2020 Game Goat Thread: WCG vs Titans

NomarsFool

Member
SoSH Member
Dec 21, 2001
8,157
It's a shame, but the Edelman drop was a killer.

I don't understand the decision to punt. Go for it. If you can't get 4 yards there, then you lose. Fine. Punting it away there was just no way they were going to keep TN from using up the rest of the clock.
 

LogansDad

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 15, 2006
29,053
Alamogordo
If that was the end, what a ride it's been
QFT. I am far less confident that it is the end now, though, I think Brady is back next year.

Goat tonight for me is, like many others, the receiving corps. Brady looked sharp for the most part, but nobody except Jules was ever open, and then he had the worst drop of his career*.

*this is completely subjective and has had no research done to prove or disprove it as fact
 

OurF'ingCity

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 22, 2016
8,469
New York City
And yeah Michel has officially entered Maroney territory as a guy with just enough talent that you keep hoping he’ll put it all together but never seems to be able to.
 

heavyde050

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2006
11,257
San Francisco
1. The offense. This was just a disastrous performace by the offense. There is nothing good that can be said about this performance. But some offensive players and deserve to be singled out for special attention.
2. Julian Edelman. At the decisive point in the game where one decent drive would have won it, he is open for a first down and drops the ball.
3. Shaq Mason. The most successful offensive play of the second half was the play where Brady kept a play alive by scrambling behind the line until he spotted Watson deep downfield and hit him for a huge 38 yard gain. Which was called back because Shaq Mason was illegally downfield.
4. Sony "Softer than Charmin" Michel. This guy is a system runner. He gets (most of) the yards that is blocked for him and basically nothing more. And I doubt there are many runners in the league who get caught behind the line of scrimmage more often. On Tennessee's decisive goal line stand in the first half, with the Pats 1st and goal from the 1, they ran Michel for a 1 yard loss, Burkhead for a 1 yard gain, and then Michel for a 2 yard loss before kicking the FG. Should have been 3 runs to Burkhead, or even some kind of outside thing to White if they were going to run in.
5. Josh McDaniels. This man chose, on a key 3rd-and-short, to give the ball to fucking Elandon Roberts, a fucking linebacker. Also, why does McDaniels hate the end around to N'Keal Harry? Their offense is shit, and they ran this play 5 times in the last 3 weeks, for 0, 9, 10, 12, and 18 yards. They ran it only once today, picking up 7. I get that you aren;t winning games by running those kind of trick plays, but if it is one of the few things that works consistently, why not try it a couple more times?
6. Tom Brady. I hate to say it, but in the past he has been able to step up a little bit, even when the offense is bad. Not this year. 6-15 in the second half, for about 60 yards and including a pick 6.
7. Bill Belichick. I hate to say this, too, but Mike Vrabel made an absolute fool of him. He, too, should maybe think about hanging them up, if this is the best he can do. He stood by and watched Vrabel run nearly 2 minutes off of the clock before punting from midfield - 2 minutes the Patriots badly needed, as it turned out. And then his futzing around with the punt return team in the final moments ended whatever chance that Pats might have had to drive for a FG.

The only positive sign in this whole game was the defense. Despite not being matched up well to go against Henry in personnel terms, and despite giving up a ton of yards to him, they allowed only 14 points all game and basically pitched a second half shutout, coming up with some big plays along the way. They were not absolutely perfect, allowing Tennessee to gain first downs and run clock in its final drive, but altogether they played well enough to win this even with a subpar offensive performance. Too bad the offense and the coaching weren't just subpar but disastrous.
Swap Brooks (not his fault Chung got hurt ) with Brady and I agree with this list. Brady was fine tonight. He moved the team only to be undone by drops, penalties, and dumb play calls.
 

strek1

Run, Forrest, run!
SoSH Member
Jun 13, 2006
31,747
Hartford area
You people are crazy. Edelman? The guy scored the only TD. Lots of worse things happened than that one drop. There were a couple of stupid penalties that could be nominated.
 

BaseballJones

ivanvamp
SoSH Member
Oct 1, 2015
24,375
1. The offense. This was just a disastrous performace by the offense. There is nothing good that can be said about this performance. But some offensive players and deserve to be singled out for special attention.
2. Julian Edelman. At the decisive point in the game where one decent drive would have won it, he is open for a first down and drops the ball.
3. Shaq Mason. The most successful offensive play of the second half was the play where Brady kept a play alive by scrambling behind the line until he spotted Watson deep downfield and hit him for a huge 38 yard gain. Which was called back because Shaq Mason was illegally downfield.
4. Sony "Softer than Charmin" Michel. This guy is a system runner. He gets (most of) the yards that is blocked for him and basically nothing more. And I doubt there are many runners in the league who get caught behind the line of scrimmage more often. On Tennessee's decisive goal line stand in the first half, with the Pats 1st and goal from the 1, they ran Michel for a 1 yard loss, Burkhead for a 1 yard gain, and then Michel for a 2 yard loss before kicking the FG. Should have been 3 runs to Burkhead, or even some kind of outside thing to White if they were going to run in.
5. Josh McDaniels. This man chose, on a key 3rd-and-short, to give the ball to fucking Elandon Roberts, a fucking linebacker. Also, why does McDaniels hate the end around to N'Keal Harry? Their offense is shit, and they ran this play 5 times in the last 3 weeks, for 0, 9, 10, 12, and 18 yards. They ran it only once today, picking up 7. I get that you aren;t winning games by running those kind of trick plays, but if it is one of the few things that works consistently, why not try it a couple more times?
6. Tom Brady. I hate to say it, but in the past he has been able to step up a little bit, even when the offense is bad. Not this year. 6-15 in the second half, for about 60 yards and including a pick 6.
7. Bill Belichick. I hate to say this, too, but Mike Vrabel made an absolute fool of him. He, too, should maybe think about hanging them up, if this is the best he can do. He stood by and watched Vrabel run nearly 2 minutes off of the clock before punting from midfield - 2 minutes the Patriots badly needed, as it turned out. And then his futzing around with the punt return team in the final moments ended whatever chance that Pats might have had to drive for a FG.

The only positive sign in this whole game was the defense. Despite not being matched up well to go against Henry in personnel terms, and despite giving up a ton of yards to him, they allowed only 14 points all game and basically pitched a second half shutout, coming up with some big plays along the way. They were not absolutely perfect, allowing Tennessee to gain first downs and run clock in its final drive, but altogether they played well enough to win this even with a subpar offensive performance. Too bad the offense and the coaching weren't just subpar but disastrous.
1. The offense looked good early, then crapped the bed. Had three legit chances to pick up first downs (or touchdowns). Failed on all three. The Roberts run (egads), the failed TD after 1st and goal from the one, and then the Edelman drop.

2. Edelman's drop was singlehandedly the worst play of the game. I had a high degree of confidence that they'd get a good FG opportunity to win the game if not for that drop.

3. Mason played pretty well all game but that penalty was disastrous.

4. Michel played well tonight. Not the problem.

5. McDaniels I thought called a great game early, but did a poor job in some key spots.

6. I thought Brady played pretty well. The pick-six....eh not a big deal. He had 15 seconds from his one yard line. WTF difference did the pick-six make?

7. What the hell was BB supposed to do in that situation? There was literally nothing he could do. Not a single thing. That's why he pointed out during the season that the rule was problematic.
 

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
22,089
A Scud Away from Hell
This game proved to me that Brady MUST be back to NE next year.

There's no one else available that can take his place given the dollars, years, and what's left in the tank.
 

SeoulSoxFan

I Want to Hit the World with Rocket Punch
Moderator
SoSH Member
Jun 27, 2006
22,089
A Scud Away from Hell
You people are crazy. Edelman? The guy scored the only TD. Lots of worse things happened than that one drop. There were a couple of stupid penalties that could be nominated.
I still blame Welker. I can blame Edelman for this loss too.

I bet he'd be the first one to say he should have made the catch.
 

Red Averages

owes you $50
SoSH Member
Apr 20, 2003
9,055
As always the difference between a Super Bowl team and a quick exit is the small execution and bounces. I can think of several things that if they didn’t happen change the entire game:

- Clearly the first and goal from the 1 that they couldn’t convert.
- Edelman dropping an easy first down pass that would have given the Pats about 20 yards to go to get in FG range for a win
- Shaq Masons penalty which ended up costing about 50 yards and points which would have given the Patriots the lead.
- Logan Ryan’s dropped pick 6 before the half... was caused because Watson dropped an easy pass that would have put the Pats ~20 yards from FG range.
- Numerous fumbles by the Titans that they recovered.
- BB not taking a timeout when he knew Vrabel could run off almost two minutes.
- BB not being more aggressive going for it on 4th down.
- etc etc as I’m sure I’m missing several.

but really that sums up the season. A number of small issues leading to a flawed team.
After the AB fiasco I think we all knew the season had peaked.
As much as I would have loved to go into the weekend rooting for the Texans and counting down the KC-NE rematch I think we all knew the odds of a super bowl were extremely low.

Now it’s time to appreciate the last 20 years.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
24,829
Unreal America
Because any time he has a halfway decent hole he gets you 4 to 8 yards? The OL fucked him all year, as did the lack of talent at WR/TE which allowed opposing defenses to stack the box.
This is a franchise that has won a lot of games with the likes of Ben Jarvis Green Ellis at RB. He’s a first round pick from an SEC school. He’s gotta do more than get replacement level yards when big holes are there. I like Sony, but this was not a great year for him.
 

bankshot1

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 12, 2003
24,651
where I was last at
I can't get mad-watching the Pats offense tonight I was mostly reflwctive of what was, old age, injuries, and lack of talent caught up with the offense.
 

JokersWildJIMED

Blinded by Borges
SoSH Member
Oct 7, 2004
2,742
If Edelman makes that catch then Vrabel running time off the clock comes back to bite him. That is going to be way overplayed but had literally nothing to do with them losing.

Goats would have to be McCourty for bad tackling In key spots, edelman for the drop and McDaniels for some real bad play calls in key areas. Also, Brady did not play that well, as most of his yardage was dump offs or screens as he mostly had plenty of time and still was late, behind, or low on too many throws.
 

BornToRun

Member
SoSH Member
Jun 4, 2011
17,312
This is a franchise that has won a lot of games with the likes of Ben Jarvis Green Ellis at RB. He’s a first round pick from an SEC school. He’s gotta do more than get replacement level yards when big holes are there. I like Sony, but this was not a great year for him.
He definitely wasn’t great but I’m inclined to cut him some slack because this year’s run blocking wasn’t the caliber of 2018’s for a multitude of reasons. I think he has a good shot of bouncing back next season if the supporting cast around him can be bolstered and have better health.
 

Bob Montgomerys Helmet Hat

has big, douchey shoulders
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
This game proved to me that Brady MUST be back to NE next year.

There's no one else available that can take his place given the dollars, years, and what's left in the tank.
I think he's going to make some pretty strong demands about the offensive weapons around him. There is a reason he was AB's biggest advocate.
Give him a couple more real weapons and I think he'll be back
 

heavyde050

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2006
11,257
San Francisco
If Edelman makes that catch then Vrabel running time off the clock comes back to bite him. That is going to be way overplayed but had literally nothing to do with them losing.

Goats would have to be McCourty for bad tackling In key spots, edelman for the drop and McDaniels for some real bad play calls in key areas. Also, Brady did not play that well, as most of his yardage was dump offs or screens as he mostly had plenty of time and still was late, behind, or low on too many throws.
Brady took what the defense gave him and threw some lasers tonight. He played fine. I mean his stats look worse because of some the drops.
 

Super Nomario

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
I can't give the D a pass after a) letting the Titans go 2-for-2 in the red zone, b) letting Henry et al run for 200 yards, c) letting the Titans score in the two-minute drill before halftime in what wound up being the game-winning points, d) generally failing to get off the field and putting the O in bad field position pretty much all day, especially at the end (with the exception of the Harmon pick).

The O was the bigger culprit, especially in the second half. But the D could have won this game with a great performance today, and it wasn't up to the task.
 

PedroKsBambino

Well-Known Member
Lifetime Member
SoSH Member
Apr 17, 2003
31,191
I can't get mad-watching the Pats offense tonight I was mostly reflwctive of what was, old age, injuries, and lack of talent caught up with the offense.
This was also how I felt. They gave everything they had tonight—-it just wasn’t very much, or very good.

IF this is the end, thank you for an amazing run. If they retool, I will be excited to see what they come up with for next year.
 

Marciano490

Urological Expert
SoSH Member
Nov 4, 2007
62,312
I think he's going to make some pretty strong demands about the offensive weapons around him. There is a reason he was AB's biggest advocate.
Give him a couple more real weapons and I think he'll be back
Exactly. If he takes a pay cut, he’ll want money spent in ways that help the team, especially the offense, while he’s still here that may cripple the franchise down the road.
 

Rico Guapo

New Member
Apr 24, 2009
2,150
New England's Rising Star
This is a franchise that has won a lot of games with the likes of Ben Jarvis Green Ellis at RB. He’s a first round pick from an SEC school. He’s gotta do more than get replacement level yards when big holes are there. I like Sony, but this was not a great year for him.
They ran out a second string center for the entire year, a second string LT for half the year, a LB playing FB for 14 weeks, and had a massive downgrade at TE. What the hell did you expect Michel to do this year running behind that line?
 

21st Century Sox

Member
SoSH Member
Feb 19, 2006
762
I can't give the D a pass after a) letting the Titans go 2-for-2 in the red zone, b) letting Henry et al run for 200 yards, c) letting the Titans score in the two-minute drill before halftime in what wound up being the game-winning points, d) generally failing to get off the field and putting the O in bad field position pretty much all day, especially at the end (with the exception of the Harmon pick).

The O was the bigger culprit, especially in the second half. But the D could have won this game with a great performance today, and it wasn't up to the task.
So Pre-game if someone said to you that the defense would hold the Titans to 13 points.....you say no? The defense had really nothing to do with this loss...
 

JokersWildJIMED

Blinded by Borges
SoSH Member
Oct 7, 2004
2,742
I think he's going to make some pretty strong demands about the offensive weapons around him. There is a reason he was AB's biggest advocate.
Give him a couple more real weapons and I think he'll be back
Not sure how they do that given their cap situation. It’s not like they have a ton of draft capital that will help them acquire top rookie talent either.
 

nazz45

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
2,919
Eternia
Red zone and short yardage offense. The Elandon Roberts fullback dive play should be fired into the sun along with Jordan Richards (just because).

Chung injury (no surprise) led to Brooks coming up small on two third down completions including a touchdown. Also led to McCourty playing more of a Chung role on early downs and the run support was lacking. Chung was in the midst of an injury riddled and subpar year but his presence in the box and filling alleys could have shortened a few Henry runs.

Second half offense with 4 real possessions managed only 20 plays and 85 yards. A huge penalty and two drops essentially killed 2 of those drives.
 

heavyde050

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2006
11,257
San Francisco
So Pre-game if someone said to you that the defense would hold the Titans to 13 points.....you say no? The defense had really nothing to do with this loss...
Again, that isn’t how it works. I mean all the defense had to do was get off the field on 3 and 8 and they let a guy run a 10 yard pattern without covering him. Defense in total wasn’t the issue but that 3rd down play was sad.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
24,829
Unreal America
They ran out a second string center for the entire year, a second string LT for half the year, a LB playing FB for 14 weeks, and had a massive downgrade at TE. What the hell did you expect Michel to do this year running behind that line?
Not great, and that precisely what we got. I said I like Sony, but there are a lot of RBs who could’ve given the Pats his level of production this season, and it wouldn’t have necessitated using a first to do so. He’s a good back when everything is working well.
 

Super Nomario

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 5, 2000
14,012
Mansfield MA
So Pre-game if someone said to you that the defense would hold the Titans to 13 points.....you say no? The defense had really nothing to do with this loss...
It would have been tied if it was only 13 points.

The Titans really only had 8-9 drives in this game, and they were able to at least flip field position on almost all of them. 14 points is hardly bad but it's not nearly as impressive as it looks on the face of it.
 

ifmanis5

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 29, 2007
63,743
Rotten Apple
Red Zone.
Not getting 6 when they were first and goal at the one is really the difference. 3rd down to Roberts is incredibly bad. Everything after that feels like a Plan B.
 

Marciano490

Urological Expert
SoSH Member
Nov 4, 2007
62,312
It would have been tied if it was only 13 points.

The Titans really only had 8-9 drives in this game, and they were able to at least flip field position on almost all of them. 14 points is hardly bad but it's not nearly as impressive as it looks on the face of it.
The field position falls on Bailey as much as the defense.
 

jodyreeddudley78

Member
SoSH Member
Sep 22, 2007
1,869
orange county NY
I'm kind of surprised that people here think Brady deserves zero blame. Several of his passes were under thrown or behind the receiver. The guy is the greatest ever, and he looked better tonight than he has the past couple of weeks, but he didn't look great tonight either.
 

nazz45

Member
SoSH Member
Apr 16, 2003
2,919
Eternia
I can't give the D a pass after a) letting the Titans go 2-for-2 in the red zone, b) letting Henry et al run for 200 yards, c) letting the Titans score in the two-minute drill before halftime in what wound up being the game-winning points, d) generally failing to get off the field and putting the O in bad field position pretty much all day, especially at the end (with the exception of the Harmon pick).

The O was the bigger culprit, especially in the second half. But the D could have won this game with a great performance today, and it wasn't up to the task.
First half defense was abysmal but they did what they needed to do in the second half. Titans did nothing on three straight possession and turned it over. Field position tilting the Titans way had more to do with the punters - Bailey being outrageously terrible and Kern being the Pro Bowl punter that he is.
 

8slim

has trust issues
SoSH Member
Nov 6, 2001
24,829
Unreal America
I'm kind of surprised that people here think Brady deserves zero blame. Several of his passes were under thrown or behind the receiver. The guy is the greatest ever, and he looked better tonight than he has the past couple of weeks, but he didn't look great tonight either.
This receiving corps is so unbelievably awful, I’m inclined to think that some of what looked like poor throws were them running bad routes. Because they’re awful.
 

heavyde050

Member
SoSH Member
Nov 17, 2006
11,257
San Francisco
I'm kind of surprised that people here think Brady deserves zero blame. Several of his passes were under thrown or behind the receiver. The guy is the greatest ever, and he looked better tonight than he has the past couple of weeks, but he didn't look great tonight either.
I am surprised at this take. I mean Brady wasn’t great but that was as much on his receivers as it was him. I mean one of his best plays got called back on a correct but inconsequential illegal man downfield penalty.
Brady also threw some absolute dimes tonight. In fact one of his great passes was broken up by an even better defensive play.
 

Rico Guapo

New Member
Apr 24, 2009
2,150
New England's Rising Star
Not great, and that precisely what we got. I said I like Sony, but there are a lot of RBs who could’ve given the Pats his level of production this season, and it wouldn’t have necessitated using a first to do so. He’s a good back when everything is working well.
He was dominant down the stretch and in the playoffs last year with a competent OL. The notion that a JAG back would give you the same production is absurd.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,758
Pittsburgh, PA
Because @Ralphwiggum is a good poster and deserves better than game thread sniping back-and-forth, I'm going to continue this conversation here:

They stole a SB last year on the downslope. Time to re-evaluate.
Stole my ass.
sorry but last years team doesn’t make the top 10 Pats teams of the Bb/Tb era. They caught fire during the playoffs but the run really should have been over after the Philly SB loss.
Again, I say, my ass. They pistol whipped the Chargers, rolled into Arrowhead and marched up and down the field on them, and then completely neutered the Rams offense. Talking about “should’ve”s is ridiculous too. This board has turned into a sea of slimy Kellermans and it’s ridiculous.
The 2018 team had a better point differential than the 2003 or 2001 teams.
And? The 2001 team also stole a championship. And the 2003 team played the whole year with a horseshoe lodged up their asses. Not saying they were not good teams, but like last years team sometimes you get a little lucky. And in 2007 they got unlucky. It happens.
You said:

(1) last years team doesn’t make the top 10 Pats teams of the Bb/Tb era.

What's your top-10 list that excludes the 2018 team? The playoff games count when evaluating a team, even if they shouldn't be the only consideration. I'll spot you 2004, 2007, 2010, 2014 and 2016. But if you're going to ignore that there's an argument the 2018 team was better than two other SB-winning teams, or somehow then come up with a top 10 that excludes half of the title-winning teams... I'm not sure we're going to agree on much. Like the direction the sun will rise tomorrow.

(2) the run really should have been over after the Philly SB loss.

This is obviously subjective, but this is kinda contradicted by the fact that our OL was nails the later the 2018 season got, the D had a player turn into a DPOY candidate, and the entire team (including two underpaid players who would become market-setting FAs after the season, Trent Brown and Trey Flowers) continued clicking on all cylinders, including turning in one of the all-time great defensive performances in the super bowl. None of that was an accident, unless you want to call their relative health an accident. Much less suggestive of rot at the core that was concealing an end to title contention.

And then this year, we were probably a few non-football misfortunes from being a top contender this year. Andrews blood clot, Wynn turf toe, Antonio Brown being borderline psychotic, Gostkowski hip, Develin neck injury (and likewise to his replacement), Jason McCourty groin injury. You could argue adding "Gronk retiring while still being an impact player" to the list, too. With last year's health, I bet we get a bye and probably make the AFCCG. And despite what did happen, the team still came away with the 4th-best point differential in team history, even if they were a paper tiger to some degree.

---

My position going into the offseason is that there's tons of reason for optimism. Brady and Belichick clearly still have their fastballs. The defense is good, and could be great. And if enough of the injurees return to productivity, our OL and talent level across the board could suddenly see many holes plugged. There are reasons for pessimism too, the cap situation and McDaniels / Scarnecchia situation chief among them, but we're a good draft from being right back in this thing.
 

BigSoxFan

Member
SoSH Member
May 31, 2007
47,090
It's a shame, but the Edelman drop was a killer.

I don't understand the decision to punt. Go for it. If you can't get 4 yards there, then you lose. Fine. Punting it away there was just no way they were going to keep TN from using up the rest of the clock.
It’s not even a guaranteed loss. They probably play for the FG and you’re down 17-13 with a chance for a TD to win.

I can’t believe they punted. Yes, I know the defense was playing better but one busted coverage and you’re done. Give TB12 a chance.
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,250
this isn't goaty but how unpoetic was this ending?

Jules: dropped pass
TB12: fluky picked 6 deflection off of a Sanu with no separation

what happened to my fairy-tale ending? man real life sucks!
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,250
My position going into the offseason is that there's tons of reason for optimism. Brady and Belichick clearly still have their fastballs. The defense is good, and could be great. And if enough of the injurees return to productivity, our OL and talent level across the board could suddenly see many holes plugged. There are reasons for pessimism too, the cap situation and McDaniels / Scarnecchia situation chief among them, but we're a good draft from being right back in this thing.
while nothing you said here is wrong, I'm wondering if the correct play is to Tank for Lawrence (Brady would have to leave, of course)
 

DeadlySplitter

Member
SoSH Member
Oct 20, 2015
33,250
as was explained in the gamethread about the last punt of the game...

they sent EVERYONE out to block that punt, because it was the best chance to win. Edelman has to creep in because otherwise the punter can throw to a wide open person, with everyone coming in to block.

Bill did not get outcoached there. we can all agree a blocked punt was more likely than a miracle drive with 20 seconds and no timeouts. it was just awful luck the punt kicked straight and slowly to the 1, but once you don't block the punt it doesn't really matter anyways. much like their fumble luck lately, the ball was not kind to them.
 

InstaFace

The Ultimate One
SoSH Member
Sep 27, 2016
21,758
Pittsburgh, PA
while nothing you said here is wrong, I'm wondering if the correct play is to Tank for Lawrence (Brady would have to leave, of course)
The last time tanking was the right play, it was in 2011 for the rights to draft Andrew Luck in 2012. And/or Cam Newton the year before. Prior to that it was probably Mike Vick in 2001. The first overall pick rarely goes on to become an elite QB. Meanwhile, Miami this year built momentum by trading away for value, but also clearly outperforming (lowered) expectations and trying to build a culture of winning in spite of the trades. They're now going to be a hot destination, so to speak, because of the promise they showed while running out an obviously sub-par roster.