Personnel and Coaching

[KB_fan]

Here are those two blog entries in case anyone is interested who hasn't seen them:

 

[juliosantos]

i agree . we have problems , we are still a very good team but teams have been killing us with those quick passes because of our zone defense 

[panthers55]

8 minutes ago, juliosantos said:

i agree . we have problems , we are still a very good team but teams have been killing us with those quick passes because of our zone defense 

That is really a philosophy when you use zone. Keep it in front of you , limit the YAC and make teams put together a 10-15 play drive to score. We have been good getting turnovers and on 3rd down stopping drives. When we have struggled is when we couldn't get off the field on third down.

 

[CarolinaSamurai]

4 hours ago, KB_fan said:

At the beginning of the season, I posted a lot of stats to show that in his previous 4 seasons Ron has played and started rookies more than any other Carolina coach, and more than almost all the other teams in the league (in 2014). 

At the same time, I did statistical analysis that showed teams were much less likely to win with high numbers of rookies starting.  ( If anyone wants, i can post those links here to analysis re: Ron's playing rookies, and the relation between rookie play & wins.)

This year, our rookie play time stats are obviously way down from last year.  Some of that is due to injury (Funchess missing a lot of preseason and taking time to develop, and Daryl Williams' early season injury that caused him to miss 4 or 5 weeks).  But also, our lower rookie playing time this year is also likely to be because we have the luxury of a pretty solid roster  not too many injuries, and thus being able to bring some of these guys on more slowly.

Ron played 7 rookies in the playoffs last year and we won against AZ.  I am quite confident that if he sees a rookie or young guy who can play better than a vet, he will in most cases make the call.  A few players (CJ in particular) may be getting a bit more playing time than currently warranted by their production. But I think CJ's case is largely an exception out of hope that he'll get in a groove and get hot for the playoffs, and also out of respect for who he is and his role as a team captain.

I haven't closely watched enough of Boston's play to understand his weaknesses and why he's not getting more playing time, but as others have said, there seems to be a clear consensus by the coaches that Harper & Coleman are better...  Hopefully Boston will continue to evolve into a solid starter.

I know but its not about starting them as much as limiting their playing time. So that they are fresh when they do play. I don't think we've done that recently. 

[KB_fan]

16 hours ago, CarolinaSamurai said:

I know but its not about starting them as much as limiting their playing time. So that they are fresh when they do play. I don't think we've done that recently. 

I tend to agree with you, actually.  While i wanted to debunk the meme that Ron "ALWAYS" plays vets too much - showing that he's been vert strong in giving rookies a shot over the past four years - this year he does seem to have "regressed" a bit.

A few weeks ago I was regularly posting concern that CAP hadn't gotten enough experience, and concerned that Ron & the coaches weren't doing enough on following through on often stated comments during press conferences about limiting snaps on some of the vets. 

Eventually I just figured that the coaches weren't wanting to mess with success, and it was hard to argue.

But the loss against Atlanta, (and the close calls againt NYG and NO) I think may help shake things up a bit.  I'm betting we'll see Ealy, Boston & Delaire getting quite an increase in snap counts this week.

 

[PandaPancake]

Page 3 still on topic and no name calling? Must be a record, I give everyone Pi

[davos]

Johnson has always been an enigma to me.  When he gets on his rolls, he's one of the best in the league but on the flipside keeps pulling these vanishing acts.  If he had a more reasonable contract I wouldn't mind keeping him but the DE position will need to be overhauled this coming offseason...after we win the Super Bowl that is.

We need a young 3-down DE and the good thing is the draft seems kind of stacked at the position.   

[iamhubby1]

On ‎12‎/‎30‎/‎2015 at 5:14 PM, panthers55 said:

That is really a philosophy when you use zone. Keep it in front of you , limit the YAC and make teams put together a 10-15 play drive to score. We have been good getting turnovers and on 3rd down stopping drives. When we have struggled is when we couldn't get off the field on third down.

 

 

 

I have to agree with this. The philosophy is to make teams go long distances, using a ton of plays. The thinking behind this is that the longer the drive, the more there is a possibility for mistakes. Most teams are not built to grind out those long time consuming drives. They get impatient, and then mistakes can rear their ugly heads.

 

Stopping the run and giving teams 3rd and longs is also part of the philosophy. Supposedly, this gives your D the advantage. Unfortunately, especially lately, we have been giving teams shorter distances on those 3rd downs.

 

Harder to force mistakes when the other teams can stay on schedule. All we can do is hope our D can get back on track. We haven't been lights out much this year. Maybe we can get it all together now that the playoffs are just around the bend.

[CarolinaSamurai]

1 hour ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

 

I have to agree with this. The philosophy is to make teams go long distances, using a ton of plays. The thinking behind this is that the longer the drive, the more there is a possibility for mistakes. Most teams are not built to grind out those long time consuming drives. They get impatient, and then mistakes can rear their ugly heads.

 

Stopping the run and giving teams 3rd and longs is also part of the philosophy. Supposedly, this gives your D the advantage. Unfortunately, especially lately, we have been giving teams shorter distances on those 3rd downs.

 

Harder to force mistakes when the other teams can stay on schedule. All we can do is hope our D can get back on track. We haven't been lights out much this year. Maybe we can get it all together now that the playoffs are just around the bend.

Yes that 9min drive was full of 3rd down conversions. I hope with Tampa they try out some youngins see how they do in relief and maybe the vets get better from that too. 

[iamhubby1]

8 minutes ago, CarolinaSamurai said:

Yes that 9min drive was full of 3rd down conversions. I hope with Tampa they try out some youngins see how they do in relief and maybe the vets get better from that too. 

 

Good teams are usually around 50% on 3rd downs. If you force teams into long drives, the odds are sooner or later you should be able to stop them on 3rd down. Hey, I know the theory is sound, but some days the other guys just do better than you want them to.

 

The vital key is to keep teams off schedule. 3rd and long is a D's best friend. Stopping the run, which we do well, mostly, helps immensely in that regard. On the flip side. The teams that do the dink and dunk well are the toughest teams to keep off schedule. And that is what ATL did so well last week. But, dinking and dunking takes time, and it takes patience to stick to it.

 

All that said. Getting pressure with our front 4 is still a big cog in our SuperB owl trek. Even with 3 step drops, and quick passes, you can still put pressure on a QB. Hits add up. Almost every QB will start to flinch if you hit them often enough.