The OTHER pass in the dirt

[thunderraiden]

Let me say up front that this post is pure conjecture on my part. I have absolutely no support for this theory except my own eyes. Truthfully, I'm hesitant to even post it. There's no real proof to this. It's all just speculation based on observation. And it may well earn me a spot in the tinfoil hat club.

Still, I've decided to go ahead and put it out there, just to see if anyone else saw what I thought I saw this past Sunday.

Very early in the game, Gettis wasn't getting many catchs at all then walked over to Clausen with some rather emphatic gestures telling him he had to throw in the ball some.

In response, Clausen barely looked at Gettis most of the game, walking past him with his eyes aimed at the sideline.

Clausen did look at Gettis in the 4th though after Smith was out with injury, on one occasion Gettis slanted to the middle of the field. Clausen looked at him, and threw a laser of a pass straight at his feet. Gettis was open at the time.

The body language of both men was interesting.

When he threw the pass, Clausen's entire body motion looked hurried, like a man heaving a ball rather than actually throwing it.

For his part, Gettis looked like a man in disbelief, almost a "what the (bleep) was that" stance about him.

Post play, Clausen turned away and walked back to the sidelines, acknowledging nothing and no one.

The rest was history.

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During the remainder of the game, Clausen only threw to Gettis twice. Both in the 4th, one for a mild completion and the second a nearly pivotal 4th down conversion.

Looking at all that, much as I hate to say it, part of me thinks Clausen may have deliberately put that pass in the dirt as a message to Gettis.

The message? "Damn I threw that ball in the wrong direction!"

If you believe that's true, it could be argued that Clausen asserting himself would be a good thing. A leader needs to act like a leader, and sometimes that can mean putting other guys in their place.

With that said though, discord on any team is bad. It''s especially bad on a team that's winless and looking terrible.

On the flipside, while you could argue that Gettis wasn't a little over-emphatic in his gestures, he was basically right. Clausen needed to speed it up. To be fair, a problem with Clausen's helmet radio connection was partially responsible. Still, this was far from the only time the play clock was an issue. Thus, you'd have to side with Gettis in the big picture.

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Regardless of which side you'd take in this argument (all of which is hypothetical until proven otherwise) the last thing the Panthers need at this point is any sort of schism, especially one that has anything to do with the guy that the team needs to be able to rally around.

Again, let me state that there's not a single thing I've read, heard, or seen anywhere else that makes reference to any issue between Clausen and Gettis. And even if there was one at the time, it may have been resolved over on the sidelines shortly thereafter. In the absence of any corroborating evidence, no definitive statements can be made.

Worth noting that Clausen was pressured on the play, so it could have just been an overly quick throwaway.

Still, what I saw makes me wonder.

And, in this case, hope that I'm wrong.

PS. All in pure fun

[CLTPanther]

I'd derail this if it was worth it

[Murph]

I'd derail this if it was worth it

please do

[Brooklyn Bully]

6/10

[AceMan]

Pie