panthers55

Carter deserves the praise. He is a hard worker and has worked hard to get where he is. Who knows with Rhule if we bring in a middle linebacker given we are churning our roster. But the middle linebacker position seems ripe for injuries so I doubt we dump Perryman. He is relatively cheap and we can dump him next year with little consequence. He seems good enough for a roster spot if we can even get solid contribution if not starting potential.

I am interested in seeing how joint practices compare to preseason games in terms of getting the players ready. Because joint practices allow you to play the same team twice watching film in between, you can correct your mistakes and learn from them. In preseason games it is once and done and film in retrospect but you can't change your technique and come back the next day and fix it. Plus we came out flat both days initially. But we gained confidence we could play with anyone when we bounced back the following day. Would we have played as well in the game with no joint practices? Will we look better or worse against Pittsburgh without joint practices Friday night? But with 2 games 5 days apart I can see why he rested many of the starters and will play them for a half against Pittsburgh. It is preseason but I bet Tepper wants to do well against his old team. We might try and actually win this one...

I would think that he has suffered in purgatory long enough to deserve a shot with a legitimate team. Considering how little we paid for him I have been encouraged so far and have no problem easing him in instead of David Carring him at this point. Like it or not, Rhule is the boss and hopefully he knows the best way to get Darnold ready. I will keep an open mind and see what happens.

If we line up 6 or 7 guys on the line and rush different guys from different angles it doesn't matter what we call it. The Ravens run a 3-4 base but rarely only rush 3. The way we ran it last year was a prevent defense and it was a poor scheme. So before passing judgment I will wait to see how we actually use it this year. But to your point only rushing 3 and not disguising who is rushing is way too easy for the OL to pick up their blocking assignments and it results in no pressure making our secondary defend receivers forever in a zone scheme which is easily defeated by any quarterback in this league.

The good the bad and the ugly

Well enough to become the starter right away and our franchise QB by year end.

I expect Darnold to do well here. There will be bumps and dips along the way but I think he will be better than many critics expect when he gets comfortable with this offense.

Yeah and the good news is that it is home so we can see it in person. On the other hand Steeler fans come en mass from the trailer parks in SC and are really annoying and obnoxious.

When does the first string ever play more than a series or two before the third preseason game? What he is getting in these joint practices is much better than a preseason game and now he can experience the speed of the game. Whenever I go to a preseason game I always am there at the start figuring the starters won't be in for long.

So you mean all the complaints and bitching over the past several days because the starters weren't playing in the preseason was wasted and ridiculous. Just as I said, why don't we wait to see what happens before all the angst. Will folks learn from this before going off the rails again? Of course not..

The biggie will be in the 2 minute offense and when we need to try and score late. Win or lose Sam will air it out while Teddy would be dinking and dunking with less than a minute to play. We lost all those games because we couldn't come back or hold a lead.

The extended practices with the Colts and Ravens are much better than a few series in a preseason game in getting Darnold ready for the season. The problem in preseason is that you don't correct your mistakes because each week is different and each defense is different as well. So there is more immediate feedback and opportunity to watch film and correct it the next day when you practice against the same team 2 days in a row. I haven't heard he wasn't playing but given all the complaining I must have missed the announcement.

If Fitterer is negotiating with Anderson why are people acting as if it is their money being given away. How have we done with the cap so far this year? It is going to go up a ton next year. His cap hit this year is 12 million. If we sign him to a 2 or 3 year contract his salary hit could go down in 2022. And it won't be outrageous if the guaranteed money is controlled. So no matter who else we have, whatever money we would pay is no big deal. He will get more yards this year with Darnold who can actually throw a pretty good deep ball. I frankly am glad he is here, then again I am a fan and don't have to worry about the cap.

To me how we play today isn't nearly as important as how we play tomorrow after watching film and the coaches jumping on those who underperformed.

Actually it is pretty simple. I won't buy a Darnold jersey just like I didn't buy a Bridgewater jersey last year. If he plays well then I would. But who wants to.pay a hundred dollars minimum for a jersey of a player who might be here longterm. My last one I bought was a CMC and my next one will likely be a Chinn jersey. Then a Horn jersey. It isn't fan support so much as making sure I get good use out of any jersey I buy.

Sam is getting plenty of practice against the Ravens first team. Let's see what happens. I suspect Sam will play a series or two unless things get chippy again.

I think it is actually not an open and closed case. If he doesn't practice at all we either IR him or do an injury settlement. The question is do we IR him before the 53 and lose him totally or put him on the 53 and then IR him so he could play this season. It depends on what is wrong and how bad it is.

Hopefully we come out more aggressively this year. The excuse was Snow didn't have the personnel to run an aggressive scheme. He doesn't have that excuse this year.

It wasn't depth it was scheme. We played a lot of cover 2 prevent and only rushed 4 most of the game. I don't think we dialed up many blitzes. Expected during preseason though.

PJ didn't get much work against Indy as the backup in 7 on 7s according to Rhule so he did great for where he is. If Sam went down PJ would get most of the reps and would be much better.

I must be in the minority but I get tired of seeing guys run all over the field flexing and screaming every time they make a tackle or play. I was always taught to not make a big deal about making a play to signify this is commonplace and you do it all the time. The play in question actually could deserve a little celebration but I suspect it might not have drawn a penalty in a regular game but was a warning to everyone in a meaningless game.

Article I read said that they are simply enforcing existing rules after coaches complained about too much taunting. Nothing new and just being responsive to feedback from coaches.

Thought our 2nds and thirds looked pretty good today. Now we get to go up against the Ravens next. Should be another big test against a top 3 defense and good offense. I sure hope our linebackers figure out their assignments. I guess you can't ask too much from guys you picked up a week or two ago. And it is way too early to criticize Snow when his 4th stringers are playing zone at the end but it was humorous to see Smitty take Snow to task on his playcalling for the no pressure and the old prevent zone defense.

I thought PJ did a very good job moving the chains today. He wasn't spectacular but he was solid and got the boy to his playmakers.