What do you need to see from the team before you feel like we have made the leap?

Obviously beating some good/elite teams and finishing with a great record

But what do you think our "question marks" that may affect our ability to do the above?

For me:

1. Secondary play. Last year we gave up too many explosive plays in zone coverage. One of the worst in the league in this category. We were very good IIRC in man coverage though.

I am not sure where the issues for this was. Note, we were basically top 10 in almost all pressure/sack related stats last year. I am not sure if the issue is safety play. Jimmie Ward was average, but Pitre struggled in coverage.

Our rookie CB and S hopefully can step up soon. Not too much continuation with CBs so can't rely on another year of experience. But maybe that helps with S.

1. Short yardage play

For whatever reason last year when it was 3rd/4th and short, we were not good. Our run game and run blocking was pretty bad. This could be selective bias on my part, but our pass plays in those short yardage situations were weird too.

Too many deep balls on those throws, but then again how much of that was because of limited playbook with the poor run blocking + running in short situation is up for debate.