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RFL
Humbling? I guess that depends on how you see our team.
If one sees us having a big edge on the league, then, yes, that 1st half would be a fall to earth.
But I don't really see us that way. I see us as widely talented with almost no glaring weak spots. I see us having a strong, though limited defense which has the stars to make plays in crunch time. And I see us with an offense that is very hard to stop consistently. (Did you know that, even with the frustrating 1st half, we had the ball for 9:00 longer than GB did? 9:00!)
Currently, I see us as a team with a lot of confidence that gets us through tight spots and down the stretch. But, you know, that can change in one play. And the edge we have on other teams is fairly thin, IMO.
I underestimated GB's defense. I think many did, including GB fans I heard on podcasts. There are complaints about the coaching staff. But let's remember:
GB was coming off a bye. They had 2 weeks to prepare. That doesn't always mean much, but in this case I think a veteran coaching staff prepared its team brilliantly for the 1st quarter, especially.
But to me the game swung in the 2nd Q. I don't agree that it was about Wade's halftime adjustments and McV adjusting after that. I just think we gradually recovered our footing.
And remember this: after the 1st 2 GB scores, we shut them out the rest of the half even after we had to punt repeatedly. We got LOTS of stops against Rogers throughout the game. We stopped on the 1st drive!
I just think we played a really good team with a HOF QB that had a great game plan. As D'Marco always says, they get paid, too, and they competed against us. Our edge against them is, I think, real, but it is thin and it took time to assert it.
Nothing changed for me after yesterday. I think this is a very good, and very beatable, Rams team. I thought that because - GOING INTO YESTERDAY'S GAME - they had wins by 7, 3, and 2, against teams that are now collectively 11-11-1. If that doesn't scream BEATABLE.... And now they have wins by 7, 3, 2, and 2 against teams that are 14-14-2 collectively (14-10-2, if you remove the games against the Rams).
The good news is that I believe Kupp and Talib's eventual return will give nice jolts to their respective units, as Zuerlein's gave to special teams. I think the best is yet to come. Now we just need more protection for Goff and more outside pass rush pressure.
