Top 3 issues to fix on this team.

[Dragoon11]

7 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Wave a magic wand and tell me the top 3 specific things you would fix. Not "the offense".

 

Mine: 

 

1. Cam throws the floaters on target. It seemed his passes with more zip and less arch looked good yesterday. Anything with air under it sailed long. 

2. More diversity on offense. Less workload on CMC. Get Scarlett in the game and spell CMC some. 

3. Convert on 3rd downs. That really killed us yesterday. Have to get off the field and get the defense rested. 

I couldn't agree more with taking some of the load off CMC. YES, he is a workhorse and I'm sure he revels in it. BUT... I'm sure everyone would agree that we would like to see CMC NOT get progressively beat down in the same fashion Cam has over the course of his career. We also need to be WAY more dynamic on offense than just CMC... Panthers actually have a lot of star/playmaker potential/talent on offense right now. It's just a matter of putting it all together, I swear, I really hope that Cam just learns how to distribute the ball to the right guys at the right time... The numbers will take care of themselves. CMC is a beast, but if he's our only beast, eventually opposing NFL defenses will shut it down.

[Dragoon11]

6 hours ago, Captroop said:

1. Get some offensive momentum. I noticed I was watching our offensive drives the way I used to watch the later Delhomme seasons; each pass I hold my breath. And it's a huge relief when we scrape for a first down on third and long. Then repeat. I want to see the offense put together a good confidence builder type drive early in the game where we're converting on first or second down.

2. Spell CMC. I know it's hard to take the ball out of the hands of the most dynamic player in the league. But for his longevity this season and beyond, and to give opposing defenses another dimension to look out for, I want to see some of our great backup RBs get some carries.

3. Sacks. Who would have thought after all the hype, and the preseason that it would be the secondary that was responsible for all of our big plays on defense?

 

Bonus: We can't control it, but I'd like to see us get a little luckier. Some days the ball just doesn't bounce your way, and a couple of oddities and one-offs really shaped the outcome of the game. If that tipped "backwards pass" has been just slightly more obviously going forward before it got tipped, or the fumbles that just seemed to take an L.A. bounce time and time again, I feel like the pendulum swing of lady luck has got to swing back in our direction.

Spot on with the lady luck thing. I said the exact same thing Sunday to one of my buddies, seemed that the ball just wouldn't bounce our way, literally and figuratively ... We need that 2015 luck and that 2015 takeaways ratio! Without a doubt, luck plays a big role in an NFL season.

[Achilles]

1. Focus from the first snap to the last.  This is a coaching issue.  Panthers were in a position to score on that very first drive, then DJ fumbled, then it took the rest of the first half to get a measly 3 pts.  I want to see this team come out and execute a sharp game plan from the outset.  Yes, there will be mistakes.  No team is perfect.  How about a little urgency and mental toughness.

2. Curtis Samuel needs more touches.  Period.  Going deep is a huge gamble with this offense.  It could result in a lot of 3rd and long situations.  But, get this dude involved...what about screens and reverses, etc?

3. Pass rush needs to get to the QB.  Goff was disrupted at times and the pass D wasn’t bad at all, but we need to average 3 sacks per game.  More blitzes and overloads.  

[SOJA]

Run defense has to be on here somewhere 

[Cavscout]

1 More Play Action

2 More Screens

3 More Ian Thomas / Less Chris Manhertz

[Khyber53]

1. Play with aggression, offensively and defensively. What we saw in the second half should be the tempo in the first as well.

2. Get to the line and start the play somewhere before the 7 seconds mark. Quit farting around. If the calls are too complicated for the QB to process and deliver quickly, simplify.

3. Stretch the field on every play, even on runs. Make them defend every single blade of grass, not just a 20 yard radius around Cam.

[BigSyke]

13 hours ago, Ivan The Awesome said:

1.Coaching.

2. Play calling. 

3. Player usage. We have more weapons than CMC. 

 

Like someone said its getting to the point where norv/cam is forcing the ball to him every play like shula/cam did with Benjamin a couple years back. Only the plays are safer cause they are check downs and slants.

I would like to see scarlett and mccaffrey in backfield at the same time. Why is their no packages for that from norv???????????

So many combination of plays can be made off of those two. You don't necessarily have to take mccaffrey out the game because he could still be used as a chess piece for misdirection that defenses have to worry about or motion him to slot.

[BigSyke]

7 hours ago, carolina-chucky said:

Make a trade for TY HILTON or EMMANUEL SANDERS

They should have got a deep threat specialist like Desean Jackson. Not the best overall wr but a threat for a long td score every time he steps on the field. Cam is comfortable with that.

Moore and Samuel can do it but they dont specialize in it. It's a keen difference.

[Harbingers]

1) Ball awareness on defense. They put the ball on the ground a LOT and we didn’t have that hunger and jump step to get it. 

2) Offensive Gameplan, the players studying the playbook, Route Running, Effectiveness, Cam needs to settle down and take charge. There was too many times people weren’t on the same page. 

3) Control the Flow of the Game. DJ Moore fumble, the backwards pass, the helmet issue, but notice the one drive cam looked good, he had the defenses biting at his every word, the flow was there. Every time else it was not, thus turning into the CMC show. 

[Dhagans06]

12 hours ago, tarheelpride said:

1. 3rd down defense. Early on it seemed like the Rams were converting 3rd downs at will. Offset of this is, like others mention, the cushions we allow on the receivers, the middle of the field was constantly open, pressure on the QB (we need to get home)

2. 3rd down offense. On the flip side, we couldn't buy a 3rd down conversion. Gotta execute

3. Offensive playcalling. Specifically, I want to see us be more aggressive earlier in the game. Ideally, a deep ball early. Mix up the playcalling. Offset of this is calling more designed runs for Cam. If he's truly ready to go, unleash him. Let him run to get him in the groove of things, then call for some long bombs down the field.

When Cam gets a big run super early in the game he becomes himself, he plays with confidence

[!stUp]

1.More defensive pressure (Blitz)

2. Cam, improve accuracy.

3. Tepper , build that damn retractable dome. I hate to give the bayou rats credit , but that was a HOMEFIELD advantage last night. A roof holds in sound and can make it hell on the opposing signal caller. 

[mc52beast]

Pass rush- the talent is there. When qb’s are getting rid of the ball in less than 3 seconds it’s difficult. We should get at least 4 against Winston.

rhythm on offense- put Cam in the freaking no huddle and let him work, Ron. Stop worrying about if you’re D gets time to eat a sandwich.

Ron- I know... he’s not fixable. After 9 years it is what it is. Timeouts at the end of the Rams game and we probably get the ball back

 

[Icege]

1. Cam has to be allowed to be the complete Cam, and not a star peg forced into a square hole. Let him use his legs when available; encourage it. Stop trying to get him to draw flags because the NFL isn't interested in protecting him like they are the Bradys, Peytons, and Brees of the world.

2. Cam also has to spread the ball around more and stop locking on to targets. If he's being advised to lock on, punch whomever is doing that in the throat so that they stfu.

3. Get out of this mindset of always maxing out time of possession. Max out the scoreboard instead. 

[thefuzz]

Mix up zone and man concepts a LOT more than we are doing.  It's sad that every team we play knows exactly what we are doing all game.  Just too predictable on offense and defense for my liking.

How do we not have more 2 RB sets?  CMC is just as good a WR as he is a RB.  He needs to be all over the field and creating uncertainty in the defensive side.

Play like professionals.  If the headset isn't perfect, call the best play for what the defense give you.  We are at home, with a vet QB, and that happens?  Nah.  Sit down players that continue to make mistakes.  As soon as DJ makes that fumble...take a rest till the 2nd Q...let Wright get in there.  Just far too much of a "players coach" atmosphere out there.