Initial Impressions

[MadHatter]

Biggest issue I saw with the DLine was that they left themselves exposed to the screen play over and over. they and the LB's need to get that shored up. That was nearly 50% of the Raven's passing attack last night.

[Zod]

Biggest issue I saw with the DLine was that they left themselves exposed to the screen play over and over. they and the LB's need to get that shored up. That was nearly 50% of the Raven's passing attack last night.

Hard for me to be concerned about that. Thats something that game planning would have minimized.

[SorthNarolina]

Considering he didn't have an actual WR on the field and his only option was to throw to RB's I thought Clausen looked pretty good. The improvised shuffle pass was a thing of beauty. Kid looks like a baller.

not to mention the receiver fell down on his INT

[MadHatter]

Hard for me to be concerned about that. Thats something that game planning would have minimized.

Absolutely agree with you.

All-in-all, the DLine significantly outperformed most people's expectations. I actually have a lot more confidence in the Defense after last night's performance. they will be much better than the experts were all predicting.

DB's need Gamble back

hardy and Norwood look like absolute steals in the draft. They both will make plays for us this season.

LB's are still in transition...but they are too talented to be a real concern.

OLine did not perform well, but they will get that worked out. Only concern with them is early in the season. The past two seasons, the OLine came out slow. We can't afford to dig a hole this season.

#2 WR still needs to step up...Jarrett actually looked like a player out there....and LaFell has a ton of upside and talent. Edwards is just too raw and I really don't expect a lot out of him this season.

All-in-all, I am not too disappointed form last night's performance.

[HPPantherzfan]

It wouldn't matter who he throws it to. He doesn't have the arm mechanics to throw it deep. Even when he throws a 15 yard pass he has to wind up to throw it with any speed. I wonder if his foot injury last year may have changed his throwing motion, because it surely looks fundamentally weak right now. He definitely doesn't have the perfect throwing motion he was supposed to have a few years ago.

Ok so I have agreed with most of what you have said but this is silly, "doesn't have the arm mechanics to throw it deep"? Did you miss the 30 yard pass that was on a rope ala Brett Farve? Did you happen to notice he averaged 10 yards a pass? 10 yards per pass completion isn't exactly a check down! The pass to Moore was also a very tight spiral and not exactly a check down passes! I'm all about Mr. Moore (QB) but come on, give the kid a break he isn't nearly as bad as some of you are making out, in fact I think he looked the best out of all the QB that played tonight...pocket awareness was unbelievable for someone that’s never played an NFL snap! Did I mention the best QB's in the league have awkward mechanics (Philip Rivers) or throws a wobbly ball (Peyton Manning) or doesn't throw 10 yard Hail Mary’s but lasers down the field (Brett Farve)...come on guys!

[KBRed]

I have to say I was extremely impressed with Clausen's debut. I didn't expect such poise from a rookie, until Suzy said she asked if he had butterflies, and he said "no butterflies". He is extremely confident. I noticed his balls did have a wobble to them.

His highlights: http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-preseason/09000d5d819b6002/Pre-WK-1-Jimmy-Clausen-highlights?module=HP_video

[panthers55]

Considering he didn't have an actual WR on the field and his only option was to throw to RB's I thought Clausen looked pretty good. The improvised shuffle pass was a thing of beauty. Kid looks like a baller.

He is definitely tough and is a scrapper. As for receivers that could have applied to all the quarterbacks. He is definitelly a Fox kind of guy. I am not sold on whether he actually has an NFL arm and can execute the vertical passing game yet though.

[pantherclaw]

I don't expect the special teams to show improvement on their first preseason game. The finial roster isn't even set. I don't expect to see how our special teams will actually be until the regular season.

[scpanther22]

Clausen had a 41 passer rating. Yeah he did really great. I am really excited. LOL

Usually you love to throw stats at everyone to prove your right..

I am surprised you went with QB rating..We all know it means next to nothing.

[panthers55]

Ok so I have agreed with most of what you have said but this is silly, "doesn't have the arm mechanics to throw it deep"? Did you miss the 30 yard pass that was on a rope ala Brett Farve? Did you happen to notice he averaged 10 yards a pass? 10 yards per pass completion isn't exactly a check down! The pass to Moore was also a very tight spiral and not exactly a check down passes! I'm all about Mr. Moore (QB) but come on, give the kid a break he isn't nearly as bad as some of you are making out, in fact I think he looked the best out of all the QB that played tonight...pocket awareness was unbelievable for someone that’s never played an NFL snap! Did I mention the best QB's in the league have awkward mechanics (Philip Rivers) or throws a wobbly ball (Peyton Manning) or doesn't throw 10 yard Hail Mary’s but lasers down the field (Brett Farve)...come on guys!

He didnt throw it 30 yards.. His longest pass was 25 and that was a tipped ball to Moore that could have been intercepted which moore ran for another 8 yards after the catch. And he threw 2 passes of any note the rest were mostly checkdowns. No one is saying he is bad, he is a rookie in his first preseason game and played pretty good considering. There were lots of positives for him out of that game. His poise and presence were very good and he didn't make many mistakes. I don't think he looked the best for our type of offense and would be easily exposed as another David Carr if teams were gameplanning for him. But he isn't starting and has time to learn the game and improve. I am fine where he was last night, I just don't know why folks like you want to annoint him the starter yet. the best thing for him is to take time to learn the game and improve his game.

[pantherclaw]

People are definitely hyping up Clausen's play more than it was.

He looks like he belongs. He had good command of the huddle, and good poise. That being said, he also did several things that he won't get away with in regular season.

A year on the sideline will be the best thing for this kid.

[PantherProfessor]

10 observations from the game

1. Greg Hardy has a big chip on his shoulder and is out to prove something, if he can stay healthy, we have something special.

2. Fiametta looked solid and did everything a FB in this system is asked to do, looked quick to the hole and made solid blocks. also caught a few nice balls and picked up good YAC.

3. LaFell is a good blocker for a rookie, his hands still worry me though. hopefully just the nerves.

4. No way Cantwell beats Clausen out for the #2 spot. Fox is making Clausen earn the spot, good move to encourage competition, but Clausen definately displays the "it" factor missing from Pike and Cantwell.

5. Armanti needs to setup some private tutoring sessions w/ Smitty to learn the art of the smoke pass and study some more film on returns. also needs to work on conditioning, but we'll wait to pass judgement. he is a project.

6. I am still not sold on the decision to move Beason, we may have some other talent at WLB that could justify putting him back in the middle. need more reps to justify though

7. Sutton can get it done, runs hard and has good hands. i would like to see him get some reps on kickoff returns to utilize him more once everyone is healthy.

8. Captain's height can be exploited at the #2 CB position, the safety's will have to be aware of matchups on him, hopefully the extra speed on the field can compensate somewhat.

9. Special teams coverage still seems lacking, but its still early. not much chance to show what we can do in the return game due to deep kickoff's by ravens and rain on punts.

10. This team absolutely NEEDS STEVE SMITH healthy 100% for week 1. he changes the entire dynamic of this offense. not sure that a true #2 will emerge this season, atleast for a while.

its just the preseason, so no need to pass judgement yet, but there are definately things to learn from the game. :cheers2:

[gmonet]

I saw Connor, folks, but nothing as dramatic as Hardy or Brayton. I pray Brayton is ok for RS...bee ast!

[Peppers90 NC]

How about some love for Ed Johnson, he was getting some good pressure up the middle.

This. We had a good push from the inside which helped our outside rushers all game get some pressure, more than expected vs a very good line in Baltimore.

I felt much better about this game than our first game last year vs the Giants. No need to microcriticize Clausens passes in his first game which was affected by the rain and a lack of WR's.