Carolina Panthers at Chicago Bears - Winners and Losers

[Carl Spackler]

50 minutes ago, Mistuh Jones said:

Naw... C'mon... Thats Hilarious

Taylor Heinicke ... now he's ... packing

[Carl Spackler]

Just now, Harbingers said:

Was not able to watch the beginning of the game last night. Does anyone have who our starting OL was this go round?

Little, Daley, Van Roten and not sure the other two

[Montsta]

I’m not a huge Gano fan, but IMO a 63 yard game winning kick (that would have been good from 67) kind of trumps at least a couple of missed extra points. 

[Harbingers]

I’d put our DB’s as a slight loser, none of them were getting their head around at all.

[CRA]

1 minute ago, stbugs said:

He’s just average, sometimes so bad that your coach chooses to go for two or punts and for that you don’t pay top dollar. We could have saved about $14M in total cap space keeping Butker.

We also are paying to be the best team in the NFL in terms of touchback %.  We also are paying to have a shot to trot a kicker out in the Giants game that can kick a 63 yarder.   Those two things help making him above the average joe as well. 

 

[Mainter]

Two players that surprised me was Cox Jr, and Obada. Both players got a good push from the 3-4 End spot and held their ground in the running game. With Butler playing the way he did, it's nice to know that we have 'decent' depth behind McCoy and Short.

[BigSyke]

Did Javeon Elliot play at nickle? How did he look?

[1989]

Gotta add Gaulden as a winner! Forced fumble and a near sack/fumble. 

For a guy who no one respects, he really showed out.

[TheRed]

11 minutes ago, Montsta said:

I’m not a huge Gano fan, but IMO a 63 yard game winning kick (that would have been good from 67) kind of trumps at least a couple of missed extra points. 

XP's might seem inconsequential in August. But when you lose to the Lions in November because of a missed XP, opinions tend to change quickly.

[Newtcase]

1 hour ago, BrianS said:

*sigh*

If by "average joe" you mean the sixth most accurate kicker in the league last year, you're exactly right.  Yea, the guy missed two FG's last year.

 

By ratio of misses to attempts he's practically the same kicker all the way down to 12.  Except everyone between 5-12 had a higher EP conversion rate.  So yeah that puts him squarely in the middle of the pack in terms of relative performance.

Yes, he outright won us a game against the Giants.  He also outright lost us a game at Detroit that could have really corrected the course after the Pittsburgh pooshow.  That game had a big impact on the psychology of the team IMO.

[MasterAwesome]

1 hour ago, joemac said:

2 field goals.....and 4 extra points.

3 extra points. One of those misses was in Week 17 by Chandler Catanzaro.

[Harbingers]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Holyfield - Same thing. Took the nerves like a man and then put together a good game. 

He looks like he could be a legit backup, off RB to CMC. Really liked the highlights I saw. 

[Newtcase]

3 minutes ago, MasterAwesome said:

3 extra points. One of those misses was in Week 17 by Chandler Catanzaro.

Excellent point, as the chart he posted is team.  Grahams log def puts him in the middle of the pack, and worse considering the XP missed.  For the 3rd highest paid kicker it really was an average season.  And...Detroit....ugggg...that game really felt like a turning point.

http://www.nfl.com/player/grahamgano/71309/gamelogs?season=2018

[Icege]

Winners

• Brian Burns - He's going to contribute on 3rd down as a pass rusher at the very least this season, and he's going to be successful doing so. His first sack he was the beneficiary of Cox Jr's pressure, but the second sack was all him. He's gonna be a good one!
• Efe Obada - Efe gave relentless effort every single snap he got. He was beating the man across from him and getting around double teams. He worked his ass off and while some can't see a place for him on this team, those individuals just need to look harder because there is room on this team for him.
• Terry Godwin - He looked smooth and effortless like DJ did when we saw him on the field last season, and he made plays with the ball in his hands. The big punt return definitely shot him into the discussion as the favourite for the WR6 spot.
• Cameron Artis-Payne - While the other RBs looked good, they had hiccups too. Bonnafon missed a couple of blitz pickups and Holyfield had the fumble. CAP, however, didn't need touches to get going nor did he make any glaring mistakes. He came out, made some plays with his legs, and then chilled for the evening.
• Joey Slye - Killed it last night. Don't even need to discuss.

Losers

• Dennis Daley - Daley was awful to start the game. Simply awful. He missed blitz pick ups and flat out missed blocks. As the game went on, he seemed to settle in but he did not look good last night.
• Vernon Butler - As a 1st round pick with your option year being turned down and the only highlight from the game being a whiffed tackle and being washed completely out of the gap... welp...
• Greg Little - With all of the expectations and people still clutching their pearls from decisions the previous regime made, Little has slid under the radar despite being another Hurney 2nd rounder that he and only he wanted to trade up into the 1st for. He looked lost and nervous to start, and at times physically overwhelmed. Like Daley, he seemed to settle in a little better as the game went on but at no point did he ever appear comfortable and competent. He's clearly not ready to start yet, but similar to Daley, the fact that they both improved as they got more reps is promising.
• Christian Miller - I wanted to see Christian Miller show out, but he looked like a slower Marquis Haynes during their first year. LT got all of the time in the world to set themselves and then manhandled Miller who looked like an under sized 4-3 LB being asked to play 4-3 DE (remember that Haynes comparison?).
• Rashad Ross - Can't muff a punt when you're trying to make a roster. RIP.

 

Got My Attention

• Marquis Haynes - Haynes looks fast and is fast. His get off is absurd and he is off to the races in no time, but he still cannot convert speed to power and might be at best a 3rd down pass rush specialist. He got himself two sacks, and seeing him run a stunt with Obada on the field at the same time was terrifying with how fast and violent the two are. However, the Bears TD came as a result of the pulling TE blasting Haynes in the hip and completely blowing open the seal on the edge. If he's going to be just a speed rusher, I can live with that so long as he produces.
• Reggie Bonnafon - Looked athletic and promising. If CMC and CAP weren't locks and more beef was needed, I could see him being someone that could threaten Holyfield's spot on the depth chart. He's going to be on a practice squad though this season and could develop into a versatile weapon.
• Rashaad Gaulden - Lots of question marks after he wasn't able to lock down the starting safety nor nickel roles, but a PBU on a blitz and Peanut punching the crap out of the ball to force a fumble are good ways to flash and keep eyes on.
• Elijah Holyfield - A tough start, but steeled himself and kept working through it. Had a nice TD run and reception to keep himself in the discussion.
• Andre Smith - Looked decent last year for where he was drafted, and looks even better this year. The Gaulden PBU on the blitz came as a result of Smith eating the RB up head on before trying to make a play on the ball and score afterwards. Got beat on a route later too but recovered well and ran it down with good effort.