Looking back, how did we manage to hold Detroit to just 7 points?

[DM1]

Turnovers 

[frash.exe]

Steelers game singlehandedly ripped every ounce of momentum the panthers came in with this season; 1-3-1 since the Detroit game

But that's okay because the Steelers are JR's big brother franchise role model.

[rayzor]

obviously it was the greg hardy impact, right? because we suck when he isn't on the field and don't suck when he's here?

 

wait...he actually ws on the field during the second half meltdown against the bucs week one and wasn't here against the beastly lion offense with the best WR in the league and we still dominated? how in the world did that happen?

 

point is....i don't know, but i do know that the greg hardy factor/impact has been overplayed. this defense should be able to dominate with or without him. that secondary should be able to be at least competent with the front seven working in front of them. the problem is that coaching isn't adjusting to offenses adjusting to us and the players have been executing poorly. these guys are capable of far more than they have been doing. the problem is more between their ears than anything else. i just don't know exactly what went wrong nor do i know what can fix it.

[PantherBoy95]

To be honest they lost that game, I remember multiple times they were in the red zone and would give away the ball. While I believe that a key quality of a defense is getting the ball back when you need it most, I believe an even bigger quality that we once had was not letting them get anywhere in our territory in the first place.

[frash.exe]

obviously it was the greg hardy impact, right? because we suck when he isn't on the field and don't suck when he's here?

wait...he actually ws on the field during the second half meltdown against the bucs week one and wasn't here against the beastly lion offense with the best WR in the league and we still dominated? how in the world did that happen?

point is....i don't know, but i do know that the greg hardy factor/impact has been overplayed. this defense should be able to dominate with or without him. that secondary should be able to be at least competent with the front seven working in front of them. the problem is that coaching isn't adjusting to offenses adjusting to us and the players have been executing poorly. these guys are capable of far more than they have been doing. the problem is more between their ears than anything else. i just don't know exactly what went wrong nor do i know what can fix it.

Whatever anybody's opinion is of Greg Hardy as a person, as a player, taking him out of the mix is the equivalent of taking your no.1 WR off the field on offense, like the Bengals have been dealing with since AJ Green was taken off the field. He's a monster on the line that teams have to account for on their QB's blindside and he did make a game-saving play against the bucs by way of a forced fumble

Does he take us from zero to worldbeaters in one go? No but if we had him on the field I believe we would've won the Bengals game and at least wouldn't be getting blown out, and our season outlook would be a lot better.

[Panthers8969]

Idk, honestly. They lions are a good team and they had megatron when we played them. Gives me hope we will be better down the road like we usually are

[Sean Payton's Vicodin]

Steelers clearly gave the rest of the league a blueprint that Ron and company haven't recovered from. Either they are awful coaches who cannot adjust over an entire month (likely) or our defense just doesn't have the talent to compensate (also likely)

 

With Marshawn and Russel coming to Charlotte I don't see that changing.

[Davidson Deac II]

Detroit is a hard team to figure out.  They lose at home to Buffalo, barely beat a struggling Saints team at home, get pounded on the road by us.  But then they beat up Green Bay.  I am still not sure they are all that good, or at least consistently good, but I do think they have the advantage of playing the NFC south this year.  They have a game at Atlanta this week, which they should win easily.  But I also think we were ready to play against them, and well focused.   And they ran the ball only 18 times, and passed 48.  They really abandoned the run, even though it was working for them. 

[Rise of The Hive]

In a game of matchups we just matched up well with them.

[Achilles]

Confidence is the biggest factor in my opinion.  Confidence leads to focus.  The defense had focus in the first two games, then they came unglued.  Pittsburgh exposed a lot of weaknesses.  Those weaknesses have now become glaring.

 

I think it was a mistake to jettison the entire secondary.  I understand it was a business decision but the guys we have now are NOT better.  They are older and less skilled.  There is no leadership in this secondary.  Godfrey was freaking atrocious (now he's gone…fine).  But i don't see where Harper is helping or Cason or the other safety.  

 

Of course the pass rush has been less than stellar and the linebackers have been outplayed. Let downs in focus (angles, tackling, getting off blocks, etc.) have led to the team looking lazy and tired (GB game first half we were absolutely not ready mentally or physically).

 

Finally, the offense sucked against Pitt., Bal., and GB in the first half.  We got down early and the defense ended up on the field for long, long stretches and giving up long drives and big gains.  The D ended up getting pummeled by Cincy, but the offense kept us in it and they D/ST did make some plays in that game.  The difference was Cam opened up the running game vs. CIncy.  It's been said many times: when Cam runs the ball 4-5 times in the first half and especially if he converts 1 or 2 3rd downs, this offense begins to click.

 

This game could very well come down to a battle between Cam and Wilson.  All other things aside (defense included) whichever team gets the most running yards from their QB will likely win this game.  That will show how effective the offenses can be.

 

I expect it to be close late.  Outcome is 50/50 IMO.