Big C

I'd love to keep Spikes and lose Keith Rivers

Spiller, Pears, Rivers is my guess.

Which means he is re-signed for cheap!

The Dean of Special Teams isn't going anywhere, now that he has this great new nickname.

Spikes is a leader, a veteran presence among our young LBs, and a special teams contributer.

With an efficient offense - just efficient - we would be have 11-12 wins. Marrone is not the reason we missed the playoffs. He is a reason we are becoming a credible team again, along with Whaley. Hackett may or may not be the reason, because I've seen plenty of open targets Orton missed or wasn't afforded time to hit.

Awwww. So he'll give us a discount?

I stll think they are looking for Bryce to be that guy. Spiller was given one more year to show us what he's got and he didn't show much. Granted, Bryce didn't look great either, but I still like his upside.

Packers may still win this game, but that would crush their SB bid.

Most importantly, we play the AFC SOUTH! Playoffs ahoy!

Thanks. I missed that play.

Despite a lot of head-shaking moments and devastating losses, we finish the season 9-7. A season of coulda-shoulda, perhaps, but unquestionably our best season in a decade. I can't imagine the Dougs going anywhere, and I think they earned another season. Hackett up for debate. Don't see Schwartz as a HC candidate this year. Some final thoughts: Offense: -Spiller is good as gone. Where was he in the second half? I still can't figure out who's at fault here, but I eagerly await what happens with his next team. -Freddy is still shifty as ever, but next year will likely be his last. Are we content with Boobie and Bryce as his backups/successors? I like both, and feel an upgrade to OL will open things up for Brown in particular. -I have no idea what the plan is at QB going into next year. -Disappointed we couldn't get Sammy his 1000, but I love the kid and I can't wait to see him and Woods grow together over the coming years. OBJ has been a menace, but we were never going to draft him and I think in the end Sammy will be everything we expected of him when we traded up for him. -Hogan was fun to bag on in the preseason, but I am pleasantly surprised with how he came into his own this year. He is a legitimate slot receiver. -MarQuies Gray looks pretty good. A FB who can catch out of the backfield, a la Bruce Miller. Good pick up by Whaley. I don't miss Summers at all. -OG and QB are clearly the biggest needs on this team. I thought Urbik at OG was going to be fine - thought he was good last year - whoops! I assume Chris Williams gets another shot (no idea what the contract dictates, but I think we plan to keep him on board). Cyril Richardson didn't seem to suck in his short time out there today, but he probably is just going to be a depth guy for us. Several great starting OGs have gone in the second and third the past few years and I hope Whaley hits on one. -I won't give Whaley too much crap for Cyrus. Give him another offseason and see if we have anything at all there. Sammy, Preston and Seantrel were productive starters and outside of QB the roster was already solid. Defense: -Really hoping we bring Hughes back, and I think we will. His motor just keeps running. -Run defense was much better today despite not have Dareus. Wynn was surprisingly good inside and I like his depth; he can be re-signed for cheap and I expect it. -Stefan Charles will replace KW when his time comes (hopefully not for another 2-3 years). I like him a lot. -Gilmore is always a late bloomer. Every year he seems to start slow and then lockdown (granted he was hurt at the beginning of last season). I really hope next year he is hot from the start. -Searcy and Duke are both good safeties to keep around. Searcy will be inexpensive, Duke still working on his rookie contract of course. After that terrible PI, Duke really grew as a player. He is especially good against the run. -AW was not particularly great this year, but I still like him better than Byrd. He is a little too aggressive pursuing runners in the open field, resulting in a lot of missed tackles, but outside of that I like his phyical play and leadership. -Corey Graham had a career year. Wonder what the plan is with a healthy trio next year. They gave the nod to Leo, but I think Graham earned a starting spot. Nothing wrong with great depth. -Brooks is a great gunner. Good for a 4th CB, big hitter and sure tackler. Lots of people giving him crap today, undeserved. He is our 4th string CB (not including Robey as they slot guy) and I'll take it. -Robey is a fantastic slot corner. Not a lot of eye-popping plays like last year, but quietly reliable all season. Special Teams: -The "core special team players" thing was really true, wasn't it? We got much better this year. -Congrats to Carpenter on setting a new franchise single season FG record. Dude is money. -I don't mind having a kickoff specialist, but a kickoff specialist needs to be better than Gay was this year. His directional kicks and onside kicks were garbage. Why don't we just use Schmidt for kickoffs?

OBJ, my god.

Amendola is like Edelman, but he gets paid more, contributes less, and gets hurt more. Hey we can still get Sammy his 1000!

Phew, Baltimore takes the lead!

Hey Baltimore finally took the lead. Thank goodness.

Hmmm, OK then!

Hogan has been legitimately contributing this year. I'm glad to see it.

Jackson is so shifty.

BS call

What kind of spot is that?

COME ON. GET THE SACKS.

Whiffed on the sack!

Baltimore or San Diego better get it together. I don't want the Raiders loss to really have costed us the playoffs.

LOL still punting eh?