Much More Confident About NE Than SF

[MadHatter 9,561]

Yeah, I don't feel good about this match up. They've got weapons on offense and Brady is still a good QB. On paper, we should be able to thrash New England's D, especially since Mayo and Wilfork are on IR and Talib is wounded but paper isn't trustworthy. Either way, they're gonna stack the box. Dink-and-Dunk time.

Mitchell, Lester, Mikell, Florence, White and Munnerlyn are gonna have to play out of their minds again cuz I sense Brady and company will negate our pass rush. Kuechly and Davis can only do some much in coverage. So our secondary is gonna have to step up.

 

It is not their offensive weapons that scare me (they are mediocre)....nor even Brady's execution (he is playing just OK this seasoN) that scares me.....it is Belichik having 2 weeks to put in a scheme to counter our pass rush.  I still think we can get some pressure on Brady, but I do not expect to see a beat down like we gave Kaep.

 

I hate the guy...but he has a knack for coming up with something that works.

 

We must play disciplined defense....watch out for the screens and TE....and pound the rock on offense.  If we do these things (and I think we will) I believe we will win.

[CharlottePanther 904]

People seem to think we are going up against the Brady of the past, the MVP QB rating in the high 120s Brady.. But we arent. I bet most of you dont realize Cam's QB rating is about 15 pts higher than Brady's this year. They lost to the Jets and Bengals away and are 2-2 on the road. Sorry, San Fran was a much bigger challenge.

[BuffaloBills62 314]

I would be much more, well I hate to use the word worried, but you know...about the Patriots.

 

Belicheck will have a stout gameplan and it is very easy to scheme for the Panthers.  Keep Newton from getting set, crush the pocket with 4 guys and keep cover 1 at the very least.  Make Newton throw to the hashes from outside of the pocket and limit those passes to 8 yards.  Eventually, this will break the passing game.  Carolina must have some screens, play action and over the middle routes.  That is not playing to the Carolina offense as much as it needs to be to beat the Pats.  TE up the seam should be there all day.  Williams must be sent up the middle of the OL many times - Wilfork and Mayo are gone.

 

On D the Panthers don't need to have the very best DB's.  They need a multi level approach.  Do not worry about sacking Brady, you can only do that in coverage sacks.  His presense in the pocket is something of awe, but has fallen off a lot.  With a 3 or 4 man rush you'll get in his throwing lanes and get those DL to have their arms up.  He throws a low ball - and throws it often.  Amendola doing his crossing routes over the middle will be the passes you'll deflect and the passes you'll lose the YAC on.  Batting those pretty passes back in Brady's face really pisses him off, too.  You'll see it when he starts to hang his head a lot.  If his head is down late in the game you still don't call it over.  He is king of the field and will quickly turn it around and jam it in your throat.  Brady sees things that others do not, and he will put the ball in a place to let his WR's make the catch.  I fear Keuchly may have a large work load to carry this Monday and that is worry for me.  If you attack his aggression on the run you can quickly get him swallowed in the play.  If Keuchly is lost in the wash Brady will dump it to the RB.  I could go on and on in awe of what the Pats do on offense - they throw a lot at you, get traffic all over the field and throw a dart right between your eyes when you are staring straight at it with both arms full.

 

So, what must Carolina do on defense?  Pressure Brady and keep his feet from getting settled.  Should not be a problem with this DL.  Give Keek an extra bowl of Wheatties and tell him to kill anything between the ends.  Your outside cover guys will not have to worry too much about the sweeps and wide runs but they'll be full with quick screens and dump offs.  They must be disciplined.  Your DB's must play smart football and know that at any given moment their guy already has them beat and they can't take one step off.  The FS must not let anyone get a better angle on him or deeper then he is playing.

 

I have said it all week to people I work with - Carolina should win this game when you look at it strategically.  NE is the worst "good" team out there.  And if Carolina wins this game and holds some momentum then they're going to make a strong playoff push and still might end up as a wildcard.  But, with confidence and a hot streak going come playoff time the Panthers could make it a few games in.  This game is going to determine the rest of the season, not because it is the Patriots and they are supposed to be the best and revered for being amazing - but because this is put up or shut up time.  If the Panthers win this it will ring a few notes down the pipe of the NFC.  It won't be Seattle and New Orleans as the top teams.  You'll have to include Carolina.    Green Bay, Chicago and many other NFC teams are not playing the football that Carolina is.  This is not the same team that lost to the Seahawks and Bills early on.  They'd most likely beat the Bills if they played again.  They'd not lose to the Seahawks, either.  This team is getting better and is good enough to win in spite of Newton regressing at this point.  That says a lot.

 

 

Better I know our Dline will bring the heat and honestly brady hasn't been anything special this season...

It's still Brady and he'll do magical things with refs giving him the most preferential treatment in the world.  In your world the Saint gets a lot of calls their way.  In the Patriots world, they get almost all the calls their way.

[Seal (SmittyIsOurSavior) 1,677]

We can still lose to anyone and I realize that, but I do like our chances in this one.

But then again, it seems as if we've won all the games I thought we'd lose...

[panthers55 5,719]

Lets remember that even against Pittsburgh with NE being at home, the game was tied 24-24 with 7 minutes left in the third quarter.  NE was not blowing them out by any means and Pittsburgh had scored 10 points to tie it up before the wheels fell off.  Everyone points to that output as what the Patriots can do and honestly that was an abberation not the norm.  Lets be real here does anyone think Brady puts up 600 yards of offense on us like he did against Pittsburgh??  I doubt it is more than half that.  Against Cincy on the road they put up 6 points and had 86 yards rushing and 223 yards passing.  Sounds about right.

[panthers55 5,719]

Given that NE had a 12 game winning streak against the AFC East before the jets beat them in overtime, I can see how Buffalo fans would be worried about Brady.  Honestly Seattle is and was a better team than NE this year.  And if we played them today at home, I think we would win.

[dksmith17 90]

It is not their offensive weapons that scare me (they are mediocre)

dood, no

 

Gronk is all time good. Amendola when healthy is better than now-Welker. Vereen is a freak in the flats and adds a whole dimension we haven't seen with Gronk. Dobson is physically elite and is coming around. Edelman, Ridley, have their moments. 

 

We have seen Gronk + Amendola back together for 1 game and they set a scoring record vs the Steelers. We haven't yet seen Gronk + Amendola + Vereen.

[Coug Girl 161]

I just don't like how Belichick has extra time to scheme for this one. We seem to be getting some of our toughest back to back games (SF/NE) when these teams are coming off of byes, with extra time to scheme, and guys coming back from injuries/suspensions.

But, hopefully the Bank will be rocking loud and us fans can be an extra factor for our teams side.

[SZ James (banned) 5,606]

I remember a thread asking which game would be easier to win and I said the Patriots

I changed my mind and I think we will have more matchup difficulties. We can't win this game with defense. They will wear out fast if the offense can't get it done and then poo will hit the fan.

[BuffaloBills62 314]

Yeah that win you guys got when we lost our entire secondary still smarts....

 

 

That said the Panther defense has progressively gotten better... and if there was ever a year to play Brady with arguably the best defense in football this would be it...

 

We were playing our 4th CB, and our starting SS at the other CB.  Our SS was Leonhard, which meant our 4th S was now starting.

 

in other words:  CB's:  Gilmore out, McKelvin out, Brooks out.  S:  Byrd out, FS Aaron Williams to CB.  Jim Leonhard played SS which is normally Aaron Williams position, but with Byrd out it made more sense for this considering Leonhard joined the team a week earlier.

 

CB's were Aaron Williams, a 6th CB by default and Justin Brooks who was 5th.  S became Leonhard (3rd on depth) and Searcy (4th on depth).

 

We also had Robey get banged up in the game, and he was a package back.

 

Not trying rehash the game, but both side had horrible DB's that game.  I'd never seen anything like it - two teams starting entire units with backups because the starters were out.  If Keuchly hadn't held  Steve Johnson the Panthers would have won.

[PantherFanOne 692]

We’ve shown we can put up 30+ points fairly reliably. But the Pats just showed that this offense can be deadly if given the chance. Could the Panthers win by 10? Sure, I have no trouble seeing that kind of outcome. Could the Panthers lose by 10? Absolutely. Tom’s a smart enough quarterback to expose weaknesses in the secondary. While I’m over the moon for our defense, it’s not perfect. I really like Robert Lester- but at times he takes some really bad angles towards the ball carrier. Sometimes he tries an arm tackle against a HOF TE and gets torched. Sometimes Cap’n can’t keep up on a crossing route or sometimes he drops the easiest of INTs. Sometimes Kuechly is actually just out of position, or blocked straight out of a play.

So this could go either way for sure. All these things never really happen all at once. And they’re not all that common. Anytime Tom Brady is the opposing quarterback, though, I think you just throw the stats out the window and just say “This is going to be one heck of a game.

I personally like our chances. I think the defense will be ready. And our defense is good enough to give us a chance in ANY game. Our offense is also capable of grinding out long methodical drives. It’s also possible that the SF game was so emotional and intense that maybe we just come out flat after facing teams back to back coming off a bye. We’ll see on Monday. Can’t wait!

[Trenches 2]

You guys should feel less confident.. for obvious reasons..

 

TOM BRADY > Colin Kaepernick, not even close

Stevan Ridley > Frank Gore right now

Brandon Bolden and LeGarrette Blount > LaMichael James, not even close

SHANE VEREEN > ?

ROB GRONKOWKSI > Vernon Davis

Danny Amendola > Mario Manningham

AARON DOBSON'S CEILING > Anquan Boldin's current

Kenbrell Thompkins > ???

Julian Edelman > ????

 

Just too many weapons, too much versatility, variety, flavor and explosiveness... and way more talent offensively

 

Deadly offense, more deadly then Denver.. as great as your defense is, the New England Offense is EVEN GREATER.. I assure you.