I haven't heard the real reason we lost to Tampa...

[dbulls874]

...but of course, that doesnt mean it hasn't been said. So, my apologies if it has.

To me, offensive line play was the biggest weakness the Panthers showed against the Bucs; of course, that's been said many times by many people who saw the game.

But what warrants mentioning is that this has been the case in the first 4-5 games of every season for the last three years, especially in terms of run blocking.

I noticed it last year as the running game struggled to get going, and some light research confirms it. Look at our rushing totals from the first few games of each season since '09:

2009 Week 1 - Week 5: 86 yards, 144 yards, 73 yards, Bye, 86 yards. (10 out of the remaining 12 games that year, the Panthers rushed for 149 yards or more).

2010 Week 1 - Week 5: 89 yards, 119 yards, 87 yards, 118 yards, 85 yards. (8 out of the remaining 11 games that year, the Panthers rushed for 118 yards or more).

2011 Week 1 - Week 5: 74 yards, 71 yards, 107 yards, 169 yards, 162 yards. (Obviously a better start than the previous two seasons, but the three lowest totals of the season were those first three weeks).

This tells me that for whatever reason, despite two different coaching staffs laying claim to the team over this period, the Panthers simply take a few weeks to get their running game going, year in and year out. I am inclined to place the blame on the O-line rather than the running backs, since the O-line is a unit comprised of multiple players on the field at once that can ostensibly require some time to harmonize, whereas it would seem backs should be at their best when they are freshest, early in the season. Plus, speaking anecdotally, the holes just don't look as big early in the season as they do later on.

Maybe it's a league-wide thing. Between the continued jelling of the o-lines and the eventual wearing down of defenses over the course of the season, maybe everyone starts out running the ball a bit sluggishly, and it simply shows up more in the record of a team, like Carolina, that relies on its running game more than most.

So on the one hand, I'm a little comforted by the fact that the Panthers should see some marked improvement in their run game, and by extension the rest of their offense, after the next few weeks, if not sooner. But I'm disappointed that an eminently winnable game like @Tampa showed up on the schedule so early that we weren't ready to run the ball down their throats just yet.

[4Corners]

What irritates me is the defense played well enough to win the game. Who knows how many games like these we will get from the defense this year so it sucks to waste one.

Like I said in another thread, the TB game will be remembered as one of two scenarios and ultimately could be the defining moment of our season.

1. The panthers rallied after the Tampa loss and worked hard to be the team we all knew they could be.

2. The Tampa loss left a bad taste in the panthers mouth all season long and they could never really bounce back from it. With the 12th pick in the 2013 nfl draft , the panthers select......

[rayzor]

for some reason the oline takes a few weeks to gel and the run game to get going.

not sure why, but it's been pretty consistent for several years.

[SOJA]

for some reason the oline takes a few weeks to gel and the run game to get going.

not sure why, but it's been pretty consistent for several years.

this. We are notoriously slow starters in terms of the run game.

[nctarheel0619]

At least we are consistently shitty on the ground week 1.

[rayzor]

this. We are notoriously slow starters in terms of the run game.

which kind of makes the run game in the 2nd half of the season even more impressive. i've always wondered what it would look like if we were as good at running the ball in the 1st half of the seasons as we were in the second.

[Herbert The Love Bug]

need to draft the best guard available next draft.

[rayzor]

need to draft the best guard available next draft.

i'd rather not try to capture lightning in a bottle twice.

let's get one in FA or via trade (for a draft pick).

[X-Clown]

need to draft the best guard available next draft.

We can (and have) found guards later in the draft or as cheap FAs. I'd rather use a higher pick at bigger impact position like CB, DE, or DT.