Peppers with the game winner

[TheSpecialJuan]

that was great 

[Bartin]

1 hour ago, HornetsSting said:

Holy, wtf! How.. HOW was Alshon that open? I mean my god, Eric Washington is literally the Shula of defensive coordinators! What are they even doing there? 

Either Luke or the deep safety(can’t tell who it was) blew the coverage. I think Luke just gambled and got bailed out by Pep

[Proudiddy]

While i love what Pep did and knew he had got the sack/FF as i was watching it live, seeing Baldy's breakdown here, the thing that now sticks out to me (and continues to concern me) is why tf was Luke biting on the shallow route with a guy he just saw release, running virtually untouched on a route behind him?

I'm telling you, Luke was hardly ever out of position like this until the last year or two.  It happened way too often last year too, especially against the Saints.  What happened to the coverage skills he demonstrated in the Cowboys Thanksgiving game a couple years ago?  It really, really concerns me it is happening so often now...  but, again, thankfully we got the pressure there and the GOAT prevented it.

[OneBadCat]

Awesome play by Peppers. Makes you wonder though. Last play of the drive you think you would have all possible zones in the defense covered.  Like years of playing and coaching experience would not allow such a thing to happen lmao

[OneBadCat]

8 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

While i love what Pep did and knew he had got the sack/FF as i was watching it live, seeing Baldy's breakdown here, the thing that now sticks out to me (and continues to concern me) is why tf was Luke biting on the shallow route with a guy he just saw release, running virtually untouched on a route behind him?

I'm telling you, Luke was hardly ever out of position like this until the last year or two.  It happened way too often last year too, especially against the Saints.  What happened to the coverage skills he demonstrated in the Cowboys Thanksgiving game a couple years ago?  It really, really concerns me it is happening so often now...  but, again, thankfully we got the pressure there and the GOAT prevented it.

I think it’s just one of those situations where there is going to be a weakness. Damned if you do damned if you don’t . It’s just a question of can the line pressure him enough before Wentz attempts the first down throw or a game winning TD.  That’s the only way I can rationalize it because it is a little bizarre.

[hepcat]

2 hours ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Yikes. That was mighty close to disaster.

Way closer than I realized, thought it was a coverage sack.

[carpanfan96]

2 hours ago, stbugs said:

What the heck was Luke doing and why weren’t we covering Alshon? Our defense just scares the crap out of me. Two crazy lucky wins in the last three games.

Luke likes to jump based off film, he thinks the throw is going underneath because of pressure. 

[Proudiddy]

6 minutes ago, carpanfan96 said:

Luke likes to jump based off film, he thinks the throw is going underneath because of pressure. 

I just don't think film excuses that.  In that situation, regardless of what tendencies usually are, your priority is taking away anything deep/in the endzone, first and foremost.  So, to bite on the shallow route with seconds to go, knowing they need a TD, that's just mind-blowing.

[iamhubby1]

2 hours ago, Proudiddy said:

I just don't think film excuses that.  In that situation, regardless of what tendencies usually are, your priority is taking away anything deep/in the endzone, first and foremost.  So, to bite on the shallow route with seconds to go, knowing they need a TD, that's just mind-blowing.

 

    It was 4th and 5. Maybe Luke was covering the 1st down. Why is it automatic to cover the endzone? A 1st down there, gives them new life. Also, maybe Luke though he had help behind him?

 

    Without knowing the coverage. I don't think its fair to just blame Luke here.

[DaveThePanther2008]

I would look at it this way.  Luke saw the pocket collapsing and knew they best throw is underneath.  He's done it a million times and come up with an interception.  While Jefferies was wide open I have to believe it was a responsibility of someone behind him to cover AJ.  Bottom line had Wentz throw it, it would have been batted down by Pepper's (which is why Wentz recoils) He recoils and Peps gets the strip sack.  

Great players make great plays in great situations.

Carolina's first drafted player to make the HOF (unless Smitty beats him to it)

 

[GRWatcher]

Remember, QB’s only have about 2-3 seconds to scan for the open receiver and often don’t have a chance to look at a receiver more than once. Here’s what I think happened.

1)    Bad snap from center eats some of Wentz’s time. He has to watch the ball into his hands. 
2)    Wentz looks to Ertz (1st read) who is covered. 
3)    When Wentz looks at Jeffrey (2nd read) he is covered by Luke underneath.
4)    Wentz looks for Agholor (his outlet read) who is open. He starts to throw the ball to Agholor and Luke breaks on the ball. I don’t think Wentz saw Luke break; he still thinks Jeffrey is covered by Luke. Luke is reading Wentz’s eyes.
5)    Pocket is collapsing, Love and Short and Horton keep Wentz from escaping the pocket and Peppers blocks the throw then bats the ball.

It was a coverage sack. It was a hell of a defensive play. Luke knew exactly what he was doing.
 

[Carolina Cajun]

I remember Peppers motor was the only thing stopping him from being the best of all time his first stint here and that seems to have changed.  Guy gives 110% every down he's out there.  He's not as good as he once was, but there is no denying the effort.

[DaGreat_98]

I know everyone is entitled to their opinions, but it is a whole lot of negative nancies on this forum. What you saw defensively was a good football play. Everyone already saw that the 1st read "Urtz" was taken away by Thomas Davis. What you saw the Eagles running on the right side of their offense was a "Hi-Lo" Concept. Alshon is suppose to clear out that space for the receiver to be open underneath. I can almost guarantee that Alshon was not the next read for Wentz. They were definitely trying to get the first down. Kuechly knew that and jumped that route. Alshon was not as open as you think he is. Based on depth perception, Wentz has to throw that ball over Kuechly if he still wants to get it to Jeffrey, which gives time for the safety who is playing over the top of the defense to get there. I am not sure that would have been a wide open catch for Alshon if the ball gets there. The Panthers defense "nutted up," and ended the game for us. Give them their credit. Kuechly is not a shell of himself, you can stop with that comparison. Thomas is Davis is back now....

[Proudiddy]

3 hours ago, iamhubby1 said:

 

    It was 4th and 5. Maybe Luke was covering the 1st down. Why is it automatic to cover the endzone? A 1st down there, gives them new life. Also, maybe Luke though he had help behind him?

 

    Without knowing the coverage. I don't think its fair to just blame Luke here.

Fair point about thinking coverage is behind him, but as far as the down and distance, at that point the clock is working against them.  I believe they had 30-some seconds left and ticking...  so, yeah, maybe he was thinking to stop them from converting for a first down first, but man...  i'd rather give them a new set of downs with less than 30 seconds left than give them the game winning score, so i still think taking away the deepest route is the priority.

So yeah, maybe it wasn't such a horrible decision on his part if the coverage was supposed to be behind him, but as i said, it happened last year a lot more than it ever had before.  I'm just happy it worked out yesterday.