Mike Tanier (Football Outsiders) weighs in

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Same old story from the same old huddle.

Blaming the coaching staff for mistakes by players.

The Huddle is full of a bunch of "in the stand" coaches who think they know more than an NFL coach when in reality they couldn't even make it as a high school football coach.

Acting like you know more than an NFL coaching staff is not only foolish but it makes you look ignorant.

[*FreeFua*]

The Panthers coaching staff also took a bow. On third-and-1 at the Seahawks 34, midway through the third quarter, Ron Rivera and Mike Shula took Cam Newton out of shotgun, lined Williams up in the backfield, and executed the most predictable, stoppable off-tackle run imaginable. The Panthers punted, setting up the unsportsmanlike conduct penalty that allowed the Seahawks to get their offensive act together.

Obviously he got the spot of the ball wrong but I think he's talking about the drive that on first down Newton completed a 8 yard pass to Smitty, then on 2nd and 2 and 3rd and 1 gave Deangelo two cracks at it but failed of course. It was at this point I realized our offense is in trouble this year. After seeing a play not work on 2nd and 2, Shula went right back to basically the same simple run play and Deangelo got stuffed. Deangelo is not going to fight and get you that extra yard so why on earth not give Tolbert a go when it's 3rd and 1 or have Cam just fall forward. I would have had no problem seeing the read option on one of these plays.

Don't be happy because we hung in there with Seattle. We hung in there with just about everyone las year and that didn't mean poo. Last year I was in the fire Rivera club but after seeing alot of off season interviews and hearing all the players defend him, I got suckered into liking Rivera as a person and thought he's smart enough to know he needs to change his ways. Well clearly he has not changed one bit and something needs to be done ASAP before we have another 7-9 season.

[Fiz]

you can set your watch to aceboogie having the wrong opinion. 

 

 

[AviationMX]

A more positive spin from the B/R power rankings:

Differential: 0

Losing to the Seattle Seahawks isn't something to be ashamed about, especially when you hold them to 12 points. Cam Newton and co. were only able to get seven points of their own against a top-tier Seattle defense, but there was a lot to like in this contest.

Cam Newton looked solid as a passer, and Steve Smith flourished in Mike Shula's offense. On defense, the front four lived in the Seattle Seahawks' backfield all day. Shoring up some small problems—improving the offensive line and cornerback play, notably—will be key in moving up the board. But there's promise here.

 

~Joe W

 

[poorboysrev]

That punt return blunder/fumble in the 3rd quarter was what took the wind out of us. We would've gotten the ball on the 50.

[panthers55]

So you wonder if we'd rather have the 2011 Rivera or the 2012 version?

No I like the 2013 version so far. I didnt think he made any mistakes and his challenge was a good one.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I'll never understand why people put so much time into posts about how we should have done this and not that or if only Rivera did this.

At the end of the day, your opinion doesn't matter because JR ain't logging on to The Huddle anytime soon.

Quit being an "in the stands" coach and just focus on pulling for the Panthers.

If we dedicated as much time to the team as we do trying to be armchair coaches then maybe we would actually have a solid fan base.

The bottom line is, no one wants to hear your bitching over something that you have no control over.

[panthers55]

If you had told me before yesterday that Deangelo would have 5 yards a carry, we would hold Lynch under 50 yds, and we'd hold Seattle to 12 points I would 've said we'd win. Stupid penalties and turnovers were the difference. Our running game looked really good(minus the fumble), our oline held up well(run and pass), and Cam made good decisions. Shula just needs to turn Cam loose more and I think we could have something.

Shula did call deep shots. Cam just needs to trust the o line and his receivers which will come with playing time.

[CRA]

I'll never understand why people put so much time into posts about how we should have done this and not that or if only Rivera did this.

At the end of the day, your opinion doesn't matter because JR ain't logging on to The Huddle anytime soon.

Quit being an "in the stands" coach and just focus on pulling for the Panthers.

If we dedicated as much time to the team as we do trying to be armchair coaches then maybe we would actually have a solid fan base.

The bottom line is, no one wants to hear your bitching over something that you have no control over.

Actually, Carolina played that game exactly as the collective Huddle begged and pleaded they do all off season....

[d-dave]

I'm going to have to go with what Zod has said repeatedly regarding our offensive offense yesterday.  If you don't score, you don't win.  Our D really did play well until the 4th quarter, but frankly, we needed to score in those first three offensive drives.  No excuses. Every team has mistakes made, dropped balls, fumbles, pics, but when your D is playing that well, you've got to put the points on the board.

 

I think we saw what is very special about Russell Wilson.  Beat him up all day, yet he was still extending plays, and making ridiculous throws.  I had a very bad feeling when Wilson hit that 13 yard side line throw (which probably would have ended up incomplete 99/100 except for a fantastic catch).  While Cam took what the D gave him, we didn't make too many mistakes, we still only had 7 points on the board.  Play safe or play to win?  You could argue that is we'd played to win, that would have been the time where we could have seen an interception from Cam, or a sack/fumble while he waited to make a play.  

 

I, along with many of you, hope that this was a strong lesson for the coaching staff.  You can't make Cam a game manager.  You can't expect to run the ball to win all the time.  You have to take measured risks, and sometimes those risks will bite you back, hard.  We do need to run the ball well, use the Play Action passing game to attack down field.  We've got to give that D a reason to attack, and not play safe.  

 

There were a lot of good things out of yesterday's game.  I'm disappointed it ended the way it did, but its only the first game of the season.  If this tentative offense continues, then we're going to have some real problems winning in our division.  The Saints and Falcons have QBs who can pick you apart, and if you can't keep up, you're done.

 

Here's to hoping for a new game plan come Buffalo.  They looked lively against the Pats, and we need to come back to life.

[CRA]

Shula did call deep shots. Cam just needs to trust the o line and his receivers which will come with playing time.

On think it was the D and not that Shula suddenly wants to dial.

Newton back.

Newton dialed back his deep balls last year when Chud called the game against Seattle. Going deep on Earl Thomas, Sherman, etc isn't the wisest move.

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

Actually, Carolina played that game exactly as the collective Huddle begged and pleaded they do all of season....

And now those same members are bitching about how the game was called yesterday, and how Cam didn't take shots down the field (but took what the defense gave him), and how Rivera didn't go for it on 4th down (in our own territory with the lead).

Makes sense...

[Happy Panther]

Everybody stop bitching. Your only job is to keep cheering for a crappy team.

 

 

[BelgianPantherFan]

Do you see anyone other than Smitty catch that sideline pass from Wilson to Baldwin 2nd half? Cam just didn't have enough confidence in his receivers against that Seattle secondary, so he chose the safer options. Granted, Olsen didn't help him gain confidence.