Khyber53

His defense was better than our offense. His offense was much better than our defense. His special teams play was better than our special teams. They beat us in all three phases of the game. His team was depleted by injuries to stars and starters, ours wasn't. We had Cam Newton at QB, they had the guy who was a third stringer behind Cam a few years back. Ron Rivera beat us, in front of our home crowd, on a day when everyone was up, when Cam came back as Superman and when we needed the win and he didn't. Not saying Rivera is a great coach, but he is a pro-level coach and Rhule has shown little to no sign that he ever will be one.

Cam looked solid, but he does need to be a better decision maker on the RPO stuff.

Yep, makes it that much worse.

Yeah, they need to work on that. Cam's running needs be more of a threat than an actual 50/50 share.

Yetur was out there a fair amount. He just wasn't making a splash at all. Fox had his moments, but honestly, they are both built more for DE in a 4-3 defense. This crazy hybrid thing we run, since it was exposed by Dallas, has been exploited by any team that has even a halfway decent o-line.

There was absolutely no reason to believe in the defense at that point in time. Four hand offs and they'd be back at the 32 with less time on the clock.

Rivera really just saved us millions and millions of dollars when it comes to resigning Jackson. If we do. He may have done us a major favor.

Honestly, there isn't a whole lot we can complain about on the offensive side of that game. It wasn't spectacular but it was okay. Our defense lost us that game, hands down, no question at all. BC did well. He needs to be out there again. Cam's experience and mobility helps BC's situation and having CMC running to the right side of the line also majorly eases up the job of the LT. Still, he did well.

Heinicke is a tough kid and he has the "it" factor. Give him another year as starter and he will be a steady middle of the pack starting QB. You can build a team around that. The kid is absolutely fearless and tougher than a 5 cent steak.

Because in the end, Rivera knows what pro players look like and how to motivate them. Rhule knows how to recruit and motivate tier 3 college talent.

Dude, Mike Shula > Joe Brady. Ain't that scary?

Everyone keeps saying that. I kept saying if he didn't win this year, it'd be over. Folks, I think it's nearly over. If we weren't still mathematically capable of sneaking into the playoffs, then it'd happen by our bye week, but we will probably have to drag through the rest of this season and hope that an attractive college gig opens up giving Tepper and Rhule an opportunity to split up and save face.

It is just loud enough to keep us from hearing Rhule sobbing at the 10 minute mark of the fourth quarter each game. Sheesh, this sucks.

And that, right there, shows you how much Tepper knows about football and good coaching.

Our best player in stopping the run, Shaq Thompson, and our second best player in stopping the run, Jeremy Chinn, were out there trying to help cover deficiencies in the secondary. Every passing play in the game was designed to keep both of those guys back five more yards on the following play. Our college coaches had the game dictated to them by Rivera, Turner and Del Rio. The ass whipping we received was real. And it was from a team that is supposed to be nowhere near as far along in the rebuild as we are. That says a lot about our coaches here.

Honestly, say what you will about Ron, but he deserves to be a head coach in the NFL. I'm not seeing Rhule showing that he's there yet or will be. We weren't just outcoached or out game planned. His team (of players that often wouldn't make second string) was motivated and tougher than we were. That's a hallmark of Rivera players -- they're tough and they'd run through a wall for their coach. His guys just got out there and turned it into a back alley street fight and we could not hold our own. Cam and the offense really didn't screw it up and did quite well at times from a limited playbook. Our O-line even performed okay. But our defense got beaten up and stuffed into a locker. That was bad. Rivera won that one, hands down. If you can't beat the old coach (when he's without his star defensive players and is on a guy who was a third string QB here for a hot minute), then maybe you shouldn't be the coach. Rhule's seat should be incredibly hot right now.

He's a pass rush DT in the nature of his play style, he moves forward and that's about it. This whole defense is built to be strong in pass defense. Teams haven't quit running the ball, though. And the smart ones against us really, really run the ball. So much so that I think it may actually be what is making our pass defense look so good statistically. Why pass when your second string back can get 10 yards before a player locks in a tackling grip?

If we can't fix the run defense, nothing will matter.

How'd that go for ya?

Seems like Taylor Heinicke plays his best games against the biggest name QBs. Something tells me he's going to be tough today (and will need to be so, because he's going to take a beating). Ron can put together a defense, even when he's missing the parts. But there's a chance this team has as high spirits as they've had since mid-season 2015. The WTFs can prove they are a feisty, tough team today. The Panthers can prove they belong in the championship discussion. We've got a lot riding on this game, but we have more firepower than ever before and our defense has been phenomenal. WTF hangs in until mid-third quarter but stalls out. Panthers 31 WTF 17

Wife and kids are away, so just a couple of burgers on the grill.

I'll never convince you otherwise, so...

And pay another back up QB, right? Just a few million. No biggie.

Might as well, we're going to be paying for him next season anyway. And giving up that draft pick next season.

Well, let's hope it works out. It never does with any other team, but what the hey. If it's a necessity then we have to. If it continues because they want to get cute, well, it's his career I guess.