So here we are sitting 3-1 after our first four games. Here is what my old eyes have seen.
Game 1: Green Bay
We looked like a team that hadn’t played starters all preseason and it showed… bad. We were rolled. We were out of sync and our young interior guards looked like they needed a lot of seasoning. Very rough start out of the blocks.
Game 2: Chicago
Welcome home Ben. Our mistakes looked to be addressed. Guards looked improved. Defense gelling. Convincing win.
Game 3: Baltimore
I admit I thought we would lose in a close game. We exposed the Ravens. This game was dominant and we let them hand around. But we took care of business and the Green Bay game looked more like an outlier than something we should concern ourselves with.
Game 4: Cleveland
I expected a much lower scoring total on our part. I respect what Cleveland’s defense can do… perhaps a little more than I should. Yes, Goff/Jamo connection was off for this game. But running on the Browns was far more productive than I thought it was going to be. I did expect our defense to shine in this one, but the injuries to our CBs are starting to add up. Our DL is a good surprise.
What’s it all mean?
With Ragnow’s retirement I expected our OL suffer badly. Well it was impacted, but our O-line has been far better/far sooner than I would have predicted. Our offensive skill players will go as far as our O-line can take them.
Our D-line hasn’t missed Z and I really expected them to. Our LBs are a huge strength. Our DBs have been really good, but let’s see how they do now that injuries are creeping in.
Special teams: Fox and Bates are exactly who we thought they were with the exception of Bates’s tackling skills. I didn’t know he had that in him.
This team has been better than advertised. They may very well jump out 5-1 when 4-2/3-3 seemed a far more likely scenario at the beginning of the season. No coordinator stumbling (except maybe at Green Bay) or any other fears that were floating around at the beginning of the season. We are being ranked as a top 3-5 team. It is hard to disagree with that.