thoughts from the game

[electro's horse]

for the record, I was not expecting that kind of performance, and even expected the Panthers to lose. I'm very fine admitting that. 

One of the best crowds I think I've ever seen at the game. I've been going to the games since Clemson. Right up there with 2013 New England, and 2003 Dallas as far as energy. Never sat down, which I can only say has happened three or four times in my history there. Good going Panthers fans. Nowhere near as many seahawks fans as I was expecting. They were all cool that I saw. No problems today. 

The Panthers came out and smacked the Seahawks right in the mouth. The Panthers won this game in the interior of the lines. On offense, running backs were consistently getting 3-5 yard cushions before needing to think about the defense. On the other side of the ball, Star and KK were monsters, and the Seahawks didn't really have an answer. DE played fantastic today. Their job was to keep Wilson in the pocket and they succeeded. Wilson is a good, not great QB when his run is taken away. Marshawn didn't look to have a lot of burst. LBs were flying all over the field. Davis had a superb game today. Luke has blossomed into a fuging force in coverage. I know Zod posted that picture of him breaking up that pass but it was even more incredible live. Panthers just looked like bullies in the first half on defense.

On the other side of the field, game flow kinda kept them from having to do much. Before anyone blinked the team was up 21-0. I do not exaggerate when I say that no one had any idea what the fug was going on. It was a fuging party atmosphere. Panthers were running all over them. Cam wasn't asked to do much. That throw to Olsen was a thing of beauty. 

Second half was a fuging organizational philosophical failure. Panthers decided to challenge the seahawks to score 34 points in the 2nd half and Seattle nearly pulled it off. On offense, Panthers were literally trying to run out the fuging clock. The Panthers don't have the talent in receiver to constantly get out in third and very longs. Seattle has the talent at DB to man up and load the box, which they did. Lane and Sherman just overpowered the Panthers WR. I think cam had a really good game all things considered. He only missed one pass. I would have liked the Panthers to put hte ball more in his hands, especially when they only needed one fuging TD drive in the second half to seal it.

On defense, the Panthers decided to trade points for time. Seahawks were running a lot of long developing plays in the first half, which were just getting them killed. They didn't have the line to pull it off. They were also reeling for most of the first half. In the second half, they regained their composure and went to lots of quick passes. It worked out double well because the Panthers were more than happy to give them up. The safties would creep up, and then Wilson would identify a 1v1 battle he could exploit. 

Overall, I actually think this was a better game by the receivers than by Wilson. There were four throws, two TDs and two sideline catches, which were just incredible plays by the receivers against really good coverage. Most of wilson's counting stats came on comebacks and quick outs that the Panthers were happy to let him have. That said, his one sideline TD was a fuging gorgeous ball. He identified single coverage and the receiver beat the DB out of his break. 

Overall I think the Panthers were by far the better team on the field today. They decided to play it safe in the second half and it was horrific to watch, but I don't necessarily think it was the wrong play. Like I said, four of the five biggest passes the Seahawks made were circus catches in good coverage. I think Carolina could have won by fifty if they'd wanted to, but credit the Seahawks with buckling down on defense and making good adjustments in the second half. God only knows what would have happened if that Artis-Payne fumble hadn't bounced right back to Carolina. 

I would have liked them to let Cam do more, especially on second downs. I feel like the Panthers get these huge leads like they did against the Giants, Packers, and Colts and just expect the other team to quit. For the last six games they've just been like "hey can we go home now?" and the other team doesn't oblige. 

If the Panthers want to win the Super Bowl, they're going to have to get over this inclination, because neither the Cardinals or Pats are going to quit if they get down big, especially since it's obvious the Panthers will let teams get back into the game.

Here's a picture of my dad drunkenly dabbing.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BAppDirpQaa/?taken-by=bradfordmills

[TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam]

Real good post. 

It's not the Panthers 'getting past this' but rather Rivera. He is no Balls Rivera far too often; and him getting away with it so many times lately just makes it worse. 

We used to outright lose these games when he would play so tight. I have never bought the national media thing of "riverboat ron" thats fine for people who don't watch them closely. If you watch the Panthers close you know Ron gets conservative when he can. 

Put the ball in Newton's hands and live with the consequences; he is the best player in the game right now, better than Brady. 

[BIGH2001]

good post.  so far the only team who quit after a big deficit was Atlanta, big surprise.  we need to step on Arizona next week for 4 quarters.

[Chaos]

I agree with the assessment but what's puzzling is how Rivera spoke post game about his disappointment with the team letting up in the second half.  So this wasn't the coaching philosophy then??

[tiger7_88]

27 minutes ago, TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam said:

Real good post. 

It's not the Panthers 'getting past this' but rather Rivera. He is no Balls Rivera far too often; and him getting away with it so many times lately just makes it worse. 

We used to outright lose these games when he would play so tight. I have never bought the national media thing of "riverboat ron" thats fine for people who don't watch them closely. If you watch the Panthers close you know Ron gets conservative when he can. 

That article this week about Ron having learned from John Madden "that there is no book"?

Yeah... about that...

[electro's horse]

1 minute ago, Chaos said:

I agree with the assessment but what's puzzling is how Rivera spoke post game about his disappointment with the team letting up in the second half.  So this wasn't the coaching philosophy then??

that sounded like coach speak to me. Rivera stood by Shula's side all last year, he's not going to attack him after winning a playoff game against their most hated rival.

Again I don't even think it was necessarily the wrong play today. 

[tiger7_88]

5 minutes ago, Chaos said:

I agree with the assessment but what's puzzling is how Rivera spoke post game about his disappointment with the team letting up in the second half.  So this wasn't the coaching philosophy then??

Weirdest thing ever.

Rivera may as well have stepped up to the podium and said "Not my fault! I have no control over those guys!"

Dear Ron: YOU'RE THE FUGGING HEAD COACH.

[tondi]

If we have a shaky offense or a shaky QB then I can somewhat see kind of shutting it down and making them beat us but we've got the highest scoring offense in the league and an MVP QB that we basically neutered for half the game.  Its too bad that our own coaching staff still doesn't trust our QB as much as the rest of us. 

[tiger7_88]

8 minutes ago, tondi said:

If we have a shaky offense or a shaky QB then I can somewhat see kind of shutting it down and making them beat us but we've got the highest scoring offense in the league and an MVP QB that we basically neutered for half the game.  Its too bad that our own coaching staff still doesn't trust our QB as much as the rest of us. 

Our coaches made Cam a $100 million cheerleader.

[panthers55]

35 minutes ago, TheGreatestOfAllTimeCam said:

Real good post. 

It's not the Panthers 'getting past this' but rather Rivera. He is no Balls Rivera far too often; and him getting away with it so many times lately just makes it worse. 

We used to outright lose these games when he would play so tight. I have never bought the national media thing of "riverboat ron" thats fine for people who don't watch them closely. If you watch the Panthers close you know Ron gets conservative when he can. 

Put the ball in Newton's hands and live with the consequences; he is the best player in the game right now, better than Brady. 

Not even close.  Rivera said in his pres conference that he thought we were too conservative at times on offense and defense.  You seem to forget that he doesn't call the plays on offense or defense. He likely is talking to Shula and McDermott but not getting involved in rotations or play calling.  Newton is still making plays, he is just not using the whole playbook.  If the goal is to win, they did what they needed to do. I guarantee that if we didnt have so big a lead, we would have been more aggressive. We did what we needed to do to win the game. Seems that is the goal in the playoffs, win and move on.

[tiger7_88]

3 minutes ago, panthers55 said:

Not even close.  Rivera said in his pres conference that he thought we were too conservative at times on offense and defense.  You seem to forget that he doesn't call the plays on offense or defense. He likely is talking to Shula and McDermott but not getting involved in rotations or play calling. 

If the coordinators are doing EXACTLY the opposite of what the head coach has told then to do, that's a problem.

So do you really think that's what happened?  You seriously thing Shula and McDermott thought in their minds "fug that guy, I'll do what I want!"

[SmootsDaddy89]

This game is a great example of why a defensive coordinator with a top 10 defense the last three years and a offensive coordinator with the best scoring offense in the league didn't get a head coaching gig this off season.

 

 

I mean Tennessee looked at Shula and McDermott and basically said, "No thanks, we'll keep Kevin Costner's stunt double."

 

 

[panthers55]

1 hour ago, tiger7_88 said:

Weirdest thing ever.

Rivera may as well have stepped up to the podium and said "Not my fault! I have no control over those guys!"

Dear Ron: YOU'RE THE FUGGING HEAD COACH.

What I think he was referring to was the play calling on both sides by the coordinators.  Shula shut down the trick plays and passing on 1st or 2nd down.  McDermott wasnt blitzing as often and playing more soft cover 2 and cover 3.  Rivera tells them to limit turnovers and run the clock on offense and  keep everything in front of you on defense.  But he doesn't calls the plays on either side of the ball.

[Kevin Greene]

59 minutes ago, electro's horse said:

 

Second half was a fuging organizational philosophical failure. Panthers decided to challenge the seahawks to score 34 points in the 2nd half and Seattle nearly pulled it off.

This. Rivera said in the post game presser he didn't want to play that conservative but it happened. Let's hope adjustments are made.