Teddy says Panthers will be more focused on red zone production

[Jeremy Igo]

From Panthers.com

 

Though the Panthers beat the Chargers on the road in Week 3, one glaring offensive statistic illustrates how the unit can get better: Carolina finished 1-of-6 in red-zone efficiency.

Arguably, that number should have been worse. If not for L.A. defensive tackle Jerry Tillery illegally lining up over the long snapper on a field goal attempt for a 5-yard penalty, Carolina wouldn't have scored its lone touchdown.

"The inability to run the football and missed opportunities would be the two things in the red zone that I saw," head coach Matt Rhule admitted Monday.

The Panthers ran 14 plays inside the Chargers' 20-yard line: seven runs and seven passes. To Rhule's point, starting running back Mike Davis took three red-zone carries for a total of zero yards. Backup running back Reggie Bonnafon had a carry for 3 yards, wide receiver Curtis Samuel took a pair of carries for 3 yards, and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's 6-yard, third-down scramble was short of the sticks.

Bridgewater finished 6-of-7 for 29 yards with a touchdown in red-zone passing. But without the 13-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Davis, Bridgewater was 5-of-6 for 16 yards — just 2.7 yards per attempt.

"Instead of having 18 points at the half, that could've easily been 30 points if we just execute in the red zone," Bridgewater said. "We're going to put a huge emphasis on that."

Carolina's issues inside the 20 are directly related to the offense's problems with third downs. The Panthers finished 3-of-12 overall in the category Sunday. They needed 6 yards or fewer on seven of those plays, but only covered two successfully and they did not have a third-down conversion in the red zone.

"Third down is a four-point play," Bridgewater said. "If you don't convert on third down, you're settling for field goals. If you get first downs in the red zone, they eventually lead to touchdowns."

Teddy Bridgewater says offense will be working on red zone reps

Improving those numbers won't be easy to accomplish against the Cardinals in Week 4. The Panthers are one of nine teams with at least 13 red-zone possessions through the first three games. But of those teams, Carolina has the fewest touchdowns (five). Aside from Detroit (six), each of the other clubs have reached the end zone at least eight times.

Arizona is one of the best red zone defenses so far in 2020, allowing just four touchdowns on 13 opponent possessions inside the 20.

The challenges will likely extend to third down. The Cardinals' defense leads the league, allowing an opponent conversion rate of just 29 percent. The Panthers had made 54 percent of their third-down opportunities in the first two weeks, but that figure is now tied for No. 13 at 44 percent.

"L.A. is a good team. They have a good defense. But you watch that game, and we didn't execute well at all (on third down)," Bridgewater said. "All camp, the first two weeks, you can say we moved the ball well and things like that, we executed well in different areas — whether it was third down one week, not turning the ball over one week."

Overall, the Panthers rank No. 24 in points scored, No. 16 in total yards, and No. 9 in passing yards. Those numbers suggest Carolina is doing some things right when it comes to offense. The unit did do enough to win in Week 3, but players know it might not be enough in the future.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Bridgewater said. "The mindset and the message will be to never be complacent."

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, Jeremy Igo said:

From Panthers.com

 

Though the Panthers beat the Chargers on the road in Week 3, one glaring offensive statistic illustrates how the unit can get better: Carolina finished 1-of-6 in red-zone efficiency.

Arguably, that number should have been worse. If not for L.A. defensive tackle Jerry Tillery illegally lining up over the long snapper on a field goal attempt for a 5-yard penalty, Carolina wouldn't have scored its lone touchdown.

"The inability to run the football and missed opportunities would be the two things in the red zone that I saw," head coach Matt Rhule admitted Monday.

The Panthers ran 14 plays inside the Chargers' 20-yard line: seven runs and seven passes. To Rhule's point, starting running back Mike Davis took three red-zone carries for a total of zero yards. Backup running back Reggie Bonnafon had a carry for 3 yards, wide receiver Curtis Samuel took a pair of carries for 3 yards, and quarterback Teddy Bridgewater's 6-yard, third-down scramble was short of the sticks.

Bridgewater finished 6-of-7 for 29 yards with a touchdown in red-zone passing. But without the 13-yard touchdown on a screen pass to Davis, Bridgewater was 5-of-6 for 16 yards — just 2.7 yards per attempt.

"Instead of having 18 points at the half, that could've easily been 30 points if we just execute in the red zone," Bridgewater said. "We're going to put a huge emphasis on that."

Carolina's issues inside the 20 are directly related to the offense's problems with third downs. The Panthers finished 3-of-12 overall in the category Sunday. They needed 6 yards or fewer on seven of those plays, but only covered two successfully and they did not have a third-down conversion in the red zone.

"Third down is a four-point play," Bridgewater said. "If you don't convert on third down, you're settling for field goals. If you get first downs in the red zone, they eventually lead to touchdowns."

Teddy Bridgewater says offense will be working on red zone reps

Improving those numbers won't be easy to accomplish against the Cardinals in Week 4. The Panthers are one of nine teams with at least 13 red-zone possessions through the first three games. But of those teams, Carolina has the fewest touchdowns (five). Aside from Detroit (six), each of the other clubs have reached the end zone at least eight times.

Arizona is one of the best red zone defenses so far in 2020, allowing just four touchdowns on 13 opponent possessions inside the 20.

The challenges will likely extend to third down. The Cardinals' defense leads the league, allowing an opponent conversion rate of just 29 percent. The Panthers had made 54 percent of their third-down opportunities in the first two weeks, but that figure is now tied for No. 13 at 44 percent.

"L.A. is a good team. They have a good defense. But you watch that game, and we didn't execute well at all (on third down)," Bridgewater said. "All camp, the first two weeks, you can say we moved the ball well and things like that, we executed well in different areas — whether it was third down one week, not turning the ball over one week."

Overall, the Panthers rank No. 24 in points scored, No. 16 in total yards, and No. 9 in passing yards. Those numbers suggest Carolina is doing some things right when it comes to offense. The unit did do enough to win in Week 3, but players know it might not be enough in the future.

"We still have a lot of work to do," Bridgewater said. "The mindset and the message will be to never be complacent."

Oh no. I'm having PTSD.

[Captroop]

I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they didn't have adequate time to gameplan for closing out drives without their stud RB. If we're seeing the same lack of production this week, I'll be really concerned.

[Khyber53]

54 minutes ago, Jeremy Igo said:

From Panthers.com

"We still have a lot of work to do," Bridgewater said. "The mindset and the message will be to never be complacent."

 

Ahhh, yeah. Definitely need to work on this. I guess our red zone playbook has pretty much been written up as "you guys do this, Teddy you get  the ball to CMC. Christian, you just do what you do." Overall that's a great playbook, as long as CMC is available.

Need to work on a bit broader strategy.

[hepcat]

They need a better TE that can get open. Olsen was the go-to guy in the red zone in the passing game for a long time. Stewart and Newton were badass from the goal-line. Need to adjust with what we have, which would be quick shifty guys getting open on motion and misdirection. I'd like to see Samuel on a reverse in the red zone. Or Anderson on a fade. We haven't seen any of that yet.

[sml1950]

Rhule is missing taller receivers for 50/50 throws and RZ.  Kirkwood will get his chance when he comes off IR, but otherwise will have to wait until next year unless they can find a 1 for 1 with Samuel.

[rico6]

Can’t blame it all on Teddy, honestly, who are the panthers lining up in the redzone that strikes fear into opposing defenses. It’s been a glaring issue for years. If Cam isn’t doing Superman poo it’s been CMAC who finds a way to punch it in. 

That’s got to change.

[theinstrumental]

Hoped this would say "Coaching staff to revisit complacent fourth-down strategy" but I guess throwing the ball past the sticks on third down would work too.

[MHS831]

1 hour ago, hepcat said:

They need a better TE that can get open. Olsen was the go-to guy in the red zone in the passing game for a long time. Stewart and Newton were badass from the goal-line. Need to adjust with what we have, which would be quick shifty guys getting open on motion and misdirection. I'd like to see Samuel on a reverse in the red zone. Or Anderson on a fade. We haven't seen any of that yet.

I was going to post this same thought.  You must be brilliant!  A QB like Bridgewater needs a TE as a second or third checkdown at least. 

[t96]

59 minutes ago, sml1950 said:

Rhule is missing taller receivers for 50/50 throws and RZ.  Kirkwood will get his chance when he comes off IR, but otherwise will have to wait until next year unless they can find a 1 for 1 with Samuel.

I'd trade Samuel+ for a solid starting TE who can at the very least block and be a red zone threat. Don't need a guy putting up 1000 yards like Greg did but to have a guy who's a solid bet for 6-8+ TDs and can draw coverage in the end zone would be huge. Maybe Ian Thomas can step up, but we haven't seen it so far.

[LinvilleGorge]

11 minutes ago, t96 said:

I'd trade Samuel+ for a solid starting TE who can at the very least block and be a red zone threat. Don't need a guy putting up 1000 yards like Greg did but to have a guy who's a solid bet for 6-8+ TDs and can draw coverage in the end zone would be huge. Maybe Ian Thomas can step up, but we haven't seen it so far.

Who is trading a solid starting TE for Samuel though? I see a lot of "trade Samuel" but I can't see anyone giving up anything more than a late round possibly even conditional draft pick. Samuel has minimal trade value.

[t96]

11 minutes ago, LinvilleGorge said:

Who is trading a solid starting TE for Samuel though? I see a lot of "trade Samuel" but I can't see anyone giving up anything more than a late round possibly even conditional draft pick. Samuel has minimal trade value.

He has shown enough to be worth a 3rd/4th. And notice the “+” in my first post. Samuel and draft pick(s) could get us a TE who is another team’s #2 but would start for us. TEs who don’t put up big receiving stats don’t get paid a ton. And we got Greg for a 3rd...

[Pantherxtreme]

Coming into the last week's game the Chargers were 3rd in the league in red zone defense forcing the opponents to kick field goals, they're probably ranked number 1 now hehe.. So that was a good defense we were up against. 

The Panthers offense are ranked 9th in the league in getting into the red zone so they are moving the ball. But we definitely need to score more touchdowns when we get down there though. 

 

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, t96 said:

He has shown enough to be worth a 3rd/4th. And notice the “+” in my first post. Samuel and draft pick(s) could get us a TE who is another team’s #2 but would start for us. TEs who don’t put up big receiving stats don’t get paid a ton. And we got Greg for a 3rd...

If we could get a 3rd or 4th I think he'd already be gone to be honest. You gotta remember, we got Greg Olsen for a 3rd. We traded KB for a 2nd. DeAndre Hopkins is probably the best WR in football right now and he got traded for a RB and a 4th. Teams HIGHLY value draft picks. Draft picks and their cheap salary cap hits are highly valuable in a hard capoed league.