Can't argue our defense wet the bed yesterday against the undermanned Lions Offense, and I 100% am with you kk loves to get cute.
I do have different opinions toward Brady's shutout and Murray's performance. First, the Saints' defense is not bad at all, they are currently ranked No. 6 in Total Points A allowed and No. 13 in Total Yards allowed. Second, Brady lost his top 2 WRS (Goodwin and Evans) and #1 RB (Fournette) during the game. Plus Brown being suspended, Bradey has to constantly throw to the double-teamed Gronk later in the game (what I have observed in the game). Third, it was an NFC South rivalry game and we all know what that means. We played one win Detroit lions, whose defense ranked in No. 27 in Total Points Allowed and NO. 29 in Total Yards Allowed. All our skill position players except Hopkins were healthy. Edmond was freshly activated right before that game. I don't feel use Brady got a shout-out last night to explain Murray's bad performance was a fair comparison.
Noone on this board is denying Murray's talent and growth. What we have all been concerned and complained about is his mental toughness and performance under the pressure (which, IMO, has not grown much since his NFL debut). All QBs face free rushers, whether they can deal with that and still make plays is one of the differences between a franchise Qb and an average starting QB. I have watched more games lately thanks to more free time. I paid special attention to some of the good young QBs everyone is talking about (Mahomes, Mac Jones, Burrow, Herbert, Allen, Jackson (heck, he basically just tuck it and run when things go wrong)). Sadly to say, I saw nobody folded and gave up as quickly and as often as Murray when facing free rushers and heavy pressure.
You mentioned that Murray's play rides with Hudson's appearance and he does not seem to trust other online players, which makes total sense. No QB can survive with no Oline help, but not all of them need an all-pro line in front of them to perform. Some can overcome bad Oline plays, some can't, that's where some QBs differentiate from others. It's on the GM to have the best line on the team as they could. Some have done a better job than others, and Keim has no doubt been on the lesser side. However, with QB taking $45M+ per year, it's getting harder and harder to build a great Oline. A franchise QB needs to be able to play with what he is given, not folded when things do not go the direction he wants.
For the free rushers coming in the middle, I would like to provide an immature thought and love to hear what you guys think. I am wondering if Murray's preference of taking extreme deep drop back requires both tackles to also kick back deeper in the pocket than usual, and the guards then need to slide left and right further to fill the gaps between them and the tackles, which leaves bigger gaps between the center and the guards (basically bigger gaps between every lineman) to make it harder for linemen to help each other and allow easier stun and penetration from the rushers. Watching the Chargers' game and Steelers' game made me think of this. Their online pretty much all clogged together in pass protection while ours are all spread out.
