Khyber53

If CMC can stay healthy for an entire season, he's an MVP-level talent. No doubt about it. He changes the entire game. If...

Injuries happen through all different types of contact. That's a reality of this sport. The cut block isn't illegal and it shouldn't be, otherwise we have to change the rules of the game across the board. Beyond the blocking work for TEs, WRs and RBs that goes on during most plays and the tackling by safeties and DBs, just looking at the trenches should show that removing it would fundamentally change the game. Offensive linemen are the most restricted players on the field of play and yet are possibly the most important for the success of a team. They play the entire game (barring injury) and are never rotated out. How they can use their hands, their restricted movement pre-snap, their inability to handle the ball (barring some weird incidents), downfield movement/contact rules, chop blocks being illegal, clipping, etc... The cut block allows a smaller player to assist the line by sealing an edge or taking on a rushing defender. It's just a necessity of the game to keep defenses from having an even greater advantage along the line of scrimmage. I'm really sorry the young player was injured, and in the preseason to boot, but it is a part of the game, not an unusual one and there didn't appear to be any malice in the hit or even anything unusual about it.

And when so many people in the league have friends and old teammates around the league, it doesn't take long for vengeance to get out of hand. Or, for an even accidental incident to look like intended malice. Dirty players are never worth the price.

Taking a cheap shot leads to receiving a cheap shot or two. That's not good for a team or your teammates, especially in a league where inadvertent injuries are so easy to come by anyhow.

Well, Baker has a wide open road ahead of him, nothing but a chance to prove himself in a shaky division, a coach that desperately needs to win NOW, one of the best running backs of the modern era, a sure handed receiver, no upstart back-up with a dagger ready for your back and an offensive line that shows some promise. This is definitely one of those "the world is your oyster" moments. Good luck man. I hope you're doing so well that we're negotiating a long-term contract by December and that we're playing even beyond that. If not, there's going to be a whole lot of change around here.

There would have been absolutely nothing to gain by sending Darnold in, would there?

Josh came of age and played really, really well -- he even brushed greatness. Then he let it go to his head and his agent made it worse. He believed the hype, his agent tried to make more of him than he'd even gotten close to being, then his bluff was called and he never recovered from the jarring stop to the fame train ride. Had a wise and steady hand been able to stay on him, he'd have remained one of the best in the league for quite a while.

Read up on Lisfranc. Sound really painful. Hopefully the kid makes a full recovery and gets a good shot next season.

The tickets have already been bought and we, the fanbase, have already been strapped into the seats for this ride. Might as well cheer now and hope we're proven wrong this season. So, that's what I'm going to do and I've been a Rhule critic from his first season on. At the end of the day, the Panthers mean more to me than my opinion of the coach being the right one. I've said it before, if he can right this ship and get us to the playoffs, then he'll make a believer out of me. I don't see us doing it, but I would like to be wrong about that.

Maybe just a tad better. That'd be a help right now.

I think the guy is making a strong case to be our starting TE for the season, but he's getting no attention whatsoever. He's got the best hands and routes of the group AND he has a willingness to block, even moving back to be an actual FB on certain plays. The guy is outplaying Tommy Tremble and he actually plays unlike Ian "that's my spot on the bench" Thomas.

It's not going to be popular to say this but Tecklenburg was better last night than he's been in a while. He's certainly improved. I'd put him in before Elflein and possibly Bozeman at this point. I might give him a bit of an edge on Mays, too, if just for experience's sake. Tecklenburg did well, especially in those early series with Walker. Made his blocks, scanned for targets and seemed to be directing a bit of traffic. He's not up to Kalil levels, but it's still better than we've seen recently.

He's going to be great. They put him out there to learn to function against full competition. He's learning.

That was great @t96! Thanks for the excellent write up!

So, honestly, there are a couple of things here. First, after seeing the scraps in practice this week between the two squads (and remembering that Cam's real career ending injury came from a jailbreak blitz by the Patriots in preseason), maybe it's good that NONE of the potential starters or second stringers see the field tonight. No reason to risk anything of value on a complete waste of time preseason game. Secondly, it might not be Darnold they are trying to trade, but Walker. He's on a cheap, cheap, cheap one year deal and if he can look good enough, some team desperate for a back up might be willing to kick us a seventh round pick for him. Either way, I'm not getting mad about who isn't seeing the field tonight or seeing it first. The best thing that can come out of this is if there are no injuries.

They did. Memory is getting fuzzy for this old one.

Right you are! It's been a loooong time and my memory is blurring things together. Thanks for the correction!

Good. There are enough parasites on the economy to not need to add gambling to it.

Me, too. Me, too. If this one doesn't work out, though, we need to draft center first next season. We'll never be able to coach up a franchise QB if he doesn't have a center that he can depend on.

Center has been a problem since Kalil left and I've been saying we needed to drop a high draft pick on one since then. It has been glaringly obvious that the line isn't just bad but is in dire need of a smart leader who can make protection calls and bring the unit together. This concept is completely foreign to the Rhule Regime. Somehow. Hopefully Bozeman can get back on the field and maybe he can do the job. I do have my worries that Baltimore did to us with Bozeman what Denver did to us with Paradis, all the while laughing that we bought yet another lemon from the used car lot. I'm still holding out some hope for Bozeman, but if he isn't the guy, then bring Mays over and put him to work with on the job training.

2003 week 2 versus Tampa Bay. Completely whooped early on in the game, Coach John Fox benches Rodney Peete and sends in unknown Jake Delhomme to salvage at least the team's dignity. Delhomme goes from zero to hero and brings the win back, assisted greatly by fantastic defensive efforts and special teams play. The Cardiac Cats were born and the season that had more edge of the seat moments than any other one culminates in a last minute Superb Owl loss to the New England Patriots, who had cheated time and again.

Even with $19 million in sunk costs, it's hard to argue with this. Sometimes you've just got to walk away from a deal that didn't pan out and consider it an educational expense.

Jones is much better than he's been given credit for. He'll be the top QB from his draft class. Already is.

Let's see how it goes. I'm betting I'm right.

Yeah, you can say it's against lesser competition, but when the numbers are that great then there's more fire than smoke.