This team would be absolutely scary with this "happy medium"

[Marguide]

There is one huge and under-rated difference between now and 2011....the presence of Jeremy Shockey.

 

A 2nd viable TE added an element to the offense we don't have now. And although Olsen is a very good receiver, he lacks the toughness of Shock. 

 

Add in that Smith is a couple of years older, and that explains why our play calling is so much different this year. Now, if we add weapons and Shula still plays small ball, then it's all on him.

[IamSoClutch]

There is one huge and under-rated difference between now and 2011....the presence of Jeremy Shockey.

 

A 2nd viable TE added an element to the offense we don't have now. And although Olsen is a very good receiver, he lacks the toughness of Shock. 

 

Add in that Smith is a couple of years older, and that explains why our play calling is so much different this year. Now, if we add weapons and Shula still plays small ball, then it's all on him.

 

which is why i would take either Amaro, ebron, or Austin Jenkins with our first pick

[Cpt slay a ho]

Shula can't win with the fans here IMO, he gets bashed if he runs a control based O and he gets Bashed if he goes pass happy like he did vs buffalo

[pantherclaw]

Most defenses are keeping everything in front of them when playing us.

It's smart. As it keeps us from beating them deep (as long as ginn and others continue to drop the few chances they get) and it keeps Cam in front of them too.

[PiratePanther189]

Shula can't win with the fans here IMO, he gets bashed if he runs a control based O and he gets Bashed if he goes pass happy like he did vs buffalo

 

Which is why if you understand what I said, you may agree with me.

 

We've learned that Chud's out of control, pass happy, ridiculous offense didn't win games

We've learned that Shula's ball control, overly conservative offense is not how you beat potent teams that score a lot of points (which is the vast majority of the NFC playoff teams as Philly, NO, SEA, San Fran, and DET are all Top 10 in multiple offensive categories including points scored)

 

Therefore, based off of these lessons, if we mix our offense enough between a balanced running attack (and by balanced I mean utilizing all of our running weapons) and a downfield passing attack, we could be extremely scary. Teams like Seattle, Denver, Philly, and New England have proven that this approach works greatly.

 

Coupled with our defense, I think we really could be the best team in the league. What hampers us is the inability vary our attack on offense...I really think that's half the battle with our o-line too. The other half being that we do lack talent there. Defensive coaches have seen everything we do on tape. We don't change anything up at all.

[Cpt slay a ho]

Which is why if you understand what I said, you may agree with me.

 

We've learned that Chud's out of control, pass happy, ridiculous offense didn't win games

We've learned that Shula's ball control, overly conservative offense is not how you beat potent teams that score a lot of points (which is the vast majority of the NFC playoff teams as Philly, NO, SEA, San Fran, and DET are all Top 10 in multiple offensive categories including points scored)

 

Therefore, based off of these lessons, if we mix our offense enough between a balanced running attack (and by balanced I mean utilizing all of our running weapons) and a downfield passing attack, we could be extremely scary. Teams like Seattle, Denver, Philly, and New England have proven that this approach works greatly.

 

Coupled with our defense, I think we really could be the best team in the league. What hampers us is the inability vary our attack on offense...I really think that's half the battle with our o-line too. The other half being that we do lack talent there. Defensive coaches have seen everything we do on tape. We don't change anything up at all.

 

oh i get what your saying and it's on point ......at least for some of us but TBH fans here are waiting for shula to screw up so they can bring up the old tampa days or some other crap about him........ i'm guessing he's sticking with the winning recipe which is ball control and take care of the ball.

 

IMO the only thing shula lacks is a downfield/vertical passing attack everything else is gravy, but then i say that and i look back at all the passes cam missed deep which doesn't do shula's play-calling any justice along with dropped passes and piss poor blocking

[Delhommey]

There's only one player on our offense that teams even remotely plan for: Cam Newton.

[carolina-chuck]

Not a bad thought. Seriously.

 

Shula has built this offense one sided. Our secondary is so pathetic that the only way we're going to beat the Aints is in a shootout which we "did" last season: Wk2 (35-27) Wk17 (44-38).

 

 

[j2sgam]

Said it in another thread & Catman72 alluded to it, Panthers lead the league in 20+yd plays the last 2 years. This season, we're near the bottom...

Shula & Cam have tried a few times, not going to look it up right now, but what is our 20+ attempts this year vs the last 2? Throw it deep early & let them know we can & will. Should open up the ball-control game Shula has been succeeding with, mostly...

What he's been doing has worked so far, but I do think we will need to open it up a bit come January. It's a different ball game then. It's the best the league has to offer this year, need to give them the best we got this year too... Couple of deep passes could the the difference...

[SmashNDash]

There is one huge and under-rated difference between now and 2011....the presence of Jeremy Shockey.

 

A 2nd viable TE added an element to the offense we don't have now. And although Olsen is a very good receiver, he lacks the toughness of Shock. 

 

Add in that Smith is a couple of years older, and that explains why our play calling is so much different this year. Now, if we add weapons and Shula still plays small ball, then it's all on him.

Exactly this.  Cam seemed more comfortable his rookie year because he had two large receiving TE on the field to check down to.  You could tell a huge difference in his comfort level last year with only one.  With a QB who likes to throw high, I think getting Cam some height will be highly beneficial.  Not to mention the fact that being able to stay in 2 TE sets for a good part of the game gives you the option for power running, or all out passing, without completely giving away what you're doing based on formation.  

[Herbert The Love Bug]

We had like 4 straight games of 30+ points this season

Sent from my SCH-I545 using CarolinaHuddle mobile app

[Achilles]

The problem is the O-line coupled with a receiving core that is missing that true #1 kind of guy.  We have fine role players at WR and the O-line is servicable in most cases, but in order to beat a team like New Orleans, both of these areas have to be improved.  The Saints philosophy is predicated on the idea that the other team is likely going to be playing from behind and will be forced to throw the ball to score TDs.  Therefore, the bring a poo-load of pressure and hope that the results fall in their favor.  We played right into their hands for a number of reasons, not the least of which was that the coaching staff didn't seem to have a clue that this was going to happen (not to mention how even our LBs--and naturally our secondary--looked lost and confused).

 

There have been games where we did have the kind of balance the OP is referring to, namely the New England game.  We had some long monster drives in that game while holding the Pats to a mere 6 possessions.  This is how you beat high powered offenses.

 

So we laid an egg in the Superdome.  We gotta take care of business and beat the Jets (not a terrible teams, but not great either) which we should do because we are at home.  Then we get another crack at the Saints outdoors, with revenge on our minds, and the home fans behind us.

 

No team is perfect.  Every team had its weaknesses.  It just so happened that the Saints exploited the hell out of ours and we were caught flat footed and unprepared.  Hopefully the team will grow as a result.

[panthers55]

In 2012 we averaged 22.3 points a game. In 2013 we are averaging 22.9 points a game. Which is more than last year. Tell me how many times we came back from a big deficit to win late last year. Where were we different? We. Are averaging 5 yards a play this year and averaged 8 yards last year. The biggest difference is twice as many big passing plays which keep the safeties deep and help the running game. Why are we throwing shorter than last year? Look no further than the right side of the line. This team is really 5 players away from being dominant. 2 of those guys are on the right side of the line.

[QCpantherCT]

We need to get Kenjon Barber on the field....we gotta try to get guys like him with playmaking speed on the field......8 min scoring drives are great but we need to be able to strike quick too....love our squad, but lets face it, Smith, Lafell, and Olsen are just not that fast....gotta mix in some speed with those guys on the field.....