We are letting teams hang around, we need to stop being so conservative

[shaqattaq]

1 hour ago, Ornias said:

The refs played a huge role in this game. I hate bringing up the refs as it is usually a major cop out, but that hold on Olsen was huge. We run most of the clock out except for that call. That "completed" pass on 4th down that was not overturned was another. I honestly am starting to believe that the refs are told to keep the games as close as they can. Defense was gassed in the 4th and OT and still won. The Colts had 2 penalties called against them for 15 yards, yeah that was well reffed.

let's not forget the out of bounds call when the player was clearly brought down in bounds and Bene getting thrown to ground on a TD pass (and just to be fair, Harper was all over his receiver in the endzone in the first quarter, but didn't get called for it). Horrible officiating!

[!stUp]

19 minutes ago, teeray said:

This x1000

This ^^^ times a bazillion. I guess it's Shula's fault it rained.

[Cyberjag]

Let's also not forget how important this game was to the Colts.  They played like we were their Super Bowl, and we took it to them anyway.

[TPanther920]

What about the other side of the ball? I know diddly about pro football but for the life of me I don't understand why our defense switches to a "prevent" alignment that gives away 10-15 yards at a time and multiple first downs. One of you gurus please explain.

[beastson52]

I think your mistaking conservative with the weather dictating the game.

[JccOldTime23]

The entire reason the Colts got back into the game is because our defense went to that soft zone prevent scheme with like 10 minutes left. Ron's biggest issue as a coach is he takes his foot off the gas way too early in games. To me that's the entire reason the Colts got back into it. If we stick with what we'd done the whole game there I don't think they come back.

[Manos]

2 hours ago, Lumps said:

Please stop comparing Cam to Brady you make us look like idiots to outside readers of the forum.

I could be a WR for Brady.i

I wasn't comparing Cam to Brady I was comparing Gronk and pals to Olsen and pals. The patriots wideouts aren't a ton more talented than ours they just get used differently. If we ran our offense like the Pats then Cam would have a much higher completion % and more yards because that's how the offense is designed. We play offense like a team from the 90s and so we have stats like teams from the 90s. Yes if we had Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Steve Smith at wr we would look better but we still wouldn't be throwing for 5k a year because our offense doesn't want to do that.

[juliosantos]

i agree 

[panthers55]

2 hours ago, TheWiz said:

I think some of  you guys are missing the point. 

Here's whats ridiculous about it... The idea that our offense cannot drive the ball is false. Carolina was up 23-6. And everyone knew what was going to happen... run, run, pass. Indy was loading 8 in the box and we still ran it. We did this for 3 possessions in the 4th. Stalled drives because we took our foot off the gas. We paid a guy 100 million dollars and took the ball out of his hands in the fourth quarter.... and put it in the hands of a guy who is known for 4th quarter comebacks... against a gassed defense. 

The rain stopped in the fourth quarter but the coaching did not adjust. 

You have to know what this does to your offense and to your quarterbacks confidence... You're basically telling him, I dont trust you. But with the game on the line.... the pressure is all on the QB to now throw the ball all of a sudden... and he keeps delivering. This team does not have to have dramatic game winning drives... but 4th quarter coaching puts us in that position.

You seem to be the one that is missing the point. You play to win the game not score 50 points. When you are up 23-6 with 10 minutes left in the game you don't throw the ball which risks getting picked and giving them the ball back, you run clock and if they are going to score you make them go the full length of the field.  You have kept them to 2 field goals which they got from field position on turnovers. Whether the rain slowed down or not( it didn't really stop) you don't change what got you the lead which was run the ball and throw when you needed to move the chains. 

The reality is that the game shouldn't have been close. Going into the 4th quarter Luck had thrown for a total of 40 yards.  We twice had the game  iced with a first down only to have a penalty that put us in 3rd and long instead of first and 10. Both times we kicked the ball back to them and they scored.

The whole we don't trust the team crap makes no sense in light of going for it on 4th down in the first half.  The reality is that you always play  situational  ball  and that sometimes means playing smart football. While you wanted us to air it out, I was thinking don't throw a high ball that gets tipped and gives them the ball on our side of the field for easy points like we did against the Eagles last week.  Now if you had talked about playing too loose or going prevent and letting them back into the game I might agree with you but to say we didn't try to win negates all the long balls and deep passes we attempted all game long including overtime.   I love armchair quarterbacking after the fact as much as the next guy but Rivera played this correctly and without a bunch of help from the refs this game wouldn't have been close.

[panthers55]

31 minutes ago, Manos said:

I wasn't comparing Cam to Brady I was comparing Gronk and pals to Olsen and pals. The patriots wideouts aren't a ton more talented than ours they just get used differently. If we ran our offense like the Pats then Cam would have a much higher completion % and more yards because that's how the offense is designed. We play offense like a team from the 90s and so we have stats like teams from the 90s. Yes if we had Jerry Rice, Randy Moss and Steve Smith at wr we would look better but we still wouldn't be throwing for 5k a year because our offense doesn't want to do that.

Why the comparisons between 2 teams that run completely different offenses. We have a great run offense because our O line is built to run block and we have the greatest running quarterback in the history of the NFL. This isn't the 90 offense this is the wave of the future.  We have a balances offense that can run or pass in any conditions, we aren't the Patriots and never will be. We are 7-0 doing it our way.  Why would we want to be anyone else?

[panthers55]

50 minutes ago, JccOldTime23 said:

The entire reason the Colts got back into the game is because our defense went to that soft zone prevent scheme with like 10 minutes left. Ron's biggest issue as a coach is he takes his foot off the gas way too early in games. To me that's the entire reason the Colts got back into it. If we stick with what we'd done the whole game there I don't think they come back.

The saints played man coverage against them last week and their corner fell down twice and Indy had 2 easy scores and almost came back on them from 27 down.  You have to understand the situation and the ultimate goal, we didn't think they could score 17 points in 10 minutes when they scored 6 in the first 50 minutes. In retrospect they did but Rivera did the smart thing at the time that 95 out of 100 coaches would do every time.

[JccOldTime23]

3 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

The saints played man coverage against them last week and their corner fell down twice and Indy had 2 easy scores and almost came back on them from 27 down.  You have to understand the situation and the ultimate goal, we didn't think they could score 17 points in 10 minutes when they scored 6 in the first 50 minutes. In retrospect they did but Rivera did the smart thing at the time that 95 out of 100 coaches would do every time.

I would agree with you except Norman and Tillman are far superior to the Saints DBs and that late game heroics is literally all Andrew Luck does. Every single week. I told my wife when we went up 23-6 to watch us go prevent and let them get right back in it and that's exactly what we did. I knew we would because since 2011 that is what we always do.

[TheWiz]

1 minute ago, panthers55 said:

You seem to be the one that is missing the point. You play to win the game not score 50 points. When you are up 23-6 with 10 minutes left in the game you don't throw the ball which risks getting picked and giving them the ball back, you run clock and if they are going to score you make them go the full length of the field.  You have kept them to 2 field goals which they got from field position on turnovers. Whether the rain slowed down or not( it didn't really stop) you don't change what got you the lead which was run the ball and throw when you needed to move the chains. 

The reality is that the game shouldn't have been close. Going into the 4th quarter Luck had thrown for a total of 40 yards.  We twice had the game  iced with a first down only to have a penalty that put us in 3rd and long instead of first and 10. Both times we kicked the ball back to them and they scored.

The whole we don't trust the team crap makes no sense in light of going for it on 4th down in the first half.  The reality is that you always play  situational  ball  and that sometimes means playing smart football. While you wanted us to air it out, I was thinking don't throw a high ball that gets tipped and gives them the ball on our side of the field for easy points like we did against the Eagles last week.  Now if you had talked about playing too loose or going prevent and letting them back into the game I might agree with you but to say we didn't try to win negates all the long balls and deep passes we attempted all game long including overtime.   I love armchair quarterbacking after the fact as much as the next guy but Rivera played this correctly and without a bunch of help from the refs this game wouldn't have been close.

The reason Luck threw for so few yards was because of the rain. Our defense did a good job... but they were getting gassed. The weather was a big factor on both sides of the ball early in the game but in the 4th quarter, the truth came out.... And Andrew Luck started completing passes.  

"You play to win the game, not score 50 points." .... What does that even mean? 

You win by scoring more than the other team. Contrary to people on this board, Andrew Luck is a very good QB and he will burn you in the 4th quarter... Which he did to us. My point is. The Colts believe in their QB more than we believe in ours. Its taken years for Cam to get the trust he has now... and he's been better than Luck the entire time. I agree that this game shouldnt have been close, but the reason that this game was close is because the offense starting playing the "Field position keep away." 

This defense keeps Mike Shula looking like a better coordinator than he is. Ron Rivera is the one calling 4th down plays... but if you actually have an effective play call... YOU DONT NEED to go for it on 4th down. Having to go for it on 4th down means that Cam Newton is our best short yardage option... It doesnt mean we're running an efficient offense. 

We should have a balanced attack, but situational football is about making the right decision at the right time in the game. The point is .... Cam has proven over and over that he's clutch at the end of the game. It would be nice to have that same confidence the first 3 quarters.

[carolinahiatt]

1 hour ago, MadHatter said:

did you ACTUALLY watch the game....we DID NOT run the ball on three and outs in the 4th quarter.

You guys suck....we have the least informed fans on the internet hanging around this site lately.

I've been on this site for years under different names.  Been panther fan since the start.  Shove your crap. I see what's going on.  Yeah we're winning just barely because of not trusting Cam to throw.  Why pay a man 100 million if you don't trust him to finish a team. Run on 3rd and 15??? Don't say we don't have receivers because they scored TD'S last night