Top 4 reasons for current losing streak

[ThPantherFan]

To piggyback off fix #1, do you think Cam can still provide the mobile element to his game and he is being held back as a precautionary measure or is he still hurt so much that he is having to stay in the pocket?

 

He does look a tad slower than in previous years.  I speculate he is still in pain.  I think he refuses pain meds.

[The cat]

As far as the OL, there are a lot of green players at their positions. If you are a vet or a coordinator you are licking your chops. It will take time and I doubt any aha moments if any will be all at the same time.

A lot of people are bashing Shula or the coaching at some of the head scratchers being called. Ask yourself which coaches could come out even if their qb had an ankle injury and cracked ribs, top four RBs injured, pro bowl FB and 2nd FB injured and the 2nd WR injured with this O Line.

There seems to be a lot of concern about letting Cam be Cam or just unleashing him. It seems people are worried that he is being turned into a game manager.

When the rib injury happened, they said a cracked rib typically takes six weeks to heal. I believe we are coming up on week 5 so I doubt the coddling will last much longer. I don't have a problem with Cam playing in the pocket or or playing game manager. I don't think it's an either or proposition. Cam should be able to stand tall in the pocket and learn the down field game as the pocket passers do. He should be able to play game manager. It's another arrow in his quiver, it doesnt mean he cannot run.

I thought the DTs would have trouble with Pittsburg. Going up against Decastro and Pouncey is a tall order, but the ravens game has me worried. With Hardy in they could play a front six and crowd the secondary, now there has to be more rotation with pass rushers and run stoppers . This team hasn't had to do that like most teams do in quite a while.

[ThPantherFan]

As an OC you must be able to adapt your playcalling, style, and philosophy. 

 

That is on him. 

I agree totally.  Shula is Shula, however he needs to learn how to be more like Dad.  Don could adapt to the situation quickly.

[bleys]

No one said give him every tool. But if you hire a ball control OC you gotta at least give him an average OL. He won't be good with that but bad OL is guaranteed failure.

Cam is a cheat code when heathly though

 

not disputing that..  but I still think targeting that type of OC knowing the cap hell and restrictions on personnel sort of fugs you over either way...

 

either you can't provide majority of the tools (5x the spots at OL, and etc) or you have to expect Shula to fight his way out of a paperbag every once in a while...

 

both are a failure of anticipation..

[Salvo]

The last couple of games, the team has been competitive right before someone does something stupid and causes momentum to go off kilter.

 

This team is so dependent on making sound decisions that any slight change in the game that doesn't go in our favor really drags them down and snowballs.

 

That's a leadership issue. Not just with the coaches, but the players as well. 

[davos]

Solid post zed

[davos]

The run blocking is my biggest peeve right now.  We've got extra help in Ray Brown here to help Matsko and their jobs in developing Bell and Chandler these last 3 years has been quite awful.  Although I wonder how much is it basically being Bell and Chandler not being up to snuff no matter who's mentoring and developing them.  

 

[thefuzz]

The last couple of games, the team has been competitive right before someone does something stupid and causes momentum to go off kilter.

 

This team is so dependent on making sound decisions that any slight change in the game that doesn't go in our favor really drags them down and snowballs.

 

That's a leadership issue. Not just with the coaches, but the players as well. 

 

 

I kinda agree, and disagree.

 

 

This team can't score points, haven't been able to in a couple seasons.  We mess up a few plays, and our O can't overcome it.

 

I think it's more scheme than leadership.

[Montsta]

Unlike most other NFL players, Cam treats his body like a temple and won't put any weird poo into it. No pain meds, no injections, just old school ice baths and acupuncture and poo like that.

[LA_Panther]

Defense

 

We gotta dump the philosophy of having a good front 7 that will mask a bad secondary. If the Dline or linebackers are injured, having an off day or any other extraneous circumstance like the hardy situation, the defense instantly goes form one of the best to one of the worst. I agree that lack of turnovers has been a big issue especially the past 2 weeks, but we can't always bank on a front 4 pass-rush with the occasional LB blitz to generate turnovers. We gotta invest in a solid secondary like Seattle. Draft good physical DBs, trade for them whatever. In the mean time, the solution is more blitzing but we demonstrated that we suck at blitzing the past few weeks. We need to work on blitzing until our front 7 is at full strength.

 

Offense

 

Give the keys to Cam. Let him audible all he wants, let him take off and make plays.

 

Special Teams

 

This is one area that is not being discussed as much as it should be. Penalties are a result of poor discipline, which in turn is a result of poor coaching. If Rivera doesn't clean this up, ultimately he will have to take responsibility himself. That can be corrected right away. Rivera just needs to put his foot in some a$$es with that bunch. 

 

 

[TbTeRRoR]

throws some fuggin effective screens......that actually work..

[greghardy'sAK-47]

the thing that has me most concerned isn't the offense at all.  i knew the oline was going to be bottom tier.  the wideouts are a lot better than expected though.

 

anyway, the defense has been terrible for two games in a row now.  teams are getting a lot of tape on how to scheme against our front.  they have to be better. the secondary play has been flat out atrocious as well.  if they aren't holding, then they are getting burned.  

 

anyway, we miss hardy dearly.  not only did his play do his speaking for him, but it seemed to inspire others as well.  bring his ass back after 6.  we miss him in pash rush and run stop.  

[beastson]

2. Offensive line looks awful against a 3-4. We have two tackles who do well against slower, larger bull rushing defensive ends. Against speedy ends or 3-4 backers, they are just awful. See the first play against the Ravens for reference. The good news is Chicago runs a classic base 4-3, although they will change it up a but like the Panthers from time to time.

 

 

 

Sorry to prop my own thread

 

 

But its real. They give our guys hell dating back to last season. Their unorthodox style of lining up and blitzing confuses the hell out of our oline as well as the matchup with size and speed

 

From what I know about the 3-4, its weaker against the run because of their size, but we can't even do that

 

What's really sad is we have a HC that came from the 3-4 and we've played it enough times to atleast be used to it. Maybe its just is what it is, matchup problems 

 

 

With that being said however, it took us until the 3rd quarter to score against the Lions. Our guys get penalties at the wrong time combined with Shula calling the wrong plays at the wrong time. You can't start off aggressive, drive the ball beautifully and then seem to get into a conservative kick a FG mode and expect to continuously win games. We're making the game much more difficult and especially now since our D is having trouble

[BigBoss]

Meh Shula get's a pass. Our passing game has looked alrght with Cam. And he has done a good job creating opportunities for KB, while also effectively helping Cam by using Greg as an outlet. I also think Jerrico has worked well in the offense.

 

 

Our run GAME?  Shula has NO running backs. He also has to use Byron Bell, nate Chandler, Amini and Trai Turner for offensive lineman....

 

 

He was given Byron Bell and Nate Chandler. You can adapt all you want, but at the end of the day crap is still crap. Neither can pass block or run block. Our guards don't really do that ever either.

 

 

So when your given one of the worst offensive lines in recent memory, an extremely depleted backfield and injured quarterback like Cam is, what do you really expect from Mike? No, he is not some offensive mastermind who can do incredible things...

 

but he's been given TERRIBLE players.