I'll Go Ahead And Say It...

Tua is a complete fraud.

I supported and supported and supported him through the Flores mess. I turned into one of his biggest stans (as the cool kids say) this season. I was completely and totally for the idea of him being this team's QB for...well, until the human race finally collapses in on itself and the NFL ceases to exist.

But it's all too clear now that Tua absolutely, positively cannot do what a franchise QB needs to do which is 1.) stay healthy for more than 8-10 games a season and 2.) win key games in December. If he can't do it with Hill and Waddle then he never will. Mind you, he did give the Fins their best QB play post-Marino for a few games, but that and 10 bucks will get you a medium sized cup of coffee at Starbuck's.

Keep him around next year obviously since they literally cannot get anyone better but there shouldn't be any 5th year option or re-signing. Not now.

I feel bad for Jmp more than anything. Lord knows he stuck his neck out for Tua time and time again and what does he have to show for it? Pisses me off TBH

Tua's had two bad games (soon to be three). That does not in any way negate everything he did before that.

JMP wrote:Tua's had two bad games (soon to be three).  That does not in any way negate everything he did before that.

Actually it does. What's the point of playing well against bad teams for the first 10-11 games of a season if he's always going to choke in December against any halfway decent team when the playoffs are on the line?

It's now the 3rd straight season this has happened. That's a trend, not an accident.

This plus the fact he literally cannot stay healthy means Tua shouldn't be re-signed. At least Russell Wilson and Mahomes won Super Bowls to justify their big money deals afterwards. Burrow's already been to a Super Bowl. Why should a team pay the QB it drafted that kind of money after four years with no playoffs? They just as easily could've missed the playoffs this whole time with some random scrub.

Yeah yeah I know, don't jump back on the bandwagon if Tua makes the playoffs, yada yada. But even you no longer believe he will, not this season anyway.

Short term outlook: Tua will get a playoff game under his belt this year.  Once we are back home i expect the Fins to beat Green Bay and the Jests.  I do not see a 5 seed (whoever gets it will beat the Titans or Jags in the first round) so our season will end in either Cincy or K.C. in round one IMO.  Whatever we were doing on the road in September and October has long disappeared at this point.

Tua outlook:  he's still going to be third in the 2020 pecking order after this year.  Herbert is going to the playoffs, piggybacking a support cast that isn't as good as Miami's right now.  And he has a decent chance at running the regular season table and getting the 5 seed (I expect Baltimore's choke jobs earlier this season and QB injuries will relegate them to seed 6) which will put the Chargers in the second round.   Tua still has time to make his mark but he's still behind Herbert at this point.  

Certainly, you exercise the fifth year option on Tua, he's earned that, and a chance to take a big step forward in 2023 with a second year in the same system for the first time in his career.  But this is looking like a short window, and our draft stock presently is severely depleted for two years.  I would be looking to replenish that in 2024 just in case that big step in 2023 doesn't happen/injury bug hits again and we are looking for the next QB then.   Not down on Tua after two stinkers, just being realistic.  

I'd love to be proven wrong in Buffalo next week but I don't see it happening. I guess if Rich Strike can win the Derby...stranger things have happened.

A playoff spot in McDaniel's first season is progress.  I like his chances to move forward a Hell of a lot better than Gase's after 2016 since McDaniel already looks smarter than Gase ever did.

DF, you are voicing what I am sure a LOT of Dolfans are thinking this morning. And it's a totally valid point.

The season is on the brink.

Let's see what happens over the next four games. We'll talk about this in the offseason. Hopefully we get to see ONE playoff game at least.

If I really had to put my finger on it? Lack of any kind of rushing threat. The Chargers defense is not good, and they blew up WAY too many runs in the backfield. It's all on Tua and the passing game. This isn't a good way to play offense...

A playoff spot in McDaniel's first season is progress. I like his chances to move forward a Hell of a lot better than Gase's after 2016 since McDaniel already looks smarter than Gase ever did.

This is a really good point.

Adversity like this will do one thing for sure: It will severely test the Grier - McDaniel relationship. Do they have the confidence in their team building approach to stay the course and adjust?

Give McDaniel a new defensive coordinator, and let me see some upgrades on the offensive line, and optimism returns again!

HalCHorn wrote:A playoff spot in McDaniel's first season is progress.  I like his chances to move forward a Hell of a lot better than Gase's after 2016 since McDaniel already looks smarter than Gase ever did.

McDaniel's looking dumber and dumber since the bye. Gase proved once and for all it's better to be lucky than good. How sad is it that he'll likely be the last Fins coach to make the playoffs for the next decade and maybe ever if humanity continues its current course?

white1 wrote:If I really had to put my finger on it? Lack of any kind of rushing threat.  The Chargers defense is not good, and they blew up WAY too many runs in the backfield.  It's all on Tua and the passing game.  This isn't a good way to play offense...

Grier signed Edmunds and traded for Wilson. Just sayin'.

DolFan 316 wrote:Keep him around next year obviously since they literally cannot get anyone better but there shouldn't be any 5th year option or re-signing. Not now.

sadly, that is exactly what i've been pondering since last night's game ended. to me, that is what the remainder of this season is about. even if they somehow back into the playoffs, they won't do anything of significance this year anyways (one and done). they are right back where they were in August (even earlier) in trying to answer the question of whether Tua is the man moving forward or not. the last 2 1/2 games say no. he now has 4 games to prove otherwise or else next year is just going through the motions.

mercury22nathan wrote:

DolFan 316 wrote:Keep him around next year obviously since they literally cannot get anyone better but there shouldn't be any 5th year option or re-signing. Not now.

sadly, that is exactly what i've been pondering since last night's game ended.  to me, that is what the remainder of this season is about.  even if they somehow back into the playoffs, they won't do anything of significance this year anyways (one and done).  they are right back where they were in August (even earlier) in trying to answer the question of whether Tua is the man moving forward or not.  the last 2 1/2 games say no.  he now has 4 games to prove otherwise or else next year is just going through the motions.

Reading posts like this is finally starting to dissipate my negative energy Maybe now I'll get some sleep, I sure didn't last night. This loss bothered me in a way that not even the Titans debacle of last season or the Bills fiasco from the season before did. At least those teams were playoff-worthy and might have won even if the Fins didn't just lay down. The Chargers are so bad they could only manage to beat a Fins team that played at least as badly as those two did by SIX! I still say they're not making the playoffs BTW. That's not bitterness talking, I've analyzed it. That's me actually being objective. The Chargers are NOT a team that's going to win 5 straight against *any* slate of opponents.

The Chargers are NOT a team that's going to win 5 straight against *any* slate of opponents.

I don't know about that. Ekeler is having an excellent year. Him, along with Herbert and Mike Williams is enough of a threat on offense to have a chance pretty much against anyone.

Clearly their defensive staff knows how to game plan.

And, their remaining games are against opponents that really aren't tough.

We will see - but I can totally envision a season where they get in to the playoffs.

DolFan 316 wrote:

JMP wrote:Tua's had two bad games (soon to be three).  That does not in any way negate everything he did before that.

Actually it does. What's the point of playing well against bad teams for the first 10-11 games of a season if he's always going to choke in December against any halfway decent team when the playoffs are on the line?

First of all, he did not just play well against bad teams. I understand that you are now "off the Tua bandwagon", but there's no need to rewrite the past to make it fit the new narrative. I'm sure you have more than enough fodder from the past two games!

Second of all, you might assume that you know what will happen for the rest of the season - but you don't. There's still 4 regular season games left, and maybe even the playoffs.

white1 wrote:

The Chargers are NOT a team that's going to win 5 straight against *any* slate of opponents.

I don't know about that.  Ekeler is having an excellent year.  Him, along with Herbert and Mike Williams is enough of a threat on offense to have a chance pretty much against anyone.

Clearly their defensive staff knows how to game plan.

And, their remaining games are against opponents that really aren't tough.  

We will see - but I can totally envision a season where they get in to the playoffs.

Oh don't get me wrong, I'm not saying they'll miss the playoffs (they'd be in if the season ended today in fact) but there's no way they're finishing 11-6. You'll see. A true playoff contender would've beaten the Fins by a lot more than 6. You know, like the 49ers and Bengals and even the Jets did. Hell, even the lucky-ass VIKINGS won by 8 in Miami!

JMP wrote:Second of all, you might assume that you know what will happen for the rest of the season - but you don't.  There's still 4 regular season games left, and maybe even the playoffs.

That applies to you as well

But seriously, this team's missing the playoffs. Even if they somehow beat the Bills they'd just blow it by losing out.

white1 wrote:

If I really had to put my finger on it? Lack of any kind of rushing threat.  The Chargers defense is not good, and they blew up WAY too many runs in the backfield.  It's all on Tua and the passing game.  This isn't a good way to play offense...

It's not just lack of a rushing threat - it's a lack of the commitment to the run. No team is going to be good at running the ball when they only run 8 or 10 or 12 times a game. A run game works when all the pieces work together - back, OL, WRs and TEs - and that happens with repetition. These guys just have very little experience working together in the run game - there's no continuity or cohesiveness at all. And that's by design, because the gameplan week in and week out treats the run game as an afterthought.

McDaniel needs to wake the hell up and adjust his philosophy. Last night's game on the first series we threw three straight passes - against the worst run defense in the league. What the hell is that??? It's completely asinine, is what it is. We needed to establish right away that we were going to run, and then keep running even when it wasn't working. That crap Chargers defense needed to be worn down - and McDaniel refused to do it. Coach needs to do his homework this offseason and learn how to design a true gameplan.