To those of those who are wondering why the tackles were left on an island:

[SixMileDrive]

It was great game planning by the Broncos that neutralized the extra guys we left in to help out. This was apparently the first time we saw it all year. I'm sure there will be a lot of self scouting done by Shula and Co. this offseason because we should expect a healthy dose of it next year.

Quote

Phillips’ biggest decision heading into this game was what to do with his extra defenders. He knew that in man coverage he’d often have at least one, and maybe two. The Panthers, after all, like to keep a tight end and/or fullback in to help their athletically average offensive line in pass protection. So what do you do with the man-to-man defenders who are assigned to the tight end or fullback?

Phillips’ solution was to have them blitz. This tactic, known as green-dog blitzing, is an aggressive yet relatively safe way to combat a dual threat quarterback like Newton. As long as the green-dog blitzers are patient and sure that their man is not just chip-blocking but actually staying in all the way, and as long as they’re disciplined in their rush lanes so as not to disrupt the four rushing defensive lineman, it can be a lethal approach.

Linebacker Brandon Marshall, who has been a key green-dog blitzer for Denver all season, said this was the plan every time they saw extra men stay in to help pass protect. “In a lot of games we saw on film, Newton was just sitting back, patting the ball,” Marshall said. “We’d see two [free defenders] in the middle of the field just not doing anything.”

Another crucial benefit of green-dog blitzing is it prevents those extra blockers from doing what they’re employed specifically to do, which is help the offensive line. Tight end Ed Dickson can’t help heavy-legged right tackle Mike Remmers with a double team on Von Miller if Dickson has to react to a safety coming after his quarterback. Fullback Mike Tolbert can’t lend a hand to slower-footed Michael Oher against DeMarcus Ware if a linebacker has suddenly pinned his ears back and is rushing.

And often, the Panthers like to have Dickson and Tolbert blocking on the same side so that the entire O-line can slide the other way. By green dog blitzing, that O-line slide gets nullified because the green-dog blitzers become the edge rushers, allowing the D-lineman to run twists and stunts just a few slots over against the sliding blockers

 

[Seltzer]

They're not the first team to do that by any stretch this year.  I don't know all the subtle differences in blitzes, etc., but the Cardinals blitzed extensively during the NFC Championship Game.  And they sent guys from the secondary a lot and stunted the DE's inside.  The Panthers just did a better job picking it up.  The Packers blitzed extensively too with secondary guys and DE stunts.  So did the Saints, especially in the 2nd game. These games immediately jump to the forefront on my mind.  This wasn't some novel idea.  The Panthers just made the other teams pay deep when they did it.  The Saints had a similar coverage (LB on WR) when Ginn caught that bomb against New Orleans.  Von Miller did a much better job against Cotchery, but he still should have caught the ball near the goal.  

Denver did a good job, but I really don't think schematically the Panthers weren't ready for it, they just didn't execute.  The Panthers had their chances on offense, but they blew it.  The 2 biggest plays of the game were where Von Miller beat Remmers one-on-one.  Maybe they schemed to get Miller in a one-on-one, but I don't remember them doing anything exotic on those plays.  

Wade Phillips is a good defensive coordinator, but he's not the only smart DC in the league.  It's not like the other teams have the Panthers "figured out."  The Panthers got better over the 2nd half of the year because they out executed teams.  

You don't think the Panthers knew kind of what the Saints were going to do from 2009-2012?  Of course they did, the Saints just executed at a much higher level.  Same thing with GB.  They've been running the same system for years, they just didn't execute as well this year.

The NFL is about matchups.  The Broncos proved to be a bad matchup for the Panthers.  And on top of that, they executed and the Panthers didn't.  

It makes for a good story, but it wasn't some special scheme that beat us.  It was a good scheme- the special part of it was the execution by the Denver players.

People have knocked Shula for years.  Do you think he magically came up with a scheme that couldn't be figured out, or a good scheme that could be executed by his players to perfection?

[pstall]

It seems the team assumed they would roll over Denver.  They may not say it but they figured to do what they have done all year.

Expect every team to green dogblitzall the time.

This is why having TWO good passing tes helps. You can disguise the play to look like a run and pass or vice versa.

Like a post just said we saw this a few times and could make the other team play. 

Denver rolled the dice and decided to come after Cam with the house and if he beats them on the run or throws on the run or from the pocket so be it.

I would like to see how often Cam stepped up in the pocket in similar games vs Denver.  By dropping back further it played more into the Broncos gsmeplan.

Interesting read.

[Darth Biscuit]

I'm sure the Cardinals did at least some of this too, but it may just be that Denver is that much better athletically than the Cardinals D.  Pretty much our whole O line struggled all game, and not just in passing... our run blocking, something we excelled at all season, got manhandled.

[Kurb]

Breaking: Mike Shula was out coached.

[Seltzer]

Again, the victors get to define the narrative.  Shula said they tried multiple things during the game.  The Panthers still ended up with over 300 yards of offense- more than a 100 more than the Broncos.  They should have won that game, all things equal.

The difference was turnovers, which all goes back to execution.  The offensive miscues played as much a role in the Panthers losing as the Broncos defense.

The idea of every tam "green-dog" blitzing all the time is laughable against Newton.  A LOT of teams tried similar concepts, and they got burned deep.  The Cardinals got destroyed doing it 2 weeks ago.

Maybe that led to some overconfidence in our O-Line, but Denver is the only team in the league that could execute.  We didn't go 17-1 up until this point because nobody had us "figured out."  Blitzing means leaving your corners in one-on-one against the receivers.  Denver's CB's are good, but Philly and Ginn still made some catches.  The Ginn drop that turned into an inteception, the Cotchery miss near the end zone, the Tolbert fumble.... the list goes on.

The Panthers had chances, multiple, multiple chances to win the game.  It gets lost in the shuffle, but our defense played an all-time great game too.  The offense failed to execute.

Of course the Broncos are bragging now and embellishing.  They won and deserve to.  

Our receivers torched the Cardinals for trying the same basic thing.  Bruce Arians is a better coach than Gary Kubiack.  The strategy is fine, but it's not easy to execute against a QB like Newton that can beat you deep.  The Panthers receivers worked for this system because they were fast if nothing else.  Either you let Newton sit back and pick you apart, or you blitz and risk Newton running or throwing deep.

It all came down to the Broncos executing their game plan better.

[Bj-Monster23]

11 minutes ago, Seltzer said:

Again, the victors get to define the narrative.  Shula said they tried multiple things during the game.  The Panthers still ended up with over 300 yards of offense- more than a 100 more than the Broncos.  They should have won that game, all things equal.

The difference was turnovers, which all goes back to execution.  The offensive miscues played as much a role in the Panthers losing as the Broncos defense.

The idea of every tam "green-dog" blitzing all the time is laughable against Newton.  A LOT of teams tried similar concepts, and they got burned deep.  The Cardinals got destroyed doing it 2 weeks ago.

Maybe that led to some overconfidence in our O-Line, but Denver is the only team in the league that could execute.  We didn't go 17-1 up until this point because nobody had us "figured out."  Blitzing means leaving your corners in one-on-one against the receivers.  Denver's CB's are good, but Philly and Ginn still made some catches.  The Ginn drop that turned into an inteception, the Cotchery miss near the end zone, the Tolbert fumble.... the list goes on.

The Panthers had chances, multiple, multiple chances to win the game.  It gets lost in the shuffle, but our defense played an all-time great game too.  The offense failed to execute.

Of course the Broncos are bragging now and embellishing.  They won and deserve to.  

Our receivers torched the Cardinals for trying the same basic thing.  Bruce Arians is a better coach than Gary Kubiack.  The strategy is fine, but it's not easy to execute against a QB like Newton that can beat you deep.  The Panthers receivers worked for this system because they were fast if nothing else.  Either you let Newton sit back and pick you apart, or you blitz and risk Newton running or throwing deep.

It all came down to the Broncos executing their game plan better.

You made some great points but the key for the Broncos has been their pass rush and coverage all season. They have been shutting offenses down all post season and it's because of their pass rush and coverage in the secondary. They have played 3 top 10 offenses and only gave up one passing touch down this post season to Rob Gronkiwski who was catching in triple coverage over defenders. The NFL is a copycat league and it seems like the #1 defenses are outweighing #1 offenses when it get's to these big games. Denver has shut down Pittsburgh (Without Antonio Brown), New England, and Carolina now in the Super Bowl. After watching that clinic their defense did on us, everyone is going to try and emulate to shut high powered offenses down with elite defenses like Denver and Seattle.

[Captain Obvious]

two words Kelvin Benjamin. man to man that monster, pretty please.

[Bj-Monster23]

1 minute ago, Captain Obvious said:

two words Kelvin Benjamin. man to man that monster, pretty please.

You still got to have time to get the ball to him.

[Captain Obvious]

quick slants all day long. no way you going to jam him. when they move to double. olsen up the seam all day.

[ThPantherFan]

38 minutes ago, Kurb said:

Breaking: Mike Shula was out coached.

You know it.

[Seltzer]

Denver put on one of the all-time great defensive efforts throughout the playoffs this year.  They shut down 3 of the best offenses in football.  Hats off to them- that is no easy feat.  I am by no means saying they didn't have a good game plan.  They executed those "green dog" blitzes to perfection, and their coverage was very good.

We were still the #1 Offense for a reason, and we could have won that game had we executed better.  I just think the idea that teams can just copy what Denver did is laughable.  No one else in the league could have executed at that level.  Other teams already tried and failed.  Wade Phillips isn't afraid to pat himself on the back, but the truth is if he was truly able to create something no one else thought of, he probably would still be a HC.  Just like Shula.  

I truly didn't think they could against us- meaning not to the level of shutting us down they did.  Neither did Vegas, or most of the nation, regardless of what they say now.  I was wrong.

I don't think this means our offense is suddenly going to suck next year.

[Cpt slay a ho]

5 minutes ago, Seltzer said:

Denver put on one of the all-time great defensive efforts throughout the playoffs this year.  They shut down 3 of the best offenses in football.  Hats off to them- that is no easy feat.  I am by no means saying they didn't have a good game plan.  They executed those "green dog" blitzes to perfection, and their coverage was very good.

We were still the #1 Offense for a reason, and we could have won that game had we executed better.  I just think the idea that teams can just copy what Denver did is laughable.  No one else in the league could have executed at that level.  Other teams already tried and failed.  Wade Phillips isn't afraid to pat himself on the back, but the truth is if he was truly able to create something no one else thought of, he probably would still be a HC.  Just like Shula.  

I truly didn't think they could against us- meaning not to the level of shutting us down they did.  Neither did Vegas, or most of the nation, regardless of what they say now.  I was wrong.

I don't think this means our offense is suddenly going to suck next year.

this guy get's it 

[heel31ok]

1 hour ago, Kurb said:

Breaking: Mike Shula was out coached.

you haven't been listening, not his fought he did absolutely all he could do.