Week 2 Game Grades

[WCABBall]

After rewatching the film I felt slightly better about our performance Sunday. In reality, a handful of plays decided the game. Some of those plays were the Panthers doing and some Atlanta's. Losing a close game in Atlanta is not an embarrasment. They are a very good football team which made quite possibly the best off-season addition in Tony Gonzalez.

Offense: B

The offense was very solid Sunday utilizing both run and pass. The only negative was their inability to score touchdowns. Having to kick two FG was the difference in this game.

QB: B

Jake was very good Sunday, not perfect but very good. I loved the way he got the ball out early and hit his checkdowns instead of forcing passes. There were a couple of times were he locked onto Smith but overall he was more willing to hit the TE or RB and his stats show the difference.

RB: B

Both Willy and Stew did a great job of hitting the holes and finishing runs. The grade would be higher but D-Willy's fumble was huge (hard to fault a guy for his first fumble in two years but it was big)

WR/TE: A

Smith was a real factor in this game. He brought back the swagger and made plays. Rosario was great in the second half (when we finally utilized him). We really need to use this guy because it is apparent that our 3 and 4 WR are non existent.

O-Line: A

This unit was fabulous Sunday. Opening holes in the running game and protecting Delhomme. All the talk this week was on Abraham and how he would dominate the game. I really didn't even realize he was out there. A couple of breakdowns and false starts keep this grade from being a perfect A+

Defense: C

Not as bad as I originally thought. Look alot of teams will give up 28 points to Atlanta especially when their special teams give the Falcons the ball near midfield 3 times. They controlled the run game and but for a couple of great catches by Gonzalez this would have been a 20-20 tie.

D-Line: C

Felt that the DT played better than this grade and the DE played worse. Lewis and Leonard helped neutralize run game but Pepp and Brown or Johnson brought no pressure at all. I didn't even know Pepp was out there and Brown was invisible as well except for missing a huge tackle late in the first half. On the Falcons last drive with 1:40 left he had his hands on the back at the Atlanta 45 but he missed the tackle allowing the RB to complete the run for 20+ yards down to the Carolina 35. Possibly the difference between a TD and FG.

Linebackers: B

I thought for the second straight week T. Davis was awesome. Again played the run game really well. Beason and Anderson also played well against the run. The only problem with the LB here was their pass coverage. Had alot of trouble matching Gonzalez and Booker but alot of that was the horrible S play.

Secondary: D

I though Gamble was a B but the rest of the group was terrible. Gamble held down R. White pretty well. He had some mid range catches and a TD but the TD was all about Ryan and where he put the ball. Atlanta threw away from Gamble if that says anything. The play of Godfrey was an F, he was terrible. On the Falcons first TD, T. Davis covered Gonzalez for 20 yards down the field before giving up the catch near the goal. Where was Godfrey? He finally came into the picture looking like he was coming from the back line. He dropped to deep consistently in this game. Scheme or play, the S play in this game was bad.

Special Teams: F+

This unit was anything but special. The + coming for Kasey. Lloyed needs to perform or go and the coverage team could use Lemen or someone with energy to make plays. Barnidge needs to block and Baker needs to get the thing off. Special teams cost us this game as I see it. If we kick into the endzone with less than 2:00 to go in the half, they probably kick FG and they gave Atlanta the ball near midfield on two other occasions. Conversely, we had no return yards at all.

Dallas ahead and I would love to beat no other team any worse.

[CRA]

did anyone notice Marshall before the pick? I never really lock onto him during plays but after the collision with the LBs I thought he should have been pulled out. Next play I decided to watch him....they attacked him....and either he was drunk from the hit he got or simply wanted to show what it would be like to have the worst CB of all time for one play.....I think it was the hit but a poor move by coaches not to pull someone in that scenario for a down or two. Go back and watch it......I think they then decided the effect of that hit would hang around longer b/c Atlanta went at Marshall again and he got the pick. Bad intitial move by the Carolina coaches....the first play after the hit was an open invitation b/c Marshall didn't know what planet he was on.

[Peppers90 NC]

Hey, what film did you get your hands on? You know someone inside the organization? Can you download this NFL game film off the web? I am dying to know how these posters get to review "film." Cuz I KNOW you do not mean to call rewatching your dvr, as film.

[unicar15]

Our ST lost that game for us IMO. Jake played good enough to win..the pick he threw was because of down and distance. Anytime you give a team (especially with a good QB) field position inside their own 40 nearly every drive they have, they are going to score points.

Crossman should have been fired years ago. Rhys Lloyd and John Kasay have saved him with their legs but how much coaching does it take to tell one of the best in the league to kick it through the uprights? Our coverage is terrible and for the second year in a row, a blocked punt set up a score that was the difference in the game.

I'm not blaming Pep, I'm not blaming Beason, I'm not blaming Jake or Smitty. I am blaming the ST because they have probably the easiest job on the team and week in and week out they fail to perform. Bottom line is that they SUCK!

[pantherj]

I'm still waiting fo the Panthers to play well on offense, defense, and special teams. How many weeks into the season before we get to see them play an 'A' game.

[unicar15]

Hey, what film did you get your hands on? You know someone inside the organization? Can you download this NFL game film off the web? I am dying to know how these posters get to review "film." Cuz I KNOW you do not mean to call rewatching your dvr, as film.

So because these guys don't have multiple angles and a laser pointer its not film?? At least they were big enough fans to go back and watch it to post something here...

[Peppers90 NC]

So because these guys don't have multiple angles and a laser pointer its not film?? At least they were big enough fans to go back and watch it to post something here...

Exactly. Just say you rewatched the game on the dvr. Most of us have, but you can't make accurate assessments, especially in the secondary, from what the tv shows. Anyone with minimal knowledge knows that. I am more concerned about finding this film this person got.

[HGG]

QB - B

Offense - B-

Defense - C-

Special Teams - FF

[CRA]

Exactly. Just say you rewatched the game on the dvr. Most of us have, but you can't make accurate assessments, especially in the secondary, from what the tv shows. Anyone with minimal knowledge knows that. I am more concerned about finding this film this person got.

well on big plays, they tend to go back and show replays with some better angles and views. You can breakdown a lot from the normal telecast though....upfront and whatnot. QB reads etc you can't and a lot of the secondary.

[Peppers90 NC]

the dude said he had film, just want to know how he had access to it. an angle directly behind the offense and/or defense would show a lot more than the tv angle. then, to break it down more, the coaches know what plays were called so they know where the players SHOULD be, if they were in the wrong.

[CRA]

the dude said he had film, just want to know how he had access to it. an angle directly behind the offense and/or defense would show a lot more than the tv angle. then, to break it down more, the coaches know what plays were called so they know where the players SHOULD be, if they were in the wrong.

well, Carolina runs a lot of the same stuff over and over......so fans can catch some stuff. Sure, we miss a lot and don't have the video or play calling to be that accurate....but we can hit on somethings. A lot of the schemes they are running defensively the past two seasons on defense are asking for failure that much is obvious. Pre snap you can tell based on how they lineup they are giving too much away in a lot of key situations.

I am not sure Carolina even has video directly behind the offense or defense. I think most of the video they use is some overhead stuff and a lot is very close to what we get on the broadcast.

[Peppers90 NC]

Damn't, I want the film. Not really, just busting chops when someone says they watched film, well I'm way too literal. I should have said behind and well above, so you can view all the pieces, I was wrong to say directly behind the O or D.

[WCABBall]

Sorry Peppers90 I was only watching the telecast replay. I wish I had "film" and maybe I should state more clearly what exactly I was watching. I purchased the NFL game rewind to watch multiple games in review and I watched the Panther game yesterday and used the pause and rewind multiple times to try and see secondary and coverage on defense. You are right that you can't see everything on it but thats my point. Many times the LB was dropping and covering the TE 15-20 yards down the field. At some point the S is supposed to be over the top to help and many times Godfrey wasn't even in the picture 15-20 yards down the field.

Sorry for getting your hopes up but just watching the same coverage you already saw.