Quote:The board is overwrought with rampant kneejerking (yes I said it) and bellyaching. So I'm starting a thread with actual perspective, for anyone who cares about stuff like that.

 

Defense:

>The defense played lights out for 3 and a half quarters against a really good Colts offense that's borderline elite

>Defense continues to show improvement under Bradley

>With another offseason of draft picks and FA acquisitions the defense should be absolutely stout with upgraded linebackers and an even more bolstered D-Line.

 

Offense:

>Still starting several rookies and a handful of second years players and, shocker, the offense still looks like it's starting several rookies and a handful of second year players

>Just lost arguably our best receiver and, shocker, it looks like we lost our best receiver

>Bortles looks like a raw rookie who was supposed to sit his rookie season still

>Moral of the story is that thee things aren't' changing overnight or this season and it has nothing to do with the coaching staff, it's simply what you live with given the cards dealt

>In reality, with another offseason of work and a season of reps under his belt and more weapons around him Bortles will improve dramatically between years 1 and 2 and even more so between years 2 and 3, which was the plan, but of course, as you're sailing on a ship in the night you are rarely are able to make  out the scenery around you as you're bombasted by waves and storms, and the picture only becomes clear in hindsight.

 

The real gut wrencher of this team are turnovers and special teams play, which is the mark of a young team, exasperated by the fact we're hyper young by NFL standards. We have talent, we just have a bunch of kids who can't get out of their way right now. Once that happens and we've acquisitioned even more talent over the  next two years, this team will be a force to be reckoned with. But people have to be patient and it seems they're not, as to be expected of sports fans. This isn't turning around overnight. The route Caldwell chose to go when he underwent this rebuild was the one that takes longer, but with greater dividends in the end. It's just a matter of having patience to stick it out till we get to that point. I'm not even expecting it to be next year completely, I'm expecting it come year 4. But of course, most people don't want to wait that long.