New Blog Entry: Week 1 "Game at a Glance"

[KB_fan]

I've started a new feature on my Panthers' Analysis blog.  I hope it will be a weekly feature after each game.  It's the "game at a glance" table putting the gamebook "drive summary" chart into a kind of visual format, with big plays highlighted.  Some of you will have seen the table in the week 1 Stats & Analysis thread, or the PFF Defense grade thread.  In the blog entry, however, I've not only posted the table, I've also discussed 5 take aways I get from looking at the week 1 table.

Of particular interest is a look at the anatomy of the drive where we scored our single Offensive Touchdown.  It may be "quintessential Panther's football."  No "big play" in terms of a huge gain, but a couple of big conversions on 3rd & 4th down and lots of short runs & short passes.  Really sweet.  Not the most exciting kind of football perhaps, but a great drive.

Because I know that not everyone will have time to read the full entry, let me at least post my comments on the anatomy of that TD-scoring drive, since I imagine that may be of interest to some, and it may also help alleviate at least *some* of the anxiety about our offense in the wake of Kelvin Benjamin's absence this year. 

 

3) Carolina football success does NOT NECESSARILY depend on big plays.  What's interesting to note is that Drive 5, our only offensive drive in which we scored a TD (obviously not counting Josh Norman's Pick6 TD) did not have a true "big play."  The biggest play, by the numbers, of that drive was a 17 yard pass to Ted Ginn.  Here's how the rest of it reads:

• Start on CAR34 after a failed JAX FG attempt
• 1) Cam run for 4 to CAR38
• 2) Incomplete pass, penalty on JAX, 1st down. to CAR 43
• 3) 17 yard pass to Ginn.  1st down.  JAX 40. 
• 4) Incomplete deep pass to Cotch.
• 5) Stewart Run for 7 yards.  JAX 33.
• 6) 3rd & 3: 4 yard pass to Stewart.  1st down.  JAX 29.
• 7) 5 yard pass to Fozzy.  JAX 24.
• 8) 6 yard pass to Philly Brown.  JAX 18.  First Down.
• 9) Fozzy run.  No Gain.  Still JAX 18.
• 10) 6 yard pass to Tolbert.  JAX 12.
• 11) 3rd & 4: Cam run for 3 yards.  4th & 1 at JAX 9.
• 12) 4th & 1: Cam up the middle for 2 yards.  1st down.  JAX 7
• 13) 7 yard pass to Cotch.  TOUCHDOWN!

So, you tell me.  Was the longest pass of the drive, the 17 yard pass to Ginn early on, the "big play" that led to scoring.  Not really.  It was great, built confidence in the passing game, got us into JAX territory, etc. etc.  But obviously the real big plays of the drive were plays 6, 12 and 13.  Stew's 3rd down conversion that kept us moving towards the red zone, Cam's 4th down push the pile forward conversion, and then the short TD throw to Cotch.

Big plays are interesting.  They do create scoring oportunities,and momentum shifts, and reveal weaknesses in an opponent's defense.  I'm looking forward to tracking them.  But they MAY not be essential in terms of how the Panthers win a game... 

Drive 5 may be textbook of how we win this year.  13 plays (counting incompletions), 5:21 off the clock, 66 yards.  No pass longer than 17 yards.  No run longer than 7 yards.  The big plays were a run of 2 yards, a pass for 4 yards, and a pass for 7 yards. 

What do you think, would you be happy to see a lot more drives like drive 5 from week 1?  Share your thoughts!

And if you have time, I'd love for folks to check out the full blog entry and to give feedback on the "game at a glance" table and any suggestions for changes or improvement.

[the butch]

You're on another level with these stats, man.  Keep up the good work.  Didn't let them cross the 50 in the second half . . . wow!

[Khaki Lackey]

I like our brand of football better than the shoutouts like we saw from Iggles/Cons last night. I realize that I'm probably in the minority here.

[TheWiz]

I'm not shy with criticism... so I cant be shy with the praise. KB_Fan, this should be required reading for every Huddler.

Excellent work my dude.  

[KB_fan]

I just realized we had another "scoring opportunity" that we missed that doesn't show up in the table.   In drive 7, following the complete 37 yard pass to Ginn, we actually got as far as the JAX37 yard line, within field goal range.  But we got pushed back to the JAX48 and ended up punting. 

So actually, it's interesting, we had scoring opportunities on all 5 drives where we had "big plays" - for a total of 6 total scoring opportunities, of which we got points on 3.