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Which is the bigger glaring Problem?

Ivan The Awesome

By Ivan The Awesome,
in Carolina Panthers

Which is the bigger problem?  

93 members have voted

  1. 1. So which is it?

    • Shula's vanilla offensive play calling?
      64
    • The Wide Receiver 'Problem'?
      29

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Ivan The Awesome Mentor

Ivan The Awesome

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Hey guys. Just a little perspective. I'd like for you all to think about this for a moment. 

 

Which will be a bigger problem? Shula or the 'wide receiver' problem?

 

I put air quotes on the latter problem because after some thought. It might not be as big as the previous one. 

Let me explain for a moment. 

We technically still have our #1 receiver in Greg Olsen. He's healthy and has never missed a game. He has a connection with Cam that has grown stronger though out the years. Yes the loss of Kelvin is huge but we are still in it. The season has not started. David Gettleman has done it again and brought in a familiar face in Ted Ginn Jr that has worked out well for this team. If you haven't seen it, he too has chemistry with Cam, it's been evident in practice, the joint practice with the Dolphins and also in preseason. This will only get better with time. That takes us to the enigma that is Devin Funchess. On paper you like what you see, there is no denying this. His current injuries are a problem but generally speaking, he's in good health. I call him an Enigma because we don't know what we will get with him at the current moment. Kelvin Benjamin may have spoiled the fan base last year and to be quite honest the expectations should be tempered. Regardless, Funchess has the opportunity to shine and at least produce decent numbers as a rookie. His learning curve may be slower than KB's but with Proehl coaching him up, I do not believe he won't get it. Then you have your role players. The player/Coach in Cotchery. The sure handed Bersin that has good chemistry with Cam. Brown, who even though is struggling right now, has shown what he can do. Norwood is the only person that would really be a non factor, although he could turn out to be one of the better prospect. I take Gettleman is no ones fool and he would not trade for someone that would be a project. 

 

Now lets take a look at the other problem that's been here for several years now, one that in my personal opinion is bigger.

 

Mike Shula. We all know who he is. We all know what he's done. I believe it is a safe bet that he doesn't really have any supporters in the huddle. Yet, that does not really matter. What matters is that we all know he is incompetent to put it bluntly. Our very own MFCEO warned us long ago before his 'promotion' that he was as vanilla as they come. It is true. He runs a very bland offense, there is no innovation in a fiber of his very being and that my fellow huddlers is a huge problem. Yes, the Kelvin Benjamin injury is huge, it is a huge problem. But the bigger issue in my eyes would have to be our unimaginative offensive coordinator. The brass could be happy with his current track record. I mean under him we've been to the playoffs, but really, was that Shula, or the team itself? Having a stingy defense, a Franchise QB, a pro bowl tight end, a break out rookie wide out and all you could muster is below average offense? Just to sneak into the playoffs? That to me is the definition of incompetence and just 'getting by'. No I'm not diminishing the feat of coming back from a lost season. I'm just putting it out there that it wasn't really because of Shula. The brass may turn a blind eye to this problem, but it's a recurring one. He's even admitted that Cam does not agree with a lot of his play calling. Which you can take with a grain of salt since a lot of QB's will tend to disagree on something with their OC's. The fact is, Cam Newton is a play maker, a unique talent that needs to be used as such. I remember the day where huddlers would make jokes about Chud, but hey the man had vision, he had also the cojones to try something out of the ordinary. I can't remember any other year that the offense wasn't as exciting to watch. I realize this team is a running team, even running plays can be a little innovative. The players themselves are being held accountable and have been held accountable. For how long? When will the plays being called be questioned? Rivera has matured from his decision making, McDermott as well. But when will Shula?

 

Honestly, we're looking at the wrong problem. To me this problem has a higher priority than not having Kelvin. 

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Roebling Newbie

Roebling

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"Technically we still have our #1 wide receiver in Greg Olsen"... Technically, he is tight end....

Shula has been OC for two years. Last year, what could he have really done? What options was he really left with, with a LT that couldn't block and a wide receiver core composed of, outside of Benjamin, an unrefined UDFA, and slotman Cotchery running around the perimeter for half the season. I would say that severely limits your playcalling. Too many people on this board refuse to look at the failure of execution and just yell "Bad playcalling." 

I'm not saying Shula is good, but I'm saying this isn't the only fan base to hate their offensive coordinator. Half of you don't even know what McDermott is really calling other than zone or man. You just look and go, "Wow, they are good.... McDermott is good!"

 

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Ivan The Awesome Mentor

Ivan The Awesome

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"Technically we still have our #1 wide receiver in Greg Olsen"... Technically, he is tight end....

Shula has been OC for two years. Last year, what could he have really done? What options was he really left with, with a LT that couldn't block and a wide receiver core composed of, outside of Benjamin, an unrefined UDFA, and slotman Cotchery running around the perimeter for half the season. I would say that severely limits your playcalling. Too many people on this board refuse to look at the failure of execution and just yell "Bad playcalling." 

I'm not saying Shula is good, but I'm saying this isn't the only fan base to hate their offensive coordinator. Half of you don't even know what McDermott is really calling other than zone or man. You just look and go, "Wow, they are good.... McDermott is good!"

 

That called coaching as well. If you've seen how McDermott coaches to Shula, you can tell the Defense would ride to the gates of hell with him. You can't say the same about old Shula. At what point will you start blaming the brass? So players will be the scapegoat all the time? You have talent on the roster. Gettleman has taken care of that in 2 years. The Offensive line finally looks to be in at least decent shape. Cam is healthy, you have your #1 in Olsen and an Okay supporting cast. The problem is with the wide out issue, Shula won't make any changes, he won't really plan around it. 

 

How do you manage to lose an elite defensive end and still be a top 10 defense? I'm sure McDermott planned around Hardy's departure, with what Gettleman supplied. Why can't shula?

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Ivan The Awesome Mentor

Ivan The Awesome

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Cam can audible a bad play. Cam can't make Corey Brown catch. 

Maybe Cam shouldn't be looking his way and go through his progressions. Maybe Brown should be utilized in a different manner that gives him the ball, a reverse perhaps? I mean there are ways to get the ball to people. Why are we anchored on Brown when there is Cotchery, Ginn, Dickson, Olsen, Funchess, etc....Make do with what you have. Brown isn't going to drop all his passes either. I can't condemn him for the past two preseason games. I can only hope he gets his act together because he has in the past. So yeah. 

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

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That called coaching as well. If you've seen how McDermott coaches to Shula, you can tell the Defense would ride to the gates of hell with him. You can't say the same about old Shula. At what point will you start blaming the brass? So players will be the scapegoat all the time? You have talent on the roster. Gettleman has taken care of that in 2 years. The Offensive line finally looks to be in at least decent shape. Cam is healthy, you have your #1 in Olsen and an Okay supporting cast. The problem is with the wide out issue, Shula won't make any changes, he won't really plan around it. 

 

How do you manage to lose an elite defensive end and still be a top 10 defense? I'm sure McDermott planned around Hardy's departure, with what Gettleman supplied. Why can't shula?

Our defense is loaded with actual talent....without Hardy you can still argue from a talent perspective we had one of the top 5 best front 7s in the entire NFL last season. 

Offense?  You could argue talent around our QB was easily bottom half of the league (being conservative)

McD and Shula aren't supplied comparable talent.  Shula deserves to be knocked but I think it goes overboard with how it is approached 

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CRA Grand Master

CRA

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Seahawks had both problems the last 2 years and won 2 nfc championship games and a Super Bowl...

Seahawks can line up in boring vanilla traditional runs and run in down your throat....

they also have the best D in the NFL.  They had the #1 and play as vanilla as you can on D...our D wasn't really one of the 10 best

Hawks roster is more talented than us.  There coaching on both sides is vanilla 

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