BlitzMonster

When Mike White for the Jets had his big passing day recently (405 yards) he got rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds on average. So even behind the New York's suspect Oline (which is as putrid as ours) White had few to no problems with their protections. Mike White article

Evil Hurney said above what I just posted

Teddy's bounce back in Denver this season also adds more evidence that last year's problems weren't just because of him. Last year Teddy was 23rd in QB rating among starting QB's. This year he's 10th. And he didn't just magically become a lot better in 12 months. It was the Carolina coaches and their poor fitting / ill designed system which led to Teddy's low 2020 rating.

I have also learned my lesson on college coaches making the jump to the NFL. It just doesn't work (outside of maybe Pete Carroll). College football and the NFL are just entirely different environments which require skill sets tailored to them in order to succeed: College Head Coach - be a good salesman / politician to recruit the top talent & then coast on that talent for most of the season. Only have to really game plan for 2 or 3 games a year. Mostly just play golf with big Uni donors in the offseason and simply enjoy life. Prime example: Nick Saban NFL Head Coach - be an insane film junkie. Work 18 hours a day every day to find the smallest flaw in your opponent to exploit. With the salary cap & draft, talent levels across the league are fairly equal. So the team that prepares the best will usually win games. Have zero personality or life outside of football and be 100% committed to outworking your rivals. Prime example: Bill Belichick

I thought Sam Darold would be a good QB. I assumed his play in NY was mostly a function of the horrible Jets organization - which has been a disaster for at least the last 20 years (and maybe since Joe Namath). A guy like Darnold with his size, talent & experience would surely thrive in a new environment at Carolina with its good coaching (!!) and surrounded by playmakers (which lasted all of 3 games). I was sadly proven very wrong. I don't even view Darnold as a capable backup QB right now. He's that awful.

"In a significant change from past years, the Collective Bargaining Agreement put in place last year calls for the options to be fully guaranteed when exercised. They had been guaranteed against injury only before the change was made in the new CBA." https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/05/03/fifth-year-option-tracker-for-2018-nfl-first-round-picks/ So the Panthers are stuck paying Darnold. I guess he'll be the highest paid backup next season.

Mike Florio reported some interesting details on the Deshaun Watson non-trade. Apparently Miami gave certain conditions on the deal, one of which was that Watson had to resolve all his civil lawsuits before the trade could go through. That means settle with the accusers, give them $$ and end the cases. Those actions wouldn't do anything about the existing criminal cases being brought against Watson but at least some of the overall distraction / risk would have been reduced. Carolina, on the other hand, had no preexisting conditions for the deal. The Panthers were willing to let both the civil and criminal cases continue and would still make the trade. However Watson only wanted to go to Miami and the Dolphins contacted him too late to get the civil cases resolved before Nov 2. Mike Florio and Chris Simms

Rich Eisen commenting on the Patriots / Chargers game saying the Patriots are coming together, QB doesn't make many mistakes & they will likely make the playoffs Rich Eisen Show

The news is definitely relevant for the Panthers - who also lost their #1 RB to a non-contact injury on a turf field. And maybe overused him like the Titans have with Henry. It begs the question "how does an NFL team best manage a great talent at RB ?"

I could see it happening under the right circumstances: the Panthers eat a big portion of that contract to move it the new team has a strategy to keep CMC healthy - like using him primarily as a slot receiver

Is this just Rhule telling Penn State to up the offer ?

interesting analysis from the longtime backup NFL QB Chris Simms 'People have caught on' to Carolina Panthers offense' https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q809hCWqC1g&t=95s&ab_channel=NBCSports

As a Penn State alum and former player under Joe Paterno, I could see Rhule bolting for that job (if it opened up). He could always say "it's the only job I would have left the NFL for." I'd like to see Rhule recover and succeed here. But I think he may be in over his head. He seems more like a rah-rah college guy.

Ugh - it pains me to add this CMC

Ugh - the early 2000's Browns are the modern benchmark for a badly run, lousy football team. It's so sad for the Panthers to be approaching that (low) standard.

Sadly I can't say they're wrong in any of this. The article then speculates on the future consequences for the team, which they list as a possible coaching change a "kick in the butt" from the owner (whatever that means) trading for Deshawn Watson

"Considering today’s circumstances—with the 1-5 Giants being 0-3 at home and without a handful of [the Giants] very top contributors on offense—this loss may be the most embarrassing one for this franchise in quite some time." "A mostly uninspired effort featured a frantic showing by its quarterback, a lifeless vibe from its receivers and a defense that tried until they couldn’t try anymore. To put it simply, they were at the mercy of an absolute dumpster fire of a football product." "After starting the season at an exciting 3-0 mark, the Panthers are now suddenly all by themselves in the NFC South basement at 3-4. Something has to change." https://sports.yahoo.com/4-takeaways-panthers-25-3-211218232.html

Rhule would probably like to. But he is financially bound to the Panthers with that giant contract. No college program is going to buy him out with his horrible NFL record.

It's tough to see how this team becomes some sort of smash-mouth running offense with the OL personnel we currently have. Outside of Deonte Brown (who's hurt) and maybe Moton, there's no other linemen on the Panther's roster who are big enough to just blow people off of the line of scrimmage. I think this is more wishful thinking by Rhule than a plan that will actually work. He sees his WR drop the ball constantly so "hey, let's run more instead !". Defenses are just going to load the box and our RB will run into a wall every play. It's going to be "three and out" all game long.

I dared to hope . . .

Thursday games would be fine if they only came after bye weeks.

I also don't think it's going to be that horrible to fix the OL next year. With a 1st round pick at interior OL (G/C) we could get a very good rookie. Top interior linemen usually go starting in rounds 2 or 3. Guards and Centers selected in the first round are often exceptional prospects.

I'd go one step further: LT Brady LG Elflein C Erving RG Brown RT Moton

Huge guy who's been learning on the Jaguars practice squad for 2 years. That sounds like a good flyer to take.

Trey Smith had a medical red flag for blood clots in his lungs. Many teams would have taken him completely off of their draft boards. "The (history of blood clots) is a much bigger issue than anything on tape for me." -- Personnel executive for NFC team" from his page for the NFL draft combine.