Jump to content

  • Welcome!

    Register and log in easily with Twitter or Google accounts!

    Or simply create a new Huddle account. 

    Members receive fewer ads , access our dark theme, and the ability to join the discussion!

     

Six things to consider if you're contemplating seppuku.

PhillyB

By PhillyB,
in Carolina Panthers

Recommended Posts

PhillyB Grand Master

PhillyB

Posted
Posted

...not just another rant-against-the-doom-and-gloomers! :D Here's a few things to think about that you - if you're on suicide watch over tonight's performance or any of the other preseason games:

1) Mistakes can be corrected. We saw it tonight: save for the touchdown run by Redman (who?) the tackling was spot on, against a very good pittsburgh offense. I think a lot of prior errors were visibly improved upon tonight... the defensive interior looked good, even great, at times. (Nick Hayden in the backfield... really?) Offense had some chokes due to turnovers, but all in all we moved the ball extremely well. More on this later.

Our much-maligned coaching staff has shown an acute ability to address and mask weaknesses, an affinity that's gained Fox much respect among his peers. Anyone remember the first couple of games of '08 and the absurd number of false starts? By week four we were fine, because the coaches made adjustments in practice. Remember when we played Atlanta in November and got stomped, and our offense was feared to have gained an identity as sluggish? We came out on fire against Green Bay the following week, because the coaches made adjustments in practice.

Tonight was another extension of those tendencies. Tackling has been an issue, and tonight was an improvement. You can tell Meeks placed an emphasis on it. The front four got a ton of pressure (at least compared to the first three games.) This is where great coaching staffs separate themselves from the rest - if there's a problem, it gets fixed. Tonight was a very encouraging step in the right direction. Against the defending Superbowl champs.

2) Preseason playcalls are different. The most obvious evidence here is week one against NYG... anyone who's ever watched Fox call a play knows if it was regular season he would've just kneeled that sucker and taken it into overtime... preseason garners a different mentality.

If a preseason game is worthless record-wise, you - as a coach - are going to use it to work out kinks and experiment with personnel. Tonight we threw a ton of passes out to Moore and Jarrett in the flats. Would they have actually called those in regular season? Possibly, but probably not. The more likely answer is a personnel decision. Both guys are fighting (we assume) for the number three receiver slot... this could've been a situation - catching passes in the flats - designed to see who could pull off the most YAC and give the coaches a better idea of who to go with, based on what they've already seen in an analysis of these guys (an analysis far more accurate than ones you or I make.)

Speculation here? Of course! Maybe the QB just read soft coverage a bunch of times and decided it was a good shot. But it's plausible, and I don't think anyone would deny the principle behind it. And if that's true, you can apply its effects to every single down, on every single drive of every single quarter of every single preseason game.

You get a vastly different outcome.

3) Steve Smith played two series in the entire preseason. Yep... two. Biggest playmaker. If you think one guy doesn't make that big of a difference to an offense, go watch replays of our games last year against the Saints, the Falcons, the Packers, the Cardinals, the Buccaneers, ...point made. Smitty can take over a game.

4) There are several poo-your-pants-awesome positives. Barnidge, anyone? The man is a monster. He's working with the first team, he's making receptions, he's getting open deep against hapless safties and linebackers. He's going to be one of Delhomme's favorite targets. Speaking of Delhomme... why hasn't anyone mentioned this guy's stats? He's thrown for over two hundred yards this preseason. That's a joke compared to the Bradys and the Mannings out there, but he's been efficient, mostly un-used (Triple Trouble was going to be my next point) and certainly far from the post-season disaster he was in January.

5) Jeremy Leman. He doesn't come close to deserving his own separate point, but he makes me spill my beer and yell when i watch games, so there you go.

6)...it IS still just the preseason! As much as it's pounded into the ground ad nauseum, there's truth to it. We can analyze the balls off of each game (as i'm doing now) all we want, but in the end, not one of us can be certain until we've had a few weeks of actual regular season play. We'll know a lot by week four... we'll have played hard-hitting 4-3 defense in Philly, a big-play offense and common opponent in Atlanta, and a talented 3-4 in Dallas. We'll have been tested on all fronts and then - and only then - will our identity as a team be known.

Here's to 4-0 by week five. :cheers2:

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KBRed Community Regular

KBRed

Posted
Posted

4) There are several poo-your-pants-awesome positives. Barnidge, anyone? The man is a monster. He's working with the first team, he's making receptions, he's getting open deep against hapless safties and linebackers. He's going to be one of Delhomme's favorite targets. Speaking of Delhomme... why hasn't anyone mentioned this guy's stats? He's thrown for over two hundred yards this preseason. That's a joke compared to the Bradys and the Mannings out there, but he's been efficient, mostly un-used (Triple Trouble was going to be my next point) and certainly far from the post-season disaster he was in January.

5) Jeremy Leman. He doesn't come close to deserving his own separate point, but he makes me spill my beer and yell when i watch games, so there you go.

This

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KBRed Community Regular

KBRed

Posted
Posted

Sorry, but I'm all out of kool-aid. You make some good points, but a good team should never look as bad as the Panthers did tonight, it was a joke.

Kool-Aid is cheap. Go get you some more of it...and some sugar. It's going to be a great season!!!!!!

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Panthers128 Newbie

Panthers128

Posted
Posted

I'm really concerned about the talent on our defense. The offense has had a lot of issues partly because of poor play calling, and I think some of that is not that big a deal as there's less game planning and a bad play call in the preseason can be helpful as you don't want your qb seeing a blitz not picked up for the first time in the regular season. The defense has no reason to be missing so many tackles though, other than some injuries. Also our defensive tackles seem like a serious area of weakness.

The team deserves at least to play a full meaningful game before we pass judgement on them. It's going to be a long season.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
PhillyB Grand Master

PhillyB

Posted
  • Author
Posted

I didn't catch all of the games, and I didn't get a real good look at Leman. How is he looking out there?

Electrifying! He's no first-stringer by any means, but he's playing with an unbelievable amount of fire. He's got a nose for the ball and gives 110% on every play. He busted into the backfield a couple of times tonight and made some pretty big plays... par for the course.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
KBRed Community Regular

KBRed

Posted
Posted

I didn't catch all of the games, and I didn't get a real good look Leman. I saw him make 1 or 2 awesome plays, and they were great stuff. How well did he do at other times?

He was literally all over the field. To be honest, I felt that he read the field better than a lot of players do. I would love to see a guy with such heart be on this team.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • PMH4OWPW7JD2TDGWZKTOYL2T3E.jpg

  • Topics

  • Posts

    • oceans_1
      Why are we wasting money on RBs? Not even 2 years and we overpaid for 2 RBs!

      By oceans_1 · Posted

      I swear there are like 6 people on this godforsaken website that must be paid just to piss and moan all day in these stupid ass threads, for years on end, about fugging everything. Always something to whine about. If y'all aren't getting paid to professionally bitch about this team at every opportunity you need to reevaluate your lives because that ish is pathetic for grown ass men to be doing.  There are at least 50 other voices of reason in here. They're all smarter than you kneejerking perpetual contrarians. It's a fine contract. Our previous dipstick GM ran this team like some college kid that read a few Investopedia articles on technical trading and started throwing daddy's money at every positive indicator he saw - look what happened when Fitt drafted by RAS because he couldn't identify talent if it was footballs deep in his wife in the war room. It's a football team and this preoccupation with analytics, in this instance the positional value of RBs, is like 30% of the equation. It's not wholly inaccurate, but it requires a lot of context and, going back to the trading analogy, an understanding of the fundamentals. This is a sad, crappy organization that needs some winning attitudes in the locker room and on the field. $15 mil guaranteed over two years is nothing compared to the intangible value he brings, and the message the contract sends, not to mention his stellar work ethic and consistent improvement. 
    • frankw
      Why are we wasting money on RBs? Not even 2 years and we overpaid for 2 RBs!

      By frankw · Posted

      It boils down to either you believe in Chuba or you don't. For myself I 100% believe in him that he's a hard worker and a leader we want in the locker room. The issue is this investment paired with all the money we have tied up in the oline now (150 million in a single offseason) and Center is still a position of need going forward. Then there is the matter of the defense. Other than Derrick Brown and Jaycee Horn and maybe Wallace who has promise it's basically a wasteland. That cannot be understated. Dan Morgan is walking a tightrope here. Unequivocally he cannot play games with this QB room next season. Leave no stone unturned creating a real competition and actually have a real fallback plan.
    • Ricky Prickles
      Bryce is still the future

      By Ricky Prickles · Posted

      To end all questions, I think we should start him rest of season as long as he does not hinder the young WR's and TE's development. In other words as long as he does not go back to super awful possibly worst QB ever plays scared and afraid Bruce that we saw most of his career so far then let him keep playing this season and make a decision on what to do with him in the off season. If he grows great , if he stays the exact same as he is now with no more development then ship him out. If he goes back to classic Bryce then sit him again and at seasons end ship him out. If by some snow balls chance in hell he actually develops and looks good by seasons end then hang onto him. Simple as that really. He controls his own destiny on what happens to his career here is my opinion.
×
×
  • Create New...