Thank God It's Byeday!

[Joel]

I usually hate early byes as a waste of the team's ONLY time off before the playoffs, a rest for guys not yet tired who'll sorely miss it in late October or early November when one guy's got a sprained this, another has a pulled that and EVERYONE has a bruised EVERYTHING. Not this year; too much crap happened at the end of preseason and start of the regular season. It's hard to list all of it, but I'll try:

Welkers concussion, followed by his drug suspension that went from PED to substance abuse to nothing once the NFLPA and owners agreed on new rules.
Harris and Millers torn ACLs preventing even practice till the end of preseason, leaving them out of game shape in a way visible when they needed to be spelled in the second half vs. KC and Indy.
Hillman and Websters mysterious Dallas adventure; no one seems to know what happened, but it was bad enough to keep them off the field the first week.
Trevathans fractured leg that's kept him from playing at all this regular season.
The juggled line; maybe all starters are the same, but two are in new spots, all have someone new beside them and Clady missed most of 2013.
Ware; he's a fine player, but it's his first year in Denver, where he was quoted in the season opener saying just walking up the stadium stairs left him out of breath (hopefully he was being facetious.)

That's, what, SEVEN obstacles and distractions hopefully behind us for good by next week? Some of it's improved already (e.g. I believe Miller and Harris played a full game @Seattle, Welker's suspension's over and Trevathan's practicing again) but some of it's lingering (most notably, the Swiss cheese run blocking.) I hate early byes because they're usually needed late but rarely early: We need this one NOW. It's a chance to get healthy and rest, reassess, regroup and rally to finish the toughest schedule I can recall in ~30 years watching the NFL.

I may sing a different tune when Halloween rolls around and half the roster's playing in casts and braces (heaven forbid,) but right now it feels like this bye couldn't come at a better time. The one unit that needs collective cohesion most and has recovered it least so far could benefit most from this bye: The offensive line. I hope for far more consistent run blocking vs. Arizona and over the rest of the season. The D (and it's new players) should gain some cohesion, too, but already looked better last week: They could be lethal after the bye.

Here's hoping; TGIB. :)

[Krugan]

Im not a huge fan of early byes either, but this may well have been the right time.

[tripp]

I personally think, there isn't much to gain from an early Bye unless you have multiple injuries in the first few games. Since we do not, I see it as almost a waste. Yes, it's good that Trevathan has 2 weeks to practice before the Cards, that's assuming he does play. Also, I suppose you can try to teach and train the O-line to be better at Run blocking, but I personally feel that if there was any gelling to be done, it'd be done on the field, against actual opponents. I'm not too sure much will change with time off, as opposed to playing against other teams and learning that way. Just my 2 cents.

[Joel]

I personally think, there isn't much to gain from an early Bye unless you have multiple injuries in the first few games. Since we do not, I see it as almost a waste. Yes, it's good that Trevathan has 2 weeks to practice before the Cards, that's assuming he does play. Also, I suppose you can try to teach and train the O-line to be better at Run blocking, but I personally feel that if there was any gelling to be done, it'd be done on the field, against actual opponents. I'm not too sure much will change with time off, as opposed to playing against other teams and learning that way. Just my 2 cents.
Gelling's all about developing coordination and familiarity with teammates, and there's no subsitute for time together, so every extra moment that doesn't risk a loss is precious. That's on top of linemen needing to monotonously drill group execution over and over until they can do it in their sleep, not just individually, but as a holistic unit. There's a reason teams dread being forced to replace even ONE lineman midseason, let alone several: Once that delicate chemistry's disrupted, restoring its equilibrium is a lengthy complex process.

Again, we only have one new starter (bearing in mind that, though Clark started most of last year at LT, he wasn't THE starter) but our starting LT played only 3 games last year, our starting RT has swapped sides to drive and pivot off opposite feet, our LG moved to a spot he hasn't played since college, and ALL of them have at least one new person next to them (on BOTH sides in Franklins case, and the last time he played G the opposition was FAR less elite.) It makes sense that single offseason and OTAs and preseason might not be enough to fully readjust.

As to injuries, sure, Miller and Harris were 100% HEALTHY Opening Day, but they weren't in Opening Day form yet; they'd only practiced about 2 weeks since their injuries, and Mile High air demands a LOT of stamina to last a whole game. We don't have to worry about Welker shaking out cobwebs midgame vs. Arizona either; he's ready and raring to go. Trevathan was a healthy scratch @Seattle, IIRC; he should be ready to start vs. Arizona and, while I like Marshall, Trevathan's far better if only because of his regular season experience.

[Joel]

Demaryius Thomas, who's clearly and literally been hobbled by a foot injury the last two games. That's the kind of minor but nagging injury that often never has a chance to heal before/after a bye, but since he HAS played on it, I expect it's minor enough he'll be 100% a week from now. Like I say, it's hard to remember all the many reasons I'm grateful for an early bye.

[CrazyHorse]

Joel, are you okay? This post seems too optimistic to be you.

[Joel]

Joel, are you okay? This post seems too optimistic to be you.
If we could get all our ducks in a row and keep them there, this is an elite team. It only has one obvious weakness right now—but it's a BIG weakness we need to shore up before the playoffs. WELL before, given our brutal schedule; the good news is a dozen opponents are the same for the whole division, and two of the other games are against us, so we control our own destiny there and would likely get an insurmountable lead over anyone against whom we can manage a sweep, but in the race for playoff byes and homefield, Cincy and NE have a much easier path.

This is our chance to get right for the rest of the season, a chance it feels like we need but one that could end in a championship IF we take full advantage of it.

[Denver Native (Carol)]

NFL WEEK 4
BYE WEEK: Cardinals, Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Week 4, and I think one other week, has the most teams on byes. Not sure if this is the way they have always done it.

[Joel]

NFL WEEK 4
BYE WEEK: Cardinals, Bengals, Browns, Broncos, Seahawks, Rams

http://www.nfl.com/schedules

Week 4, and I think one other week, has the most teams on byes. Not sure if this is the way they have always done it.
It's really confusing how they do it, with each team in a division getting it's off week at a different time, some early, some late. It would make more sense to just give 8 different teams a bye from Week 6 to Week 9, right in the middle where they need it, but that would make too much sense in what's just another case of the League outdumbing itself, IMHO.

They figured if they added a midseason bye and another before the SB people would get used to February SBs so no one would mind much when they went to an 18 game season. What they didn't count on was PLAYERS getting used to those two off weeks and looking like brutal greedy slavedrivers if they ADDED two games while REMOVING the byes. Now they're stuck; they can't extend the season much more without pushing it into March Madness, but every time they add a new team there's more and more teams who don't play each other all year, making conference playoff spots that much shakier.

Progress ain't what it used to be. ;)