[htismaqe]

Originally Posted by FringeNC

Looking at the Sagarin ratings for the last two years which taken into account strength of schedule, margin of victory (defeat), and all that other stuff, it had us 24th in 2010 and 29th in 2011. It's pretty accurate in predicting the Vegas line, and overall a pretty solid ranking system.

You win in the NFL by having a decent defense, and the ability to move the ball through the air. We have a decent defense, but unless Daboll is able to get a hell of a lot more out of Cassel than Haley was, how are we going to consistently move the ball through the air?

With a good running attack, a good D, and only throwing occasionally, I can see us beating bad to average teams in close games, but we'll get blown out against teams again unless our passing attack improves.

Edit: Pioli essentially doubled down on Cassel, and is implicitly blaming Haley (and evidently our O-line) for our passing woes. If Cassel does not dramatically improve, Pioli shouldn't have a job next year.

Excellent post.