Have We Entered The Duck Dynasty?

[Craic]

You know what else is a pretty basic philosophy? Birds are fuckin' stupid, let's blow away some ducks.

Like, they used to be dinosaurs, and rampaged around eating people left and right, and now you want me to feel sorry for them because they suck so bad? FUCK THAT.

As long as you're not slaughtering endangered species by the truckload, who even cares.

That reminds me of a story. A couple of guys from the city were out duck hunting. After seeing nothing for hours, they finally see a single duck coming up off a lake. At the very edge of his range, the first guy named Bob pulls the trigger. At first, he thinks he missed, but then, the duck goes down on the other side of the lake. Bob and his buddy hike around the lake and hope a fence to get to the duck. However, to their surprise, a farmer was walking back to his house with the duck.

"Hey," Bob yells. "That's my duck!"

The old farmer stops and turns back to face him. Tapping his chest, he announces, "My property, my duck."

"But I shot him!" Bob argues. "It's my hunting license, my birdshot that killed him, so it's my duck!"

The old farmer just shakes his head. "City slickers."

Bob, however, isn't giving up. "Give me my duck!"

The farmer looks at the duck in his hand, then raises it up to eye level, an eyebrow going up with it. "This duck?"

"Yes, that duck!"

The farmer makes a show of thinking about it, then starts walking towards Bob. "Tell ya what were 'bout to do. We'll play a game fo' the duck."

Bob gazes at the old farmer and realizes he is at least 30 years younger. Whatever the game, there's no way he can loose. "Fine, if I win, I get my duck back, no arguments!"

The old farmer nods, then walks up to him. "We'll play grapes. The first one to give up loses."

Bob no sooner grunts his agreement than the old farmer rears back and toe-punches Bob right in the grapes. He doubles up and crashes to the ground like a chainsawed sycamore tree. Cupping his throbbing man parts, he moans and groans as he rolls around the ground.

Fifteen minutes later, Bob makes it back to his feet, his jaw set in anger. "It's my turn!"

The Old Farmer chuckles. "You can have the damn duck." He throws it at Bob's feet and walks back into his home, laughing all the way.

[Steeler-in-west]

I hope so, for the rest of the season at least. Cause that’ll mean he’s playing well. If he’s not, I think they try Paxton or go back to Rudolph

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

I hope so, for the rest of the season at least. Cause that’ll mean he’s playing well. If he’s not, I think they try Paxton or go back to Rudolph

People on here know I was for Duck since preseason and said I think he maybe better then Rudolph. If Duck turns out not to have it then I'm all for giving Paxton a shot! I just hope to not see Rudolph again! Seen enough of him to know he doesn't have it!

[Steeler-in-west]

People on here know I was for Duck since preseason and said I think he maybe better then Rudolph. If Duck turns out not to have it then I'm all for giving Paxton a shot! I just hope to not see Rudolph again! Seen enough of him to know he doesn't have it!

Yeah, Rudolph seems he got rattled after that hit against the ravens and never really recovered. Really disappointed in his deep or even medium range ball ability. Have hope Hodges will be more than a little better

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Yeah, Rudolph seems he got rattled after that hit against the ravens and never really recovered. Really disappointed in his deep or even medium range ball ability. Have hope Hodges will be more than a little better

I personally don't think it was that hit. Rudy never had it and he thinks he is still playing college football. Thinks he has all day to throw and waiting for the WR to get open. Seen enough and not a fan! Seems like a good human being though like Landry Jones!

[Fire Goodell]

I personally don't think it was that hit. Rudy never had it and he thinks he is still playing college football. Thinks he has all day to throw and waiting for the WR to get open. Seen enough and not a fan! Seems like a good human being though like Landry Jones!

Honestly I think it was teams caught on to his playing style. Turning point to me seemed halfway through the Indy game, they finally started keying on samuels in the passing game & daring him to hit his WRs and it's looked ugly ever since then.

[Edman]

The true turning point was the concussion. That damaged Rudy’s confidence and he no longer played with abandon and he regressed back to staring down his receivers. The final straw for Rudolph for me was when he hit Juju in the hands early in the Colts game and it caused an interception. It was downhill from there.

He no longer trusted his receivers could make a play for him, and they didn’t. Defenses saw our receivers were subpar, and Rudy was subpar as well.

We bought into the narrative going around that Rudy was the single problem with the Offense who is not making plays that are there like it’s that simple. With the benching, we have users swimming in self-affirmation for the week. We’ll find out Sunday if Rudy was truly the problem with the offense or if he’s merely a scapegoat for everything. Duck better not only win, but light up the Browns Defense Sunday, and prove Rudy was the issue.

[DesertSteel]

The key for Duck is to throw the safeties out of the box and open up the running game (which is exactly what he did at Cincy). From there, protect the ball and play good defense with a couple takeaways.

[Mojouw]

The true turning point was the concussion. That damaged Rudy’s confidence and he no longer played with abandon and he regressed back to staring down his receivers. The final straw for Rudolph for me was when he hit Juju in the hands early in the Colts game and it caused an interception. It was downhill from there.

He no longer trusted his receivers could make a play for him, and they didn’t. Defenses saw our receivers were subpar, and Rudy was subpar as well.

We bought into the narrative going around that Rudy was the single problem with the Offense who is not making plays that are there like it’s that simple. With the benching, we have users swimming in self-affirmation for the week. We’ll find out Sunday if Rudy was truly the problem with the offense or if he’s merely a scapegoat for everything. Duck better not only win, but light up the Browns Defense Sunday, and prove Rudy was the issue.

Yeah, that's a no for me dog.

First, your logic is super flawed. Both Rudy and Duck can be bad. One doesn't change the other. This isn't a care engine and we are just swapping out spark-plugs.

Second, there exists tangible evidence regarding Mason R's struggles. Color, HD video (in)gloriously documents the following:
1. Slow decision making causes him to "miss" easy completions to open receivers. Easy to find examples on the internet. Best visual cue is his double or triple clutching the start of the throwing motion as he does not trust what he sees.
2. Poor pocket presence causes Mason to wander into pressure and fail to climb/slide out of pressure. I could really break this into two points, but I will add that very often Rudolph hangs his tackles out to dry. He tends to drift back in his drops, much farther than it appears he should, causing the OT's to think they pushed a guy up the arc and around the pocket, but it was really into the QB's lap.
3. Demonstrated an almost total inability to throw off a "bad platform". Meaning if the dude has to move his feet, it is over. Watch any NFL game. QBs have to throw with a bad base every single game multiple times.
4. Related to above. If Mason manages to move off his initial spot and reset (which takes him some sort of glacial epoch to accomplish), his mechanics fall apart. Kinda like my golf game.
5. I will grant that Mason's confidence has eroded to near zero. His mechanics are atrocious and, right now, he can't complete basic NFL throws.
6. Takes forever to work through his reads and make a decision. Even on the TV view, I feel like you can see open receivers and I find myself yelling "throw it now, now." way too often. If I can notice it, it must be really bad.
7. One of the reasons for the drops and all that with the WRs is that Rudolph's ball placement is comically bad. Throws to the back shoulder when he should be going to the front. Consistently behind guys on crossers and slants. Throws inside instead of outside on sideline routes. Low and behind on screens. AND -- instead of throwing his guys out of coverage, he throws them into coverages and hits. Just as much as Mason does not trust the WRs, they have no reason to trust him. He was on the way to putting them in the hospital.

I do like how you set the bar into fresh new territory so that you can remain steadfastly in your "Roethlisberger's caddy OC broke the offense and destroyed Mason Rudolph's glorious debut" corner. Watching your posts wildly swing between defending and trashing Rudolph is confusing and entertaining. Take a breath. Not everything is a binary either/or type of thing. It is possible that ALL the QBs on the roster are trash...

[Fire Goodell]

We're not expecting duck to light the world on fire, but is it getting your hopes too high to hope for some gardener minshew-like performances? Something like 220 yds, 2td's and no picks. And hope he doesn't play like his last game vs Houston lol

[DesertSteel]

That kid for Detroit looked very good yesterday. Why can’t we be that lucky?

[Edman]

Yeah, that's a no for me dog.

First, your logic is super flawed. Both Rudy and Duck can be bad. One doesn't change the other. This isn't a care engine and we are just swapping out spark-plugs.

Second, there exists tangible evidence regarding Mason R's struggles. Color, HD video (in)gloriously documents the following:
1. Slow decision making causes him to "miss" easy completions to open receivers. Easy to find examples on the internet. Best visual cue is his double or triple clutching the start of the throwing motion as he does not trust what he sees.
2. Poor pocket presence causes Mason to wander into pressure and fail to climb/slide out of pressure. I could really break this into two points, but I will add that very often Rudolph hangs his tackles out to dry. He tends to drift back in his drops, much farther than it appears he should, causing the OT's to think they pushed a guy up the arc and around the pocket, but it was really into the QB's lap.
3. Demonstrated an almost total inability to throw off a "bad platform". Meaning if the dude has to move his feet, it is over. Watch any NFL game. QBs have to throw with a bad base every single game multiple times.
4. Related to above. If Mason manages to move off his initial spot and reset (which takes him some sort of glacial epoch to accomplish), his mechanics fall apart. Kinda like my golf game.
5. I will grant that Mason's confidence has eroded to near zero. His mechanics are atrocious and, right now, he can't complete basic NFL throws.
6. Takes forever to work through his reads and make a decision. Even on the TV view, I feel like you can see open receivers and I find myself yelling "throw it now, now." way too often. If I can notice it, it must be really bad.
7. One of the reasons for the drops and all that with the WRs is that Rudolph's ball placement is comically bad. Throws to the back shoulder when he should be going to the front. Consistently behind guys on crossers and slants. Throws inside instead of outside on sideline routes. Low and behind on screens. AND -- instead of throwing his guys out of coverage, he throws them into coverages and hits. Just as much as Mason does not trust the WRs, they have no reason to trust him. He was on the way to putting them in the hospital.

I do like how you set the bar into fresh new territory so that you can remain steadfastly in your "Roethlisberger's caddy OC broke the offense and destroyed Mason Rudolph's glorious debut" corner. Watching your posts wildly swing between defending and trashing Rudolph is confusing and entertaining. Take a breath. Not everything is a binary either/or type of thing. It is possible that ALL the QBs on the roster are trash...

Nope. No chiseling your way out of this one.

Rudolph was blamed for the offensive struggles because he just “doesn’t have it” or lacks ability. Therefore if we went to the Duckster, the Offensive struggles should disappear. Thst’s the narrative this board has tacked itself onto we’re running with it.

If Duck stinks Sunday, then that must mean he probably just doesn’t have it either and we need to keep looking for a quarterback. Sunday will tell-all.

[DesertSteel]

Nope. No chiseling your way out of this one.

Rudolph was blamed for the offensive struggles because he just “doesn’t have it” or lacks ability. Therefore if we went to the Duckster, the Offensive struggles should disappear. Thst’s the narrative this board has tacked itself onto we’re running with it.

If Duck stinks Sunday, then that must mean he probably just doesn’t have it either and we need to keep looking for a quarterback. Sunday will tell-all.

Unless Hodges suddenly turns in Bret Favre, of course we need to keep looking for a QB. Duh.

The goal is to play the least of the evils.

[JimHarbaugh'ssoakedtissue]

Honestly I think it was teams caught on to his playing style. Turning point to me seemed halfway through the Indy game, they finally started keying on samuels in the passing game & daring him to hit his WRs and it's looked ugly ever since then.

What I think as well!

[pczach]

Nope. No chiseling your way out of this one.

Rudolph was blamed for the offensive struggles because he just “doesn’t have it” or lacks ability. Therefore if we went to the Duckster, the Offensive struggles should disappear. Thst’s the narrative this board has tacked itself onto we’re running with it.

If Duck stinks Sunday, then that must mean he probably just doesn’t have it either and we need to keep looking for a quarterback. Sunday will tell-all.

Are you going to take your football and go home?

You've been the one making all the definitive remarks about Rodolph and trashing everyone else on offense.

Now you're declaring what the board said as a collective in your curious little mind.

You don't set the rules here or announce how things are going down. You have been trashing Big Ben and Fichtner without mercy. You have no basis in fact for any of your claims, but you keep trying to shove your narrative down everyone's throats.

Rudolph isn't in the same universe as Big Ben..despite your claims.

We were all pulling for Rudolph....he just didn't get it done.

Duck doesn't have to throw for 400 yards and 5 TDs to prove anything to anyone but you. The rest of us are pulling for whoever is behind center and want a win.

[Shoes]

When Tomlin was questioned about Mason the other day he said I have a lot of patients with young guys. Hoping Duck gets a win Sunday!

[Mojouw]

Nope. No chiseling your way out of this one.

Rudolph was blamed for the offensive struggles because he just “doesn’t have it” or lacks ability. Therefore if we went to the Duckster, the Offensive struggles should disappear. Thst’s the narrative this board has tacked itself onto we’re running with it.

If Duck stinks Sunday, then that must mean he probably just doesn’t have it either and we need to keep looking for a quarterback. Sunday will tell-all.

I don’t think anyone has crafted the narrative you are claiming aside from yourself.

You can have any opinion you want. But why talk in hyperbole and absolutes?

Right now, Mason Rudolph is one of the worst starting QBs in football. Blame for that reality can likely be portioned out across a variety of sources across the roster, coaching staff, and injury luck.

If Duck hits even 4 more throws than Rudolph a game, that moves the offense from awful to merely bad. That’s all anyone is really shooting for here.

[Edman]

Are you going to take your football and go home?

You've been the one making all the definitive remarks about Rodolph and trashing everyone else on offense.

Now you're declaring what the board said as a collective in your curious little mind.

You don't set the rules here or announce how things are going down. You have been trashing Big Ben and Fichtner without mercy. You have no basis in fact for any of your claims, but you keep trying to shove your narrative down everyone's throats.

Rudolph isn't in the same universe as Big Ben..despite your claims.

We were all pulling for Rudolph....he just didn't get it done.

Duck doesn't have to throw for 400 yards and 5 TDs to prove anything to anyone but you. The rest of us are pulling for whoever is behind center and want a win.

I am quite eager to see what Duck can do and want him to do good. Changing the subject won't help you. I pushed the Rudy train and I was proven wrong. I can admit that. I was wrong about Rudolph.

The point is that there was a new narrative that people are shackling themselves to now is that Rudy "didn't have it" and was the issue to the offense's problems. There were "plays downfield" he wasn't making that were there. The receivers don't trust him. The Offense is not the problem and it was 100% on Rudy.

So theoretically, take the problem away, and the offense should improve. Randy Fichtner should turn into an NFL caliber coordinator with Duck Hodges under center. That's the general narrative now, and now that I call it out, you want to pretend its not there. "Oh no, no one is saying that at all! You're the one pushing the narrative! Not me!". Dude, no. If you believe that, then it's fine. Duck should play well and make the plays Rudy "isn't making". He should outclass him Sunday. I will keep an eye out. We'll see if this is true or not. I don't think its that hard to consider.

[Mojouw]

I am quite eager to see what Duck can do and want him to do good. Changing the subject won't help you. I pushed the Rudy train and I was proven wrong. I can admit that. I was wrong about Rudolph.

The point is that there was a new narrative that people are shackling themselves to now is that Rudy "didn't have it" and was the issue to the offense's problems. There were "plays downfield" he wasn't making that were there. The receivers don't trust him. The Offense is not the problem and it was 100% on Rudy.

So theoretically, take the problem away, and the offense should improve. Randy Fichtner should turn into an NFL caliber coordinator with Duck Hodges under center. That's the general narrative now, and now that I call it out, you want to pretend its not there. "Oh no, no one is saying that at all! You're the one pushing the narrative! Not me!". Dude, no. If you believe that, then it's fine. Duck should play well and make the plays Rudy "isn't making". He should outclass him Sunday. I will keep an eye out. We'll see if this is true or not. I don't think its that hard to consider.

This is the clumsiest attempt at logical reasoning I’ve seen in some time. False equivalencies and significant leaps from no foundation.

Sad that since this is the internet and everyone has to win (I’m guilty of this as well and always regret it) that we all can’t just discuss this without freaking out.

Dude, you were wrong. Tape don’t lie. Early in the season there were major issues in play design and scheme. That has improved. Rudolph has not. You can see the open receivers that he is incapable of getting the call to very clearly on dozens of places across the internet.

[Mojouw]

Think about it this way. Let us assume that Fichtner’s play calls are the vast majority of the problem.

If that is true then Ben and AB are the two greatest football players to ever walk the planet. They drug a train wreck of an offense to a staggering rate of efficiency and the most passing yards in the league.

While I’m a big fan of the talent of both of those two individually and playing together, they simply aren’t that good.

[GoSlash27]

You know what else is a pretty basic philosophy? Birds are fuckin' stupid, let's blow away some ducks.

Like, they used to be dinosaurs, and rampaged around eating people left and right, and now you want me to feel sorry for them because they suck so bad? FUCK THAT.

As long as you're not slaughtering endangered species by the truckload, who even cares.

I'm gonna be the fun hater who points out that dinosaurs didn't eat people.
That being said, I feel no pity for the ducks. If they didn't want to be shot for sport, they should've grown opposable thumbs and problem- solving intelligence.

[Mojouw]

I'm gonna be the fun hater who points out that dinosaurs didn't eat people.
That being said, I feel no pity for the ducks. If they didn't want to be shot for sport, they should've grown opposable thumbs and problem- solving intelligence.

That’s my new favorite comment. Great job!

[AtlantaDan]

Think about it this way. Let us assume that Fichtner’s play calls are the vast majority of the problem.

If that is true then Ben and AB are the two greatest football players to ever walk the planet. They drug a train wreck of an offense to a staggering rate of efficiency and the most passing yards in the league.

While I’m a big fan of the talent of both of those two individually and playing together, they simply aren’t that good.

Last year was not a matter of Ben being in a Sean McVay/Jared Goff relationship with Fichtner talking into Ben’s headset as long as possible before the snap and Ben then dutifully working off Fichtner’s play calls

The drop off in the quality of the QB and receivers has been dramatic but it cannot be said Fichtner is in the same role this season as last season - he actually has coordinated what passes for an offense this season rather than be the good subordinate to Ben, including sticking with the wildcat in the Baltimore game at great cost when he was up against a NFL level coaching staff rather than the Bengals clown show - cannot blame Rudolph for that

Unlike last year Fichtner has been working without a net as OC this season - unfortunately he is going to get a pass for this cluster of an offense and will be back next season whether Ben is or not

[teegre]

I was talking about this in some thread (which I cannot find), but we will need to draft a QB in R2 or R3 until Ben retires... in hopes of hitting on someone.

I hope that Jacob Eason (QB, Washington) lasts until R2. Alas, I have a feeling that he may sneak into R1, because he’s been on fire.

[DesertSteel]

I was talking about this in some thread (which I cannot find), but we will need to draft a QB in R2 or R3 until Ben retires... in hopes of hitting on someone.

I hope that Jacob Eason (QB, Washington) lasts until R2. Alas, I have a feeling that he may sneak into R1, because he’s been on fire.

I’ll take a flier on Ian Book in 2020.

[teegre]

I’ll take a flier on Ian Book in 2020.

Yep You had mentioned this in that other thread (but, I couldn’t find the thread LOL).

We had talked about Book prior to the playoffs last year. I watched him specifically, and maybe he was overmatched, but he didn’t look good in that game. But, Ben had his 4 INT game against Iowa... (every QB has an off day).

Tell me more about him. Convince me...

[Steeler-in-west]

Jacob Eason? Son of former Patriot qb Tony Eason? The guy who got destroyed in the super bowl by the bears?

I kid I kid

[DesertSteel]

Yep You had mentioned this in that other thread (but, I couldn’t find the thread LOL).

We had talked about Book prior to the playoffs last year. I watched him specifically, and maybe he was overmatched, but he didn’t look good in that game. But, Ben had his 4 INT game against Iowa... (every QB has an off day).

Tell me more about him. Convince me...

I think a good comp for him - if he pans out - is 2017 Case Keenum (Vikings). He's a leader, pretty accurate, has pocket presence, not elite arm talent, but NFL capable.

[Mojouw]

Last year was not a matter of Ben being in a Sean McVay/Jared Goff relationship with Fichtner talking into Ben’s headset as long as possible before the snap and Ben then dutifully working off Fichtner’s play calls

The drop off in the quality of the QB and receivers has been dramatic but it cannot be said Fichtner is in the same role this season as last season - he actually has coordinated what passes for an offense this season rather than be the good subordinate to Ben, including sticking with the wildcat in the Baltimore game at great cost when he was up against a NFL level coaching staff rather than the Bengals clown show - cannot blame Rudolph for that

Unlike last year Fichtner has been working without a net as OC this season - unfortunately he is going to get a pass for this cluster of an offense and will be back next season whether Ben is or not

Right. Fichtner isn’t great but merely competent. Or close enough. If you want to lay the blame for the horrible offense of the 2019 Steelers at his feet, go ahead. But that says, to me, that Ben and AB are planet tilting talents who can make an offensive system that would embarrass a high school JV team one of the most effective and efficient attacks in recent memory.

I would argue it is more that Fichtner has zero confidence in his quarterback to execute basic plays and is desperately trying to pull something that will work out of the ether. Of course he is not up to that task. Few are. But the 2019 offensive struggles are at least 50% on horrific QB play. Prior to his benching, Rudolph was just about the worst QB in the NFL by any passing metric.

Trubisky makes Nagy look bad. Goff has made McVay seem stupid. Wentz has taken the shine off Pederson. Now Fichtner was a few notches below those guys to begin with, but still was not just a turd in the punch bowl. Rudolph’s struggles to operate even basic foundational plays to any offensive system have completely hamstrung the offense for 2-3 weeks now. Combine that with the JV RBs and WRs that injuries have forced into the lineup and I’m not sure Bill Walsh could’ve got much outta that.

[teegre]

Jacob Eason? Son of former Patriot qb Tony Eason? The guy who got destroyed in the super bowl by the bears?

I kid I kid

His dad is indeed Tony Eason, but not that Tony Eason.

Tony Eason, QB for Notre Dame