Panthers vs Cowboys - Three Game-Changers

[Saca312]

Ah. It's the regular season once more. The Carolina Panthers play in about 24 hours against the Cowturds in Bank of America Stadium. 

With that being said, I decided I may as well provide content and give my thoughts on the game. Since Igo already took care of the match-ups portion on the home page, I decided I may as well focus on the individual players who I think will have the biggest impact this Sunday. 

Anyways, here it is:

1. Kawann Short

I believe Kawann Short's a bigger game-changer than given credit for, especially when it comes to this match-up.

When you think of top tier DTs, you think of the Fletcher Cox's, Aaron Donalds, Gerald McCoys, and others of the same stature. They're more big, imposing names of that position that most people will point to when asked. However, I'd argue that Kawann Short is not at all far behind the elites of his position and should be considered elite himself.

He's been one of the defenders on the Panthers not named Luke. While lately his impact isn't shown as much when it comes to sacks, you have to take into account his pressures, taking on doubles, and opening up opportunities for the DEs Addison and Peppers to get 1v1 opportunities and feast towards 11 sacks each in 2017. He's a huge reason the run defense was top 3 last season and why the front seven did as well as it did.

This Sunday, he gets a fantastic opportunity to take advantage of their backup center. And no matter what Cowboy homers tell you, Connor Williams is mediocre at best and will be having himself a rough time with KK Short.

Also, reminder he's also right next to Dontari Poe. With both of them coming right up the middle, expect the Dallas OL to be tested and beaten quite splendidly.

And it all starts with Short.

2. Norv Turner

Yes, I'm putting in an OC as a game-changer.

Well, because simply, he is one.

In the past, the Panthers have dealt with Shula's offense for far too long. While his designs were decent, his ability to implement and play-call a decent game is far from desired. From late playcalls to predictibility, he has forced Cam Newton to pretty much pick up the slack. When Cam was given free reign in 2015 to call the offense himself, it was pretty obvious why it looked far more efficient.

This time, we have a new OC named Norv Turner.

As an OC, he's been rather decent. While his tenure with Minnesota is not exactly the best, it can't all be blamed on him either. MIN's offensive line was abysmal and their QB lacks the arm needed for Norv's Coryell centric offense. While he was stubborn and attempted to keep his system in play, he eventually was able to learn to adapt and called decent games later down the stretch.

Of course, he was eventually let go and retired for one year until Ron gave him a call.

This time, things are definitely pointing towards Norv reforming his ways and evolving his scheme. He's said multiple times he's willing to adapt to the game and change some of his ways. There's a user on here who mentioned seeing an interview where Norv talked with Stanford coaches on how they best utilized CMC. This shows he's willing to change and bring in new flairs to his system.

What's also comforting is that guys like @UpstatePanther have mentioned that Norv has called a lot less deep passes in training camp and focused on more efficient routes and the such. This shows he's also changing a bit of his philosophy to fit with the ability the Panthers have. Sure, I guarantee a decent bit of deep passes will be used to take full advantage of Cam's arm, but I'd say he's willing to shift from pure ISO routes and adapt to the team's best fits.

We get to see all this in play this Sunday. He's already shown in preseason he's more than willing to use CMC correctly and trusts Cam as a pocket passer. He's also willing to adapt to what the defense gives him and go off-script like a normal OC should do.

It'll be exciting to see a functional offense for once. Let's hope Norv talk turns into reality. 

3. Cam Newton

This shouldn't even be a surprise. Cam will be a game-changer period.

His ability as a pocket passer is far underrated and I believe he's in elite territory. As for why, there's plenty of write-ups I've made in the past that explains that. Anyways, he's far more accurate than given credit and he's able to move the pocket like few can.

Speaking of accuracy, I think he's only building from his performance against the Saints in last year's playoffs. He's looked crisp and sharp on nearly all his passes this preseason. Take preseason game 3 for example. Point to me a throw that was off or inaccurate. I myself have looked, and I can hardly find any throw that was bad whatsoever. Each one of them that wasn't completed was either a drop or a good play by the defender.

In fact, Bill Voth recently tweeted this:

 

As I've always said, completion percentage is overrated and too many variables go into play, but hey it's nice to be seeing a higher completion percentage. Large part of that is due to smarter routes and better WR quality. Cam's got better talent around him, and as long as it's at the least mediocre, he can pretty much put up MVP like numbers and tape.

I expect that as long as Cam keeps up the performance he's shown all preseason and from last year's playoffs up, he'll run away with a few records, another NFL MVP, and have us on track for the Superbowl.

This time, he'll be facing the Cowboys and an untested secondary. I think he'll easily feast on them as long as the OLine provides mediocre play. Expect 300+ yards passing as long as Silatolu doesn't start.

That is all.

[UpstatePanther]

Good write up bud! I agree with everything you said!

[Hoenheim]

You can bet your ass Rivera will start Silatolu if hes healthy 

And he would probably start Matt Kalil over Moton if Matt was healthy lol 

[ThPantherFan]

I agree with about 50% plus another 50.  Don't want you to get the big head.

[Saca312]

1 hour ago, Hoenheim said:

You can bet your ass Rivera will start Silatolu if hes healthy 

Rivera's fetish for veterans is the most puzzling thing in all of football.

[TheSpecialJuan]

[Sasquatch]

8 minutes ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

gout?

[mc52beast]

Without Dez and Witten the Panthers will see a heavy dose of Zeke. D- line has to do their job so our lb’s can stop him before he gets going... not many corners like tackling him. 

If we can frustrate their run game it forces Dak to throw, and he doesn’t have the weapons he used to.

[Vegas Heel]

20 minutes ago, mc52beast said:

Without Dez and Witten the Panthers will see a heavy dose of Zeke. D- line has to do their job so our lb’s can stop him before he gets going... not many corners like tackling him. 

If we can frustrate their run game it forces Dak to throw, and he doesn’t have the weapons he used to.

Yeah and if we can get out to a lead and make them play catch up then it will force them to throw more as well. That would be best case scenario.

[CPF4LIFE]

I think Cam has took a big step far as knowing when to rifle a throw in and when to just put a lil touch on his passes. The saint game those throws how just enough zip to get to the receiver before the DB could react and not so hard so they were easy to catch. I noticed he had continued this into the pre season and practice this year. 

[CPF4LIFE]

20 minutes ago, Vegas Heel said:

Yeah and if we can get out to a lead and make them play catch up then it will force them to throw more as well. That would be best case scenario.

Yep, that means they would have to rely on Dak and those receivers more than Zeke and that is not what they want to do.

[MasterAwesome]

“As I’ve always said, completion percentage is overrated...unless it supports my argument” lol

[ThPantherFan]

3 hours ago, TheSpecialJuan said:

Sexy.

[ladypanther]

I would add Luke to that list.  Luke will know the Cowboys' plays as well as they do. He will give Dak fits in that regard.  Besides being an awesome athlete his football IQ is off the charts.  As the QB of the defense, making adjustments before the snap, his calls will too be a game changer that will frustrate the Dallas offense.  They will not have an answer for that.

 

By the way OP....nice one.