The Thread for Reasonable Discussion...

[BANE]

Thanks Zod for a reasonable thread. Does anyone remember that the current SB champs barely made the playoffs last year? We are a young team. Hopefully these are growing plays. I am not giving up on this team...players or coaching staff.

Thats exactly what it is. I mean, lets call a spade a spade, this team wasnt exactly bursting with talent when Rivera took over. We had a LOT of youth and inexperience, both on the field and on the sidelines. Im not excusing the performance from Thursday, but this thing isnt an overnight fix. I think they just need to get back to basics. Leave the gimmicks at the door and just play man up ball.

[Navy_football]

1) Blitz Ryan until he can't take a breath without smelling a defender in his face... Playcalling dictate players' attitudes. Are you agressive (imposing your will) or are you conservative (scared to lose).

2) Tackle the ball carrier. Tackle the dang ball carrier!!! We have to be the worst tackling team in the league. Is there a stat for missed tackles being recorded? I'd love to see where we rank if so. If there's a worse tackling team in the league right now, they'll be 0-16 at the end of the season.

3) Chud is getting a little too cute with his play calls. Playcalling dictates attitude. Gadget plays tell me you're not confident in my ability to line up and punch my guy in the mouth, particularly on the first play of the game. Please give Cam a few easy plays early on to get in a rhythm.

[DangerClose]

1) oline blocking

2) recognize that if #1 isnt working, we dont need to ask cam to do 7 step drops and get sacked

3) in lieu of #1 failing and recognizing #2 - run more screens and quick slants

[amcoolio]

Only one thing, and its pretty simple really. In all three games, our defense has allowed the opening drive of the game to march right down the field and score in quick and pathetic action, and totally take the wind from whatever sails we had. We'd be 0-3 had Godfrey not got lucky and picked sixed Brees...it was the only thing that gave our team a jolt of energy and actually care. If the Falcons win the toss and go right down the field and score a TD and we are already down 7-0 with 11:53 left in the first quarter, then we are screwed. Just get a frickin stop in the first quarter, defense. Thats all we need. We cant play the football we want to play if we are down 10-0 as soon as the game starts, as it has happened all three games already

[usmcpanthers]

The D needs to play press man coverage. I dont care if we give up some big plays. Anything is better then playing with 10 yard cushions and guarneteening every third down is coverted. We know we cant get pressure with the front four. So move them around, overload a side, do a corner blitz, a safety blitz, a delay blitz...soemthing. Im not saying to abandon the zone, but you have to mix it up. Staying in coverage 80% gets you picked apart. Also our players on D have to stay home, they over ran so many plays in the NY game. For us to have a chance against ATL the D has to be argressive yet dissiplinced.

On offense stop being so cute. The read option is great, we cant use it for every run play tho. Also on pass plays, do like the giants, screen slant post, rinse repeat. Or play action fakes to reversing running backs take too long to develop. On a bright side I did see Cam on 4 diff or so occassion make it to the 3rd and forth read. Atl has a fast defense we need quick safe throws, such as slants and screens.

[thennek]

The Panthers needs to get more physical & control the line of scrimmage....both defense and offense. They've become more 'finesse' and are getting pushed around. I'd like to see them run the ball 25+ times and establish a smashmouth run game. They certainly have the talent to do this with Williams, Tolbert, and Stewart. This would also keep Atlanta's offense off the field which helps the Panthers defense. Yes, this sounds like Fox-ball, but I think this is what this young team needs right now. Cam is trying to do too much by himself.

[Skew]

The Falcons are beatable. I don't care which team you are, but if you throw 3 INTs and have one fumble lost in the first quarter, your team should have been blown out. But Denver made it a one score game. Granted it was Payton at the helm, it shows that the Falcons have a lot of weaknesses that can be exploited.

What the Panthers need to do to beat the Falcons:

1. Tackle (most important) (missed tackles in the Giants game allowed a back-up, once cut, RB to look like a pro-bowler. Didn't he have 100 yards rushing in the first half? )

2. Trenches

A. Defense (There was NO pressure on Eli. NONE. David Carr could have looked like a pro-bowler against the Panthers Thursday night.)

B. Offense ( Pass block. Jordan Gross even looked like a 3rd string lineman Thursday. Like most QBs in the league, give Cam some time to throw, he will be a top 5 QB.)

3. Secondary (a "10 yard cushion" means at the line of scrimage, not in down the field or in the end zone. COVER the WR once they leave the line of scrimage).

4. Special Teams (Don't fuging fumble the ball! That is the biggest way to look like you have not practice all week or prepared in any way for the team you are playing)

That's the main basic points.

Now for the reality:

After the first 3 games, it seems the Panthers are your run-of-the-mill, average NFL team this year folks. Sorry to be the one to break it to you. But it's not the end of the season.

IF (and it's a big IF), if the Panthers can constantly play at the best of their ability (Saints game), this team can beat teams we aren't suppose to beat and make our way (barely) into the playoffs.

Remember though, they are an average team. They will NOT make the playoffs if they continue to make mistakes. They just aren't good enough. Almost perfect play without mistakes will allow them to squeek a few wins over some good teams and get them to the playoffs.

Falcons will only need to have the Panther make a handful of mistakes to win this game.

[rayzor]

1) own the trenches. it all starts and ends there.

2) defense play hard coming out of the gate. quit letting the other team score on their first drive. quit playing soft. quit playing loose. give them no room. they do the team no favors by starting the game in a hole.

3) cam...short memory. shake it off and move on when you make mistakes. pretend you are at auburn and frikkin motivate your team rather than have to have the old guy try to pick you out of the dumps. we can blame scheme, playcalling, the Oline, the receivers, the lack of stewart, or whatever for the lack of production and the offenses woes, but the truth is that if cam keep from turning into mr. mopey, but can channel in that guy that brought auburn back from so many deficits his year there, there will be no stopping him or this team. i said it before...the only thing stopping him and really this team is what lies between his ears. hes personality is infectious...good or bad. if he wants that team to turn around and be champions, right or wrong it's on his shoulders. that isn't a criticism of anyone else in leadership there...it's just a testimony to the power his personality can have.

[rockietop]

1.no huddle offense more often

2.little 8-12 yard screen passes and 3.RUN CAM RUN

[SuperJTheGreat]

Thank God for this.

[FattyFatFat]

Look up I-Formation on Wikipedia.

Try man coverage once in a while.

Remove roller skates.

I was thinking this the other night. Can someone explain why we cant try a few snaps with Cam under center, mike tolbert behind him, and deangelo behind him?

[FattyFatFat]

D-line

O-line

Special teams.

Can we not get kealoha pilares returning kicks?

[Argus Plexus]

I was thinking this the other night. Can someone explain why we cant try a few snaps with Cam under center, mike tolbert behind him, and deangelo behind him?

Because I-Formation is too old school. Chud is so totally hip and rad with his new-wave read option formations. It's all about that new wave stuff, man. Old stuff is stupid.

[Panthercougar68]

-Block block and block.

-Do not let Turner get started. He's showing his age and hopefully he will be a non factor in the game.

-When in doubt, you know Ryan is gonna look for Tony G. Yes they have Jones and White but we can't let Tony get open.