Pre-season Game 1: Winners and Losers

[Panthro]

I wish we did not try to be something we are not...A running team

[Who Said What?]

God, games really show the idiots on this board. It's easier for them to hide during the offseason.

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Exactly, you watch a whole game and see someone produce.  Then you get on here and its all "I watched them very closely and they had a horrible night".  "Wait what number is said player?"

[section543]

It was covered in a previous post, but Barner was given reps with all of the o-lines. IMO DeAngelo was inactive tonight in part to make this a showcase game for Barner, and unfortunately for Barner, he got upstaged by Reeves.

If you watched the 2011 pre-season vs. Cam's first game, it's obvious the coaches simplify the playbook specifically to put players in certain situations so they can be better evaluated. Barner is a speedy scatback who did his damage at Oregon in the wide open Chip Kelly spread offense that got him the ball on the perimeter one on one with guys in the secondary. Tonight it was clear the coaches wanted to see what type of between-the-tackles runner he could be, and without question he struggled, trying to juke guys at the line instead of using his burst to hit the hole and get to the second level.

It was assumed the Panthers drafted Barner to be the Darren Sproles change-of-pace spark to what was otherwise a boring, methodical and predictable attack and he still might be that guy, but since he's been here, I don't recall him making an impact outside of fitting in seamlessly with Double Trouble off the field. For the most part, we haven't put him in the Darren Sproles role because I don't think Shula's ball-control offense calls for it, and if he doesn't fit what you're trying to do, what good is he?

Except for the umpteenth year in a row, there were no holes to hit. It amazes me that we ever get any yards rushing. Must be frustrating to be RB here...

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[MHS831]

I will save my winners/losers for guys who are not automatics to make the team.

 

 

Winner: Whitaker  Loser: Barner

Winner: Addison   Loser: Ealy

Winner: Norman    Loser: Godfrey

 

I am not sure that Ealy lost.  I agree with the other 2.  You could add:

 

Winner: Webb, Loser: Blanchard

[stirs]

I am not sure that Ealy lost.  I agree with the other 2.  You could add:

 

Winner: Webb, Loser: Blanchard

 

I agree with your assessment but don't think either will make the team

 

[MHS831]

About the OL:

 

They were playing a team who had a game under its belt.  They had their starters in for a long time.  Buffalo has a  very good front. However, I think we have been focused on pass protection in camp, and we need more time to work on the Guard play that makes run blocking successful.  I would be more concerned if our pass protection was terrible.  To run, you need more pulling from the guards than I saw.  We were vanilla.  Still, when Turner and Hooch (Silatolu) get into game form and start playing faster, you will see the difference.  Remember, pass blocking is reactionary--run blocking is aggressive instigation.

 

About Bell at LT--I guess he was OK, but he sure gets bull rushed into the QB a lot.  It seems that is the scouting report on him.  I liked Williams, but he was vs. weaker competition.

 

How many OL do we really need to have depth?  my guess is we need to be 7 deep, and we seem to be.  Folkerts played a very good game--he is a mauler at C.  Sure, he had a false start, but watch the game again-in the third, fourth quarters he was blowing people up in the run game.  The guards beside him were not good.  The reason I say 7 deep?  Williams can play any of 4 positions on the OL.   Yes, it matters, but the eighth and ninth OL are for extreme emergencies.  Williams is very valuable to the OL.

[MHS831]

I agree with your assessment but don't think either will make the team

 

 

I had the same thought after posting my comment. I think Ealy, however, was where he should be.  You are right, Addison was better, but I saw flashes from Ealy that are encouraging.

[MHS831]

Watch closely

 

Ealy was manhandled all night.  Made one play along with an LB at the goal line.

 

Often quit on plays, maybe due to being winded.

 

 

He played nearly the entire game.  I saw him showing signs of fatigue early and often, but he was high motorin' out there.

 

[Memphis]

I liked what I saw from Star. While being double teamed he gained great push on the Center and Guard. It created lots of space for both Dwan and Hardy. The result of the play was a sack. He is the most important player on our defence besides Luke.

 

Also liked what I saw from A.J. He is taking some nice strides and will see increased playing time in 2014. Had some good reads and tackles. Blackburn looked fired up too and had some decent plays.

 

KK got some nice push and should have gotten a sack. Instead Addison got it on the resulting pursuit of the QB.

The DBs were a bit to grabby and had trouble hiding the contact after 5 yards. Also we got like 9 penalties in the game, which we need to cut down on drastically.

Nortman looked good.

 

I am also happy about or Backup QB situation.

p.s. Did anyone see Clausen rippin it in Chicago. Good for him.

[NCstoner420]

Played against second stringers all night and made one play

Got handled easily by backup RT for Bills

No he did not, I only watched Ealy and he played great. You have much to learn if you're only measuring success on sacks and hurries.

[MHS831]

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.  Yes.  We can win with Anderson if we have to with our D.  About the Kelvin pass--Anderson put it where KB and KB only could catch it.  Anderson could possibly start for some teams in the NFL--he has--so keeping him in Charlotte was a great move.

 

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.  I was impressed with how open he was.  The pass Anderson threw to him that was high and behind him showed that KB knows how to find the seams in the zone and, at his height, becomes a nice target for any QB.

 

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. We have never had a better group of TEs.  Glad you noticed the blocking.  We were also using 2 a lot early on. 

 

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.   Bell did pretty good, but he was getting bull rushed into the QB's back a lot. 

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.  I agree about Short.  Short and Edwards are 2 of the best pass-rushing DTs in the NFL.  Star showed up too--the fourth down stand had more to do with him than anyone else, but you could barely see him.  Good point about Fua and McClain.  Hurney was guessing and drafting rookie DTs to fill immediate needs.  He was such a joke.

 

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.Blackburn is a beast, just a limited one.  But he is a gritty, determined football player, one who is not quitting until he wins.  Love his fire.  Klein is going to be solid for a long time. 

 

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.  I said it in another post-our Guard play was developmentally behind the others, so it was understandable.  Buffalo's second game, our first.  That really shows up on the line.  Their DL is very good and they had a week of film to watch to get better.  We had a rookie, a former DT playing RT, and a first-time LT in the game. I think we will get better. 

 

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.  Agreed.  I am most concerned about the secondary. 

 

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.  Bright spot:  Folkerts.  He was pretty good.  We also have a very good OL coach. 

 

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.

not that it matters, but he cost us the game.  Let this be a lesson to anyone who was a stud in high school, a stud at a small college.  This is the NFL. 

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

 

Good analysis.  The areas where we are weak now were weaknesses last year.  I expected more from the secondary.

 

[Carl Spackler]

Clausen on his worst day was better than Blanchard last night.

 

Clausen didn't move the chains enough, but he wasn't a turnover machine.

[catnip]

Winners- Benjamin ( made a great endzone catch which boosted his confidence)

             - 1st string O-line ( did not give up a sack against a good defense) could improve run blocking

             - King , Bersin, Lucas- made catches and should made the team

             - Webb- moved the chains and looked in control

 

Losers- Blanchard- looked lost and made poor throws

           - Barner- Fozzy looked much better

           - Godfrey- too slow and  was  out played

          - Underwood-  others wrs looked good

[gakonline]

Reaves and King were tops. Reaves kept his feet moving and showed great balance. When nothing was there he pushed though to get a least a yard. Barner was a big disappointment. He dances around way to much and falls with the slightest hit.

King was determined and you could see it on his face. He will make the team and could see significant playing time later in the year of he keeps it up. He may be our slot guy. Looked good finding holes in the zone and has the quickness to turn it up field.

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