Khyber53

Well, don't turn it over the McAdoodledoodledoo. That guy had no game plan today. Clean house, let the players coach themselves until the next guy comes along.

We had no offensive game plan, our successes came from three plays, one in which Ian Frikkin' Anderson was completely uncovered, one in which Sideshow Bob Anderson was missed in safety pickup (but he DID catch it) and one where CMC snatched up a muffed punt and ran it down the field dodging everything AND surviving a horsecollar tackle. Pretty much our entire offensive output relied on massive errors by the Browns or one by ourselves. That ain't planning and that ain't coaching. Our o-line was completely outclassed, our d-line did diddly squat, no one could tackle and it took desperation for the team to actually start using CMC, our star player. Oh, and why Elflein, why? And then we played for a FG inside the 10 with over a minute left in the game???? Rhule, you're the chump we thought you were.

Can't win a game with five muffed snaps.

That sucked.

Oh, we're back on THAT track. Fug

Chili Dawgs

Let's get this franchise back on track today!

After two weeks of watching App State rollercoaster games, I'm hoping that this will be a steady, undoubted, dominant win for the Panthers.

Panthers 28-10 Shi Smith coming out party as he snags two TDs. CMC posts 90 rushing yards and 65 receiving plus a rushing TD. Mayfield has a solid outing but gets sacked twice by Garrett. Burns has a field day with two sacks of his own, Brissett throws two INTs as well.

Thanks for all the hard work that went into that! Great piece! Still, I have to wonder how much the numbers were skewed by how bad, and I mean terrible, our first three opponents were. Of course, you can't just take out every team's first three games and have the stats still reflect things because not every team played three chumps like we did, so I guess we have to go with what we have there. I hope that we're good on defense this year, but I have to agree that Mayfield's play has the potential to have the biggest impact on our defensive outcomes.

You can both feature him heavily AND run a varied offense. Bad coaches or badly built teams can only do one at a time. Can Rhule handle this? We're going to find out.

And here's where I think they are wrong. You can't take a star player out while the game is still on the line. Sure, if you're up by 30 in the fourth quarter, sit your guys, ease up on the throttle, but if the game is still anywhere in doubt you keep your best players on the field and keep using them. There are only 17 games in the regular season, each one of them matters if you are trying to be a winning team. This isn't the NBA or MLB where there are so many games that no one of them really matters. In those sports you can keep a guy on a pitch count or get a breather 3rd quarter break and see a tactical advantage over the course of a season. In the NFL, you can't do that until you have won your division and the top seed for the playoffs without putting yourself in peril. Around here, we like to talk about how Cam was run into the ground, but without Cam breaking run after run downfield, we don't make it to the Super Bowl in 2015. He had to do that to compete at that high of a level, we just were not going to win purely on his passing arm (particularly with that receiving corps and o-line we had). Can't do it with CMC here, injury history or not. Underutilize him and the next coach will correct that problem. Playing to avoid injuries leads to losing and can often lead to injuries (if you play soft in this league the opponents will see it and exploit that weakness -- as did Thomas Davis every time he could get a shot on Jimmy Graham). Great football players are like bags of bottle rockets, you've got to light that fuse every game and let them do their thing. One day you'll reach into the bag and it will be empty... it's an inevitability. Just like there will be another new bag of rockets down the line. We love our star players, but they can't be mint, new-in-box and remain as star players.

Wow, Brisset will be on a stretcher before the third week of the season at that rate.

Why don't y'all guys take this to private chat or a parking lot outside a Waffle House? This is some petty sh!t and you guys just keep spreading it from thread to thread.

Okay folks, put it in writing here: What do you think our record will be for the season? I think we grab 10-7 and make it through the wild card round but lose in the divisionals. Surprise early victory vs the Cardinals gives team a strong 4-0 start and a renewed confidence to withstand back to back losses against the 49ers and Rams. CMC somehow stays healthy and returns to old form, DJ Moore finally starts getting acclaim for his abilities and Mayfield negotiates new contract for 2023-2027 with us. Rhule and Co. retain their positions and I have to eat crow.

It's the start of the season and even I'm cautiously optimistic. We've got the players, we're healthy, the schedule looks good and the NFCSouth looks like it could be a train wreck around us. IF Rhule has found his place and is up to speed and IF he can lead these guys then we could make some headway. I want Rhule to prove me wrong as I've been one of his most vocal critics over the past two seasons and if he does, I'll be a happy man.

It goes like that. We did the same with Hurney and Rivera. And Hurney and Fox.

And we move on. He wasn't a make or break player for the team right now and the current staff is on a make or break season. Decisions like this get made when you're a bubble player, particularly one who is injured. Perhaps he'll recover and get another chance somewhere later on and make the most of it. Right now, we're trying to make a team to compete right this minute. There are other jobs on the line, particularly those who make these decisions. Tough for him, but it might be a blessing in disguise for the guy. He's young and has time to fix the problems and develop to his potential. Right now, Coach Rhule and Fitterer are looking down the barrel of show us something or leave town.

Injuries/Coaching. It's going to determine the whole thing. Really, though, that's pretty much how the NFL plays out each year. Let's get to some football! I'm tired of waiting!!!!!!

Okay, he's a Panther now, so he's one of our guys. Here's hoping he has his best year so far.

Myles Garrett worries me the most here. We're going to have to keep a TE or RB on him for at least a chip on every play. We're going to have to somehow get a lead early and take them out of the run game, if possible.

Nothing will help our protection schemes more than a healthy CMC. He changes the game that much.

Best running back in the league. If we'd have been in contention either of the last two seasons, he'd have come back to play in them. He'll make a run at 1,000/1,000 again this season.

Thanks for sharing, OP, but after about a minute of his on-screen painful awkwardness, I just couldn't keep watching.

CMC is back, new QB, help on the O-line and the rest of the NFCSouth has more questions in it than we've seen in a decade. We certainly have the possibility of it. It is going to come down to coaching. I want us to win and win big this year, but Rhule and Co. really need to prove themselves. If they can't and the situation is this favorable for them to, then it was never and will never happen for them. The fruit is ripe and hanging low on the tree. Don't screw this up.