Was Rhule Blaming the Defense or Acknowledging Something Else**

[Scott12345]

1 hour ago, Panthera onca said:

We need Burris back. For as much grief as he gets on here he is light years better than Franklin. OL is what it is, not much to do about it until the offseason.

Franklin is not good at all…he cost us big time

when will Burris be back?

[Panthercougar68]

4 minutes ago, Scott12345 said:

Franklin is not good at all…he cost us big time

when will Burris be back?

He’s eligible to return from IR after this week I believe he has to be out a minimum of three weeks.

[glenwo2]

4 hours ago, thennek said:

Actually- one could argue special teams lost the game. That blocked punt was the beginning of the end. Even with all of the offensive woes the Panthers still win without the blocked punt….

I don't think it's any argument at all.

I think it's fact.

We were on our way to a very ugly win but a WIN nonetheless.  (ST ultimately prevented 4-1)

[thennek]

21 minutes ago, glenwo2 said:

I don't think it's any argument at all.

I think it's fact.

We were on our way to a very ugly win but a WIN nonetheless.  (ST ultimately prevented 4-1)

I will take ugly wins! 

[Jackie Lee]

Matt Rhule sure seemed nervous in his press conference just now

[glenwo2]

1 hour ago, Jackie Lee said:

Matt Rhule sure seemed nervous in his press conference just now

Because he might've gotten phone call from Tepper just prior. 

[raleigh-panther]

I’ll say the same thing I said about Ron 

every single one of these players were assembled either this year or last year by Rhule 

Some drafted. Some FAs. Some he decided to retain 

The players didn’t drop from the sky onto the field in a Panthers uniform  

the buck stops right at his $65 million desk. No one else   Fitterer is here and he may advise but the buck stops with MR  

oline has not been his priority. Plain  and simple.  He should not be surprised at the results.  No one should 

[LinvilleGorge]

I think Rhule was probably just challenging his defense. He knows they have the talent to be dominant. Beyond that, he is probably also starting to realize that this team is only going as far as the D and CMC can drag them.

[LinvilleGorge]

1 hour ago, glenwo2 said:

Because he might've gotten phone call from Tepper just prior. 

That OL question shook him. He's not an idiot. He knows this OL is trash. Fitts has been making calls. There's nothing out there to be had. The only hope for a better OL this season is playing the rookies and letting them learn in the job. As for the vets, it's probably time to go back and reevaluate everything. Are they playing the right positions for this roster? For instance, Erving's best spot might be LT but this roster might require him to play LG.

It's blatantly obvious that the initial plan has been producing disastrous results. Back to the drawing board on the OL and that probably entails just reshuffling the current deck.

 

[GRWatcher]

He said what he did about the defense to show that it's a team sport. He wasn't going to let the media grab onto the narrative that it was only the play of the offense that lost that game. 

Because the bottom line is: he doesn't want a divided locker room. He's not to going to say that but that is the reason for spreading the blame around. When you start talking about it is when it happens. And that is the last thing any team needs.

Matt Rhule is a very smart man. 

[SizzleBuzz]

On 10/13/2021 at 5:00 PM, Mr. Scot said:

He wasn't blaming the defense.

That idea got stirred up because of a hilariously bad take by a numbskull on Twitter.

 

Who was he blaming?

[Squid Game]

On 10/13/2021 at 11:17 AM, SetfreexX said:

A lot was made of the ''Rhule blamed the loss on the defense comments''. 

I took some time to align my thoughts aside from the frustration after the game, and this is what I settled on. 

1) The INVESTMENT in the defensive side of the ball FAR exceeds that of the offense since Rhule became coach, and this is whether Marty, or Fitterer was the respective GM at the time. (11 defensive rookies added between 2020 - 2021)

2) Burns, Brown, Reddick, Henderson, Shaq*, Horn*, are all 1st round picks // Jackson, Chinn, Gross-Matos, are 2nd round selections 

3) Offensively we feature when healthy some of the best skill players at WR & HB - CMC*, DJ, Robbie

4) What has seen little investment is the Offensive Line in recent years - Paradis was a vet signing off a broken leg in 2018, Cam Erving is a 1st round JAG who's been on CLE, KC, and DAL prior to CAR, Elflein has played out of position most of his career after being a Center in college, former 3rd round pick, John Miller another 3rd rounder on his 3rd team, and Moton a 2nd rounder that was worthy of a FT / extension this offseason. (Since Rhule, we've only added 2 offensive lineman in 2 years via the draft, Brady Christensen in the 3rd, and Deonte Brown in the 6th; compare that to 5 DL draft additions since 2020 - Brown 1st / Gross-Matos 2nd / Roy 6th / Nixon 4th / Hoskins 7th)

5) Darnold is a WIP, young enough to get better, but far from a finished product, former 3rd overall pick. 

___________________________________________________________________________________________________________

With those 5 items in mind, I don't think Rhule was so much as saying the defense is to blame, so much as he is saying ''Look at the defense we have assembled, with the investment we've made there we should be able to get the stops when we need them'even if the offense is faltering''. 

I think the staff knew coming into this season the OL was a weakness, as was QB in ways and perhaps in the draft they didn't want to reach when they had higher grades on the likes of a TMJ, or Tremble who were 2nd and 3rd round picks. 

It's important to remember we are 2 years into a rebuild, at this point all of our best offensive skill players are locked in, and the majority of the defense is under contract through 2022 (Jackson, and Gilmore pending). We also have considerable cap space, and flexibility. 

With those things in mind I think we see the OL attacked more aggressively this off-season via free agency as we just came off a Covid-19 strapped salary cap this off-season while also having to sign several players at key positions. 

TL;DR - It's not that he's blaming the defense, they simply have a HIGHER expectation than the offense given the investment there, and talent level. QB and OL are the most IMPORTANT aspects of an offense, we saw that with Cam who actually had a pretty good OL in 2015 with a bunch of average receivers (Ginn, Old Cotchery, Funch, Philly). Right now QB, and OL are the hands down WEAKEST part of our team, expecting them to close out games isn't on the table, not as currently constructed. However; based on current construction the defense has that expectation, it's why they built it the way they did. 

 

What else does he want the defense to do? Score 26 points? 

[Squid Game]

On 10/13/2021 at 4:09 PM, Jackie Lee said:

Matt Rhule sure seemed nervous in his press conference just now

Finally feeling the heat now. Ever since being hired, he walked in Carolina like he was some football guru, the next Bill Belichick or Andy Reid. For whatever reason, fans and football taking heads just crowned him for being such a great coach. People are starting to realize that ain’t much the case anymore. 

[glenwo2]

10 hours ago, Squid Game said:

Finally feeling the heat now. Ever since being hired, he walked in Carolina like he was some football guru, the next Bill Belichick or Andy Reid. For whatever reason, fans and football taking heads just crowned him for being such a great coach. People are starting to realize that ain’t much the case anymore. 

The post you were replying to is from two weeks ago (Sizzle bumped up a 2-week old thread).   just saying...