Newtcase

Somewhat, copy pasted from my reply in another thread. Relevant to the Wilkes discussion though so marginal edits and replying here as well. Wilkes did the only thing he could do, RUN THE BALL. The happy accident was we were actually good at it, especially considering we shipped CMC out. Successful running opened up the passing game a bit, successful offense kept the defense fresh, all the sudden we had a glimpse of complimentary football. However, when Pitt and Tampa stuffed our run game the house of cards was exposed. Our pathetic division amplified the value of a few wins and Panthers football got quite interesting for a few weeks. I suppose you have to ask yourself how much Wilkes was responsible for. Bozeman starting, Foreman/Hubbard efficiency and Darnold's steady play seem to be the main components of righting the ship as it were. An antagonist could argue all these moves were forced on Wilkes and it just happened to result in some surprising chemistry. #1 - Elfein started Wilkes first game against the Rams. Bozeman didn't start until Elfein had season ending surgery the week before the first Tampa game. #2 - No way CMC trade was an interim coaches call. Foreman/Hubbard express was forced by the FO. #3 - PJ goes down after Atlanta on 11/10. Both Baker and Sam are active and healthy for Baltimore. Wilkes rolls with Baker, which results in Baker's release. As a last resort Wilkes turns to Sam. To me it mostly looks like Wilkes was forced into the choices that ended up working out the best. Not to say he isn't a leader of men, or inspiring in the locker room yadda yadda, the players do seem to love him. I just didn't see HIS fingerprints clearly enough to say what little success we enjoyed was competent coaching vs circumstance.

Eddie was one of the most reliable kickers in the league this year. #2 in FGM% with at least 20 attempts, #1 in FGM% with at least 30 attempts. Zane was a 78% kicker (71/91) before his 2021 Panthers campaign. 2021 was his best campaign by a mile at 91% (20/22). His career best season still fell short of the mark Eddie put forward this year, 94% (33/35). Combine that with back to back injury seasons and it's seems pretty straight forward that Eddie is our kicker.

I think both sides have a valid opinion. Ultimately, just be your own fan however you like. Too many damn people trying to force their opinions on other people. One question for anti-tankers. How do you feel about the McCaffrey trade? We walked one of the NFL's best weapons out the door for "draft picks". What could that trade have been other than the owner/GM clearly stating "We prefer our future over our present"? I'd say the tankers saw every game we lost as a similar opportunity. I do think Tepper expected the team spiral. Not through something as obvious as asking Wilkes or the players to quit. He saw a dumpster fire of a team and tossed a little fuel on. A mid-season coaching change and walking your best player out the door should have been enough put the tank on without needing to ask anyone. The backfire was we were actually capable of doing the only thing Wilkes could do, RUN THE BALL. Surprising to most everyone, we had the capability of road grading a few teams. That successful running opened up the passing game a bit, the successful offense kept the defense fresh, all the sudden we had a glimpse of complimentary football. When Pitt and Tampa stuffed our run game the house of cards was exposed. Our pathetic division amplified the value of a few wins and suddenly Panthers football got quite interesting for a few weeks. This was a happy accident though, I have no doubt that Tepper expected this team to fail into drafting a top prospect.

Our secondary has just been obliterated by injury this season. We were playing with backup (at best) talent against the GOAT with playoffs on the line, this result was not surprising. We still could have won the game pretty easily if we just punched them in the mouth on 4th and short downs and avoided turnovers. It took a HEROIC effort from Brady and Evans to beat us today.

For me the ship hasn’t sailed on Darnold yet. It can take time, setbacks and some humility for a player to reach their full potential. He has two more games and a potential playoff game(s) to CHANGE his life and the narrative. He’s fully aware of this, and IMO he’s earned the opportunity. Personally, I’m going to judge Sam on what’s he’s doing now, not what he did last year or prior. It’s going to play itself out so there’s no point in conjecture. If he continues to play well and show growth he will be in the conversation.

One thing is for certain, this game will expose how important the QB position is vs a better overall team. If Darnold beats Brady in Tampa for a playoff spot are we still looking for a QB?

Jalen Hurts is another great example.

This is effectively our first playoff game. If the team doesn't show up with that mentality then we don't deserve an actual playoff game.

Chubba has exploded in eye popping style a few times. It definitely stands out how fast he hits his top gear. We have a ridiculous three back rotation right now. They can all hurt a defense. None of these guys were getting touches until we shipped McCaffrey.

The Browns game was literally stolen from us. The Giants game was very winnable with better coaching. Rams game could have been a win but what could we expect with all the turmoil of that week. I don’t hang this loss on Wilkes. The first Falcons game should have been a win. In summary, I think Wilkes could have added a win at NY and I think he coached a win at Atlanta that Eddie fugged up. Add the robbery from Cleveland and I believe we could easily have three more wins putting us at 9-6 in actual strength, 10-5 if you think the Rams game had more to do with the change and less to do with actual capability. I think we are the best team in the NFCS and certainly better than our record. We set franchise records today for rushing and total yards, that’s nothing to smirk about. We’re a streaky team for sure and as Panthers fans we’re all conditioned for a let down. We could be peaking at the right time though. I now have hope and the team has been entertaining, that’s a remarkable turnaround from Rhules last week here.

Sometimes you have to call an audible. Football is multi-phase, you can't neglect any of them.

You’re not lying! We give up the sticks way too easy. Start with a cushion, back pedal into first down territory, watch the receiver break the route off at the sticks and convert. It’s like some of our dbs don’t understand route trees. You have to be on the receiver at the point of the catch to have a chance to defend it. Our guys are too often reacting instead of reading and anticipating.

Tankers and believers both want the same thing, a successful team, they just disagree on how to get there. The attacks are just emotional investment in those beliefs. Personally I still identify as apathetic. God, the NFL, and the very universe hates us. This is perpetual.

Pittsburgh probably chuckling so hard at our “identity” in the post game locker room. A complete team doesn’t need an “identity”, they adapt to the weakness presented. We approached this game with the same plan we took to Seattle and Tomlin had his team ready for it. We had no more chess moves once that was obvious. It was an embarrassing defensive performance. I can’t recall being beat to the edge so often. Tackling was a huge issue throughout the game. Put Taylor in hopeless positions throughout the game. Overall, I just didn’t see the team really given an opportunity to compete. Never went tempo, abysmal lack of screens, ran the predictable play over and over. A vanilla game plan exposed.

I’ve seen enough Fox and Rivera style football. Wilkes is cut from the same cloth. Can we ever have a team with a little juice again? Boring football is boring.

July - BUY BUY Baker! November - BYE BYE Baker!

Matthew Stafford was born in 1988. Just 5 years later the NFL approved the team expansion that included the Carolina Panthers. This guy is that guy's father. Checks out, Panther related.

DJ hasn't been consistent. QB play, at best hasn't been consistent......at worst it's been awful. DJ is a defensive focal point. Play calling has been awful. Coaching has been awful. The weight distribution of these factors is debatable, but they're all part of the story.

While interesting, this is 2d analysis. The 3d analysis includes cap impact and the potential that these players walk away for nothing after the 5th year.

In 2018 he had Kelvin Benjamin and Zay Jones at WR, Charles Clay at TE. The team rushed for 2000 yards. ROUGH In 2019 they completely overhauled WR/TE with Cole Beasley, John Brown and Isaiah McKenzie at WR and drafted Dawson Knox at TE. The team rushed for 2000 yards. IMPROVEMENT In 2020 they added Stephon Diggs and Knox began to develop. The team rushed for 1700 yards. MASSIVE STEP in 2021 they ran Diggs, Beasley and Emmanuel Sanders. Very talented WR group. Dawson Knox takes another huge step forward. The team rushed for 2200 yards. ARRIVAL Beyond Allen developing over this time the Bills have made aggressive acquisitions to put real weapons on the receiving end of his passes. Buffalo has always supported Allen with a wildly successful running game (of which he is a huge part) averaging 2000 yards per season over his first four years. Give a strong armed QB good coaching, potent receiving weapons and 2000 yards a year rushing and you get Josh Allen.

I don't think the players tank but I do think they take on a me first attitude. What can be achieved when you're on a terrible team? Avoid injury, stay employed, try to improve value? It's hard to expect players to risk their career for a team that's going nowhere. So yeah, players take plays off, play soft, give less than 100%, in general protect themselves and their future to the extent acceptable. This might give the appearance of players tanking but it's just human nature. Countless examples yesterday but the most obvious was Jaycee. That dude made half a dozen business decisions against Mixon.

I just want to be entertained by our team and feel like we have a fighting chance each week. Every fan base ends up with a frown except one every year. I just don’t want the apathy I felt while Rhule was here. It was hard to care at all. Wow, I cared last week though! I wanted that Atlanta win and it hurt to lose the way we did. I haven’t felt that emotion in awhile, it was nice. Wilkes has made me care again! Let’s see what’s next!

Not sure how you can say that, there's no way to know if Cam would have completed that pass. In his prime he certainly had the arm. We do know that Cam definitely had some amazing moments. First that come to mind are the 2015 wins @Seattle (will never forget that Olsen TD!) and the amazing drive @NO to take the lead and remain undefeated. There were many more, these two just came to mind first. Why do we need to subtract from Cam to uplift PJ though? Other than that, PJ did win the game for us. He may have won the game on the previous drive as well if DJ hangs on. There was nothing further PJ could do, he did his job to the tune of the longest completed air pass in next gen stats history. Coaching took the ball out of his hands after the OT turnover which I thought was a huge mistake. Putting the game on a kicker who just missed vs. the QB that just put the team on his back.

PJ has won me over. Wanted him gone after the Rams game. Tampa and Atlanta have completely changed my perception. He's played really well. That pick 6 was an insane defensive play. He was barely missing on some first half throws yesterday. I want to see more, it definitely feels like his ceiling is quite a bit higher atm. Subject to further evaluation as the league gets more tape on him.

Quality of play leads to accountability IMO and that definitely snowballs either direction.