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No, we don't need to fire everyone

TN05

By TN05,
in Carolina Panthers

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TN05 Mentor

TN05

Posted
Posted

While this season is disappointing, every single problem is fixable. Let's go over the basics:

Luck
In 2015, we were 7-1 in games decided by less than 8 points; this year, we are 2-5 in those games. This isn't just because of poor play - luck is also involved. We were very lucky in 2015 to not have many major injuries - Kelvin in the preseason and Bene and Tillman late in the season are exceptions, but those were all players we did fine without. Not so lucky this year - we had our left tackle get hurt, our quarterback and MLB miss games, our great rookie corner miss a ton of time, etc. This year, we lost the opener by a field goal despite the refs doing their damnedest to prevent it; we lost to Minnesota after Cam's ankle was hurt, we lost to Atlanta because our top corner was hurt, and we lost to Tampa with our quarterback out. 

Offense
It's become abundantly clear the biggest flaw on our offense is the line. Our scheme relies heavily on power running, and in the passing game our big receivers need a little bit more time to get separated; we also need time to take shots downfield. Now, the interior line is solid. However, it's become clear our tackles are bad and we have no depth. This hurts us twofold: it makes our running game (the heart of the offense) too inconsistent to close a game, and puts Cam in a very bad spot of being hit too often. In the offseason, Gettleman needs to court high-quality left and right tackles. This needs to be the priority and he needs to be willing to spend big cash.

Our other areas are pretty solid. Our offense as a whole requires our players be flexible enough to fit numerous roles: Stewart excels as an every-down back and power runner, Ted Ginn operates efficiently as a slot receiver, deep threat, and gadget player, Philly Brown is a great hands receiver, Kelvin Benjamin occupies space up the middle, etc. Our biggest issue are with players that can't fit a role: Devin Funchess has yet to be a consistent player, Ed Dickson doesn't excel at anything, and Tolbert has lost a step. A secondary priority should be for Gettleman to find a young player to fit Tolbert's role: a screen receiver, short-yardage threat, and blocker. A full-on blocking fullback is far too restrictive to be useful: Cam needs all the weapons he can get.

While coaching has seemed poor, much of this is due to the subpar options available; we simply can't run what made us click in 2015. Firing Shula, while an easy out, is not our solution. Reworking our offense from scratch simply isn't a good idea, when we were so successful in 2016. Our solution should be to fill the gaps. Then, if our offense doesn't improve, fire Shula. This is more for Cam and our young receivers; sake: consistency is a net benefit.

Defense
Our defense is designed around rushing the passer. It is utterly baffling, then, that our ends are not good at this. The loss of Josh Norman, while initially painful, has been less of a factor when our young rookies have been healthy and playing; this is because the secondary is more expendable in our system. A shutdown corner is a good thing, but not required; our 2013 defense excelled with mostly no-names in the secondary. However, we should not be having to blitz corners and linebackers every play just to get pressure. While we do show bursts of ability in this area, it's inconsistent and completely absent in the end of games. This is unacceptable. We need a solid pass rush to prevent teams from coming back. Gettleman's priority in the offseason should be to rework the edge of our line: we need disruptive pass-rushers. 

Special teams
While Ted Ginn has been perhaps our most consistent receiver, he's been abysmal in punt returns. It's time to refocus Ginn as our offensive weapon, and let Damiere Byrd take the reigns as both a punt and kickoff returner. Moreover, we need a compete reworking of our blocking scheme: we commit too many fouls and leave our returners with bad options most of the time. Additionally, it is worth looking around for a more consistent kicker. While Gano is a top-10 kicker, he's simply not as consistent from 50 yards out as we need. Perhaps competition will rekindle him.

Fortunately, with the cap room we will have next season these areas are more than fixable. Our glaring holes are obvious and have obvious fixes. Gettleman simply has to do his job.

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TN05 Mentor

TN05

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9 minutes ago, SportsCrazie4172 said:

I love your optimism and gave you PIE but at this point you could put Tom Brady and Gronk on this team and our coaches would still find a way to f*ck it up..

It's not optimism, it's pragmatism. We're one season removed from 15-1. Firing everyone means we go into a protacted rebuilding that takes years. Years TD, Cam, Luke, etc are in their prime. It's a bad idea. And our flaws are so obvious we really should try and fix them, especially with our cap room.

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truthjuice Newbie

truthjuice

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If this year was the only year, I'd agree. But how many slow starting seasons do we have to endure? How many winning the losing season cycles are we gonna have to sit through? 

I don't see us winning past the NFCC with the staff we have. They can't get over the hump. Hell, Rivera and Co can't manage to coach back to back winning seasons. Last year, we had tons of luck. Teams have figured us out and nobody on the coaching staff bothered to adjust. Not to mention Dave Gettleman. 

We need a new HC and OC. I really can't hang McDermott out to dry because he got stuck with what he has. Shula has the same darn offense. He has a little cushion because he asked for more help and didn't get it but because he didn't bother to tweak anything, he has to go. 

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Snake Grand Master

Snake

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1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

If we were just talking about this season, I'd agree with you.

Unfortunately, the coaching errors that we're seeing have gone back a long way, even through the good years.

There's no indication they're going away anytime soon.

I've also never seen a franchise so he'll bent on not supporting a MVP QB. How do we not find a good TE or Tackle in 4 years? 

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outlaw4 Veteran

outlaw4

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Posted
1 hour ago, TN05 said:

While this season is disappointing, every single problem is fixable. Let's go over the basics:

Luck
In 2015, we were 7-1 in games decided by less than 8 points; this year, we are 2-5 in those games. This isn't just because of poor play - luck is also involved. We were very lucky in 2015 to not have many major injuries - Kelvin in the preseason and Bene and Tillman late in the season are exceptions, but those were all players we did fine without. Not so lucky this year - we had our left tackle get hurt, our quarterback and MLB miss games, our great rookie corner miss a ton of time, etc. This year, we lost the opener by a field goal despite the refs doing their damnedest to prevent it; we lost to Minnesota after Cam's ankle was hurt, we lost to Atlanta because our top corner was hurt, and we lost to Tampa with our quarterback out. 

Offense
It's become abundantly clear the biggest flaw on our offense is the line. Our scheme relies heavily on power running, and in the passing game our big receivers need a little bit more time to get separated; we also need time to take shots downfield. Now, the interior line is solid. However, it's become clear our tackles are bad and we have no depth. This hurts us twofold: it makes our running game (the heart of the offense) too inconsistent to close a game, and puts Cam in a very bad spot of being hit too often. In the offseason, Gettleman needs to court high-quality left and right tackles. This needs to be the priority and he needs to be willing to spend big cash.

Our other areas are pretty solid. Our offense as a whole requires our players be flexible enough to fit numerous roles: Stewart excels as an every-down back and power runner, Ted Ginn operates efficiently as a slot receiver, deep threat, and gadget player, Philly Brown is a great hands receiver, Kelvin Benjamin occupies space up the middle, etc. Our biggest issue are with players that can't fit a role: Devin Funchess has yet to be a consistent player, Ed Dickson doesn't excel at anything, and Tolbert has lost a step. A secondary priority should be for Gettleman to find a young player to fit Tolbert's role: a screen receiver, short-yardage threat, and blocker. A full-on blocking fullback is far too restrictive to be useful: Cam needs all the weapons he can get.

While coaching has seemed poor, much of this is due to the subpar options available; we simply can't run what made us click in 2015. Firing Shula, while an easy out, is not our solution. Reworking our offense from scratch simply isn't a good idea, when we were so successful in 2016. Our solution should be to fill the gaps. Then, if our offense doesn't improve, fire Shula. This is more for Cam and our young receivers; sake: consistency is a net benefit.

Defense
Our defense is designed around rushing the passer. It is utterly baffling, then, that our ends are not good at this. The loss of Josh Norman, while initially painful, has been less of a factor when our young rookies have been healthy and playing; this is because the secondary is more expendable in our system. A shutdown corner is a good thing, but not required; our 2013 defense excelled with mostly no-names in the secondary. However, we should not be having to blitz corners and linebackers every play just to get pressure. While we do show bursts of ability in this area, it's inconsistent and completely absent in the end of games. This is unacceptable. We need a solid pass rush to prevent teams from coming back. Gettleman's priority in the offseason should be to rework the edge of our line: we need disruptive pass-rushers. 

Special teams
While Ted Ginn has been perhaps our most consistent receiver, he's been abysmal in punt returns. It's time to refocus Ginn as our offensive weapon, and let Damiere Byrd take the reigns as both a punt and kickoff returner. Moreover, we need a compete reworking of our blocking scheme: we commit too many fouls and leave our returners with bad options most of the time. Additionally, it is worth looking around for a more consistent kicker. While Gano is a top-10 kicker, he's simply not as consistent from 50 yards out as we need. Perhaps competition will rekindle him.

Fortunately, with the cap room we will have next season these areas are more than fixable. Our glaring holes are obvious and have obvious fixes. Gettleman simply has to do his job.

Personally, I would've waited on posting that until tomorrow. It's just going to get buried in a heap of negativity.

1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

If we were just talking about this season, I'd agree with you.

Unfortunately, the coaching errors that we're seeing have gone back a long way, even through the good years.

There's no indication they're going away anytime soon.

I've said this over and over but every coaching staff is going to have its flaws. Replacing them only means inheriting new weaknesses and gaffes. The question is whether the positives outweigh the negatives and whether it's worth the risk making a change. Things can get better but they can also become even worse. A new staff may start out strong but they may end up falling off a cliff and before you know it, you wasted two or three more years.

I'm not on the wholesale changes wagon, yet. While I do acknowledge the weaknesses of the current staff, it would be wrong to not also acknowledge that circumstances this season have been quite unfavorable. I've more into the mindset that the writing is on the wall if they start losing the locker room. I don't feel like we're at that juncture right now but it's hard to say from an outsider's perspective.

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The_Rainmaker Newbie

The_Rainmaker

Posted
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1 hour ago, Mr. Scot said:

If we were just talking about this season, I'd agree with you.

Unfortunately, the coaching errors that we're seeing have gone back a long way, even through the good years.

There's no indication they're going away anytime soon.

yea bullshit because early part of Ron's career the team had talent lopsided to one side, and the offesive line was ok but we always lacked a well rounded OL. 

2013 playoff loss due to interior OL during the goalline stand. 

2014 playoff loss due Byron Bell & Chandler

2015 SB loss due to OTs 

you see the pattern.

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