Dallas Game Grades

[WCABBall]

Another very disappointing and head stratching loss for the Panthers. While the defense played well, the offense stunck the joint up in both the 1st and 2nd half. It seems that this team has not been able to recover mentally from last years playoff embarrasment and Monday night fractured before the eyes of America. Sometimes when things break completely apart and guys get out their frustration they regroup and rally together. Smitty acceptance of blame and a week off could be just the remedy this team needs to bound up some wounds.

Offense: F - This unit did absolutely nothing for 58 minutes of this game. One 2 minute drive for a TD was all they had to show for a night's work. The play calling was horrendous and their inability to get a first down for the first 24 minutes of the second half led to the wearing down of the defense who made a valient stand.

QB: D - I know many of you will give this guy an F, but the big INT to close the game was not Jake's fault. The D comes from his inability to move this team and his continues inability to hit the target. It is past time to find a replacement for this guy.

RB: B - I almost graded this area an imcomplete because Davidson didn't allow us to see much action from this group. However, when D Willy got the ball he produced running at a 5.8 yd clip for the night. He simply did not get the opportunity to carry the ball enough. Guy can break a tackle at any time and he gets 11 carries. The Minnesota OC would be run out of town if Adrian got 11 carries. BTW Stewart was terrible. Not sure if he is well yet

WR: F - Could not get open and several mistakes by this unit cost us a real shot at winning this game. Moose had two huge penalties that killed drives. In the first half his holding call eventually led to a punt and in the 2nd half even though it was weak, his pass interference closed that drive as well. Smitty, although I love the guy, lost his cool in this game. I understand why but not completing the slant route led to Dallas finishing off this game. Also, after the INT Smith gave a half butt effort to tackle Newman. Glad to see him defend Jake and take blame this could be a step in the healing process.

O-Line: C -Did a decent job. Jake had time for the most part and holes were there at times in the run game. Not as good as Atlanta game but not the problem with offense Monday night.

Defense: B - I thought this unit played great. I know they eventually gave up +200 yards on the ground but keep in mind that the offense had no first downs for nearly the entire 2nd half. D was on the field constantly and allowed only 13 points.

D-Line: C - For as banged up as the tackles are, I thought they did a decent job inside. Most of the big runs came outside the tackles and at Peppers. I thought Johnson played really well getting pressure often in the game. The one dark spot on the unit and the reason I gave them a C was Peppers. Dude he was terrible. Absolutely no pressure from him on passing plays and Dallas ran right at him for some of their biggest plays.

LB: A - This unit was great Monday night. I love the fire from Beason. I know the 15 yard penalty was bad but this guy gives a crap and I love players who are out to give it everything they got. T. Davis was good again and his coverage in this game was better. James Anderson played really well filling in for Diggs. I really like where we stand at LB right now.

Secondary: C+ - I hate to beat a player when their down but Godfrey has been really bad this year. Coverage skill is horrible and tackling may be worst. Is it me or does it seem that this guy is always 10 yards behind every play. We need a Mike Minter type (chris Harris) who can ball hawk and make plays. As far as Teal goes I thought he played pretty decent and may provide the starter opposite Harris when he returns. The CB were decent and experience I think will be good for the Captain. He was in good coverage at times and showed promise but needs to be more consistent.

Special Teams: D - Continued to be a thorn in the Panthers flesh. We have no return game at all and the first two punt returns of the second half for Dallas were both big plays of 20+ yards giving them the ball near mid field both times. Dallas would go on to score 10 points on these possessions. Have to clean the punt area up before we can hope to win close games.

Overall I like many others was on suicide watch Monday and Tuesday, but today I remembered why I love the NFL and the Panthers so much. They provide me with something to get passionate about 16+ weeks a year.

[King Taharqa]

I agree with your rankings except QB & Special Teams. Special Teams was GARBAGE and doesnt even deserve a D. QB deserves an F for 2 costly TOs in the 4th quarter. Even if the INT wasnt his fault, the late game fumble surely was. Jake had a shitty game, it just didnt stand out as much because the whole offense was shitty on Monday night.

[Delhommey]

ST's doesn't even deserve an F.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

RBs don't deserve a B. Stewart rushed for negative yards and most of DWill's yards came on 3rd and longs when the defense was set up to allow runs or underneath throws.

[R0CKnR0LLA]

A big reason why the offense struggled is because we kept falling behind in down and distance. Here are all of our running plays on 1st down.

1st QTR (7:16) J.Stewart up the middle to CAR 47 for -4 yards

1st QTR (2:16) D.Williams right end to CAR 26 for -3 yards

2ND QTR (10:29) D.Williams left tackle to CAR 17 for no gain

2ND QTR (2:48) D.Williams up the middle to CAR 13 for 3 yards

3RD QTR (15:00) D.Williams right end to CAR 25 for 5 yards

4TH QTR (12:02) J.Stewart left end to CAR 19 for -1 yards

4TH QTR (5:57) D.Williams up the middle to CAR 22 for 12 yards

7 carries for 12 yards and a whopping 1.7 YPC.

[Delhommey]

Dallas was doing the same thing. It was a bum fight for most of the game.