Khyber53

He never sandbagged here, he was just the only thing we had going and we used him to the point of breakage. Same thing happened in San Fran. Dude has left it all out there on the field and has whooped all challengers except for two: Wear and Tear. He's the Luke Kuechly of running backs and I hope he'll get his HoF bid on the first round, too.

I'll take my chances with Bryce.

This has a lot to do with it. He got to see what Dalton did behind that line and how he took control of the situation. Got to watch it happen and then Dalton would come back to the sidelines and the two would talk about it on the bench. Hate to say it, but it's a lot like screwing up some project as a kid and then watching your Dad do it then have him explain it to you. Then, somehow, it just all starts to make sense. Dalton helped him hit that "click" moment. Something he had to go through back in the day, too. That benching was the best thing to ever happen to the kid. He'd probably never been benched before in his life. This coach, he might be a really good one.

Y'all will turn on a guy fast around here. Same ol' Huddle.

I've been on this board for more than a decade I guess.

Every player has THAT game at least once. And the constant talk of him becoming the most accurate kicker in NFL history just had to put extra pressure on the day. He's still a great weapon for the team. Just put this one behind us and move on. Not to mention, maybe there was something wrong with the kicking balls yesterday. I've never seen so many bad punts and kicks in one game. Seriously, there may have been an equipment issue behind this.

He's going to be excellent. As will this team. Just not this year. The crappy record we post this time will be the manure pile that grows us something great. I think we can all see the growth happening here. Coach is doing a good job, players on a very young team are growing up and we're standing toe to toe with the teams we will have to beat to be good. XL will have some very good games over the next few weeks, and I think he'll have many, many over his career here. I'm really, really looking forward to those post game interviews with him.

I ain't even mad.

I hate that you're right about this, but it's the honest truth. The position is still vitally important (then again, I think a fullback is also important), but the wear and tear is what downgrades the careers.

Find us the next Luke Kuechly, a defensive scientist. That'll fix a world of problems.

I'm going to cheer for any scenario that puts the Panthers back into competitive shape, playoffs shape and long-term viability. If Bryce proves to be that road, then I'll happily ride along it and admit how wrong I was. And right now, we're seeing some green shoots that could grow into something pretty cool. Would love to see that happen. If not, well, we're back at the start of a road we've been down before many times before. And it's gonna suck for a little while at least.

Just to say what you've written here seems to be making more and more sense with each passing week. And yeah, he's going to have some regression games. Or maybe not. I'm sure a lot more interested in finding out each week than I was a month ago. Honestly, though, what a young, struggling QB needs more than anything (except a solid O-line) is a defense that can get the other team off the field. Want to contend immediately? Go heavy defense in the draft and free agency. Pass on the Sanders family, forget about another new WR. Grab that DE, LB or another stud DT... whichever one is the best for when we pick around #7 or 8.

Has the ball on every offensive snap. Calls line protection schemes and adjustments. Often squares up against the biggest man on defense. On running plays is often tasked with making second level hits. Sometimes wears a bear costume and buys ads in the local paper declaring this will be a playoff year. Sorry, kinda missing Ryan Kalil there.

Can't argue with you much on this. I've been banging the drum for years now that we need to take a center in the draft, and I have said grab the best one available, first or second rounds. I know, they say you never take them in the first, but the best O-lines in the league generally have a guy they grabbed there or the second. I'm not sold that we can't do better at center than we have now, although things have been better. And yeah, I see about two more years for Moton after this one and Icky will be looking for money. Icky still needs to improve, though. He's getting better with good guard help and experience, but he's still not in the top half of the LTs starting in the league.

Back in my 20s, I lived in a flat over a Hallmark store in downtown West Jefferson for about five years. It was some of the best times of my life. The only difficulty was that right outside my bedroom window was the town's massive fire siren. It was good that I was the local newspaper editor and had to go out and cover house fires and whatnot, because when that siren fired up, it would just about blow me out of my bed and into the next room. Deafened, I might as well get dressed, grab a camera and follow the fire trucks as they'd roll out.

Yeah, I spent a lot of time living in Ashe County, in the Fleetwood area... 20 minutes from West Jefferson, 20 minutes from Boone... unless it snowed and then you had an hour and a half each way. And I did ski reports for radio stations back then, so yeah, I had to go in to work on those mornings. Moved to Greensboro and 25 years later, I really miss the snow. I loved how it looked, how quiet it made the world sound, that wonderful fresh smell in the air. I know, though, that it's just nostalgia and it would be rough as heck on me now. Still, maybe once the kids are all off to college the Mrs. and I can go back to the mountains.

Yeah, and he both deserves it and has the ability to be worth it. Offensive linemen can still be functional and good well into their 30s.

While I agree with you, there was a lot that was beyond the stats in that game. He was much more decisive in his target selection, worked the pocket better and seemed to actually be dictating the pace of the game to a very good Chiefs defense. And when it came to the second half and we're considerably behind the reigning back to back world champs who were 8-1 going into the game, he didn't fold and did some of his best work of the day. Something has clicked for Bryce, not sure how far it goes, but I'm here for it.

They have all sorts of deals, yanno. Four year, three year, two year...

Good and we should again. We got at least one thing right over the years.

You pay the man and show that we keep our promises to good players. It will go a long way toward building confidence in free agent pick ups. And don't eff around with the O-line. It is finally working. Let it cement and build around that.

Everyone fell in love with Brian Burns that first time he got a sack for us and dropped into the Spider-man pose, myself included. Then as the seasons went by, almost all of us realized that Brian was understrength and could be handled if you could get a square hit on him right off the mark, or could re-direct him around the QB. He was fast and bendy but that was about it. Truthfully, he would have been an excellent situational pass rusher but he really didn't have the oomph to be an Edge1 or full-time Edge2. But that Spider-man pose... that made him a lot of fans, including the GMs office at NYG. Good luck to him, but we shoulda sent him to the Rams a year earlier.

Just needing some guys who can tackle... Not sure why we're adding more mid to lower DBs.

I'm standing by what I've said.