top dawg

Yep, that was a defining moment.

I'm not piling on Wilks. I said that he's not our future HC, and I didn't stutter. He was already behind the eight ball, and today's game plan was destined to fail. Nary a one of you thinks that Wilks is going to be our HC next season. Not one of you.

You're not going to see much emotion out of Moore at all. That's not who he is...which some would say has been an ongoing issue since he's been here. Emotion on the sideline doesn't bother me at all, and I'm not going to use it to pile on a player.

You would see me throw it out.

What about the WR you've been ballyhooing? If you tell tell the truth, all the receivers are underperforming. Ask yourself what are the common denominators.

You have to play the hand you're dealt, but that doesn't mean playing scared.

Regardless of all the obvious excuses that one can muster for Wilks' performance, I haven't seen anything that makes me think that Wilks is head coaching material. Game-specific coaching sounds good and actually is good for coaches that know how to do it. Game planning around your strengths and the opposition's weaknesses is smart, but playing to your opponent's weaknesses just enough to keep them in the game, playing not to lose, and especially coddling a small lead in the first half or even the third and fourth quarters when your team is struggling offensively seems to be simply dumb. It speaks to situational play calling. Speaking of play calling...game planning...setting up a plan to just run and screen-pass (yes I'm using it as a verb) your way through the game and expect to win. Any defense worth its salt is going to figure you out because you're making things easy for them. You should be using the run to set up the pass and pass to set up the run. You must take some shots down the field to have any credibility. Talking about going to the well ten too many times.

Walker does look kinda terrible.

Well, he obviously shouldn't be playing him.

That could easily cost us the game

It's like they're playing scared. Not going to remove the Interim tag like that.

There is no Steve "Wilkes," people. His name is Steve Wilks. That is all.

If they're not letting Walker throw it beyond the line of scrimmage, why have him.out there?

I just don't see the need for a small RB. We could probably use him on some gadget plays though.

Damn straight! Pepsi Mango is a revelation.

I get it now, though I will say that we could trade for Singletary with the promise of an extension

Singletary has proven that he can be productive. Cook hasn't done poo TBH. The pick is the most important thing. Singletary ain't the biggest guy in the world, but Cook is even smaller. Cook's ceiling is probably 3rd-down back. Singletary has at least played every down and has years of NFL conditioning under his belt. Take a look. https://buffalowdown.com/2022/05/23/buffalo-bills-devin-singletary-running-back-rankings/

I actually respect striving for "the middle eight and final five." Sounds Belichickian. The rest of the stuff was very...collegiate. When you're not winning, something is obviously not working, and grown men are not going to buy in.

He has had help, just from the wrong people. He mentioned consultants, as well as spoke to a more conformist approach going forward. He didn't say he was necessarily "trying hard", in fact he wasn't really sentimental at all. He just said that he doesn't know it all, being that he's only been an owner for four years. I've heard people suggest that Tepper is akin to Jerry Jones, a supremely meddlesome owner who may think he knows more than he does, but other than giving Rhule an abnormally long and prosperous contract (which really only affects Tepper's purse), and giving this basic newb total control, he has let his staff do what they do. At least he doesn't sound like he'll go down that road again.

Good insight.

You're right, but I don't know who asked the question. Maybe someone more familiar with the voice can tell us.

I thought that it might be good to listen to David Tepper's press conference once again, just to see if I missed anything and/or could gather any fresh insights. There's nothing really major that I picked up, but I do have some thoughts. Tepper's demeanor during the conference was not as bad as I had originally believed. He seemed more frustrated than anything. Part of that was probably due to reporters trying to steer questions towards the past instead of the present. Yes, Tepper got a little defensive when asked about his firings of people within his organization, the failed HQ project, and the general failure of the Rhule era, but as a Panthers fan, I could really care less about that stuff. I want to know what he's going to do now. Whether he considers Charlotte FC a win, or bringing concerts to BoA stadium a win, or has rejuvenated eatery choices near the stadium doesn't matter to me...at all. All that may be a win for him, but it's not a win for the Panthers, so I "don't want want to hear that." Tepper said that it takes time to build a winner, but fans "don't want to hear that", but I'd rather hear that than him try to sell me on the fact that a few concerts, surrounding restaurants and a soccer team are a "win-win" situation because I am not buying it. To be fair, he didn't bring it up, Also, to be fair, Tepper expressly took responsibility for the current state of the team as the head of the organization. And, he did answer plenty, even if it wasn't what people wanted to hear, or as specific as some may have deemed. In my opinion, reporters should've kept the questions about the transition of the team as it directly relates to the present and future product on the field. Some did, and some tried to take it to a litany of failures. Tepper wasn't interested, and I don't think the bulk of Panthers fans were interested either. We should be focused on the future. For his part, Tepper was trying to talk of the future. He didn't come right out and say it, but I don't believe he'll be giving any untested college coaches any long term contracts in the future. Among other things, he did mention that of course he is still learning. He pointedly made the distinction between himself and others that had been owners for decades. He essentially admitted that they know more. He spoke of appreciating a measure of conformity, but still reserves the right to take risks in order to win. In some respect, I think that firing a coach midseason is out of the norm (though not necessarily beyond it), and Tepper has shown that he will do that when he feels that it's time. Some may look at it as impatience or too much patience as it were, but Tepper is rightFitterer says that patience a balancing act. His patience with Rhule was allowed to grow, but of course it grew thin, and now we're on to Steve Wilks to salvage a grounded ship taking on water. In regards to Wilks, I get the sense that Tepper wants to genuinely see what Wilks has, but I zeroed in on a couple of key points in regards to Wilks hanging on to the job after this season. Tepper said that Wilks was the "best person in the building" to essentially right the ship. He also said that if Wilks does an "incredible" job, then the coach may essentially be the best man for the job going forward. But, make no mistake, Wilks is going to have to show some progress. Tepper wouldn't put a number on anything, but in general he did basically say that progress is more than five wins two years in a row, so I'm thinking that that out of the twelve games left, that Wilks and company had better win half of them at the very least to appear credible in Tepper's eyes. But, that's my own thinking. "Incredible" sounds like a high bar to me, so I wouldn't exactly bet the house on Wilks, but of course I wish him the best. I think Tepper's going to give him a "fair" shake, whatever that looks like. One thing that I can't stress enough is that Tepper is very cognizant of limited and/or misused resources. He is keenly aware of and focused upon the way that the Panthers' capital has been managed and how that speaks to (and has spoken to) our success on the field. Scott Fitterer may as well be sitting in an uncomfortable, hard chair in a super dark room before a focused beam of light, with Tepper as the interrogator. Under Fitt's guidance, we may be "in on every deal" (which I like), but the in-on-every-deal mantra may be wearing thin with Tepper. Fitterer best be using our resources in a way that obviously benefits the team---basically, in a way that brings about winning. Tepper mentioned winning probably more than anything, but maximizing capital---including very important draft capital---was arguably the most important takeaway from Tepper's press conference, and the man under the microscope right now to that end is Scott Fitterer. I believe Fitterer will survive if Wilks survives. Will he survive if he doesn't? Listening to Tepper, I'm not so sure. We will see. Fitterer is under the microscope, yes, but so is everyone. Tepper said, "There's no place to hide." He was not only referring to the executives and coaches, but the players. I believe that this comment hasn't been mentioned enough in light of all the low-key sensationalism about his manner. But make no mistake, Tepper has his eyes on the players as well. Sure, Wilks may have put them on notice, but in my estimation Tepper put them on notice with that comment (and not simply Rhule's firing). So, TLDR: Tepper's presser demeanor was much ado about nothing; he doesn't desire to talk about the future, he gave answers related to the present, and said that the present will have direct repercussions towards the future. Rhule was fired because he didn't win. Wilks had better win. The management and allocation of resources, including draft capital, must be treated as a priority, and maybe Fitterer will be here and maybe he won't to that end. The remainder of the season will go a long way towards what happens with the GM, coaches and players. Tepper is still committed to winning. Personally I don't think he's going to make the same mistakes of the past with our next moves, but I believe that he is still open to going outside the norm while also realizing that conformity has its benefits.

It may not have been either, but it wasn't Fowler.

Scot, actually I thought this article may have been less informative than the other one, but more insightful.

No one thinks that Walker, Mayfield, or Darnold is the answer. And only a relatively few it seems thinks that Corral is possibly the answer. Most others think that Young, Stroud, or some other QB in 2023's draft is the answer---some so much so that they support tanking. Walker is starting this week for somewhat obvious reasons.