Khyber53

Pay the man! 

(I mean PhillyB, somebody ought to have you on staff as a sportswriter!)

The Town that Feared Sundown, now there's a scary movie. The prototype for Axe Murderer films.

The team has gone through a lot this week with changes on the defensive line and saying goodbye to a couple of familiar faces. The weather here has been terrible as well, and even though the game is in Florida, those NC practices have probably been pretty wearing and not as complete as they normally would.

We're playing a team that hasn't been a threat in some time and that many are regarding lightly. They've also got a rookie QB and an apparently soft offensive line.

And that's why we have a tough game ahead of us. We're trying to mesh new moving parts under less than perfect conditions while facing up against an opponent that shouldn't give us trouble. It's a classic trap game.

I hope that's not going to be the case. My gut feeling is that we're going to come out and fall behind early, then dig in and claw our way back to a tight win. Look for a repeat of last week, but a closer score. Whereas Nawlins had a great day passing and a lousy day on the ground, Tampa will run well but their passing game will be their downfall.

Carolina 23 Tampa Bay 18

Can you wear scuba gear and a football helmet at the same time? The way it is looking, our DL will be using purely swim moves to get at their QB. 

Cam should practice his Aquaman pose.

This oughtta be good...

PhillyB, that was masterful! Great article, great read and just well done throughout! Cheers!

My theory is that GRRM will make HBO wait for that last book. And they will, because the anticipation will be the best advertising that anyone could ask for.

I can't make a good argument against this lineup. It's a good one for today, this year, and it would sew seeds for the years ahead.

Hey, we only have so many seasons of Panthers football to watch in our lives. Why write one of these off before it ever starts. Who are we, the Browns? We made it into the play-offs last year with a frikkin' losing record. If we can do that, we can do anything!

Cry if you want to, but I won't give up until they close down the season officially. And until we get mathematically eliminated from the playoffs, I'm still pulling for us to win the Super Bowl. If you don't go into a season like that, then what the hell are you watching football for? Go play Madden.

We lost a second year wide receiver, a good one, but still just a second year wide receiver. Someone who wouldn't have gotten a shot will get one this year, now. 

Last year, Cam didn't have Smitty, so he had to look for Benjamin. This year he doesn't have Benjamin, so he will have to look for whoever will lead the WRs. A good QB, with his contract, his experience, can make it work and can become better because of it.

Okay, let's get a grip here. We're adults but people are whining and crying like babies about how unfair it is and woe is me we are going to suck.

Bull.

It is a real shame that this kid got hurt and I really hope he heals up quickly and well. I want to see him back on the field next year. However, this year did not and will not hinge on Kelvin Benjamin. While he had a great freshman effort with him, there was no guarantee that he wasn't going to have a sophmore slump. And remember, we had a better record the year before he got here than we had last year.

Games are won by solid defense (which we have in spades), ball control on offense and the play of the quarterback. Having great WRs is a luxury, but a great quarterback can make average receivers look great. This is going to be Cam's chance to shine and step into the level of greatness we know he can achieve.

Kelvin out this year will test us and if our guys really work at it, they will succeed. And it will make for a better team next year.

So quit your crying. If there ain't no crying in baseball, there sure as hell shouldn't be in the bleachers of a football stadium.

Here's to hoping what happened was just a painful but very temporary injury. If not, he'll have access to the best in the business to get past this, along with Thomas Davis' unbelievable amount of practical experience in rehabbing this kind of thing.

Good players often get to come back, good teams struggle through injuries. Great players are sometimes made by an incident like this, and great teams rise above adversity.

Still sucks, though.

Are we seeing him working with ST any? Looks like the kind of kid you find reasons to put him on the field as often as you can.

Peppers will be the first HoF player we can hang our hats on. Whether you still harbor bad feelings toward him or not, he was still the biggest game changer that has ever played for the Panthers. 

Pep, in his prime, did things on the field that left announcers speechless. He took over and changed games. He was that unstoppable force that someone can easily get up and champion when it comes time to do HoF selections. There will be a ton of sports writers in that room making those decisions, and they've all had numerous opportunities to write about something Pep either did for their team or to their team. He'll go first ballot.

I'd love to see SS in the Hall, but let's face it, he is going to be the guy that fans are going to have to clamor for for years before he gets in, He created too much bad blood with the voters. He's great, he's astounding and we all still love the guy, but his rep outside of here and Baltimore isn't so good.

Two other possibilities include:

6. Oher really wants this year to work and realizes there isn't much competition behind him. He could be taking it easier to keep any chance of injury down in the off season. 

7. While the DE can pin his ears back and charge, Oher can't put his full strength or meanness into effect in training camp. While he might maul someone in a regular season situation, in this drill he can't put a full hit on a teammate, especially when he is one of the new guys.

I say give him a chance. He'll be better in protection when there is something important on the line.

Not sure if it has been mentioned yet, but if you haven't read Ready Player One by Earnest Cline, you should. It's the most fun book I have read in decades. Fantastic.

His next book, Armada, is coming out in two weeks. It should be a smash hit.

Trust me on Ready Player One, this is a book you'll read and re-read.

Sure looks good on paper, and the group has a much better feel to it. Plenty of reason to be optimistic. Won't know for sure until they take the field in week 1, but I think we might be onto something good here.

Ehh, he got Delhomme prior to training camp the second year he was here. Give him two years and I think the Bears will be contenders. Getting Manning in Denver was a miracle, he'll not find that in Chicago this year.

Fox's smash-mouth style doesn't put a premium on the QB position. He needs a good one, but not a great one. It will require a great defense, though, and he can build those.

He also has a bit of luck and that seems to work for him.

​

Once upon a time, Chris Weinke was who he was handed, followed up by Rodney Peete. He finally was able to make it with Jake Delhomme.

He can do it with what he has there, or what he'll end up with. I'm not cheering for the Bears, but it would be foolish to think he can't rebuild a team.

.​

​Fox being Foxy usually brings a team to the Super Bowl within his first two years. There's a great reason he isn't out of a job for long.

Just can't wait to see it happen on the field. Great post for football and the life adventure stuff!

He'll go to Denver.

​That nuanced push off in the endzone was Proehl's bread and butter play. No one did it better and if I recall, that was his Super Bowl TD pass with us.

If a receiver can learn to do it as well as he did, that receiver will have just as long of a career.

Jon's a goner. It's the jaw dropper move if you haven't read the books. And they made a big deal of walking the giant in, the giant that will be the distraction that gets Jon killed.

It won't happen before they get Tarley headed south for Maester training, though.