Is it Mendoza time???

[pfish57]

We are on a 4 game losing skid, and I think it's time to put KC out to pasture...with that said all this talk of Mendoza getting destroyed is ridiculous...hell KC has somehow come out unscathed after 7 games what makes people think a mobile QB will fare worse...we aren't going anywhere with KC! It's time to get the kid some real game time experience & see what life with Mendoza entails!

[Curay7680]

Lamonica, Stabler, Gannon..

[Rabidraider]

I am not disagreeing with you regarding the defense. It blows ass.

Our offense has been blowing ass as well. The oline is putrid and the running game is almost nonexistent. Don’t give me “Carr” junk time stats to tell me the offense isnt bad, it is horrible the last month or so.

I know the guards suck and 76 was like revolving door yesterday, but Jeanty has been terrible, His receiving seems to be improving and its to the point he should just be the receiving back.

I don't understand why the coach wont give the rock to Washington.

[RI RAIDER]

Start Mendoza. Trade Cousins, trade Crosby, build for the future. We beat the bad teams but We arent good enough to compete with good teams yet.

This! I still can not believe that some want to hold on to Maxx. We need to trade him NOW. If we don't, it will bite us in the ass (his value is going to start deteriorating rapidly). I think we can still get a 1st and a 2nd. However, I would trade him even if we get less than that. I would not expect to get much for Cousins, but I think we should take care of him and give him a chance to play meaningful games (he has earned it). It is Mendoza time!

[DeathStar24]

I have zero issue with those wanting Mendoza to start. However, I don't see the results changing.

[heavyD]

It's not ideal to put in a rookie for his first start without a running game to speak of and a defense that is rolling out the red carpet for offenses. In fact it's probably going to end quite badly.

[heavyD]

I know the guards suck and 76 was like revolving door yesterday, but Jeanty has been terrible, His receiving seems to be improving and its to the point he should just be the receiving back.

I don't understand why the coach wont give the rock to Washington.

Washington had 6 carries for 27 yards. He got 21 on 1 carry, and a total of 6 yards on the other 5 carries. I still think it's hard to blame either RB as they were both being contacted in the backfield nearly every carry.

[FLORIDARAYDAH]

I have zero issue with those wanting Mendoza to start. However, I don't see the results changing.

I want him to start. I don't see much change in the results either. Kirk isn't playing bad. I just think Mendoza needs to get his career going and get the experience. I think the line is giving decent time for our QB to throw the ball.We are going nowhere either way.

[Attyla]

So, in all honesty, we cannot wait for the run game to fix itself because the run game is fixable with a better passer. Cousins has been better than I expected but he is still limited as a passer. Teams know that. We saw it yesterday, the Rams stacked the box and the zones where we all know Cousins will primarily go to in a game. They were not worried about a deep ball because he lofts those which are far easier for defenses to adjust to due to the amount of time those lofted balls are airborne. And teams know that while Cousins can move around behind the line, he is not going to run and when he does he will not be effective. We saw that on his one little run yesterday.

The beauty of Mendoza's game is he can make all the throws and his deep ball can be deadly. He is also mobile and a tough runner. He also has good field vision. If they have had significant enough success training him to work under center, I see it as time to give him a chance. I agree with Kubiak that all options are on the table, including starting Mendoza. His game will soften defenses which will create better run lanes for our RB group. We saw yesterday that they made Jeanty one dimensional. He became a receiver because he could not run in the lanes as limited as they were. He had one good run and that was it. If we are going to spring Jeanty, Mendoza is key to that. Washington is good when he is creating and that will also improve with a better passing game. Washington's one great sweep saw him about to hit a hole, he saw the blocking receiver and bounced it further outside for good yardage. Both these guys would benefit from a guy who can throw a bullet for 30 yards and Mendoza can. Tucker as well would benefit from that skill set as he would not be relegated to a possession receiver and could play further down field.

We cannot kid glove the guy. He is a football player and the first overall pick in the draft. I believe it is time to see what we got here.

[RI RAIDER]

I have zero issue with those wanting Mendoza to start. However, I don't see the results changing.

TBH, its not about results (W's and L's). Its more about development and actually seeing what we have. This was always a throw away season. It would be negligent not to give this kid some time. Is it perfect conditions to put this kid in? Hell no which is why we had the #1 pick to begin with. It would be worse not playing this kid this year than playing him (lumps and bruises from growing pains be damned).

[Oaktownonly]

So, in all honesty, we cannot wait for the run game to fix itself because the run game is fixable with a better passer. Cousins has been better than I expected but he is still limited as a passer. Teams know that. We saw it yesterday, the Rams stacked the box and the zones where we all know Cousins will primarily go to in a game. They were not worried about a deep ball because he lofts those which are far easier for defenses to adjust to due to the amount of time those lofted balls are airborne. And teams know that while Cousins can move around behind the line, he is not going to run and when he does he will not be effective. We saw that on his one little run yesterday.

The beauty of Mendoza's game is he can make all the throws and his deep ball can be deadly. He is also mobile and a tough runner. He also has good field vision. If they have had significant enough success training him to work under center, I see it as time to give him a chance. I agree with Kubiak that all options are on the table, including starting Mendoza. His game will soften defenses which will create better run lanes for our RB group. We saw yesterday that they made Jeanty one dimensional. He became a receiver because he could not run in the lanes as limited as they were. He had one good run and that was it. If we are going to spring Jeanty, Mendoza is key to that. Washington is good when he is creating and that will also improve with a better passing game. Washington's one great sweep saw him about to hit a hole, he saw the blocking receiver and bounced it further outside for good yardage. Both these guys would benefit from a guy who can throw a bullet for 30 yards and Mendoza can. Tucker as well would benefit from that skill set as he would not be relegated to a possession receiver and could play further down field.

We cannot kid glove the guy. He is a football player and the first overall pick in the draft. I believe it is time to see what we got here.

Well said.

Good to have you back.

[Pseudoscot]

I'm on the fence with this one. I'd love to see Mendoza get some game time but I understand why the coaching staff are reluctant.

Cousins is doing an above average job right now. He's also got the experience to know the different ways his pocket is collapsing and can sense pressure quite well. I definitely saw him extend a lot of plays yesterday because of his pocket presence.

My worry is that putting Mendoza in right now could lead to a David Carr situation. I don't know if he's got the pocket presence for the NFL yet and too many brutal sacks, because the oline is porous, might end up permanently damaging his confidence or body. At some point it will be time to throw him in there to see if he'll sink or swim but I don't think yesterday was a good opportunity as the oline was non-existent.

I've no doubt we'll see Mendoza in action more as the season progresses. I hope the coaching staff will use garbage time opportunities (either winning or losing) to get him on the field. I don't see much point in doing it against teams which are dominating so much in the trenches against us that he won't be able to get past a single read. He's the future and will no doubt have his chances moving forward but lets be smart about how we bring him up to NFL speed. There's too many examples of highly rated qb's never having the career they should have because they got smeared against the turf too many times too early.

[mstrbass2000]

I know the guards suck and 76 was like revolving door yesterday, but Jeanty has been terrible, His receiving seems to be improving and its to the point he should just be the receiving back.

I don't understand why the coach wont give the rock to Washington.

play jeanty on 3rd down as a receiving back, dude avg 1.9 yds a carry vs washington at 4.5 vs the rams...

[Rabidraider]

Washington had 6 carries for 27 yards. He got 21 on 1 carry, and a total of 6 yards on the other 5 carries. I still think it's hard to blame either RB as they were both being contacted in the backfield nearly every carry.

Thats why its called averages. He may get stuffed but he tends to break moderately long ones when given carries, 4.9 so far.

Lets see what he can do with 15-20 carries per game over 3-4 games. If the number sdon't work then we know.

With Jeanty running its not working.

[mstrbass2000]

I want him to start. I don't see much change in the results either. Kirk isn't playing bad. I just think Mendoza needs to get his career going and get the experience. I think the line is giving decent time for our QB to throw the ball.We are going nowhere either way.

kid is bigger,faster and has a bigger arm, we all saw the difference in how the ball leaves kirk and fernandos hands, one explodes and get there the other is softer and slower plus fernando can run for yds and is not afraid to take off as a weapon

[NoThanksSir]

TBH, its not about results (W's and L's). Its more about development and actually seeing what we have. This was always a throw away season. It would be negligent not to give this kid some time. Is it perfect conditions to put this kid in? Hell no which is why we had the #1 pick to begin with. It would be worse not playing this kid this year than playing him (lumps and bruises from growing pains be damned).

Agreed. The results are starting to matter less the further we get from possibly getting into the playoffs. It doesn't look like it's happening this year, and as long as Mendoza isn't risking his health, he should be out there. Everything I've seen from the way the offense is operating leads me to believe he'd be fine playing. So now it simply comes down to whether we still believe this roster is going all the way or whether it's time to start building for the future. Imo it's Mendoza time.