Where has star dissapeared to?

[MedellinHeel]

Star Lotulelei has played well.  I'm not sure where people are getting that he has "disappeared."  Of course he won't pop up on the stat sheet often because his responsibility is to be a run stuffer.

 

While we are struggling to stop the run, it isn't all on him.  I think it is more of an issue with our LBs being overly-aggressive and not playing their gabs well vs. the DL, particularly Lotulelei, not holding it down in the trenches.  It isn't like RBs are blasting through the holes.  They are remaining patient, waiting for our LBs to overplay, and then taking advantage.

 

played well?

 

we are getting gashed in the run.

 

he has not been a run stuffer the last 2 games

[SIGCHI222]

Star Lotulelei has played well.  I'm not sure where people are getting that he has "disappeared."  Of course he won't pop up on the stat sheet often because his responsibility is to be a run stuffer.

 

While we are struggling to stop the run, it isn't all on him.  I think it is more of an issue with our LBs being overly-aggressive and not playing their gabs well vs. the DL, particularly Lotulelei, not holding it down in the trenches.  It isn't like RBs are blasting through the holes.  They are remaining patient, waiting for our LBs to overplay, and then taking advantage.

 

[Mage]

played well?

 

we are getting gashed in the run.

 

he has not been a run stuffer the last 2 games

 

Yes, because Star Lotulelei is the only person who is responsible for how we play the run.  It is all his fault and only his fault.

 

I am not blindly defending a Panthers player.  Never have, never will (maybe subconsciously, though).  Lotulelei could be making even more of an impact, sure, but that applies to everyone on the team because I think Olsen and Newton are the only 2 playing near-mistake free football.  Even Benjamin has had his problems with drops.  But I wouldn't say Benjamin is playing poorly; he is playing well, beyond well, actually.  Lotulelei is playing well.  He is certainly not the problem.

[imminent rogaine]

I was thinking that when Hardy came back he would be on a mission to prove himself and earn himself a fat contract. By the looks of the Panther's D, he is doing those things from the comfort of home. 

[Toundra]

He as been FUAZED!

 

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

PFF graded star right at 0.0 overall for week 4

short graded out in the green again with a +2.5 overall. that's with a +2.9 against the run and -0.5 for his pass rush.

kony ealy graded out at +1.1 surprisingly. johnson was in the red at -1.9 unsurprisingly. colin cole graded out at -3.8 overall.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

I was thinking that when Hardy came back he would be on a mission to prove himself and earn himself a fat contract. By the looks of the Panther's D, he is doing those things from the comfort of home. 

 

i'm amused by all the people who are pulling their hair out and yelling about how hardy should have never been franchised

 

actually if anything the entire fiasco has proven that uh yeah he's pretty damn important and we need him on the field

[chknwing]

when Frank the tank comes back this week, u will see a much better defense as teams wont just be able to do what they want on what use to be hardys side of the line.  Once you have someone in there to anchor that side and force everything back to where star/kk are, the defense will be back to what we are a custom to.

[Kurb]

Past two weeks the refs have refused to call interior holding. Gs and Cs are getting away with murder on our DTs

[teeray]

Frank the Tank better of been working his ass off during this suspension to make amends for getting in trouble.

Frank is NOT Greg Hardy but is a versatile DE that can make plays in running game and passing game (usually deflections more than sacks thought )

[d-dave]

Past two weeks the refs have refused to call interior holding. Gs and Cs are getting away with murder on our DTs

 

While I agree that there has been A LOT of holding on our D, that doesn't excuse the crappy play.

 

What are the changes from the first two weeks versus the past two weeks?

 

Honestly, I have no idea.  But as I go back to even last year, something comes to mind.  We have always been pretty inconsistent against the run.  What I mean by that is out of 10 carries, you'll have 5 where we make a good play, 4 where they get 3-6 yards, and then 1 bone headed play where we get bounced terribly.

 

Luke spoke about people staying in their lanes.  Great, we know that, but why aren't they?  How much of our problem is execute versus preparation? 

 

Moving forward this season, I hope that they get the whole gap assignment squared away.  I hope TD gets healthy quickly, and I hope that Alexander can come in and play at 75% Hardy level.  One player can only do so much, and run defense is a team effort.

 

Good God, I'm not sure how I'll watch us if our D continues to allow everyone and their brother to run all over us.

[The NFL Shield At Midfield]

Past two weeks the refs have refused to call interior holding. Gs and Cs are getting away with murder on our DTs

 

i've noticed this too

 

on the replays of the first ravens rushing touchdown one of the guards was front and center with star in a bear hug with a fist full of his jersey

[CPantherKing]

What I've notice is our DTs are getting doubled while our DEs are being handled one on one.

I am tired of Star and Cole starting together though. It should be Star and KK, or Star and Dwan. Cole and KK, or Cole and Dwan. Star and Cole are the same type of player, just like KK and Dwan are the same. I never got that.

 

You notice it. So, I wonder why The Panthers coaches have yet to adjust to this issue in 6 quarters. They should have had it corrected after the first quarter. And teams will continue to do it until the coaching staff makes the adjustment instead of thinking their DEs are all pro players like Greg Hardy when most of them should be in the arena league.

 

Here is what is happening. The DEs are being widened out into the "D" gap and then they double down on the DTs from their outside shoulder where the DE is being widened and turn them (with their shoulders not facing North-South)into their "A" gaps the coaches want them in. Once the DTs shoulders are turned the double team is dropped and one OL releases onto a LB at the next level (typically Kuechly). The RBs will go to the DTs "A" gap to bait the LBs inside and then slide to the outside "B" gap. So, now you have one OLB to fill the B and C gaps against the RB. The key is the DT is getting turned in less than 2 seconds and Kuechly has an OL on the second level before he has time to make his first step.

 

The OLs are using the Panthers DLs downhill momentum against them and there are no stunts being run like they did with Hardy. They need to stunt the DE into this area with the DT going down into the B and C gap with an OLB containing the D gap, or add a 5th man on the line of scrimmage to run blitz the C gap (DL, LB, or S). Mix this in and problem solved with the running game slow playing the LBs and gashing the defense.

 

In the last 6 quarters the defense has been in for 12 drives. They have given up a TD on 8 of those 12 drives and a FG attempts on another 2. They have only forced 2 punts.

 

The Steelers exposed Star's weakness, which is allowing the Panthers to get on Kuechly quick at the second level. You will notice they will now do a quick double on Star to turn him and then the OL that stays on him does not face him up but rather squares up on Star's shoulder. And this is because they no longer have to double Hardy, and there is no reason to double Charles Johnson anymore. Star will get all the doubles until someone on the DL steps up to be a threat.

[CPantherKing]

i've noticed this too

 

on the replays of the first ravens rushing touchdown one of the guards was front and center with star in a bear hug with a fist full of his jersey

 

This is exactly what is going on. You will see them clamping down with one hand grabbing jersey on his chest and the other on his back. Then they pull him into them and turn him whatever way they want to. They will do it as long as they do not get called. Need to combat it by making sure Star submarines a few of their OL each time this happens. They guy clamped on him is going to the ground with him anyway, so just take out some bodies at the least. Now the usual tactic to stop this garbage is stunting the DTs or run blitzing a backer through the gap, but neither is happening. It is just a vanilla scheme on that DL the past couple games.