Lafell: separation and getting open?

[Happy Panther]

I promised in another thread to lock in on Lafell live at the game yesterday to see if he was struggling to get open or what? Cam has obviously not been getting him the ball for whatever reason and it is hard to tell on TV since the camera goes elsewhere.

 

I started watching him at around 11:38 in the 2nd period, specifically on 2nd an 8.

 

On this play, Lafell from the slot makes a hitch and go move on the left side and has his guy beat to the endzone. Cam doesn't see him but locks in on Olsen for an incompletion.

 

3rd and 8, Lafell runs an inside post over the middle and is wide open. His defender has cheated over to cover smith. Cam throws an ill advised pass to Smith in double coverage and Smith catches it anyway. 1st down.

 

The next play, Lafell runs a short stick to the right side and Cam finally gets him. He turns and gets 17 yards.

 

I continued watching and Lafell was constantly open. He was getting good separation. People in my section were starting to yell, LAFELL IS OPEN.

 

Then as you know something clicked and he ended up with two touchdowns. Not sure if the coaches alerted Cam or if he just figured it out.

 

Lafell was targeted 5 times and caught 3 with 2TDs. He should have had a 4th catch but got pelted in the head by the safety coming from the outside. Hard ball to hold onto.

 

He also could have played defender on the interception but Cam could have also helped there.

 

Other guys were open too so I am not sure if the Giants secondary just sucked. Cam's progressions seemed to get better as the game went on and he was finding open guys as opposed to locking in which he did in the first quarter.

 

[*FreeFua*]

Fox showed a replay of the first Lafell TD but zoomed in on Smitty. Smith threw his arms up in the air because he beat his man and didn't get the ball. Even after Lafell caught the TD, smith just turned to the bench with his arms up giving the impression he was mad he didn't get the ball. Even my dad (not a panthers fan, just enjoys watching football) was like "what's he so mad about"?

I could see Cam feeling the need to press and get the ball to Smith to make him happy. Some of you may roast me for this because I'm kind of making an assumption but go back and watch after the first Lafell TD and tell me what you think.

[*FreeFua*]

Also thanks for the observations Happy Panther, ill admit I've been on and off the LaFell bandwagon. It was awesome to see him grab 2 TD's yesterday.

[hepcat]

By the time the Panthers went up 24-0, the Giants had given up.

[Doyle]

Fox showed a replay of the first Lafell TD but zoomed in on Smitty. Smith threw his arms up in the air because he beat his man and didn't get the ball. Even after Lafell caught the TD, smith just turned to the bench with his arms up giving the impression he was mad he didn't get the ball. Even my dad (not a panthers fan, just enjoys watching football) was like "what's he so mad about"?

I could see Cam feeling the need to press and get the ball to Smith to make him happy. Some of you may roast me for this because I'm kind of making an assumption but go back and watch after the first Lafell TD and tell me what you think.

 

I caught that as well but I thought once he saw the TD scored that was the end of it.

[TheRumGone]

Fox showed a replay of the first Lafell TD but zoomed in on Smitty. Smith threw his arms up in the air because he beat his man and didn't get the ball. Even after Lafell caught the TD, smith just turned to the bench with his arms up giving the impression he was mad he didn't get the ball. Even my dad (not a panthers fan, just enjoys watching football) was like "what's he so mad about"?

I could see Cam feeling the need to press and get the ball to Smith to make him happy. Some of you may roast me for this because I'm kind of making an assumption but go back and watch after the first Lafell TD and tell me what you think.

 

i noticed that too but i also noticed when he realized lafell caught the td he kept his arms up and looked like he was celebrating

[ok2h8pep]

Fox showed a replay of the first Lafell TD but zoomed in on Smitty. Smith threw his arms up in the air because he beat his man and didn't get the ball. Even after Lafell caught the TD, smith just turned to the bench with his arms up giving the impression he was mad he didn't get the ball. Even my dad (not a panthers fan, just enjoys watching football) was like "what's he so mad about"?

I could see Cam feeling the need to press and get the ball to Smith to make him happy. Some of you may roast me for this because I'm kind of making an assumption but go back and watch after the first Lafell TD and tell me what you think.

 

I saw the same thing on Fox's coverage (they had a camera isolated on Smitty for that play).  It's hard to know for sure because Lafell was not in the screen but it sure looked like Smitty was pissed off (raised arms indicative of 'wtf?') even after Lafell caught the touchdown.

 

Also I'm gonna add right here that it was 3 minutes into Foxes live game coverage, all on the Giants, before we got a quick 10 second mention of anything Panthers related.  You would have thought it was a home game for the Giants based on those announcers.

 

Also the after game coverage was all "NY failed" versus "Panthers excelled".  No surprise but I got a laugh out of it all.

[Cary Kollins]

Seemed to me that Lafell wasn't exactly open on some of his catches, but he was one on one and Cam placed the ball perfectly.

That's the trick. The WR isn't always going to be wide open, it's up to the WR to make a play on the ball and also the QB to give the WR a chance to make a play.

[natty]

Cam definitely got better with his progressions as the game when on.  This, an his accuracy, is still an issue he needs to work on but yesterday showed how he can still be an extremely effective QB while he gets it all together.  It takes time.  

[Khaki Lackey]

i noticed that too but i also noticed when he realized lafell caught the td he kept his arms up and looked like he was celebrating

That's what I got out of it.

[SOJA]

LaFell played yesterday like I thought he was going to play this season. Let's hope he continues to show up, because Smitty is clearly not the man he used to be. 

 

(Note: I love Steve. He's my favorite player of all time, but it's blind homerism not to see he isn't what he once was. Not saying he is bad, just not as dominant as he used to be)

[Cyberjag]

So this may be a touchy question, but does Smith demand targets a little too much?  And if so, is that a contributing reason why we've never been able to develop a number two while he's been here?

 

Not suggesting it's true, but I'm curious about what the board thinks.

[rayzor]

yeah, i didn't take it as smith complaining about not getting the ball. zod may have had a better vantage point, but what i saw was celebration.

 

 

re: lafell/cam....i don't know what the reason was for it, but the chemistry between the two of them definitely improved and both did a better job after that one miscommunication betewen them.

[mav1234]

i noticed that too but i also noticed when he realized lafell caught the td he kept his arms up and looked like he was celebrating

I thought he was putting his arms up either to indicate he was open or for a penalty, then he kinda seemed to straighten them a bit when he saw Lafell make the catch.