lightsout

Exactly. You can't lead with the crown of your helmet. That's pop Warner poo. Both penalties were good calls. Burfict didnt have to hit Brown at all, he has to have more awareness if you're burfict. What football player is EVER taught to lower his head when tackling? Head up until you feel your pad in his torso and drive. Basic tackling. Gio got speared. Both are illegal.

Fully expecting Cam to come out and make a BIG statement after what happened last week with this team. The offense will move. CAP is going to get many more carries. I'm sure the strategy is going to go back offensively to what it was before whatever last week was. Defense will play harder. Doubt we give up the ridiculously easy in routes that ate us up. DL probably got a good preaching to this week as well. We'll be fine if we come out and slap TB around for 4 quarters.

Every week, I think the same thing. "Well, I learned something today."

2 incomplete passes in a row. Why not just go ahead and kick the tying field goal on 3rd? There wouldn't be enough time on the clock for them to score again, you force OT and give yourself a chance.

Not even watching (at work), but based on some of what I have read on this thread, I'm going to make a few assumptions of how these teams look right now. Minny is what I thought they were. A good team that isn't a true contender just yet. Still too weak on defense and not enough of a passing threat to really make noise. Take away AP and pressure Teddy and that offense collapses on itself. Air-izona (you like that? YOU LIKE THAT!) is all Palmer. Dude is good, but it's still Carson freaking Palmer. Pressure him consistently and he'll go into sum-of-all-fears mode. Defense is talented and you can't make mistakes against them, because they will make you pay. Protect the ball, sustain long drives, they'll tire out and be prone to some missed assignments that make them look pretty average. Am I right?

We just had our worst game of the year. Lessons learned from that. And we still won. We're going to decimate the Falcons in such a way that I'm not sure Fox is prepared to show on live television.

Oh I know how it is. I'm a cop. He probably took the info, said "alright, if you want to press charges, go to the magistrate's office and see if they'll give it to you" and then told everybody on his shift. Guaranteed CMPD is belly laughing across the county right now at this. If the reporting officer actually went to the magistrate his or herself and tried to swear that charge out, I'll have lost all faith in the city of Charlotte and indeed all of humanity.

No DA will allow it. Not even certain a magistrate would give the officer or the complainant the charge.

This is one of the two games I predicted we lose. I think we get humbled a bit. Our offense learns that not taking advantage of opportunities will bite us. I just don't feel as good about this game as I would like. Certainly possible we win, if we can execute at all three phases of the game and minimize their big plays. If we get to the QB and control field position, I like our chances. Short of that, we could be in for a frustrating day.

We SHOULD win this game handily. Holding them to a FG or two. We will win this game 24-13 though. Somewhere in there. I think they shock us in the first quarter, put up 10 points, then get a late FG to make the score look a bit more respectable after Cam and Co. take hold of the game in the 2nd half and never look back. Also, my predictions vs actual scores this season so far: Predicted: 28-10 vs Jax Predicted: 20-14 vs Houston Actual: 20-9 vs Jax Actual: 24-17 vs Houston I'm feeling lucky enough to get a 3rd score be that close.

I'm going to let you in on my thought process for those picks. 1) It is overly optimistic, because this thread...no, this fan base deserves it. 2) The Seattle pick and score is mostly emotional. I hate Seattle and I just feel we're due one there. And I really feel we got a good feel for them in the playoffs. If we beat them, it won't be a close game. If we lose, it'll be tightly contested for most, if not all, of the game. Much like the playoff game. 3) I honestly feel, with this team, those scores are possible. Not far fetched, but actually POSSIBLE. Our offense won't put up those big scores alone. Defense will do some scoring/setting up crazy short fields. To point three, look at what our team as a whole can do. Tell me just one of those scores that you can't realistically see us making (with the exception of Seattle, because again, emotional pick on my part).

Why are we afraid people? Ice water in my veins. We got this. @ Jags - W 28-10 Texans - W (20-14) Saints - W (24-13) @ Bucs - W (35-10) @ Seahawks - W (38-21) Eagles - W (34-20) Colts - W (impressively too. Like, 31-10) Packers - L (will be close, but only because our defense keeps it low scoring. 17-7) @ Titans - W (21-3) Redskins - W (27-14) @ Cowboys - W (34-17) @ Saints - L (think we go in over-confident after winning on Thanksgiving. 28-13) Falcons - W (35-10) @ Giants - W (17-14) @ Falcons - W (20-3) Bucs - W (21-7) 14-2, NFCS champs, NFC championship losers though. Think we lose our steam on that 4 game stretch at the end, limp through the divisional round, and just sputter out. Without KB, it's hard to predict Super Bowl.

Did NOT see that coming...

There is one that a certain group of fans around section 550 do, but I'm never sure really what it is. It's a first down thing.

This thread needs to be circulated to everybody, everywhere. Think about it. These guys make millions. They work REALLY hard. They put in a LOT of hours to be masters at their craft. And sure, their craft is a game, but it's a game that absolutely drains them physically, mentally, and emotionally. It's a job. It's a career. Something all contributing members of society have. Something we can all relate to, in that basic way. So many of us get caught up in our careers. Some of us don't have families of our own, some do. These are guys that make family time, even after working. Before they take off the uniform. Before they get home and shower. They're engaged with children. Their own as well as other parents' kids. I know a lot of parents who act like it's some requirement to get home, shower, eat, and unwind before they can have family time. Don't let the important moments in a child's life be thrown aside because of your own life. Beautiful photos.

I generally only huddle at work.

I played sports starting at 5 years old. I didn't get a participation trophy until middle school. I hated it. My mom still has all my trophies in a box somewhere, I'm sure, but I know that that one participation trophy isn't in there. It got chucked as soon as I left the banquet. We won 2 games all year. I'm a firm believer in teaching the importance of losing. Sure, don't make them feel like their effort is for nothing whenever they lose, but emphasize the importance of overcoming adversity, of bouncing back, of training harder, of maintaining better focus, etc. And, a tactic that always resonated with me (particularly in high school, as my high school football coach was amazing), be the first person you place blame on. Don't guilt the kids with it, but say something to the effect of "well, guys, we gotta do better. I didn't do enough to prepare you before this game, and I'm going to do better with that. I'm going to do my best to put you in a position to win." Leading by example. Some kids won't get it, but some will. Seeing their adult leader admitting their failure, even if they didn't, will fuel certain kids to strive for success just a bit harder on top of making them look at themselves and their own failures and accepting them. This is important for adult life, as most of us should know by now. Subtlety is the key to teaching sometimes. I say trophies are stupid outside of the big prize, like a championship or superlative trophy. I DO think something should be done for participating. Have a big pizza party with games and stuff. Do something that isn't about the competition, but the fraternity for being an athlete. Reward the participation with something like that.

Let's look at just Brandon LaFell, as an isolated example. His rookie season, he looked really, really bad. Didn't break 500 yards receiving, only 1 TD. Was expected to make much more of an impact than he did. Cam is drafted the next year...and he suddenly becomes a pretty good option. 200 more yards than his rookie season, 3 times as many plays of 20+ yards, and a few TDs. He played fewer games the following year...had better numbers. Comparatively, he had more yards last year with NE...but his avg per catch was actually no better than the last season here with us. In all actuality, he really wasn't that much more productive in NE. In a system with arguably the greatest QB of our generation. He was targeted more in NE. That's it. He is not that great. Cam made him look like a solid enough receiver that NE looked at him and said "we want him". He got more targets thrown at him, but he was no more consistent or productive than he ever was here.

So what you're saying is Cam makes his guys look good enough for them to go get signed with good teams (Smith, Lafell), while receivers from Atlanta aren't desired by good teams and struggle with bad teams? Good talk. Also don't ignore that Olsen only looked "good" in Chicago. He is at least a top 3 TE in most people's minds since he has come to play with Cam. Cam makes receivers...no, the whole team better. His teammates have said as much (Olsen I believe directly stated something to the effect of "Cam makes us all better. He's so gutsy and so motivated, even when things are bad. He lifts us up and makes plays for us when we let him down" (not directly quoting). So...stfu.

Cam made Lafell look good enough to get him flat-out paid (even though Lafell dropped more than a few passes that were on the money and would have been BIG plays). Cam made Ginn look good enough to get him signed elsewhere when formerly, Ginn looked mediocre at best. Cam made Corey Brown look like a pretty damn good receiver a few times last season...and it's not like Brown was a high draft pick or anything.... Cam made Brenton Bersin look competent as well...same story as Brown. Cam was on the money enough with Smitty when he was here, but Smitty in his last season here looked like he had lost his passion and concentration. Dropping passes, soft running some routes, not able to make the big play as often. His issues with the FO here lead to him tearing it up last season in Baltimore. Cam made Kelvin look like he's just a step away from being a top 10 receiver in the league, when most assumed he would struggle coming into the league. Cam has reinvigorated Olsen's career here. So when you tell me that Ryan elevates his guys, presumably implying that Cam doesn't, I honestly have no idea what you are talking about.

When your top 2 targets go down, next man up will put up numbers just because he's the next best. If he doesn't put up numbers, then it's time to reevaluate that guy. Cam threw 2/3's of his yardage to his TE and a rookie WR because they were the only consistently good options he had. And even then, Kelvin Benjamin dropped a few TD passes. While missing games and then playing injured for the entire season. Culminating in Atlanta being curb stomped by Cam to end the season.

I remember when I was an angry 15 year old who thought cussing every 4th word made me cool.

The Washington Disappointments. It embodies Washington D.C. sports completely. The Redskins have a strong fanbase that gets let down plenty, the Nats at one point swore they had the best pitcher in the game, and he hasn't helped them get over the hump much, and the Caps always find a way to come up just short of being an actual contender for a Stanley Cup.

Cam when he has time and a somewhat open receiver is a thing of beauty 85% of the time I'd say. As good as anybody in the league. A lot of people look at stuff like completion percentage and don't take into account not only drops, but pressure/hit while throwing, receiver not making a great play, etc. If you think guys with great completion percentage/better than Cam's percentage got there without receivers pulling down enough balls they had no business catching and having better protection than Cam, then I can safely say that your opinion doesn't matter because you don't understand what all goes into a QB "looking" good on paper. I'd take Cam over any QB in the league and that's not just my homerism talking. He's not the best passer in the league, but I'd say he's unquestionably the most versatile and dangerous when the team around him does their respective jobs. Give the guy a good OL and hope that Funchess and Brown both emerge big so he has 3 solid receivers to go alongside Olsen....Cam is breaking at least one record this season. In some way.

Our BIGGEST weakness all of last year, the thing that truly held us back, was shooting. We needed a pure shooter. We needed somebody who could go out and put up 25+ with ease, particularly with perimeter shots. What do we do? Dump our project big man in Vonleh and pick up a new project big man. And one who doesn't want us. While there were GREAT shooters in front of us. Seriously?