tukafan21

I've admitted that it was a mistake for me to bring his name up in the OP because it's me, and of course people are going to take it as me just complaining about him not getting more catches. But this has nothing to do with the player, it has to do with the play calling on the whole, and yes, part of it is not using your #1 WR more when you have next to nothing after him in the passing game. But I'd still have the exact same feelings right now if we didn't have T-Mac and we just had another equal caliber WR1 in his place, because to me, Canales still called a terrible game. His play calling/design didn't get Rico his 200 yards, it was Rico taking a few carries for big yardage including breaking some tackles on those plays.

Two separate issues Yes, T-Mac 100% needs to be fed more, 8 targets out of 30 attempts when he's the only legitimate receiving threat right now is just dumb, but that has zero bearing on Rico's game. Again, 6 good plays by Rico does not make for a well called game by Canales, I don't understand why that's so controversial of a thing to say. Rico had a great game and final stats because he made a handful of great plays, not because Canales kept the Dolphins on their heels and because of it we ripped off constant 8-15 yard runs. Had that been how he put up the 200+ yards, I'd be the first person to jump on here and congratulate Canales for calling a great game, but that's just not how it played out. It's giving credit to Rico for the game he had, but still living in reality in the totality of the play calling of Canales from opening kick off to the final whistle. Outside of those few runs, you can't tell me you weren't screaming at the TV for the majority of the game with Canales boring and predictable play calling (and play design). That's all I was trying to say with this thread, that we can't give Canales a pass because Rico broke off a couple big plays, he still called a complete poo game as the offensive play caller. As that's exactly what happened a couple weeks ago. We win 30-0 in a rivalry game and half the fan base starts talking about how we're finally turning a corner and just stuck their head in the grounds to not see the glaring issues that we still saw in that game. Then we get utterly blown out by a team that wasn't a complete disaster in their own right and fans fall back in disarray.

I've said this too many times to count, but just enjoying wins because we get them so infrequently is how shitty franchises continue to be shitty, because their fans are "just happy" when they get flawed wins. I'd rather lose but show improvement in key areas such as play calling and QB play than win and still struggle in those areas. Because until we improve in those areas, this team is going nowhere, so what is the fun in "enjoying" the 3-5 wins we get where we still don't look great while doing it? I want to make the playoffs again, we won't get there because we win fluky games, we'll get there because we've improved as a team. Show me improvement in a loss and I'll enjoy watching that game more than wins like this, because I care more about our long term high level success than shitty wins in lost seasons. You watched that game and enjoyed a win, I watched that game and saw why we're still going nowhere as a franchise in the foreseeable future but won in spite of that. It's been a decade since we've been decent, how are you not sick of "enjoying" those type of games?

I don't think Dan's job is either safe or in jeopardy no matter what he does, his job security should be 100% tied to Canales. History has shown that both GM's and HC's who get hired separately, do not usually have long term success, the ones that are hired in tandem in the same offseason are the ones that have a higher success rate. Morgan should be here as long as Canales is here, but once Tepper decides to move on from Canales, Morgan then needs to go as well so we can bring in a pair who are a good fit for each other, rather than each of them trying to adapt what they want to do to fit with the other. I also don't even need to read that list to know I don't want anyone on it, as I want someone who people wouldn't be thinking about, as in, someone who is already a GM or Asst GM who teams don't expect to be interested in making a move. It's the one place where Tepper can throw is big wallet down on the table and out spend the rest of the league because there is no cap restrictions there. Go out and make an offer to an elite GM candidate to where they just can't say no because of how much you're offering them. Then you give them the keys to the house and stay the F out of the way, just let them do their thing and what you're paying them big money to.

See, it's posts like this that show me how many of you are taking my post as an anti Dowdle post and saying he didn't have a good game, but that's the furthest thing from my intention and what I'm trying to say. Because that's the comparison you're making with Bryce, it's adding or removing a small handful of plays from their stats and saying "this is the game they could have had instead" I'm literally only talking about the play calling from the game, it's literally in the title of the thread, that we still have play calling problems. I'm saying that people are going to get stuck on the 200 yard rushing game by a player and extrapolate that to "well Canales must have called a good game" and I'm trying to say not to fall for that mirage. Because 6 big runs do not make for a well called game when we had over 60 snaps. Even beyond that, if you add in the two 20+ yard catches from T-Mac and the one XL had, and you're looking at 9 of over 60 snaps that accounted for close to 60% of our yards in the game. That's a few big plays covering up for coaching deficiencies, that's NOT a well called 60 minutes of football. You don't beat good football teams by having a handful of good plays a game scattered amongst boring predictable play calling. Had he had the 200 yards because Canales' play calling was keeping the defense on their heels, not knowing what we were doing next, and Dowdle was ripping of 8-12 yard runs on a consistent basis, then yea, that would be something to be excited about with Canales finally calling a good game for a change. Our offense is predictable and the play design is basic, there is nothing I've seen out of Canales' offense that says he's able to scheme and call plays to outsmart the defense, which is something all the elite offensive coaches are able to do in this day and age.

And saying Canales called a good game because of those 6 plays is a good take? That's my point, I'm saying he called yet another terrible game, but people are going to see the 200 yard rusher in the box score and chalk it up to us calling and playing a great game. I'm not trying to take anything away from Dowdle or his performance, I'm just saying I think it's more of a mirage in terms of a statement about the offense/team than anything. If he had put up 200 yards because we were getting 8-12 yard chunks on a consistent basis because we were keeping the defense off balance, then yea, I'm chalking that up to a great Canales play calling game. 6 of our 62 plays accounted for almost 40% of our total offense today. I don't want to be negative, but I also can't help but call it like I see it, and I don't see a team that is turning a page, I see a team that is making the same mistakes that we've been making since last year, and are being bailed out by playing a team with it's own terrible problems. I said the same thing after we shutout the Falcons, that it's nice to get a big win like that, but I saw more problems than good in that game too, and then we got embarrassed the next week. So to me, the "200 yards" is a mirage in the same way the "30-0" was. I should have left the OP at that, but I brought up T-Mac because we're a team with a clear cut #1 WR and nobody else behind him and we're not targeting him enough in games we're losing. I'd have said that no matter who that player was, my personal feelings about them aside.

No I wouldn't, because I have a brain and eyes. The pass was thrown behind him, he had to make a leaping twisting attempt at the ball while the defending was pulling him down by the jersey and keeping him from getting proper extension and body control. Could he have still made the catch? Sure, of course. But SHOULD he have made the catch? Absolutely not, it would have been an amazing play to make, and one he'll make in the future, and one that other elite players could and do make, but those same elite players will also not complete some of those same type of plays as well, and nobody then faults them for it. There is no player in the history of the game that I'd have said that about with that particular play, whether that was T-Mac or Jerry Rice, that would have been an amazing catch if it was completed and a great effort if it wasn't.

Complete nonsense It was a terrible throw and clear blatant PI, the only reason he even got his hands on the ball is because of how good he is, him not making THAT catch is insane to put on him. I have no problem calling him out when he drops one he should have caught, have done it multiple times this year already, but this wasn't one of them. The fan base is already so used to his crazy catches that they're chalking all non catches that hit his hands up to his fault already, it's wild. He's going to end up with around 1,200 yards as a rookie with Bryce as his QB, Canales as his play caller, and no legitimate 2nd receiving option (our 2nd leading receiver right now is Brycen with 108 yards). And all of that on only a 21% target share so far, but people seem to think he has XL level drops problems.

Yes, but those are two separate issues. Using your best player more often as a decoy than a true target, just because your QB sucks, is just dumb and compounding your issues as then your bad QB is throwing the ball to inferior pass catchers on a more frequent basis.

Well sure, but that's not at all what I was saying, I wasn't saying we're the only team that ever uses their #1 as a decoy. My point was that I can't remember a team where there is such a talent gap between their top WR and the rest of their WR room, and then said top WR is used more often as a decoy than as an actual pass catching target, particularly in their rookie season such as Nabers last year and then the nothingness behind him in their WR room. Because I don't think anyone can objectively look at the play design and calls so far and say he's been running more routes with the intention of being a target than with the intention of clearing out space for Bryce to dump it off to someone else closer to the LOS. The other difference is when teams allow their #1 WR to be used as a decoy because teams are constantly double teaming them. Then they generally make sure to target them when they get left on an island in single coverage, something we routinely fail to do when T-Mac gets that coverage.

C'mon now, is this a serious comment? The ball was thrown behind him, he made a leaping twisting attempt at the ball while the defender was yanking him down by the jersey. If they don't pick up that flag, not a single person is calling that a drop or a "deep pass bounce off his hands" like that. I've had no problems with people calling out the actual drops that he has had, but far too many people are attributing the uber difficult plays he wasn't able to make as drops, just insane.

The entire OP is about the play calling and results and only mentioned T-Mac one time, in the sense of our offensive struggles only made me more frustrated about our #1 WR only getting a single 2nd half target in a game we were behind for the majority of it. How is that showing my true colors? It's way more of other people reading too much into it and thinking this is all and only about T-Mac for me, but it's not. He just happens to be the player that I specifically was upset by his 2nd half usage, but it had nothing to do with my personal feelings towards him, but that he's our only legitimate WR and he had a single target in the 2nd half after going for 73 yards in the first. To me, that is a very legitimate play calling gripe, the win or particular player aside.

Just quoting myself here to ask the question to anyone else still coming into this thread...... Was anyone actually pleased with today's play calling? Because lost in all this T-Mac stuff was that my initial point of this tread was that the play calling sucked and we should't absolve Canales for it because we had a 200 yard rusher, as that 200 yards was because of a few big plays, not because of great play calling for 60 minutes, which I tried to re-explain here in this quoted post. If that's controversial, then I'm sorry, but to me, it's the very objective truth.

It's not about the storyline, because yea, take away those turnovers and it's a totally different game. My issue is with the game that we did have, the play calling and strategy we then employed throughout the game. Very big difference between them. And like I pointed out with my other post at the top of this page. I do think this thread got away from my original intention, because it wasn't meant to be about T-Mac, it was meant to say we can't be absolving Canales' play calling throughout the entirety of the game because of Dowdle's final box score that was because of a small handful of plays.

Not sure that's accurate, but until he actually caught the ball, I certainly wasn't happy with it, but that one had absolutely nothing to do with T-Mac. Go back to that play pre-snap and I'd have picked any skill play on the field to have wanted us to throw the ball to more than XL on that play, hell, I'd have wanted to run a Bryce QB sneak before throwing it to XL there. He's lost all my faith in throwing him the ball in the end zone, and sure, him making that play has helped, but he's shown nothing in the last year plus so far to say he should be getting thrown passes in the end zone right now.

You know what, these days, yes, that's very true, I won't deny that. Because THE PANTHERS need to do something to earn my fandom back at this point with how bad it's been the last however many years. I've been a die hard Panthers fan for over 30 years now, but even with that, I flat out haven't cared about us for years because of the team's own doing, not because I didn't WANT to be a fan. Drafting T-Mac actually got me excited for the season for the first time in years, but in terms of actually caring about the team, I'm still not there yet because they continue to shoot themselves in the feet at every chance they get.

Also, I think I need to re-iterate that people are taking this thread wrong and as me just complaining about T-Mac. Its intention was that we shouldn't look at Dowdle having 200+ yards and just being happy with the offensive performance today. If he had 200 yards because he had a dozen 8-15 yard runs and then the rest of it was filled in with short yardage stuff, I'd feel VERY differently. Because then it would be about a well called game because we would have been consistently breaking off chunk runs and sustaining long drives because of it. I'll admit I let it get away from me in my responses to people and it's only fed into the narrative that I'm upset about T-Mac. But the original intention was solely about not absolving the terrible offensive game plan and play calling just because Dowdle had an eye popping final box score. 6 plays do not make for a well called game, that's really all my original point was meant to be.

So our pass play calling doesn't need to be drastically improved? I'm sorry, but it's clear as day that it does, Bryce sucking aside, the play calling has been garbage.

Also, again, I know I keep bringing it back to T-Mac, but it's because he's our only legitimate WR right now. If Coker was healthy or XL didn't just suck, I'd be saying the same thing about their lack of usage too. Just right now, T-Mac is the only one to complain about not getting more work, which in itself, is proof that it's a legitimate complaint, as we don't have anyone else worth arguing to get more looks right now.

I could and would be able to accept that if it weren't for the amount of times T-Mac has single coverage and Bryce never even looks his way after taking the snap and before throwing it. It means the play call had him as a pure decoy and/or the 3rd or 4th read and Bryce rarely gets that deep into his progressions. Now, is that on the play calling or Bryce making bad pre-snap reads, that we'll never know as we don't know the exact play calls. But my best guess is that's more on the play calls than Bryce's pre-snap reads, as how do you read T-Mac getting 1 on 1 coverage and then ever even look his way before attempting a pass to someone else?

I get it, but again, while I know it all comes back to T-Mac because he's who I'm saying needs more targets, I'd be saying the EXACT same thing if we had the exact same player as T-Mac, but he didn't go to Arizona and I wasn't such a huge fan. If we had a weapon like him, and then had the same game plans and play calling as we've had so far, I'd be saying the same stuff, 100% of it, not one difference. My frustrations come out as anger about T-Mac's usage, but it's really just frustration over Canales and his crap play calling. Yes, we won, but we also did it where our best player got a single target in the entire 2nd half when we were losing for most of it How does that make any sense? Winning doesn't absolve the coaching staff of terrible decisions for me, sorry.

100% But again, I know I keep going back to T-Mac needing more targets, because he does... My frustration is more about the overall play calling than my guy not getting more looks. If we were throwing downfield more to XL, Brycen, Horn, the TE's, whatever, I'd be more accepting of T-Mac's lack of targets. But when his lack of targets are then creating more 1 and 2 yard rushes, or 5 yard passes that hit the ground before even reaching the target, then it's an entirely different issue for me.

Am I frustrated at T-Mac not getting more looks? Of course, but I'm not upset at him not being the hero. I'm frustrated at Canales being a fuging pussy with his game plans and play calling, Bryce deficiencies aside. Call the game like an NFL coach, when the QB fails, put in the backup who at least has an NFL level arm at 85 years old. 5 games in and Bryce has 1 game over 200 yards this year. While this was also our first game with someone who has rushed for over 73 yards, so it's not like we're running it great on the whole either.

Honestly, then let him go out there and fail miserably, I'd respect Canales more than I do right now. If you call those plays and he just proves that he can't make those plays, then that's on Bryce and gives Canales the ability to bench him again. But instead, he calls a terrible game to try and hide Bryce's deficiencies. Which yes, I can understand why he would do that, because ehe knows Bryce sucks, but that's also how you end up in the situation of Bryce tricking people into thinking he deserves another year, just like he did last year. Call the game like a real NFL coach, if then the QB sucks and it causes you to get blown out, so be it. We're watching a high school football team out there. Your QB can't throw the ball, so you just run 3 yards and a cloud of dust offense and hope you get lucky with the RB breaking loose a few times a game, and if not, you get blown out. Are you people really enjoying watching that kind of football?

I didn't say it was an unimpressive 200 yard game. I'm saying it was a poorly called game Those are two very different things and can exist at the same time.