Possible implications moving forward

[lightsout]

While there is PLENTY to applaud with how we played against Seattle, there are also negatives. This is true in every single game ever played ever, but it is important to point out I think.

Positives:
-Cam played like a man on fire. The first pick was just Cam trying to make a play. Sucked, but we held them to a field goal. The second pick was just the OL sucking and costing us what likely would have been a huge play or even a TD. Cam didn't fold and made plays all game.
-Stew ran hard more times than not. As hard as he ran when we needed it, he also had some really stupid runs where he danced around. This has been a problem with Stew for a while. He has taken positive strides in getting north better this season, but he needs to just stop doing it all together. Results are often bad.
-Receivers played well enough. Meaning, plays were made when we needed plays. Drops are still rough, but it is something we have to accept at this point.
-OL did a great job run blocking. Couple of bad plays, but overall, well done.
-Luke. 'Nuff said.
-J-No locked down whoever he was on.
-DL got the best pressure we've seen this year. Would have had a few more sacks were it not for the blatant holding that took place.
-Shaq played out of his mind. Seriously, he was manned up on a receiver at one point.
-Special teams play was outstanding across the board, save for the missed extra point.
-We won the field position game.

Negatives:
-Pass protection left something to be desired. Some good pockets, but we're still struggling on letting outside pressure fold the pocket in.
-Dropped passes.
-Safety play was less than good.
-Stupid penalties.
-Turnovers.


What it means:


Cam has turned a big corner in maintaining his cool and trusting guys to make plays. Going back to Funch, in a key situation, after the drops he had earlier in the game was big. That resonates with the whole offense and guys will die for you. If there was any thought that Seattle was perhaps in Cam's head, well, no. They're not. But he's sure in theirs now.

The OL fears nobody. Going against a good defense, they played ugly and got push for the run game and held on just long enough on most passes. This bodes well during the next month.

The receivers have a short memory. Funch proves that. After a rough start to his day, he made plays when we needed him. Brown, Ginn, Cotch, Olsen, if they mess up, they forget it and move on. Real maturity out of a group that isn't great on paper, and they're allowing this offense to operate.

Our defense is out for blood. On the Graham penalty for pulling one of our guys out of the pile, Coleman came in hot and looked ready to kill somebody. TD is...well, TD. Dude plays angry and fires everybody up. Luke's attitude, I think, truly does galvanize this defense. Between him and TD, this defense feels 15 foot tall and bullet proof. They don't just want to stop you, they want to break your will. Luke's hit on Wilson was a sign of that.

Special teams has become a strong point. Kick coverage, against a return unit that is pretty daunting, was nothing short of perfect today. Gone are the days of fearing giving the team the ball. We're keeping field position in our favor. This is something that people overlook, but it has been instrumental in our success. Gives offense shorter fields, defense longer fields. 

And on that point, how about us driving 80 yards all day and still hanging 27 on the Seahawks IN Seattle? This offense can grind out a long field if they need to, and they can do it against anybody.

Shula is calling the right plays at the right time or Cam is audibling as good as any QB in the league right now. Seriously, very opportunistic in our approach this game. Save for that bootleg on 4th and short, we were calling good plays all game it seemed.

This team believes in itself. Every excuse to lose this game. Refs calling some questionable false starts (from where I was sitting, anyway). Waking up at 5 AM due to a phantom alarm in the hotel. Being down by 13 late. Graham making plays for Wilson on key downs. A flea flicker that would have broken this team last year. But they hung in, they kept playing with the same intensity, and ultimately wore down Seattle. This team isn't content with being good, they want to be great.

As another thread stated, this team is special.

[CarolinaCoolin]

I still don't think the 4th down play call was a bad one. Olsen was opened and they fell for it but Cam whiffed on the pass. That's player exuection. That's the difference in play calls looking correct or not. If your players don't run the play correctly or don't make the pass it's not the plays fault. 

[lightsout]

I still don't think the 4th down play call was a bad one. Olsen was opened and they fell for it but Cam whiffed on the pass. That's player exuection. That's the difference in play calls looking correct or not. If your players don't run the play correctly or don't make the pass it's not the plays fault. 

My issue with the call is that it was risky at a time that I didn't think (in the moment) we could afford to be risky. It was a player execution problem, but I think a sneak there gets us the yardage. In hindsight, with how the game played out, it was a smart, aggressive call that worked save for the throw. I just don't like taking more risk than necessary on 4th and short with what seemed like at the time, the game on the line.

[DaveThePanther2008]

O-Line got burnt a couple of times but I wouldn't say they were just holding on.  There were many times Cam was upright and picking apart the Seattle Defense.  You give Cam those drops and he is will over 60% completion. 

More importantly is being resilient against a solid defense.  They were trying to punch the ball out, doing whatever they could to intimidate us (ironically) they were the ones called for unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

[Kuhndog94]

I dont know man, that was the longest yard you can get. 

I think the call was right but Cam shoulda lowered his shoulder and ran over that bitch Sherman

[The Lone Panther]

Harper is becoming a liability.  The man was getting raped yesterday by Graham.  

[CarolinaCoolin]

My issue with the call is that it was risky at a time that I didn't think (in the moment) we could afford to be risky. It was a player execution problem, but I think a sneak there gets us the yardage. In hindsight, with how the game played out, it was a smart, aggressive call that worked save for the throw. I just don't like taking more risk than necessary on 4th and short with what seemed like at the time, the game on the line.

and I agree. When I was watching the game I thought qb sneak is a no brainer here. That's the play I would have liked to see. But Shula has watched the film and determined he was going to use the play to burn them with Olsen cause they can't cover tightends. Which we know is the correct read. He looks like a genius if we make that big 4th gain from a solid throw from cam. 

[bababoey]

What this really means moving forward is in the next 10 game the Seahawks need to go at least 7-3 to have any chance at a playoff spot and we could go probably a game under .500 and still get in.  But 19-0 looks really good now.

[Frank Hollywood]

I actually thought Shula called a good game. He's using what he has and making it work. 

Roman Harper seems to be the chink in our armor.

[MHS831]

Cam was not accurate until the 4th quarter.  If he ever plays like that the entire game, we will be unbeatable.

[Steves89]

Harper is becoming a liability.  The man was getting raped yesterday by Graham.  

Harper has always been a liability. He's been the weakest player on the defense since he joined the team

[yasuhara2241]

Cam was not accurate until the 4th quarter.  If he ever plays like that the entire game, we will be unbeatable.

We finally opened up the play calling in the 4th. For whatever reason we didn't target any of our WRs until the 4th. It was run, run and then pass BUT the reigns were taken off in the 4th and we saw our Panther team

[Khyber53]

Yeah, I've got to to disagree with the OP on this one.

Cam really played terrible for the first three quarters. His passes lacked any zip, he was off target on a number of occasions and he floated a few like the bad old days. His playing was really like he thought we should win this one and that he didn't want to lose it. It wasn't until it really looked like we were going to lose the game that he woke up, When he did, he became that guy we drafted and the one who deserves to do the Superman thing in the endzone. Three quarters is a long way to go before a guy wakes up, but maybe this will be that career moment for him.

Stewie ran hard and played like a leading back should. It's about time. Maybe this was his wake up game, too. He's got to run with authority on every down, though.

If we get games like this from our receiving corps on a regular basis, we're probably going to keep on winning. Funchess finally started to turn it around and Philly Brown finally showed some life!

Our O-line did well, run and pass blocking. Oher missed a bad one early on, but he held steady the rest of the day.

[MHS831]

We finally opened up the play calling in the 4th. For whatever reason we didn't target any of our WRs until the 4th. It was run, run and then pass BUT the reigns were taken off in the 4th and we saw our Panther team

Good point, but he was off.  He was wide right on a shovel/shuffle pass.  He underthrew a few people, and (in fairness) he had some drops.

To your point--Cam is better in the no huddle, hurry up offense.  But lets face it--for whatever reason--he is a bit streaky and always has been.  He had 169 yards passing in the 4th quarter.

When our running game is working, however, he is much better.