Game Grades - Panthers at Saints

[Zod]

Question. Would you rather have the bad day now? Or in January. Its good to lose, teams need a reality check.

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I'd rather have lost to the jets.

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[SpeedOFLight]

Question. Would you rather have the bad day now? Or in January. Its good to lose, teams need a reality check.

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This was my point in other threads. I rather get this ugly lost out of the way so we can learn from it and adjust. We will be fine. We just won 8 in a row (franchise record) yet people are calling for people's heads. I look forward to next sunday.

[xclr82xtc]

agreed on all grades.. they played piss poor unmotivated football..

 

AND SINCE WHEN DO WE HELP SAINTS GET UP????????

[AceBoogie]

LaFell got nice separation on a good route at the goal line towards the end of the game when Cam threw an incompletion to the left corner of the end zone to Ginn.

That ball would have been a pick six. The cb was in position to jump it.

[Captroop]

I can't find a better thread for this so I'll just leave this here rather than spam the forum with a new thread:

 

My thoughts on Last Night (*cue fireworks*):

1. It was an ugly game, and yeah it sucks that once again we shat the bed in the national spotlight, but outside of one abysmal quarter, we played competitively. The defense held them to 10 in the second half (which ain't that easy). And while our offense was lackluster in the second half, but it's almost impossible to catch up with the Saints Freight Train when it gets a head of steam going.
2. I've said it a hundred times, it seems, but: Division Games Mean NOTHING in terms of how good or bad your team is. Divisional rivals know better than anyone how to exploit the weaknesses of their divisional rivals, and any given Sunday, the weakest team in the league can make their divisional rival their prison sissy.
3. The Rematch is a Test for our Coaches: The coaches have two weeks to find New Orleans' weaknesses, and come up with a gameplan to exploit them. And we saw them up close, and in person, so they have a much better chance of doing so now than before (or at least we have no excuse for not doing so).
4. We aren't done yet! We still have a shot at the division title. That might come as a shock to some of the sad sacks in here today. The Saints are playing an angry Rams team that isn't as bad as their record indicates, and a resurgent Tampa Bay that would love to play spoiler. We've got the crashing Jets, the birdshot-laden Falcons, and our "The Rematch." We can still take this division if we win out, which we are totally capable of doing.
5. We played in the dome, now they play in the elements. Yeah, they had the loudest stadium, they had their perfect conditions, they had Canal Street outside where visiting players contract the airborne syphilis to which they have built up an immunity, and could play their kind of game. Well guess what, in two weeks, they get to play in our house, outside, away from their nice cozy hobbit hole, where there is wind, and where your digits feel cold, and where all 3 of their losses this season have come from so far.  Outside, where the mighty Saints record is a paltry 3-3. We have a 50% chance of winning already, plus it's will be colder, plus we will be angrier.
6. The Rematch is a Test for our Fans: Nay, this is a challenge to our fans. They picked the game against us to try to set the record for loudest stadium, so on the cold, cold day in Charlotte in late December, we need to make BoA just as hospitable.

We can beat NO at home, and we WILL beat NO at home. We can and we will still win the NFC South. Mark it down.

[CatMan72]

You hit the nail on the head, the "let's rush 4 and dare Brees to beat us with his arm" strategy was puzzling to say the least - I guess we grossly overestimated our ability to get pressure on Brees. 

 

Hard to say what went wrong on offense without watching an all-22 reel from the endzone perspective, but Bell is clearly the weak link in our offensive line and it's probably time to give Chandler a long look at that spot. 

[CatMan72]

I can't find a better thread for this so I'll just leave this here rather than spam the forum with a new thread:

 

My thoughts on Last Night (*cue fireworks*):

1. It was an ugly game, and yeah it sucks that once again we shat the bed in the national spotlight, but outside of one abysmal quarter, we played competitively. The defense held them to 10 in the second half (which ain't that easy). And while our offense was lackluster in the second half, but it's almost impossible to catch up with the Saints Freight Train when it gets a head of steam going.
2. I've said it a hundred times, it seems, but: Division Games Mean NOTHING in terms of how good or bad your team is. Divisional rivals know better than anyone how to exploit the weaknesses of their divisional rivals, and any given Sunday, the weakest team in the league can make their divisional rival their prison sissy.
3. The Rematch is a Test for our Coaches: The coaches have two weeks to find New Orleans' weaknesses, and come up with a gameplan to exploit them. And we saw them up close, and in person, so they have a much better chance of doing so now than before (or at least we have no excuse for not doing so).
4. We aren't done yet! We still have a shot at the division title. That might come as a shock to some of the sad sacks in here today. The Saints are playing an angry Rams team that isn't as bad as their record indicates, and a resurgent Tampa Bay that would love to play spoiler. We've got the crashing Jets, the birdshot-laden Falcons, and our "The Rematch." We can still take this division if we win out, which we are totally capable of doing.
5. We played in the dome, now they play in the elements. Yeah, they had the loudest stadium, they had their perfect conditions, they had Canal Street outside where visiting players contract the airborne syphilis to which they have built up an immunity, and could play their kind of game. Well guess what, in two weeks, they get to play in our house, outside, away from their nice cozy hobbit hole, where there is wind, and where your digits feel cold, and where all 3 of their losses this season have come from so far.  Outside, where the mighty Saints record is a paltry 3-3. We have a 50% chance of winning already, plus it's will be colder, plus we will be angrier.
6. The Rematch is a Test for our Fans: Nay, this is a challenge to our fans. They picked the game against us to try to set the record for loudest stadium, so on the cold, cold day in Charlotte in late December, we need to make BoA just as hospitable.

We can beat NO at home, and we WILL beat NO at home. We can and we will still win the NFC South. Mark it down.

 

Yup, the Rams game is by no means a gimmie... they are a very physical team and therefore a bad matchup for the Saints on the road, even in a dome. 

[Fox007]

The defensive game plan was almost stupid enough to warrant being fired due to insanity...

 

Showed us another example of the man who used to be on the hot seat....that better be the last time we see that.

[LinvilleGorge]

You hit the nail on the head, the "let's rush 4 and dare Brees to beat us with his arm" strategy was puzzling to say the least - I guess we grossly overestimated our ability to get pressure on Brees. 

 

Hard to say what went wrong on offense without watching an all-22 reel from the endzone perspective, but Bell is clearly the weak link in our offensive line and it's probably time to give Chandler a long look at that spot. 

 

If we moved Chandler to RT, who would then play RG?  I think that if we were gonna make a change at RT, we would've done it after the Buffalo game.  At this point, I don't see it happening. 

 

[CatMan72]

If we moved Chandler to RT, who would then play RG?  I think that if we were gonna make a change at RT, we would've done it after the Buffalo game.  At this point, I don't see it happening. 

 

 

I'd plug Hangartner in, infact I think Hangman got the start with Chandler @ RT for the Tampa game? Haven't had a chance to go back and watch that game, but I can't recall any major screw ups with that alignment? 

 

Buffalo game was early in the season, I'm sure they wanted to give Bell a chance to fix things and he shaped up for a while, but here we are again in week 14 talking about Bell getting used. 

 

Given the overall success we've had, we might just want to leave things as-is. It's worth noting after the Buffalo debacle (where he felt compelled to personally apologize to Rivera) Bell graded out as our best OL for the next few games according to PFF, so maybe this was just a bump in the road and Bell will bounce back with a couple of good performances in response? 

[footballisasport]

Glad to see you folks only operate in two modes, celebrate or disgusted.

The Panthers lost to a good team, just like they beat a good team in the Pats.

I don't believe this team needs to search for answers. They simply need to tighten up certain areas. It's to late to find replacements for the positions that are the teams biggest problems.

Two real things were revealed last night: Cam has no real go to Receivers like other teams. Smitty cannot be the only one, and the defense may not be as tight as some want to believe. The front seven did their part but the back guys reminded of the 2011 Panthers. They were leaving guys wa too open and had Drew throwing to any Receiver of his choice.

Defense must not have watched the Seahawks game from Monday.

[footballisasport]

I know some may upset that the Panthers lost to the Saints their division rival, but if this team is truly being groomed for SB success, the reality is every team is their enemy when they need to go through them to get to the next level and their friend when they can help get them to that level.

That is why as a Giants' fan I laugh at the Cowboy fans obsession with hating them.

[Big A]

Yup, the Rams game is by no means a gimmie... they are a very physical team and therefore a bad matchup for the Saints on the road, even in a dome.

Angry Rams team? Bad Matchup? Not saying this game is a gimme, but maybe y'all haven't kept up with Rams lately, here is the beginning of the writeup about their last game:

With no Sam Bradford at quarterback the Rams have been trying to win games with Kellen Clemens under center. Though that created a couple of shocks against Indianapolis and at home to Chicago, the wheels have fallen off that wagon recently with losses to San Francisco and this latest defeat to the Cardinals.

The only two wins by Clemons last month were games with 8 and 9 completions. As of Sunday Rams are eliminated from playoffs and say they will start to play youth to see what they have and their only playmaker Tavon Austin is day to day, and people calling for end of "The Clemons Experiment" as it has failed. Not exactly this angry motivated matchup y'all are calling it.

[CatMan72]

Angry Rams team? Bad Matchup? Not saying this game is a gimme, but maybe y'all haven't kept up with Rams lately, here is the beginning of the writeup about their last game:

With no Sam Bradford at quarterback the Rams have been trying to win games with Kellen Clemens under center. Though that created a couple of shocks against Indianapolis and at home to Chicago, the wheels have fallen off that wagon recently with losses to San Francisco and this latest defeat to the Cardinals.

The only two wins by Clemons last month were games with 8 and 9 completions. As of Sunday Rams are eliminated from playoffs and say they will start to play youth to see what they have and their only playmaker Tavon Austin is day to day, and people calling for end of "The Clemons Experiment" as it has failed. Not exactly this angry motivated matchup y'all are calling it.

 

Not angry, physical ...and when a physical team asserts itself the Saints struggle - especially on the road. 

 

Saints will be playing to protect their 2nd seed and lead in the NFC South while the Rams will be playing the spoiler role, fast and loose, looking to make a name for themselves at the expense of the Saints. 

 

On paper the Saints should win this game, but games aren't played on paper and the overall physical nature of this Rams team (which Panthers fans saw first-hand) makes it a potentially bad matchup for the Saints.