Pre-season Game 1: Winners and Losers

[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Ealy did not get an A+ tonight that is for sure. But to say he was a loser is plain asinine stupidity and a clue that someone did not critically watch the game (or was drunk) and is justifying his opinions on what he has heard the media spout during the last week of training camp.

I mean no personal offense, but Ealy was a loser tonight? No. Just no.

Ealy showed he can succeed and contribute as a pass rush specialist...i guess some just are looking to jump on certain players on the slightest mishap..thats supposed to happen in year 1 of the preseason game 1.

[Sloth]

Only real concern I had with Ealy was that he looked like he wanted to die if he jogged for more than 4 seconds. He showed a little tonight and that's pretty ok being that we have about 14 DEs on roster with some game and can afford him time to develop.

[Jackofalltrades]

Ealy made an impact on several plays, I have no issues with his performance tonight.

He's a rookie in his first NFL game, the expectations around here are insane.

The losers for me were Barner, Blanchard and OL 63, I think. He spent more time in the backfield than the other two I listed.

OL in general was worrisome, but it's the first Preseason game.

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[TANTRIC-NINJA]

Camp has been 75 degrees Ealy needs this for real work. He probally thinks NFL camp is resort life.

[Sloth]

Oh, and as someone who used to stick up for Josh Thomas, it's probably time for him to gtfo. He's not good and is getting worse.

 

Norman was his usual "bark after getting burnt" self, but had a nice, pretty, easy INT. Who knows with him.

[SIGCHI222]

Ealy showed he can succeed and contribute as a pass rush specialist...i guess some just are looking to jump on certain players on the slightest mishap..thats supposed to happen in year 1 of the preseason game 1.

 

I fully expected poo from Kony, maybe even absolute failure tonight.  I was wrong and glad to have seen it.

 

The kid can play just needs to have his ass ridden like a mule.  I was pleasantly surprised by him, Reaves and KB goes without saying.

 

The other KB (rhymes with Minion Farmer) was a loser in the Biblical sense.  I am tired of him and his lack of production.  Wanted him to succeed but it looks worse each time he gets a chance.

 

[Panthers8969]

Josh Norman tackled like poo, at one point he actually tried making a jumping tackle.

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[rmoneyg35]

I've been hard on Ealy but to call him a loser while calling Norman a winner baffles me.

Because he got da interception duh!

I think some people just don't pay attention to details enough to notice anything but the big plays.

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[TANTRIC-NINJA]

JT had a pass go by his head where he never turned back to it..was awful...i still remember Week 1 last season on back to back deep passes getting him to bite on Play Action each time for the deep TD.

[Ruff]

Both Joshs looked awful, except for Norman's interception. Josh Thomas is beginning to look like all sorts of awful. 

 

I noticed that every time someone burned a player, or there was a WR open, it was because Godfrey was trailing 15 yards behind them... Good to see him back to his former self, I guess.

 

Blanchard. My god. That dude is Jimmy Clausen bad.

[Panther4lyfe]

I think people are unfairly judging Barner, he did good for what he was given. Yes he missed some holes, but he made a special team tackle, and the one time he had some OK blocking he showed he's not only elusive but he can run you over. Now don't get me wrong I'm not saying he had a great game, but come on he wasn't bad either. I definelty am pulling for this guy to make the squad becuase I think he can be a good running back.

 

And why is Reaves such a hero he had 19 yards on 8 carries that's less than 3 yards a gain. Come on get the F*** out of here. He didn't do that much better than Barner, I like Reaves running hard and all, but don't crown him the savior when he didn't do much more than Barner. And if you want to really compare them they had about the same amount of highlight plays.

 

I'm saying all this to say if you want to belame somebody look at the offensive lineman who just did a horrendous job run blocking, on the bright side we know how good we can be passing the ball with how well they stood up when it came to pass blocking.

[BigBoss]

A mixed bag for me. I'll start with the good.

 

Derek Anderson. No he was not the second coming of Steve Young. But, had a very efficient drive, sowed smart passes and managed the game well for a back up. He moved the chains with his feet, showing some good pocket awareness and keeping the drives alive, made good use of his tight ends, and gave the put the rookie in a position to look good (though I admit Kelvin did the hard part for sure!). We all know he's the back up and if Cam were to go down for a game or two, LORD IN HEAVEN FORBID, Derek showed he can at least manage the game well like a VET should. Nice to have that behind our superstar. For comparison, check Ryan Mallet's performance in place of Timmy Brady. Be thankful for Derek.

 

Kelvin Benji. We expected beast, we were told beast, we saw a beast. I really can't say much, because that touchdown really said it all. I'll just add thank you David for giving this weapon to Cam. I'm harsh on David, but I'll dish credit to him when he deserves it, and he chose wisely with Kelvin it would seem.

 

Tight Ends. What was there to not like about our tight butts, errr Tight ends? They were tough in blocking, sticking their faces into pads, they showed some sure hands and hey, we even had our favorite little (lol) project catch a TD. Every good offense needs efficient Tight ends. 

 

Pass blocking. Seemed alright from the first squad... emphasis on the first squad. A lot better than what we saw from last years Bills game.... ugh that nightmare.

KK Short. If you didn't already love this guy from last year, your a sorry panther fan I'm not sorry to say. Recap of last season; He was second on the team for QB pressures.... as a back up DT. He was a menace again tonight and no he didn't pick up the stats, but if you have two eyes, you know very well he was disrupting the Bills offense. After Fua and Mcclain failures, I can still remember just getting straight gashed in the run game. So Dave did well to draft two DT'S in a row. I know Star is the, well, star DT on the team. But I really believe Short is JUST as good and I simply love having him on our squad. EXCELLENT pick by David and I think he'll be even better this year. Great motor for a DT.

 

Chase Blackburn. We ask Chase to do a lot of things, sometimes things a lot guys with his talent would probably prefer not to do, but he shuts his mouth and puts the team first. He sticks his face into a pile, gets after ball carrier and works hard in coverage. Oh and he tries hard to help AJ in his coverage game, knowing that AJ will probably, sooner if not later take his spot. Our team is blessed to have Chase.

 

Now for the bad.

 

The running game. All of it. Our RB's picked up a GIGANTIC 29 yards on the ground today, including Mr. Barner he averaged 1 yard per carry. Look out San Fran, we've gotten better since our last play off game!!! Don't worry, I place plenty of this blame on the O-line. They were awful in the run tonight, getting very little push, if not completely beaten. Though our RB's did not help them much I would say, really it was 60-40 deal in my book. I'm a big believer in if you have a good enough line, even crappy RB's can look good, but not vice versa. I know D-will and stewy didn't play, but do we truly believe we'd have 60-70 more yards rushing if they had? Stewy would need 2 carries to be stuck on a bike for another year. A lot of work needed, and I don't know if it's gonna get right this season. Heaven help Cam.

 

The pass defense. I almost put the whole defense, because the rush d wasn't a shining star either honestly, but I'll let it slide for now because we held them for 4 straight downs. That said, EJ manuel looked pretty good against us today and had a lot of clean passes Thad Lewis wasn't horrible either. I thought Josh was just okay, I'm not gonna give him a complete pass, but not gonna ignore his effort either, but all in all here is the bottom line - We've gotta face a lot better QB's than EJ Manuel this season and they will get more than a quarter to go hard on us. We've got to be better. There was concern for this portion of our defense coming into this year and it still seems like one to me. We've still got 3 weeks left, so let's see.

 

Second string O-line: Lord help us, Zod was being generous in his reviews of this bunch for training camp. I'm not much on Training camp reviews usually because meh, so Zods comments on these things are usually w/e to me.... but the man was on the money on this one. Just as he was on money for Kelvin, he's also on money on this bunch. O-lines VERY rarely stay completely healthy for 16 games... so brace yourselves boys... and more importantly brace yourself Cam. Your move David G.

 

Matt Blanchard. I'm not gonna slam the kid at all. Look , he was a well known long shot and his best hope was practice squad, not even third string, so if you had expectations tonight for even slightly decent, stop it. This kid was interviewed and excited for his chance and just wanted to good tonight. That didn't happen. I know it's fun to put guys like him on the firing squad and treat him like Jimmy C, but this kid tried his best and just wants to make his dream come true. I will not defend his performance in anyway, but let's not act like we suppose to expect great things ever. I'm just say, let's not kick the little guy when he's already down. He'll likely be cut and may never get signed again. Not an easy pill to swallow.



All in all. Just a preseason game, and I think we all wish our man Cam could play, but what the hey!

[Kuech the Sneak]

I'm recording the game but a few quick questions

First team oline? How'd they play?

Seemed we couldn't stop the run or run the ball, main issues?

[LA_Panther]

Didn't watch the game but it sounds like godfrey picked up where he left off ... smh

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