Peon Awesome

Holy smokes, one of the most incredible sequences just happened. Cardinals attempt a 68 yard field goal. Ball is short; Jacksonville player catches it deep in the endzone and returns it for 109 yards for a td with no time left in the 1st half. Unfrickinbelievable

I love the fact that the arbitrator increased his suspension after the appeal. Collins should've counted his blessings they got the suspension reduced to 2 games. Instead he has the audacity to appeal it. Sometimes you get what you deserve.

Just switched over to Redzone. Greg Olsen is calling the Bears-Browns game. Very cool

When evaluating Brady, you have to disassociate him from all the undeserved hype and praise. He's been anointed a genius offensive playcaller and basically been presumed to get a headcoaching job right after the Panthers hired him. In reality he is insanely green and it shows. But he does have a smart mind and has tremendous opportunity for growth, demonstrating that already with improved playcalling in the redzone against Houston. Right now I assess him somewhere around league average with the likelihood of transcending to the top 5-10 with more experience. I just suspect someone will hand him a headcoaching job before he can get there. I wouldn't be too upset if that happens cause at least short-term we shouldn't miss too much of a beat. But it is a bit disappointing we won't get the chance to see him unlock his full potential because the league is so obsessed with young offensive playcallers and will undoubtedly give him a head coaching job before he's ready for one.

Fantastic news. Sounds like it's just inflamed. I'm thinking that will probably keep him off IR and they'll see how he looks in a couple weeks. Maybe wishful thinking but I wonder if the extra rest from being a thursday night game keeps open the possibility he could return in week 5. I anticipate they'll be extra cautious cause you want McCaffrey good for the long haul but you have to wonder if our offense looks abysmal against the Cowboys, there might be some pressure to bring him back as soon as he feels up for it. Also disclaimer: this is not coming from any area of expertise as I don't know anything about sports medicine; just purely hopeful fan speculation.

That terrible "incomplete pass" call cost us another sack. We're trying to set records over here.

Nice game for Gonzalez. 4/4 on kicks + getting better distance on his kickoffs.

Can't believe we wasted a 3rd round pick on a pure blocking specialist.

Tremble with the td but that drive was just a PHENOMENAL showing by Darnold. Quick decisions and pinpoint passes getting through tight windows. That's how you resurrect a limp post-McCaffrey offense.

Brian Burns better pick up his play. He's barely past backup level. The more PFF grades I see, the more I'm convinced how much you have to take them with a gran of salt. PFF can be useful for tracking objective things like pressures, but whatever system they use to come up with their grades seems to need a lot of work.

While I think some of the difference between week 1 and 2 was the team getting acclimated against the Jets, I also think the coaching staff chose to play down to their competition. The punts from the 30, super conservative 2nd half offense, etc. Hopefully the thrashing of the Saints opened the staff's eyes on what works but my biggest worry is we play limp against the Texans and keep it unnecessarily close.

Not to look ahead because we need to focus and take care of Houston on Thursday but I seem to recall it wasn't till our complete thrashing of the Cowboys on thanksgiving that the whole world took notice that the 2015 Panthers were an absolute juggernaut. Several experts had even picked the Cowboys to win that game even though we entered 10-0. And if that sounds outlandish, just check this link: https://www.sbnation.com/nfl/2015/11/25/9796444/2015-nfl-picks-predictions-experts-week-12-panthers-cowboys-seahawks-steelers-falcons-vikings It's possible the Cowboys may serve a similar role this year.

I heard 2 ESPN NFL analysts call the Panthers the number 1 defense in the league without any disclaimers and followed by heavy praise. I'd say we put some people on notice with that win against the Saints.

If they're going for absurd predictions, they could've predicted Alvin Kamara will rush for 5 yards and the Saints will have less than 130 yards of total offense. The fact that he chose that over anything else tells me he had no clue how much better this Panthers defense is this year.

Love the decision to go for it. In a game where neither defense was stopping anyone and you have perhaps the greatest running qb in NFL history, needing a single yard to seal it, why not? Much better chance to win than giving Mahomes a minute to march into field goal range.

The irony is palpable. Trading Houston 2 1sts and a 2nd for Laremy Tunsil, after they basically turned into the worst team in the league after they did just that. I'm just glad we have Fitterer and not these couch GMs on the huddle.

He seems like a downgrade from Santoso but I guess we really valued that 7th round pick. I agree with you though that the kickoffs are concerning. I don't think we have any confidence in Eberle cause we keep bringing in other kickers. And not sure how eager we are to poach someone off another practice squad and get stuck with them another 3 weeks minimum while having limited tape to work with to decide if they're actually an upgrade.

Teddy definitely got more hate than he deserved. He's certainly not awful. But what makes him a good game manager also exposes his biggest weakness. He makes the safe throws. Ask him to march the team down the field and take some chances and he gets exposed. It wasn't wrong for the team to try for something better. Especially for the minor cost we gave up for Darnold. Early returns suggest we came out pretty good. Good for Teddy though.

The sad thing is he won't get as much respect as he deserves because QBs are rarely going to throw his way so he won't get the opportunities to rack up as many interceptions and tackles as some other corners. But he's the real deal.

Maybe the Saints aren't the Chiefs, but Kamara is still Kamara and their offensive line is one of the best in the NFL, and yet Kamara had 5 yards. FIVE! Not to mention our 6 sacks. And this was one week after the Saints scored 38 points, Kamara had 83 yards rushing and the line gave up zero sacks. I know McCoy was out, but Ruiz is a damn good replacement and I don't see him making up for that huge difference.

I actually think they made more of an effort this week not to completely take their foot off the gas. Ran a lot of pass plays, even midway through the 4th quarter and Darnold even took a couple shots down field. The Saints just did a better job of clamping down their coverage.

Yeah they've been surprisingly "good enough". Which I'll happily take. Give Darnold credit for getting the ball out and extending plays with his legs. But even Mahomes couldn't escape his offensive line in the super bowl and he is otherworldly in making something out of nothing. Our offensive line is doing just enough to make Darnold's plays effective. They might get exposed by a great defensive team, similar to the 2015 team in the super bowl, but hopefully we'll see even more growth by then.

Apparently Erik McCoy is the difference between putting up 38 points against the Packers versus only having 128 yards total and a measly 7 points after getting the ball in the redzone on a turnover. Someone give that man a $50 million per year contract.

The Panthers played an NFL team and had an absolutely convincingly dominating win. How long has it been since we can say that? Let us be happy please.

Gotta consider putting in a waiver claim for the Panthers defense. That's smelling like 30 fantasy points.