d-dave

Someone else said it, but I'd like to reiterate that Gentleman is building a great roster. So many young guys filling out the bottom of the roster. That's one of the things they said about Seattle. They did a great job creating the competitive bottom 3rd of the roster to push the top. Man, what a great time to be a Panther fan!

Wait a sec! You mean we should trust Dave Gentleman to pick the best players to make our team better? How crazy! What has he done in the NFL? Compared to Mel Kiper's hair or Todd McShay's tan? I think everyone fails to realize that we aren't pros. NFL guys are pros and Dave Gentleman was named the best in the NFL. The more deep reading, I think he made the choices he did becuase they were the bestlong term solutions for us. We went to the Super Bowl without these rookies and we haven't really lost anyone from the team outside of Cotchery, Harper and Allen. We gud. Bup, bup, bup, bup.

But we haz all the moneyz? Why not sign ALL the CBz??? Very rational and well thought out point by Jeremy (again!), which folks will still ignore. I will admit, the Chicken Littles are kind of fun to watch =)

This is why I think that a deal does get done, and a hold out is minimal: TIME. Norman is 28 years old. Now he doesn't have the mileage of a guy like Patrick Peterson, but there are some realities on the body, especially with football players. Time will push both sides to some kind of agreement, even if it's simply the 1 year tender. Next year, Josh could be a 29 year old FA CB. He's got to know by now that Gettleman is a value heavy decision maker. If he has no intention of signing Josh to a 6 year $76 million dollar contract now, what's it going to be next year? Also, guy who hold out, how often do their season end up derailing? Does either Norman or Gettleman want to lose a season to squabbling? Who will blink first? Who knows. At the end of the day, Gettleman is going to make his choice and Norman can accept it or see what fighting gets him. I don't think it's going to get him what he wants.

I think the bold part of your quote is the most important. Last year, he moved up for Funchess, because he knew he wanted him rather than some late round dudes. The experts said he over drafted Shaq. Gettleman will get who he wants, regardless. I think that this year will be no different. He's going to play the FA game the best he can so he can get the best football players. If we only end up drafting 3-4 guys, but they contribute in one way or another, isn't that a lot better than drafting 8 players who may not make the field?

Man, I hope Kony Ealy is our next beast pass rusher =) That would be pretty awesome, and we need it!

Honestly, I don't see how you can let Norman walk. Sure, tag him this year, but Josh has to be realistic about his future prospects. On one hand, he could sign the tag, then try work out a deal to move him in some way. That's a loss for him and us. That's a bad deal. He plays through a tagged year, but at the end of it, he's still 29, got a $14 million pay day last season, but has zero future income. How many teams are going to go to the bank for a 29 year old CB? I guess we'll see. Working something out. So I think we can all agree, he mad the best business decision by turning down the $7 million a year deal last summer. So now he should be paid like one of the top guys in the $12-15 million a year by virtue of his production alone. For a long term deal there has to be a balance of the money in early years versus later years. 4 years/$50 million is a real possibility I could see. Give us more flexibility after he's 30.

You how they say, stats are over rated, I took a bit of time to make a spreadsheet of how the Denver D faired in the running game this season. I took each game, took the regular season NFL.com rushing offense rating for each team, their basic rushing stats (att/yards/avg/TD) and looked at the T/O differential as well. Did you know the average rushing ranking for the 16 regular season games was 20th? Or that when Denver's opponents ran the ball more than 28 times, they averaged 23.3 points in those games? 3/4 Of Denver's losses occurred when teams ran at least 23 times? Now, I went really general in looking at the stats, I didn't go too crazy tracing time of possession or anything like that. So do you blame Denver for beating up and holding up the run on bad teams? Nope, they did their job. Do you beat up the Panthers for playing the schedule they were given? Nope. All statics are misleading and leading in that people can turn the numbers anyway they see fit, like what I did. That's also why there are those crazy stat junkie sites as well who take into effect the "effect" of a given team on another's perceive success. It's very fair to say that we will be the best running team Denver's faced. It's fair to expect some running success against their D. It's also completely realistic that Denver could have the game of their lives against our running game and forced Cam to beat them. Like how Pittsburgh won in week 15. Fans can feel confident in their teams, that's why they are fans. But there are some numbers out there which make us Carolina fans feel pretty good about our team as well.

Ahh, I can comment now! I love the Trolls 2 reference! One of the best bad movies made! Check out the first one with Harry Potter in it!

If the Panthers can generally keep the pressure on D, Pound the ball on Offense, and make a few big plays here and there, we'll see a victory. Payton will not go quietly into the night. The Broncos are still stinging from the Seattle beat down in 2012. They also feel disrespected because they are the underdogs and it's all about Cam's pants. And it's the Superb Owl... No, both teams are going to go at each other 110%. If we control the ball, force turnovers and prevent the big play, then we'll win. If not, it's way tougher. I would personally love another cruise control, 4th quarter pictures blow out, but I don't see that happening. Payton will leave everything out on the field.

I guess what's funny about all of the fan-logic for us and them is that it all comes down to a few simple things: 1. Don't turn the ball over, and force the other team to turn the ball over.1 2. Control the clock by running the ball. 3. Score TDs, not field goals. This is the classic football coaches mantra. When you lose, those are the easy to find reasons why. For this match up, if we can run the ball effectively, we are going to score. Gronk had a big day as well, and Olsen is in his league. I think our offense does too many things well for them to stop all of them successfully. Defensively, if Short continues to blow up the pocket like he did versus Arizona, it's going to be tough on Manning to step up. Honestly, Denver will have to: 1. Play the games of their lives - literally outplaying us in all facets of the game. 2. Call all the EXACT right plays, 100% of the time. 3. They cannot turn the ball over at all... I don't see that happening. I think our team is extremely well coached, hungry, and ready to show why they are the best. Also, you can't deny Andrew Norwell, or he will eat you.... Dude is just scary!

Luke!!!!!!!

Man this makes me so freaking happy! What a game!

I get they are mad, which is fine. Getting mad at something they can't control and doesn't change their win/loss record is dumb. Fact is, the Media loves Wilson because he fits more into the "traditional QB Leader" archetype. Cam is a whole 'nother beast (literally). Cam can navigate the media as well as anyone, has the million dollar smile to go with his incredibly handsome self. He has also carried our team through most of their wins. Early on, the D was much stouter, and was able to save our butts (like the first NO game with Norman's game winning interception). After the first month, it was the Cam show. While Wilson has played really well, he's has 100 yard rushers and his defense continuing to make his job easier. Consider this, Seattle has exactly ONE win where the other team scored more than 20 points...ONE... What does that tell you? Sure, Wilson is extremely accurate, but he's had very good defensive showings to give him the opportunity to throw all those TDs. So if Wilson wants to win the MVP next year, he needs to have the best record in the league, but he also needs to elevate the rest of his team. He is already part of an excellent team. Cam is the heart of our team.

We'll have to trust in our coaching on this one...Considering McClain was playing instead of Young...I think that says everything we need to know about our roster lol

Enabling... Actually Beckham is showing all the signs of a spoiled brat... C'mon Giants!

One day, I'll get time to run the normal raid lol...I've been too busy and tired with work!

Just a great post! That's exactly what I think, just way better said! Julio was a hope and a prayer. While he's a great player, they lack the other pieces. They've missed out on some draft picks in the meantime as well. In order to climb out of their current hole, they are going to have to hit on some draft picks and hit on those FA pick ups. Their front office hasn't had much success in either avenue. I can't say I feel bad, or even sympathetic to the Falcons. I've hated them for so long, I kind of enjoy watching the hope fade from the franchise and fan base right now =) I'm not a good person =)

If I may dig this up, because some of y'all might be interested: Sparrow Racing League goes live tomorrow with the weekly update! https://www.bungie.net/en/News/News?aid=14086 So basically, competitive Sparrow Racing. There are some microtransaction things for different sparrows, but everyone is able to get the same functional sparrow. The buyable Sparrows are purely cosmetic. Color me in! It's a 3 week event, and I'm not sure how often it will cycle. I'd love to have it cycle with Iron Banner so I can concentrate on each one at a time! I was watching Datto and PlanetDestiny's gameplay of the race tracks, and it looks fun. Anyone going racing?

Another excellent and educational write up! Thank you! But I thought Andrew Luck was more of a missing link? Homo Neckbearus? Or did I miss that part of Anthropology?

I must give you props for the Titanfall picture! I still love playing that game from time to time! Sure, they have a right to feel good after last week. Doesn't every team feel confident after a big win? Could they beat us? Absolutely. Any given Sunday..blahblahblah. The Panthers would have to give them a hand and completely lay down. It is entirely possible because we've won 8 games this season, and are due for a let down. Then again, we've had let downs versus other teams, but we still won. I don't see the Panthers taking the Titans lightly. I think the Titans will put up a fight, but I think we will grind them out. Mariota doesn't make a lot of mistakes, which is fairly amazing as a rookie, but he hasn't faced our Defense. We also haven't had a complete game yet... They can feel great now, like every team that's faced us thus far, but we're not the Saints or the Bucs. Just wait >=)

The Panthers would have take the banner down anyways because of Stadium policy. Good luck getting the theft charge to actually happen. We have been extremely welcoming to all fans, and that's fine. They pay money, they can come and watch us beat their team and cry on the way home. BUT hanging a giant banner proclaiming that NC is a Packer state...yeah that's a bit much. It's dumb. I've meet some very passionate, but reasonable Packers' fans throughout the years, but the NC Cheesehead Banner is out of line. Has Roaring Riot, or any other Panther fan group, done anything similar? It's one thing when they travel in numbers, bring their individual sign, and are loud enough to be heard over the TV. That's fine, but disrespecting our house? Take'em all down! I love that Cam did that, and I'm sure Cam or the Panthers will do something for them. If I were Cam, I'd give them all autographed jerseys, Cam Newton jerseys. Support your team, not the popular one!

Got to keep the pressure on them. Can't play soft.

Do you really see this as the end of the Luck for Hall of Fame story? I think the world will give him a mulligan for this season because he's Andrew Luck. Love that you're using the history of Gaul =) No one pays enough attention to the history of the middle ages! And I love the point about it's what's NOT said that's almost as important (or more so) than what is said! Again, great post! I hope you are making money off these!