Tempo

[Jeremy Igo]

While standing on the sidelines last night near the Saints bench, I looked over at Sean Payton who was reading his large play card, looking over which plays to call next.

 

 

On top of the card in hand written bold red letters and underlined was the word "TEMPO".

 

 

I thought to myself, yes, that is it. That is a big part of what distinguishes the explosive Saints offense from the slovenly Panthers offense. It's the tempo. Yesterday we saw Thomas Davis blitz and get to Drew Brees immediately after the ball was snapped. Unfortunately, Brees had already checked down that blitz and threw a completion within less than one second.

 

Fast forward to the fourth quarter when Cam Newton, under heavy pressure, is forced to wait for four entire seconds while his receivers run long, slow developing ineffective routes. Routes that the defensive players were actually running for them.  The result? A feeding frenzy for the Saints defense featuring Cam Newton as the main course.

 

Sadly, it is too late to fix this issue this season. An up-tempo aspect of the passing game is something that has to be implemented in May during OTA's and practiced throughout training camp. Remember all of those comments and tweets about how dreadfully long each passing play took to develop this offseason? How every other pass completion would in reality be a sack? It is painfully obvious now that what we were then witnessing then is now one of many big issues with Mike Shula's offense.

 

[Jmac]

The season is over as far as I am concerned. To win the division would be fruitless with this inept offense. I personally do not wish to see them get stomped in the wildcard round. Time to reshuffle the deck and get this crap right next year. New OC and some decent players would be a start.

[PantherWake]

Firing Shula would help

[Neylus]

Slow developing plays are exactly why we lost to the Seahawks. If your offensive line can't hold for 5 seconds don't call plays that take 5 seconds. We got Shula'd.

[*FreeFua*]

Some of us were begging for an uptempo approach during the Seahawks game. When we didn't get it, I thought forsure Shula would change his approach against the Saints.

Maybe there just isn't enough room for the word tempo on the napkin that is Shula's playbook

[Jeremy Igo]

In the second quarter the Saints offense started to look really tired. A perfect time to no huddle and take advantage.

Didn't happen.

[ZeroZeroSeven]

Rivera/Shula needs to understand Tempo does not strictly mean going fast.  It can mean no huddle, quick hitters in the pass game, quick hitters in the run game, screens or, in other words, keep the defense off balance.  You can still play ball control offense and tempo the defense.  Want an example?  See the Saints last night.  They controlled the clock and the tempo.

[Cary Kollins]

Interesting exchange I had with a non-Panther fan last night. This guy lives out in California but has watched our last three games.

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // Your O.C. is the worst in the NFL. He couldn't call a high school game competently.

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // Who is it? I have no idea, but the guy is obviously just pulling plays out of a hat.

I tell him the OC is Mike Shula:

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // Oh....my......God. I had NO idea. I thought he was a joke 15 years ago and now and NFL lets him run their offense?

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // Shula is terrible. They need to fire him. This is one of the 3 worst offenses in the NFL.

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // I have watched the last 3 games and they have like 1 TD, right? Newton looks totally uninterested, too.

@USCHolmey: @TommyFromNC // That team is dead. They need to play for next year. Maybe even give Cam some time off cuz he looks broken.

[SpeedOFLight]

I agree with you. I had a fellow panther fan point out how every pass seems to a 10 yard plus pass. There is absolutely no pass underneath. Everyone wonders why Cam holds on to the ball that long. Well that is your answer. The plays take too long to develop. Even Deon was speaking about how no one was getting open and how the o-line was not holding up. I guess you were right, Bell is the best LT we have on the roster and it showed. I just don't understand our offensive philosophy. We take up a lot of time calling plays and seem not to be in a rush to score. We take up time then we have a 3 n out. Then Saints do the same thing but they score. I really don't understand why it took us so long to call a screen to Dwill which usually ends in positive gains. I really wish we have a great offensive mind at OC. I was never sold on Shula and never will be.

[uncpanther]

Shula is a joke and needs to be fired immediately, this team is on the verge of imploding because of dumbass management. What a waste of "some" good talent we still have. I still love this team but it's heartbreaking seeing this team run by amateurs.

[Panthers Fanatic]

I think you have to look at last year's coaching success as an anomaly. Ron was coaching for his job, the offense took more risks by design, and the whole team responded/rallied to the situation and caught fire.

The mask is off Shula's crappy play calling now, but he is just a byproduct of RR's system. It will be interesting to see if any coaching changes are forced on Rivera after the season, but we definitely need a strong offensive OC if Ron is our HC (which he will be, for better or worse).

[CITILIMITS]

I they fire Shula, its not like they're going to scrap the playbook. Sigh... Cam is not the same also. The team doesn't look like it belongs in the nfl. Sad. It has been like this for years.

[frash.exe]

Yup

There is one speed this offense runs on and it's SLOW. One tempo for every game, every opponent. And we wonder why the offense sucks

[Snake]

Quite frankly I disagree I think tempo can be set within a few weeks or games but shula is still trying to grind out the clock and really never changes anything. Yea the formation changes but the plays are all the same. He makes a avg offense look bad with his approach.