Best and Worst of the first half of the season

[adam]

Technically, halftime of this Sunday's game will be the exact halfway point of the season, but with the bye already past, we are sort of at that point now in terms of calendar days.

At 5-3, what are some of your bests and worsts for this team so far?

For me, the best "best" is Ben Johnson. He is really exceeding expectations in almost every possible way. He is a maniac. He is the anti-Flus and something this team has lacked since Lovie or even Ditka. 

On offense, I really like the balance of the offense (run vs pass, with no one player being targeted too much). 3 players have 30+ receptions, 6 with 20+ targets, which includes 4x 100-yd receiving games from Odunze, Burden, and Loveland. 8 different players have a receiving TD (including Williams). 

The O-Line, especially Wright, who is playing at an All-Pro level, have been playing at a high level. Thuney, Dalman, and even Jackson are really coming around. They have facilitated 3x 100-yd Rushing games from Swift and Monangai. 

Of late, I have also been impressed with Monangai and Loveland. Hopefully they can keep up the production. 

The worst on offense is probably the LT position and Cole Kmet's production. Kmet is 7th on the team in receptions, only 1 more than Monangai. Oz is probably 3rd for me as I was expecting more out of him with how he looked in the offseason and the number of targets he has received so far (2nd most on the team). 

On defense, Byard and Edmunds have been the best players on a unit that is struggling. Byard is playing at an All-Pro level.

The worst have been McCloud, Brisker, and Billings. I expected more out of Brisker and Billings (they were supposedly the missing pieces last year), and I didn't expect McCloud to be the worst cover CB in the NFL when targeted.  They really miss Jaylon, and Stevenson did not seem like the same player prior to missing the BAL game.

Special Teams as a whole though, is probably my worst "worst". Holy crap they are bad. They are terrible in kick coverage, blocking for FGs, kicking FGs, and outside of 2-3 punts all year, Taylor has again shown he was a waste of a 4th round pick. The league average per punt is 47.9, Taylor is at 48.5. The ironic thing for him is he is the same exact punter from last year in terms of distance. The league average last year was 47.6, he was at 47.7.  Santos has missed 3 kicks with a long of 52. That is embarrassing. Moody was cut for missing 2 kicks in a game SF won lol, then he makes 8 of 9 for the Bears. I would rather have Moody than Santos the rest of the way. 

Honorable mention for worst is Richard Hightower. I still do not understand how this guy is employed. He is a big reason why the ST unit is so bad. Hopefully they can improve to just be average the rest of the way. Just don't lose games for the team.

[Alaskan Grizzly]

Simply put, Johnson is making me a believer… at least for now. What stood out was how he used the bye week to acknowledge the offense was struggling, then simplified things and leaned into the zone-run game. Since then, his in-game adjustments have kept the momentum rolling.  And for most of the other things you said.

Also agree the 'worst-worst' is special teams.

As I started out going into the year I'll say again, not a fan of Allen. So far his scheming as of late has done nothing to make me think better of him.  There have been some great individual performances (Byard, Edmunds and Edwards among them) but overall, the coaching hasn't been all that.  Adding some key players could help him but if he's such a well regarded DC then he should be able to work with what he's got available to him.  

[adam]

50 minutes ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

Simply put, Johnson is making me a believer… at least for now. What stood out was how he used the bye week to acknowledge the offense was struggling, then simplified things and leaned into the zone-run game. Since then, his in-game adjustments have kept the momentum rolling.  And for most of the other things you said.

Also agree the 'worst-worst' is special teams.

As I started out going into the year I'll say again, not a fan of Allen. So far his scheming as of late has done nothing to make me think better of him.  There have been some great individual performances (Byard, Edmunds and Edwards among them) but overall, the coaching hasn't been all that.  Adding some key players could help him but if he's such a well regarded DC then he should be able to work with what he's got available to him.  

I am giving Allen the benefit of the doubt right now as they have been working mainly with their 5th and 6th CB as starters for most of the year. No Jaylon, a lot of no Kyler, some no Tyrique. Lost Zah Frazier and Terrell Smith for the year. Brisker still not looking 100%. I know everyone has injuries but the secondary was supposed to be a strength.

The DLine, especially the DTs have been super disappointing. Billings, Dexter, Jarrett all have underperformed, which has seemed to bring down everyone else.