I had been duped by the preseason play also. Last few preseasons they looked like they hadn't stepped foot on the field since the end of the last year. This year the team looked much more prepared during the preseason. Our offense was looking decent and seemed like we had a couple reliable receiving options other than Fitz. DJ was looking great in limited reps. The defense to me didn't look like it had improved, but also didn't look like it took a major step back, which means it should have been serviceable since we've had a solid D most recent years. Special teams for once in a long time looked good.
Then week 1 comes along and look like we're destine to become the next Browns. My only hope is this is a week 1 aberration, but everything looked so bad it's hard to believe that will be the case. If we see more of the same in week 2 then I'll be pretty sure of how the season will play out.
Think of all the apologists in 2016 and 2017 saying "it's just thee games", then "it's just four games", etc, etc, then "if they just win out from here"... this while the writing was on the wall from the start of those seasons. Even though we were 500 last year it didn't feel like it. When we won it was often by the skin of our teeth, and when we last we got stomped. We are on track to continue that trend now, and all I can do is hope they reverse it next week. I don't care if the if we win one of the next two, if the play isn't night and day better by week 3 this season is TOAST!