The Morning After: Still proud of this team

[LinvilleGorge]

1 minute ago, Wolfcop said:

When we were running the ball it kept them honest. When they knew we had to pass it got ugly. I was ok with running the ball as much as we did. You start being one dimensional against that team and you are in for some pain. 

That's generally the case against a really good pass rush.

[raleigh-panther]

1 hour ago, Wolfcop said:

When we were running the ball it kept them honest. When they knew we had to pass it got ugly. I was ok with running the ball as much as we did. You start being one dimensional against that team and you are in for some pain. 

I was proud of the effort. As most can see, we have the right coaching staff now. We just need an upgrade in talent at several positions. The future is bright. I love the culture that is being established. 

This is why throwing on first is best.  Running on first, predictable . The pap has a chance. Otherwise, they  just stack the box 

[hepcat]

I’m proud of the coaching staff and select players for overachieving to this point. I did not expect the Panthers to be .500 at this point in the season.

The schedule is about to get really hard and all those good feelings from the 3 game winning streak might be a distant memory pretty soon. Teddy needs to step up against the good teams.

 

[SizzleBuzz]

3 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

The difference, I think, is character. This team continues to fight throughout the game when past teams would have given up. That is the type of culture Rhule is building here. 

Bingo.

The team is exhibiting the attributes of winners and a winning organization.

As far as 2020 goes it is nut cutting time, will be interesting to see how they react to yesterday and how they fare going forward.

[bababoey]

2 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

This was the first game not having CMC/Samuel/Bonnafon available. Seems like much of Joe Brady's offense depends on a shifty back like that. It showed. Hopefully it makes Brady a better coordinator.

Having multiple explosive playmakers is important for all offenses but more so for this one because it relies on a lot of short passes.  You can do without CMC for a while because you still have Samuel and Moore.  Without Samuel, its just DJ out there trying to do stuff after he makes the catch.   Makes a lot of things change for the offense and makes it much easier for the defense.  Next man up doesn't always work in an offense like this. 

[JawnyBlaze]

Agreed. Rhule has this team prepared mentally like Rivera never did at any point in his tenure. The defense and receivers never quit, Davis gutted it out after numerous tweaks to his ankle. The other RBs tried their best, bless their heart. The OL did ok but missed some assignments. Tough loss, but I agree during the Rivera era it would have looked a lot worse. 

[OneBadCat]

4 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

Sunday was the toughest game the Carolina Panthers had played this season. That bears defense beat them up all day long. No blitzing needed, instant pressure with base 4. This was also the Sunday the Panthers decided to be out of sync. Plenty of mistakes across the board from our best players. Teddy, DJ, Davis. None of them are proud of the game they played yesterday. 

But still, they were in the game until the last seconds. 

In the Rivera days, a game like this where everyone was out of sync was a fuggin blowout. Remember 2014? Holy poo did the Panthers get trampled in quite a few games. Saints, eagles, packers, ravens, steelers. Ugh. But bad games now appear to be still hard fought and close. 

The difference, I think, is character. This team continues to fight throughout the game when past teams would have given up. That is the type of culture Rhule is building here. 

That's true. Under Rivera the game would have been over in the first qtr.

[bigdog10]

They could have quit down 14. To stay in that game shows a lot of character. 
 

id argue that was the 2nd worst game they’ve played all year. First being Tampa. 
 

They are going to upset some teams down the stretch. It most likely won’t be the chiefs, but I think they can give the saints, Bucs and packers a real good game. 

[Mage]

The loss was frustrating, but at the end of the day, we're 3-3.  And every loss has went down to the wire.  There is no reason for anyone to be underwhelmed about this team.  Bears just out-played us, but Rhule/Brady/Snow is proving to be a very good coaching trio.

I thought Joe Brady called an excellent game.  Yes, the offense struggled, but it wasn't scheme-related.  Turnovers and red-zone efficiency killed what had the potential to be a 30-point day.  We were moving the ball well, got into the redzone a couple of times.  I thought we did a good job of getting Moore more involved.  Better concentration from Moore and better accuracy from Teddy, he probably has a 150+ yard day.  We took our shots downfield when needed.  

What I also loved is how we never got away from the run game.  Anyone remember how, despite having a bulldozer like Cam and effective RBs, that in the Rivera era we CONSTANTLY would get away from the run once we got down?  It's why we'd get blown out so much.  But we kept at it this game, even if it wasn't always efficient.  Bridgewater and Davis combined for 26 carries.  Cannon had 3 as well.  If it wasn't for Bonnafon and Samuel being out, I think we try to run it even more.  When you consider our poor field position throughout the day, the commitment to the run game helped us keep it close.

I am still not ready to crown Phil Snow yet, because I still want to see a great all-around performance from them.  I wouldn't call the Cardinals game that, if only because I think that had more to do with Kingsbury's offense being terribly schemed.  However, there is no denying this defense has FAR exceeded expectations.  I would have liked to see us be more aggressive in the Bears game though.  Whether that's through blitzing or playing tighter coverage, I wanted to see them force Foles to hold the ball and push it downfield more.  But I get the hesitancy.  It was a close game and you don't want to risk giving up a big play.

I will say though, I think the narrative about us having "bad DBs" is starting to get shredded.  We may not have a true #1 corner, or a top cover safety, but these guys can play.  Chinn is all over the field, Douglas is having a VERY good year thus far, and Pride may be inconsistent but dude is a late-round rookie.  He's playing as well as you could expect from him, and I'm starting to think he has a bright future with the Panthers.  I never know quite how I feel about Donte Jackson, but I don't think it's fair to write him off either.  I'd say Burris is having a solid season too... at the very least, he's much better than some safeties we have had in the past.  

Outside of the Falcons game, I think our run defense has been solid for the last month or so.  Bears only had 63 rushing yards.  Cardinals had 81 rushing yards outside of Murray's 48 yard scamper.  Chargers only had 117.  Bucs only had 76 outside of Fournette's 46 yard run at the end of the game.  Yes, those runs count, and you want to eliminate the big ones more than anything else, but the run defense is a lot better than it was a year ago even if the #s don't reflect that yet.  Brown is coming on STRONG.  He's made a lot of splash plays behind the LOS, and his bull rush in the pass game has gotten better every week too.  Pass rush in general was solid in the Bears game late in the 2nd quarter and most of the second half.  Foles did a good job getting the ball out though, which goes back to my point... I wish we would have started playing tighter coverage.  Probably could have gotten a couple of sacks.  But ultimately it didn't hurt us too much.

The biggest problem with this team currently, by far, is red-zone efficiency.  Christian McCaffrey SHOULD help with that, but we shouldn't have to be so dependent on one player to be better than bad in the red-zone. 

Rhule said something that I kind of agree with though.  And why I'm not blaming Brady.  It isn't necessarily that there is a play or something we aren't running in the red-zone... we just kind of don't got the guys (or as Rhule phrased it, we ain't making the plays).  Teddy B is most effective when the field is spread out and he can read the coverage and find the open man in 1, 2 seconds.  That's not the kind of stuff you're gonna get in the red-zone though.  The field is shortened and you almost always have less time in the pocket than you would otherwise.  So Teddy's struggling down there.  Then you have our WRs, who again are most effective when the offense is spread out.  OL has shown improvement, but they simply aren't talented enough to consistently move the opposing DL in the run game.  And while people think this offense doesn't include a tight end only because of scheme, I disagree.  I think Joe Brady absolutely would use a TE, if he had one good enough to warrant getting a lot of time on the field.  I think it's time for us to accept that maybe Ian Thomas just isn't that good.  He's shown flashes, but never put it all together.  And Chris Manhertz is what he is.  This offense needs a Jimmy Graham kind of tight end.  IIRC, Saints never used a tight end much either until they drafted him.

Overall, it was a tough loss, and the Panthers could easily knock off the Saints next week.  I think the offense is gonna have a great game.  Curtis Samuel should be back (I haven't heard anything else, so I'm assuming his knee wasn't a major thing), McCaffrey might be back, and hopefully Teddy bounces back.  

 

[PanthersGTI]

I really think if fans look at this like the Seahawks in 2010-2011 everyone will be a lot happier. This season is all about potential. What are they going to build on for next year.

[WOW!!]

Like I said in another thread I saw some encouraging things..

1. The deep ball in the offense..

2. The defense fought all day in bad situations..

3. The offense moved the ball down the field..

4. We got pressure with the front 4 with no blitzing..

5. They never gave up..

[ThPantherFan]

7 hours ago, Jeremy Igo said:

This team continues to fight throughout the game

Most definitely!

[top dawg]

7 hours ago, raleigh-panther said:

CMC and Curtis out was an issue 

to be honest, didn’t like the runs on first down or in one series, after going for it on fourth down not continuing to go for it in the second time , it seemed like throwing in the towel. 

defense played well even without short and ygm but the bears are hardly offensive juggernauts   Linebackers, meh

J. chin, real deal 

slye was slye 

team kept battling and and about all that can be asked right now 

one general comment about Brady, he needs to learn about TEs, and using them...even his former team, the Saints use theirs.   In the NFL, it helps with pressure defense, like the Bears.

 

I'm beginning to wonder whether Brady just believes that neither TE can get what he wants done. I don't know. I did look up whether or not he used the TEs during his NCAA championship season, and apparently he did. Still, after seeing Thomas take over for 88 when he was injured, I'm still learning towards Brady just not getting Thomas involved like he could.

[LinvilleGorge]

Just now, top dawg said:

I'm beginning to wonder whether Brady just believes that neither TE can get what he wants done. I don't know. I did look up whether or not he used the TEs during his NCAA championship season, and apparently he did. Still, after seeing Thomas take over for 88 when he was injured, I'm still learning towards Brady just not getting Thomas involved like he could.

Keep in mind Brady wasn't actually calling the plays at LSU and like us, they had a lot of better weapons available at their disposal than their TEs.