Thanksgiving Leftovers: Observations From An Out of Town Huddler

[KendrickPanther]

I spent my Thanksgiving in the woods without access to the Huddle so I want to give a few late takes on what I saw. Maybe some others in my boat can join in.

 

- The point spread and number of analysts picking against us was just plain disrespectful. But keep doing it, I'll gladly be the worst Super Bowl Champion in the NFL. Just as many lists have our 2003 team as one of the worst to lose a Super Bowl.

-How about Luke Kuechly with more catches, yards, and touchdowns than Dez Bryant. Tony Romo finally has a reliable weapon to replace Witten. Terrel Owens was heard complaining to media that Luke and Tony were drawing up plays on the sidelines.

-How about Kurt Coleman. Now leading the team with 5 interceptions. Sean McDermott and Ron Rivera have put this guy in position to succeed. The Eagles ran him out of town for getting burned constantly and he came into camp and took Tre Boston's job. Early in the season Josh credited him with a good jam that allowed J No to jump a route. He's our Mike Mitchell, our Marlon McCree, and our Deion Grant. Every good Panthers defense needs an overachieving Safety. One last thing, Tre Boston has been a great sport and I have hope for his future. He had a Drew Stanton moment on Kurt's run back, if you have the game recorded or rewind, watch him celebrate all the way down the sideline.

 

-The blue uniforms are almost nice. They might look better with some black socks or a different helmet. Cam looked great dancing in the end zone but overall they felt just a little off.

- Josh Norman my word does this man talk and back it up. He's added just enough maturity this year so his good deeds are not undone. Love the line about watching 300 to get hyped. It sounded so absurd and he meant every word of it. Every good team needs guys like this.

- I heard various media members suggest our offense and specifically Cam Newton were not impressive in Dallas. I disagree. We scored 33 points. We had the Cowboys put away in the 1st half and Rivera just pounded the ball for most of the game. At times we got ultra conservative and settled for field goals because the only chance Dallas had to get back in the game was a big turnover.

-Jonathan Stewart gave us exactly what we needed up the middle. One of the reasons our running attack is so special is ball security. Stew doesn't have the best yards per carry but he's only lost 2 fumbles on 223 touches. We've lost 6 as a team. In contrast our defense has recovered 18 fumbles.

-Nice challenge Jason Garret. Easily the funniest image of the game. 

- Greg Hardy surprised me. I thought he would come out fired up and looking to deal damage. But it was quite the opposite, he looked like he hated the Cowboys more than the Panthers. You ever run into an ex and you have a moment that makes you think there's still a shot? Nah....

- As some predicted the refs were throwing flags on us at a good rate. Our offense was put in several 1st and longs due to holding calls. That caused us to settle for field goals and fizzle out at times but the Cowboys were too inept to capitalize. 

- The offense was a few seconds late all game at the line of scrimmage. We had several situations were Cam had to rush to get the play off. Hopefully that can be worked out but it looks like crowd noise will not be a factor in the playoffs. 

-Cowboys fans. Julio Jones completes J No. Cowboys fans complete me. They were convinced Tony Romo would outplay Cam Newton and lead them to another playoff birth. Instead he lost the game before halftime. These fans are the most entertaining in the league. I spent more time on the Cowboys boards than ours this week. Just reading all of their delusions of grandeur. They are basically Saints fans with much less racism. Some of them are even capable of making decent points. One fan lamented being a Cowboy fan in Charlotte, as if all us Panthers fans should move away so he can have the city to himself. http://boards.dallascowboys.com/topic/57118-help-living-in-charlotte/

-In the aftermath all of the talk was about the destruction of the Cowboys and the end of Tony Romo. Normally this would bother me but I was just happy we played our role in it as we did in 1996 and 2003. But isn't it commentary on this Cowboys team that having their season ended in November makes news. This isn't the triplets and Deion. This isn't even Quincy Carter and Bill Parcells. Good riddance.

-When Cam Newton was drafted in 2011 he did an interview with Frank Garcia and Muhsin Muhammad. After a few minutes of the usual generic questions Cam piped up and asked Moose a question. He wanted to know what it took for the Panthers to make it to a Super Bowl in 2003. Moose answered and I am paraphrasing: 'We needed every player on that team to perform their role. Whether they were a star QB, backup, or special teams player, we needed every guy to do their job to the best of their abilities'. I think that holds true with this Panthers team. I've seen Cam celebrate with Kurt Coleman, give credit to David Mayo in pressers, and defend his receivers in August. This is a team. Whether it's Colin Jones playing out of position or Mike Tolbert giving Cam his touchdown ball. They all do their part, no matter how big or small. This Mike Tolbert hand off just reminded me of Office Space. This was the biggest demolition since that printer. 

-Everyone has been talking about dabbing lately. How about some Romoing to close out this post.

 

 

 

[PhillyB]

everything about that game was perfect from start to finish. my only regret is that cam didn't score a passing touchdown and break 40 on those assclowns

[Moorgan]

Great post. Spot on observations. I too wanted to put up 40. The uniforms weren't as bad as I thought they would be. And I think this team has the attitude of champions. Really special year.

[Jon Snow]

Welcome back man, your spot on observations are welcomed leftovers.

[KB_fan]

Great write up.  I too loved Tre going wild on the sidelines with Kurt's interception.  It somehow really exemplified what this team is, Tre there madly cheering for the guy who's keeping him from starting.  Really special.

[Jangler]

I would gladly wear a The Worst Superbowl Champions, 2015 Carolina Panthers sweater sweatshirt hat tee shirt, whateves I'm easy.