Week 7 WIN against Philadelphia - Stats & Analysis

[KB_fan]

David Newton has a nice write up about how Mike Tolbert's 2nd TD epitomizes the team in 2015:

http://espn.go.com/blog/carolina-panthers/post/_/id/16609/mike-tolberts-bowling-ball-moment-defines-the-undefeated-panthers

Quarterback Cam Newton faked the hand-off to running back Jonathan Stewart on second-and-goal from the 2 Sunday night, then floated a pass to Mike Tolbert in the right flat.

Philadelphia Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins hit the 5-foot-9, 245-pound fullback square in the hips, knocking him back to the 5, but Tolbert didn't go down.

He squared his hips and made cornerback Byron Maxwell miss. He then lowered his shoulders and carried two more defenders with him over the pylon for a touchdown.

This play early in the second half of a 27-16 victory over the Eagles epitomized why the Carolina Panthers are off to a 6-0 start for the first time in franchise history.

They refuse to be stopped when somebody tries to knock them down.

They are resilient.

They, in the words of the late Carolina linebacker Sam Mills, "keep pounding."

"Just find a way," tight end Greg Olsen said when comparing Tolbert's play to Carolina's season. "Just find a way to get it done. It doesn't always have to be pretty. We've got a lot of guys that can contribute, and tonight is a perfect example."

[...]

No play showed that more to a national audience wondering what this team is all about than Tolbert's catch and run.

"Resilience," cornerback Josh Norman. "The dude has a motor, like he don't stop. He's got to keep pounding. And when you keep pounding regardless of any adversary that comes your way, just throw them off and go to the next one ... that's what Big Mike did."

That's what the Panthers have done. They throw off a bad play and move on to the next one. They throw off the exhilaration of a win and move on to the next one.

They aren't caught up in all the noise that is beginning to grow nationally around their success. They stay in the moment.

 

[O-Ther]

Panthers only gave up 1 sack compared to 9 sacks last year. The sack was allowed by Jonathan Stewart to Mychal Kendricks. Stewie had been the best blitz-pickup RB in the league before that gaff. No sacks allowed by the O-Line this time vs. Iggles, a vast improvement over last year.

[KB_fan]

More on the importance of Jonathan Stewart's running:

Stewart became the first player since Frank Gore in Week 4 of the 2014 season to tally 100 yards rushing against the Eagles. According to ESPN Stats & Info, the Panthers are now 11-1 in their last 12 games when Stewart tops the century mark. 

[ecu88]

Carolina Panthers the mythbuster team of the NFL, the antithesis of sports experts, the defier of defeat, and the envy of the league.  We are no longer an underdog or the best kept secret.  We are not satisfied and now with the culture of winning has been officially established, we are aiming for the Super Bowl and will destroy any opponent in our way.  We are in the greatest time period of our franchise and it has just started.  

[KB_fan]

More on the 6-0 start, from B/R:

In 2003, the Carolina Panthers opened the season with five consecutive victories, beating the Jaguars, Buccaneers, Falcons, Saints and Colts.  They were stymied in their sixth time out, falling to the Tennessee Titans 37-17 on their way to a Super Bowl appearance.

Five other times, the Panthers have started out 4-2, but they’ve never managed to stay undefeated quite this far into the season.

That means the Panthers, still undefeated, are in uncharted waters for the franchise.  Yes, in the grand scheme of things, 6-0 is far from unprecedented.  They are one of five 6-0 teams this season alone, and one of 79 teams to perform that feat all-time.  Still, it’s a high-water mark for a relatively young franchise and definitely worth celebrating. 

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2582770-eagles-vs-panthers-carolina-grades-notes-quotes/page/3 

[KB_fan]

A link included on another page of that same B/R article linked above shows how incredible Cam's rushing TD numbers are for a QB who is only 26.  WOW.   Here's the list of rushing TDs by QBs age 26 or younger at Pro Football Reference

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/play-index/tiny.cgi?id=DtPAa

Cam is #1 with 37 as of last night.  The next best at age 26, Daunte Culpepper with 26.  Cam is awesome.

[KB_fan]

A commenter at C-S-R- writes:  (the stat about being #1 rushing offense in terms of yards/game checks out as true)

We are the #1 rushing offense in the NFL as of Week 7

144.7 rushing yards per game…. 4.4 yards per carry

This is what we are. It’s good to have an identity. Consider that the Eagles’ defense allowed 94 rushing yards per game prior to last night. We ran for 204 on them. Indianapolis is coming… and they’re a worse run-stopping unit than Philly. This bodes well.

[ecu88]

A commenter at C-S-R- writes:  (the stat about being #1 rushing offense in terms of yards/game checks out as true)

But but but our o-line cannot run block

[KB_fan]

A great comment by @JakeR6 on the Shula Ball thread:

27.0 PPG this season

That's 6th best in the NFL & within 0.5 Pt of ATL & GB.

Last week the offense had (4) 80 Yd TD drives at Seattle. The most dominating offensive performance against a Wilson led Seattle team (28-2 w/l @ home).

This week they again put up 27. This time against a Philly that was only allowing 18.3 ppg (6th best in NFL). And the offense did it despite 3 turnovers by Cam & only 1 takeaway. That's impressive. The playcalling was great. Pounded them with Stewart all night, setting up great play action passes down field. And the reverse to Ginn was brilliant. 

[KB_fan]

Panthers PR Dept. ‏@PanthersPR 9h9 hours ago

In last 13 games, including the playoffs, Jonathan Stewart has rushed for 1,102 yards

[KB_fan]

BBR has posted the snap counts from the Eagles game:

http://blackandbluereview.com/week-7-snap-counts-eagles-at-panthers/

Notes (Offense)

• A week after seeing his most limited playing time of the year, Funchess was in for three fewer snaps than he saw in Seattle.

• Tolbert scored on 11.7 percent of his plays.

• Bersin has played only five snaps since Cotchery came back in Week 6.

• Artis-Payne was active but didn't play against the Seahawks. His one snap Sunday was a carry for no gain when Stewart needed to be spelled on 3rd-and-1 near midfield late in the fourth.

 

Notes (Defense)

• Norman was forced to sit out one play because of the NFL's increased awareness of possible concussions.

• Kuechly missed two plays after tweaking his shoulder while making a tackle midway through the fourth.

• Allen was supposed to play 30-35 snaps. Instead, he was out there for 77, his most since 2013 when he was with the Vikings.

• The Harper/Boston split remains one-sided.

• Short had never played 60 snaps in his three-year career. Sunday he was in for 68.

• Tillman was spelled on the outside by Benwikere for 22 plays.

• Since his big debut against the Bucs, Delaire has one tackle in 63 snaps.

 

[KB_fan]

A bit more about our improved red-zone efficiency from an article at BBR:

Shula's offense has also improved in the red zone, converting six of its eight trips into touchdowns the past two weeks. For the season, the Panthers are going from the red zone to the end zone at a 59-percent clip, 11 percent better than 2014 when they were the 7th-worst unit in the league.

http://blackandbluereview.com/mike-shula-panthers-punching-bag-off-the-mat/ 

[KB_fan]

GIFs from the game:

 

[KB_fan]

Below a short excerpt from Ron Rivera's press conference yesterday.  Because I haven't yet looked at the gamebook data, I didn't realize we were only 2 of 9 on 3rd down conversions on Sunday night, and yet still found a way to win.  It seems though that the small number of 3rd downs suggests our offense is getting more efficient and moving the chains much more often on 1st & 2nd down.  This is something I'll try to look at more closely later in the week.

http://blackandbluereview.com/transcript-ron-rivera-monday-press-conference/

What led to the amount of plays over 20 yards by the offense?

"It was about the opportunities that were out there. We were put in a couple of second and third and longs that we were forced to come up with chunk plays. We weren't as good on third down as I would have liked to have been. We were 2-for-9 on third downs. The two that we hit were long plays. Those are things we have to be better at. That's disappointing as far third down is concerned. We were able to make things happen in those situations."