point, that blowing out a staff and starting it all over the best plan for the success of the team.

 

[Chris]

I thought the team would win at Minnesota. Watching from the comfort of my couch…it looked to me that the team thought so too, until they got punched in the mouth.

That’s a dangerous place to be.

 

[McD5]

"A leader of men" is what people used to say about Ron Rivera. It's not good enough.

What we really need is someone smarter than the average bear. Someone forward-thinking, who realizes that the longer term goals of the team, and health of the franchise QB, are 100x more important than trying to win a few meaningless games in an attempt to save his job.

Shanahan made that same mistake, and chose himself over what was best for the future of the team.

No more washed up losers. No Pete Carrol. No Mike Tomlin, and no Todd Bowles. We need an under 50, rising star in the league.