Breaking down the Bernard touchdown run

[pantherclaw]

I recall blatant holding on that play.

Not excusing the defense.

[Bj-Monster23]

Once again the Panthers gave up a long run while their opponent was pinned in their own red zone. Once again, Luke Kuechly was the most concerned player on the team.

 

As he went to the sidelines, he switched from watching the replay on the screens to talking to players, trying to figure out what had happened.

 

 

During the extra point, Luke sat with Thomas Davis and linebackers coach Al Holcomb, going over the play on the tablet.

 

 

 

 

Here is my best guess as to what they saw....

 

Frame 1 - Notice they do have a safety Thomas DeCoud deep as a safety valve should something go terribly wrong. Roman Harper is sealing the left side of the field to prevent a sweep to the longer side.

 

Frame 2 - Star Lotulelei is shoved to the side by a single offensive lineman. Star was beaten badly here which opened up a huge hole.

 

 

Frame 3 - Charles Johnson is able to get a hand on Bernard, but its not enough for him to slow down. Thomas Davis recognizes the threat and is in pursuit.

 

 

Frame 4 - Thomas Davis over pursues and misses the tackle.

 

 

Frame 5 - Melvin White has run from far over to the right where he was in coverage on the wide receiver. He is blocked out of the way and misses the tackle. DeCoud looks like he thought White would be redirecting Bernard his direction.

 

 

Frame 6 - Thomas DeCoud, the only Panthers player who was unblocked the entire duration of the play, chooses the wrong angle and is outrun by the speedy Bernard.

 

 

Touchdown.

 

 

So, there you have it. A complete defensive breakdown and plenty of blame to share.

If we had Mike Mitchell in Decoud spot he would've made the play. I think it was a naive move to let Mitchell go to save cap space.

[CRA]

If we had Mike Mitchell in Decoud spot he would've made the play. I think it was a naive move to let Mitchell go to save cap space.

Biggest difference is TD and Luke made the plays last year....

On most of the big runs this year they simply are overplaying or playing the gaps wrong.

I agree Mitchell likely cleans it up....but it still would have been another gashing run

[Bj-Monster23]

Biggest difference is TD and Luke made the plays last year....

On most of the big runs this year they simply are overplaying or playing the gaps wrong.

I agree Mitchell likely cleans it up....but it still would have been another gashing run

That probably would've been the case. Our defense are just not playing their gap assignments right for some reason. People can say what they want but Greg Hardy is needed on this D line. I really just hope we can get him back after Greenbay.

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[d-dave]

Biggest difference is TD and Luke made the plays last year....

On most of the big runs this year they simply are overplaying or playing the gaps wrong.

I agree Mitchell likely cleans it up....but it still would have been another gashing run

 

Yep, the biggest different between last year and this year is that plays that were made last year, aren't this year.

 

Looking at the pictures, we just got bunched up, blocked (holding happens on all plays to everyone) well, and didn't make the right reads.  Does Mitchell make the right angle on this particular play?  Who knows.

 

I think the biggest issue is discipline.  Seems like guys are more likely to leave their areas creating huge passing and rushing lanes.  This wasn't the case the first two games (or were the opponents just so bad?).  It doesn't help that Hardy isn't here because he did a heck of a job against the run.

 

Man, 2013 was so long ago!

[OriginalPantherDan]

It would be better the next time we have them pinned back, not have our linebackers bunched up so close to the line. Have them backed off a little bit, and let the d-line plug the hole. If they don't, there would then be a linebacker waiting for the runner to either tackle him or redirect him into one of the secondary players for a tackle.

They always seem to play for the safety when an opponent is backed up like this, with nearly everyone up at the line. Short slant, or in this case a running lane, opens up and...BOOM! Long gain. Seen this movie too many times already this year.

[SOJA]

this was the classic- defense gets bunched up, RB finds a small hole, makes a few people miss and is gone

 

Back in 2008 this happened for us many a time. 

 

Honestly, with a back as good as Gio this was bound to happen to someone- just happened to be us. 

 

If this happened more than once I'd be worried, but one time- just a bad play 

 

 

Though I will say that we are not good at recovering from busted plays due to our severe lack of speed 

[SOJA]

If we had Mike Mitchell in Decoud spot he would've made the play. I think it was a naive move to let Mitchell go to save cap space.

 

 

I don't.Seriously you people complain non-stop about how Hurney put us in cap hell, then you whine when Gettleman doesn't give out big paydays to slightly above average players. 

 

 

you want to build around Cam and Luke - you can't give out deals like that right now 

[cookinbrak]

Our secondary is not that great. If a ball carrier gets  there, he's got a good chance to go house.

[Bj-Monster23]

I don't.Seriously you people complain non-stop about how Hurney put us in cap hell, then you whine when Gettleman doesn't give out big paydays to slightly above average players.

you want to build around Cam and Luke - you can't give out deals like that right now

. Truthfully I don't know how much Mike Mitchell was asking from the Panthers. Pittsburg offered him a decent contract and he took it. But I don't think it's always a bright idea to let half of the team go every season and try to fill in roster spots with dollar general players.

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[KSpan]

. Truthfully I don't know how much Mike Mitchell was asking from the Panthers. Pittsburg offered him a decent contract and he took it. But I don't think it's always a bright idea to let half of the team go every season and try to fill in roster spots with dollar general players.

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In Mitchell's case Carolina definitely wasn't offering $25M.

[Riverboat Ron]

I rarely comment on lack of holding calls, but yesterday was terrible. Maybe it was the white gloves on white jerseys, but it felt like the Bengals held egregiously every play, all the while refs only focused on defensive holding.

Look no further than the Seahawks-Cowboys game. Defenses are hamstrung this year while offensive lines pnly get called 5% of the time. To be fair, I wonder how much this has helped our O-line keep Cam alive.

[Mvp2014]

Greg + Mike = beast

 

We are soft now

[Chaos]

Forget Mitchell, I think missing GH is what has crippled this defense the most.