Olsen not worried about the offense and redzone

[Castavar]

Olsen may not be worried, but dammit I am. I've seen it WAY too many times the past 2 years, what makes me think anything is going to be any different? How many more seasons do we have to go where Shula goes full-retard in the redzone and we have to settle for field goals?

....The Tide struggled the rest of the year, as the offense could not consistently move the ball once inside the red zone

Sound familiar? This is Shula back in his Alabama days. Dude has a track record and it sure as hell isn't going to change anytime soon unless Cam starts to take more control of the offense in the redzone. So, Greg can say he isn't worried, but until I start seeing us consistently getting td's in the redzone, I will continuosly doubt Shula.

[O-Ther]

How many times is this Shula argument gonna come up? Ffs......

People were not complaining about him in 2013 when we went 12-4

then the floor falls out with Gross, Wharton, and Hangartner leaving, along with ALL the WRs

When the dust settles and the 2014 season starts, the O-Line keeps getting injured along with all the RBs, not to mention the QB himself. Just exactly what options did we have to work with? Run Cam and get him hurt worse? Hey, Darrin Reaves should be as good as Stewie running behind Fernando Velasco right? Make Tolbert take his cast off and come in for a series? Or try to force the ball to Benji or Olsen, who our opponents KNOW are our only receiving threats and draw all the coverage? Oh wait, Ted Ginn's wide open in Arizona, we should have thrown it to him!

The Hurney salary cap blunders caused the 2014 roster purge we had to go thru. It was a huge sh!t sandwich we had to eat last year. We had no money, so we got no free agent honey. Oh wait, the salary cap is just a lie used by Jerry to make more $$$. Amirite? 

[Hogmolliesmaht]

Shula is running the offense that the HC wants anyway. If Rivera had a big problem with him, he would not be here.Besides that, it's training camp, not week 6 of the regular season.

[Davidson Deac II]

P55 i know you defend shula, that's fine I defended Dan Henning. The weapons I listed have been here two minus KB. Smitty may have been short but he's a beast even in the red zone(jumping, vet skills, quick, etc.) Shulas got what 25+ teams would gladly trade for in the red zone. 

 

Three years ago shula led the offense to I believe 10th red zone rating. Shula is great til they hit the 50 yard line, then he loses his balls. He starts calling scared prevent plays, it sickens me. Hes even far more conservative once red zone, even with some of the best weapons in entire league.

I don't think Shula was offensive coordinator three years ago.  Fwiw though, in 2013, we were middle of the pack regarding td/redzone percentage.  

[beastson]

How many times is this Shula argument gonna come up? Ffs......

People were not complaining about him in 2013 when we went 12-4

then the floor falls out with Gross, Wharton, and Hangartner leaving, along with ALL the WRs

When the dust settles and the 2014 season starts, the O-Line keeps getting injured along with all the RBs, not to mention the QB himself. Just exactly what options did we have to work with? Run Cam and get him hurt worse? Hey, Darrin Reaves should be as good as Stewie running behind Fernando Velasco right? Make Tolbert take his cast off and come in for a series? Or try to force the ball to Benji or Olsen, who our opponents KNOW are our only receiving threats and draw all the coverage? Oh wait, Ted Ginn's wide open in Arizona, we should have thrown it to him!

The Hurney salary cap blunders caused the 2014 roster purge we had to go thru. It was a huge sh!t sandwich we had to eat last year. We had no money, so we got no free agent honey. Oh wait, the salary cap is just a lie used by Jerry to make more $$$. Amirite? 

2013 we sucked in the redzone too. Don't remember san fran game? 0-3 in the redzone

[RelaxImaPro]

In 2013 we were like the 2nd or 3rd best red zone team in the league for most the year.  People really have some short memories around here it seems... it was literally pointed out how we were one of the most efficient and surprisingly effective offenses in the league week after week.  Lol but no, let's forget all that.

It wasn't until that late season slump where Cam aggervated his ankle injury to the point of needing surgery in the offseason, o line injuries piled up to the point we lost ALL our depth, lost Smitty for 2 games, lost Stew again, and played a gauntlet of up front tough defensive teams where we started stalling on offense.  Up until then we were basically doing exactly what we wanted to on offense.  Even with that slump we still finished as one of the more efficient offenses in the league.

[KB_fan]

Glad the offense seemed a lot better at Fan Fest last night.  From Panthers.com

THROWING DARTS: Quarterback Cam Newton was in sync with his wide receivers. In an early one-on-one drill, Ted Ginn, Jr. shook free of cornerback Teddy Williams with a stop-and-go, and Newton delivered a strike. Later, he hooked up with Jerricho Cotchery on a quick back-shoulder touchdown throw with plenty of zip. The timing was perfect and the pass was simply indefensible for cornerback Lou Young. Corey Brown’s toe-tap against the sideline after running a crisp deep out resulted in another pretty pitch and catch.

Kelvin Benjamin had yet another stellar outing – no surprise there – and he capped practice with a full-extension grab over the middle for a short touchdown catch from Newton. The second-year wideout is oozing confidence right now, and he was having fun interacting with fans throughout the night.

Rivera mentioned the inclusion of the run game and the ability to diversify their plays last night as an important factor in improved red zone offense.  Makes sense.  If all they were doing last week was passing, it made the defense's job a lot easier.

From the Observer:

The Panthers ran mostly vanilla offensive plays but worked in team drills on communication and rushes in the red zone.

“They (the crowd) brought a lot of energy to practice,” Panthers coach Ron Rivera said. “We got an opportunity to work on hand signals and communication with the real live crowd. I think the players responded to the energy and I was real excited with the things our guys did on the football field.”

Carolina’s first-team offense struggled in its first two days practicing in the red zone, much like it did during the regular season last year when they finished 26th overall in the league. But Friday night the offense mixed in rushes inside the 20 rather than relying each down on the arm of Cam Newton.

“For the most part we’ve been working on certain elements of our passing game down in the red zone,” Rivera said. “Today we came out and did a lot more balance and it takes a little more pressure off the offense and the defense has to play the run and be more honest. I think it opened up some things for our offense.”

With the marker showing third down and the offense at the 20-yard line, Newton lined his team up but noticed something at the line. It likely would have been a delay of game in a real game, but the play clock was turned off Friday night in Bank of America Stadium.

After the audible, Newton turned right and hit running back Fozzy Whittaker with a screen pass, as the team’s No. 2 back ran into the end zone untouched for a score.

“You sit there and look at the things that go on, and we’ve given Cam the leeway that as he sees things he can make certain things (happen),” Rivera said. “He gave Fozzy a real quick signal, and Fozzy recognized it and ran the route.”

 

[KB_fan]

Something occurred to me this morning.  During the week I posted about the greater continuity in our Offense this year when compared to last year, noting that as a reason for optimism.  And that is true.  Last year we turned over 50% of our offense.  This year we will only have 1 or 2 new starters.

HOWEVER, the offense still is younger, less experienced, and has considerably less time playing together than the defense.  You can find the data here:

Looking at that information reassures me that with a bit more time, this offense could really take off.  Sure there are coaching challenges, etc., but more time playing together WILL make a difference.