Scott Fowler blog : His take from the press box

[Jmac]

Scott Fowler is always a good read and he knows this team well. His five things that stood out for him.He said that he could have more then five but,decided not to pile on I guess.

1. Zero pass rush,Brady never saw the ground...backups did not get the job done.

2.No running game at all. Dwill and Stewart combined 20 yards,63 yards team total.

3. Cam's back. If this turns into a nagging injury along with the ankle,could be an issue.Says Cam was hurting and went right to the team bus and didn't stop for media at all (never does that). This is disturbing.

4. Defensive backs burned by Edelman all night. Quite troubling.

5.Offense in general. Oline was very bad and WR Corp absent except for one rookie.

So there you go.Yes we are all upset and rightfully so. Team not close to firing on all cylinders and the season creeps ever closer.Fowler didn't pull any punches.

[stirs]

TD and Luke looked to be ready for the season to start.

 

Bersin and KB looked ready for the season to start.

 

After that, we should still be in Spartanburg

[KARASMATIC444]

the majority of the scoring happened when Brady was in and luke was not. They took advantage of that. The Pats wanted revenge so they took it on a week D that is not the panthers starting D. we had starting corners and TD Star and Hardy thats is for the part they scored. Brady knew that was not luke and they ran at Klien. once they had an unstoppable run game we where left holding our jocks when they passed. This would not have happened with the starters in for a full game. 

[TheMaulClaw]

I'm torn when it comes to Cam.  I understand he's been just trying to get his feet wet, but we can't afford a slow start to the season either.  I'm not sure if we can effectively judge the offense when we're trying to limit Cam's ability to run the ball.  That is what makes him great.  I don't think it's a trend that's going to carry over to the regular season or at least I hope not.  I do know that we can't run any of our spread formations effectively with out him being a running threat.

 

We all know what he can do when he's happy and healthy, it's just we can't afford how tentative he's playing currently to carry over to week 1.  I actually think it increases his chance of injury.  Case in point last night his forced scramble.  

 

Ultimately I hope Cam's strategy isn't just trying to stay injury free until his next contract (doesn't seem likely....but still).  I truly wouldn't blame him if that was his angle.  As an organization we've put him in a position where he has to carry us this year for peanuts with a new flux of receivers.  It was wrong for us to put him in that position without a new contract, though I understand why we did it. (Hurney)

 

 

[Don137]

Cam is obviously not 100%. He looked slow out there. Poor OL pass protection and a slow Cam is not a good with the regular season two weeks away.

[CPF4LIFE]

Olsen still cant block to save his life, i want to bash my head in the wall watching attempt to block somebody.

[TheRed]

All that from one preseason game? Well, when do we officially forfeit the season?

[CarolinaNCSU]

Seems to be sensationalizing the Cam news, but maybe that's just me. With RR saying he's alright and going to play against the Steelers, will be interesting to see how he comes out, if he's truly hurting or just roughed up.  

[Kelbin Venjamin]

TheMaulClaw is spot on about Cam and the running aspect of his game. Without at least the threat of a run from Cam, the defense can leave too much coverage on our already average receiving corp. Without the ability to run, Cam is NOT Cam. That is a major part of what makes him so effective. This is not to say that he will never be or cannot be a stand up pure pocket passer like some of the better, more traditional QB's. However, Unless we acquire a much better offensive line, and a better wide receiver corp, WE CANNOT BEGIN TO EXPECT CAM TO HAVE THE TIME OR THE CAST to be what the better pocket passers are. How many times did our Defense touch Brady behind his OL? This, and we have a top NFL defensive line and front seven!! We have so much potential yet so far to go in these areas. Will be interesting to see how Rivera addresses this, this season

[TheRed]

I swear there is just no hope for some of our fans. It seemed pretty obvious that he was intentionally staying in the pocket to work on passing.

 

If you don't think he would be taking off with the ball if it were a regular season game then I don't know what to tell you.

[Ruff]

I swear there is just no hope for some of our fans. It seemed pretty obvious that he was intentionally staying in the pocket to work on passing.

If you don't think he would be taking off with the ball if it were a regular season game then I don't know what to tell you.

The tin foil hat version of this would be he's not running because he's a) still hurt or b) still healing. I don't know if I believe either of those.

I do know that he played totally different after hurting his back last night.

[Peppers90 NC]

i can't recall in recent history(5-8 years) us being solid running the ball before week 6 of the regular season.

[Paa Langfart]

Anyone who thinks Cams ankle is good to go and hes only concentrating on his passing game is kidding themselves.

 

DA looked more mobile than Newton last night.

 

And I am about positive Webb will make this squad. 

[tiger7_88]

1. Zero pass rush,Brady never saw the ground...backups did not get the job done.

 

 

 

This was the biggest surprise of the game to me.