Conversion of offense is bumpy ride

[Zod]

Jeff Davidson is trying to make big changes in the Panthers' offense, one small step at a time.Eventually, there will be a number of differences between his approach and the one favored by former offensive coordinator Dan Henning, starting with a shift from a man-blocking approach to a zone-blocking scheme.Although the installation can't happen overnight, it almost seemed to have done so in Carolina's exhibition opener against the Giants; the Panthers' offense appeared to do whatever it wanted in that victory. But losses at Philadelphia and against New England followed, and it was clear that changing the team's mind-set and philosophy would take time."They didn't come in here and give us all magic pills this year; this offense, you don't wave a magic wand and all of a sudden it's going to work," said guard Mike Wahle. "You have to make it work, and you have to believe it can work."As Davidson left the practice field Tuesday, he was asked how he thought the conversion was progressing. The gist of his response was it's too early to tell."Each day that I think we're ahead, we fall back a little," he said. "And each day that I think we're behind, we push forward a little bit."Davidson stressed that while the offense made a number of plays against New York, it also had its moments during the next two games. The difficulty is finding consistency."Naturally, each game was going to be a little bit different for us to find out what we are going to be in the regular season," he said. "Some of it's by design; some of it is we made plays; we made more plays in (the Giants game) than we did in the other two."One of the problems has been that right guard Jeremy Bridges, a projected starter who was in the lineup against the Giants, has not played with the first team since. Bridges is suspended for the first two regular-season games, and the Panthers must find a group that works well without him."This is not supposed to be negative toward anybody, but we're trying to find our best five that are available for the first game, and that's the mind-set we have to take," said Davidson, who at about 6-foot-6 appears able to fill in for Bridges himself. "I'm not worried about Game 3 at this point; I'm worried about Game 1."While trying to find that line combination for the opener at St. Louis on Sept. 9, the Panthers shifted center Justin Hartwig to right guard for the Philadelphia game. They quickly moved him back to center."We feel he's more comfortable, and it's more so that we're more comfortable with him there," Davidson said.He added that the only way he knows to install his offense is by working on one small aspect of it each day, getting that right and then moving on to the next one."We've tried to take an area of focus each day on something we want to get better at, and some days we've gotten better and some days we haven't," he said. "I guess if I ever stepped back and tried to assess the big picture, maybe I would get frustrated, but I'm not. I'm trying to take the approach of working on something little each day."When those little things add up and the sum is consistency and effective execution, Davidson might allow himself some satisfaction."We have a number of playmakers, and when I refer to playmakers, some of those guys are lined up on the offensive line," he said. "They can make plays happen, too. We've got guys that can do it; we have to get consistent at making sure it shows up on the field."Notes• The Panthers made a handful of roster moves to get to the NFL's 75-player limit. Running back Marlion Jackson was waived and receiver Justin McCullum was waived with an injury settlement. Receiver Josh Davis was placed on the non-football illness reserve list. Quarterback Brett Basanez and defensive end Rondell Biggs were placed on the injured-reserve list. The Panthers must have their roster to 53 by Saturday afternoon. -- Pat Yasinskas• The Steelers returned about 300 tickets for Thursday night's game. Those tickets are available on a first-come first-served basis at the Bank of America Stadium box office and through Ticketmaster. -- p.y.Next GameSTEELERS AT PANTHERS8 p.m. ThursdayTV: WCCB (Ch. 18)TICKETS: Pittsburgh gave up 300 tickets, and they are available first-come first-served. Contact the Panthers ticket office at 704-358-7800 or e-mail ticketinfo @panthers. nfl.com for more details.MORE NFL, 5C

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[Duekster]

So where is Mathis? Bench?

[Mintal]

I have no comment on this article as I agree with it and have been told that my take is BS, so this article must be BS as well...

[panthers55]

It just confirms what some of us have been saying. They are still installing the offense, it is a work in progress, and will take some time even perhaps into the season until they hit their stride. It reaffirms that the O-line is in flux and will be until Bridges comes back and that what we look like in a few weeks may be different than now.

Unless of course Davidson is hedging his bets, making excuses, and lying about the offensive philosophy and scheme.

[engine9]

I'm glad that Davidson is being realistic about the team. It's a refreshing change of pace. Hopefully he gets enough time to implement what he wants to try to do (before Cowher takes over and fires him ) Nice to hear him say "we need work" and that be exactly what I'm seeing too. Even better is that he is positive about it and is trying to prepare the offense, not just throw something out there with some BS about how our line is interchangeable.

[carolinarolls]

At least he is being honest about it. The team definitely "needs some work".

I wonder how this effects the "we'll be fine when it counts" theory???

[panthers55]

Originally Posted by carolinarolls

At least he is being honest about it. The team definitely "needs some work".

I wonder how this effects the "we'll be fine when it counts" theory???

That is why they play the game. To see who ends up making plays and who doesn't. All the coaches can do is prepare the players and install the plan. The players determine if it is executed or not.

Will we be fine? We will see in a few weeks!