Tom Sorensen's take on the season.

[Ivan The Awesome]

Tom Sorensen wrote a piece on the panthers season. I do agree with some of the premise, such as the panthers not improving thus falling behind. That argument can be taken both way but what I think he didn't really hit on was the injuries and that carousel that was the offensive line this season. 

 

Key pieces that weren't there for much of the season like Oher, Kalil, at a point the back ups as well. The Defense missed the leadership that it had last year and the savvy. 

 

Rookie corners with no pass rush was a recipe for disaster.  I can't really blame gettleman for injuries since no one has a crystal ball and knows when those are going to go down. But what we all can blame gettleman for is the talent. Once starters were going down or left or just not resigned or tags rescinded; You were left with a lot of players with inexperience. 

 

As the year went on some units improved while others didn't. Example. The Safety position other than Coleman has been mediocre. Even Coleman had several bad games. The Rookie Corners started off bad, even Bene after that atrocious game against ATL was let go. In the draft, even though most of you won't agree, he was proactive. Getting the 3 CB's that will probably grow together. As the season progress you also saw a lot of improvement, especially Bradberry, at one point was rated higher than his predecessor. That's huge. Worley has come around as well, Sanchez is the only one that doesn't seem to have gotten it. Rookie. 

 

Sorensen talks about Cam's mechanics. We all know this, the coaches know it. He's not an accurate passer. he's a gunslinger. He's a bigger version of Brett Favre, not Aaron Rodgers like Tom compared him to. Cam will never have the touch and accuracy that Rodgers has, or the footwork. That's totally okay though. If you've been following the team all these 6 years that Cam has been here you know his strengths and weaknesses. What's surprising is that the brass tried or has tried to at one point change Cam into something that he is not. I'm alluding to Rivera's comments about a different playstyle we're going to see Cam this coming Sunday. 

 

Could it be that Rivera has finally seen that trying to mold Cam into a pocket passer 100% of the time won't do? Cam is a Rhythm passer. How does he get there? Running. I know I know. B-b-b-b-but the head hunting. There are designed plays for him that do avoid as much contact as possible. The coaches need to let Cam know that it's OKAY to run when he doesn't find anyone open on the second or third read. I believe a lot of the problem is stemming from the coaching staff trying to press Cam into being something that he is not. I'm not saying that he can't become that, I'm saying that it doesn't suit him. Let Cam be himself out there. Let him get his 5-8 yards if he doesn't feel like someone is open. Note, I'm not saying this has to be the sole way to move the chains. We've all seen him hold on to the ball for so long. How many times did you think to yourself, why doesn't he just take off?! I know I did several times this season. 

 

There's also the notion that Cam has be "shell shocked" from the SB and the head hunting. I tend to agree to an extent. This season has just been a cocktail of suckage on all fronts to be honest. From injuries, to psychological trips. In the end it's a team game and once the team is fully healthy, I believe this team will be in the playoffs again and not mediocre as Tom says it is. 

 

I do agree that this team needs to improve. This coming draft and the extra cash that's sitting there should help. I can't imagine this team not taking a S,T, DE this draft. Having young talent in those areas would help out tremendously. You'd also have a young core of guys that will learn to play together and feed off each other. Time will tell what happens. Here's hoping the injury but stays away from this team next year. 

[rippadonn]

Cam gets the headshots when he is standing in the pocket doing the job of QB. He should keep running. Keep pounding

[yasuhara2241]

We all know that our offense is and has been Cam Newton. Our running game was dangerous bc of Cam. Our passing game was good bc of Cam. This year Cam has been off. He looks slow. He looks hurt. He looks for the pressure from our unstable line play. His spin outside the pocket has not worked. He does not escape the pocket to run or throw. This year is a wash. It happens. 

Now looking to 2017, I am certain we will see a different Cam. I am hoping that Rivera is thinking about doing what we all have been clamoring for: Quicker passing attack mixed in with deep throws. More rollouts and misdirection plays. Better protection from the line and the league. 

IF we get those things, gone will be the talk about Cam and his horrible mechanics or leadership. Gone will be the talking heads thinking Cam is a mediocre QB. Back in the playoffs we will be. 

[jayflip]

47 minutes ago, yasuhara2241 said:

We all know that our offense is and has been Cam Newton. Our running game was dangerous bc of Cam. Our passing game was good bc of Cam. This year Cam has been off. He looks slow. He looks hurt. He looks for the pressure from our unstable line play. His spin outside the pocket has not worked. He does not escape the pocket to run or throw. This year is a wash. It happens. 

Now looking to 2017, I am certain we will see a different Cam. I am hoping that Rivera is thinking about doing what we all have been clamoring for: Quicker passing attack mixed in with deep throws. More rollouts and misdirection plays. Better protection from the line and the league. 

IF we get those things, gone will be the talk about Cam and his horrible mechanics or leadership. Gone will be the talking heads thinking Cam is a mediocre QB. Back in the playoffs we will be. 

You bring up a good point. Our rushing stats were great last year because of Cam. Without his stats, our rushing game is average at best. Much like this year. 

Fix that (without having to rely on Cam so damn much) and our O will be back on track. 

The question is, how do we fix that?

Beef up oline? Get a true FB? A blocking TE? 

[Kakarot]

Need to get a true FB, and fix the line. Cam needs another Safety net; another Olsen. Someone he can trust on those third downs or when a clutch catch needs to be made. Hopefully, we find another TE this draft. Someone that Olsen can help mold

[CRA]

I don't endorse the FB at this point....if you look at the best traditional rush attacks they aren't even using them.  They get an OL and a RB.  I think you can threaten a D in more ways without using FB formations. 

Focus on fixing the OL IMO.

[jayflip]

7 minutes ago, Kakarot said:

Need to get a true FB, and fix the line. Cam needs another Safety net; another Olsen. Someone he can trust on those third downs or when a clutch catch needs to be made. Hopefully, we find another TE this draft. Someone that Olsen can help mold

And if we know Cam isn't gonna run on options, stop running GD options. It just gives the defense an early read to stuff the run. 

It's a wasted down if Cam ain't keeping it at least every so often. 

[truthjuice]

We can do whatever we want and Cam can come back bigger and better but it means nothing if he doesn't have protection. 

[yasuhara2241]

58 minutes ago, jayflip said:

You bring up a good point. Our rushing stats were great last year because of Cam. Without his stats, our rushing game is average at best. Much like this year. 

Fix that (without having to rely on Cam so damn much) and our O will be back on track. 

The question is, how do we fix that?

Beef up oline? Get a true FB? A blocking TE? 

All of the above. I think the main thing is getting an identity. We still had the identity of a read option run game with a QB that wasn't going to run. That kills any surprise to the run game. I do think we need more depth on the oline, but I think the underrated aspect is the FB position. We need to get a real one so we can start running downhill on teams. I hate to do it but a FB like the Atlanta one would be perfect. 

As far as TE is concerned, I think that we have that need as well. We have been trying to find a TE with very little results through the draft and undrafted free agents. Maybe we get a veteran this year. 

[yasuhara2241]

38 minutes ago, CRA said:

I don't endorse the FB at this point....if you look at the best traditional rush attacks they aren't even using them.  They get an OL and a RB.  I think you can threaten a D in more ways without using FB formations. 

Focus on fixing the OL IMO.

I would normally agree but look at our WRs. They aren't the ones that separate from coverage. They are larger WRs. If we can get a good blocking FB it would help the run game tremendously IMO. I do agree that the priority should be OL first, but based on FAs available and a weak draft class I do not know if we should expect that. 

[Peppers90 NC]

46 minutes ago, Kakarot said:

Need to get a true FB, and fix the line. Cam needs another Safety net; another Olsen. Someone he can trust on those third downs or when a clutch catch needs to be made. Hopefully, we find another TE this draft. Someone that Olsen can help mold

We haven't had a true FB since Cam has been here. They are better for more traditional pro set offenses which I don't believe use Cam to his strengths. I think the system itself it good. Play calling at times has struggled as well as execution. 

It may just be me, but going back 5-8 years, the Panthers seem to struggle out the gate running the ball. Whether it be the line not gelling until late or just not the right kind of work in camps. I'm hoping the staff figures that out this year. There are a lot of consistent inconsistencies this organization has had and that reflects staff.

[CRA]

17 minutes ago, yasuhara2241 said:

I would normally agree but look at our WRs. They aren't the ones that separate from coverage. They are larger WRs. If we can get a good blocking FB it would help the run game tremendously IMO. I do agree that the priority should be OL first, but based on FAs available and a weak draft class I do not know if we should expect that. 

to be a FB is a work around that you need extra help.  I would rather just focus on fixing the real need which is the OL.

as far as WRs go.  Fun Fun should be backup KB or vice versa IMO.  This whole twin tower WR offense is something that just sounds good on paper IMO.  We need diversity at WR and need to go ahead and focus on having a variety of threats.   Ted Ginn Jr isn't 7ft tall (or actually good)  and he is the most dangerous WR in our offense.   I think we should be able to improve our WR corp fairly easily.  I'm not saying KB and Fun Fun shouldn't be on the field together but the core of our passing game shouldn't be those two on the field together.  Makes life too easy on a defense.

[OldNorthPowell]

Yeah let us keep Shula and continue getting out coached on offense. YEAH US! Shula is a terrible OC in the NFL. Teams know we will not adjust.

[Cj72]

One thing about this season that I'll always wonder about is how long cam has been hurt. He hasn't seemed right for most of the year. I don't know if its the headshots, his shoulder or what.