WEEK 2: Panthers WIN versus San Francisco: Stats & Analysis

[Growl]

11 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

Nice job by ST coach to make adjustments on mortar kicks midway through the game:

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/sports/nfl/carolina-panthers/article102652602.html

 

We didn't do this midway through the game. We did it after SF forced our hand on the Ginn muff in spite of being aware all offseason that this was going to be the new norm.

 

I figured we'd be too stubborn to change our approach on kickoff, that's who we are, but I never envisioned we'd assume everybody else would as well on KR. 

 

Easily preventable TD that would've never happened if the team had any measure of perspective on the rule change.

 

Give SF credit. They took advantage of the rule change and pinned us inside the 20 numerous times and we were not prepared for it at all.

[KB_fan]

BBR has the snap counts up:

http://blackandbluereview.com/2016-snap-counts-week-2-49ers-panthers/

Here are the notes on offense:

• After getting nicked up, Remmers (shoulder) and Turner (ankle) missed just seven combined snaps.
• It was interesting to see Williams replace Turner at RG, and Hawkins — not Williams — come in for Remmers at RT.
• Funchess played two more snaps that Benjamin, but he saw nine targets compared to four for Funchess.

 

For those wondering about Bersin in another thread:  7 snaps on Offense & 15 snaps with ST.

 

The defense is pretty interesting.  Bradberry the only player with 100%  Wow.  Kudos to the rookie.  He played well. 

Shaq up to 30 snaps on D, (he had 18 last week)

Mayo & Cash played exclusively on ST.

Here are the defense snaps note:

• Bradberry and Benwikere again started on the outside with McClain at nickel, but this week, Worley rotated in and Thompson saw an uptick in slot snaps. Worley led the Panthers in special teams snaps and finished second in overall tackles (6).
• The Panthers wanted to get a look at Edwards, who took over Paul Soliai’s role on the inside. Edwards didn’t record a tackle, but he did knock down a pass.
• Marlowe made his season debut, but then re aggravated his hamstring injury. He may now be IR-bound.

 

Here are the top 10 guys in terms of snaps on Defense:

James Bradberry	CB	65	100%	12	30%
Kurt Coleman	S	62	95%	17	42%
Tre Boston	S	62	95%	17	42%
Luke Kuechly	LB	61	94%	7	18%
Thomas Davis	LB	61	94%	5	12%
Bené Benwikere	CB	45	69%
Kony Ealy	DE	43	66%	7	18%
Charles Johnson	DE	43	66%
Kawann Short	DT	42	65%	7	18%

[KB_fan]

Sweet:

 

[KB_fan]

From Panthers.com  "What we learned"

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/What-We-Learned-Panthers-vs-49ers/5647b995-ac04-478c-bc1d-3c02321cabfb

1) Home win streak continues - 14 consecutive home wins

2) Improved run defense

3) Good O-line protection

and more....

Here's the blurb about run defense:

Quote

 

Run defense bounces back: There were questions asked about Carolina’s run defense after the Broncos racked up 148 yards on the ground in Week 1, and the Panthers responded with a much better effort in Week 2.

The 49ers rushed 26 times for 65 yards, good for a 2.5 yards per carry average. Lead back Carlos Hyde finished with just 34 yards.

Carolina also made plays in the backfield, compiling five tackles for loss.

“The biggest thing last week was tackling,” Thompson said. “We did a pretty good job today, everybody doing their job in being one-of-eleven, controlling their gaps and playing sound defense.”

 

 

[KB_fan]

Some awesome quotes from Cam about his fellow players on offense.  Love how he's so quick to praise his teammates.  His comment about Greg is just outstanding.

Quote

 

His thoughts on his 78-yard touchdown pass to TE Greg Olsen: “Well, it was just an in-game adjustment. You know, something that we went over in practice. You know the first time we went empty, they gave us the look. Just Greg is doing an incredible job and when you have a guy like Greg, a superior receiver, not just a tight end, you know, he makes those plays happen.”

On the difference in the protection from the offensive line in comparison to Denver: “Just the protection as a whole was extremely solid and that happens with great tempo. We had a great week of practice, focusing on getting back to cadence and that helps a lot. You know everybody being methodical and getting the specific code words or plays given ahead and everybody knowing what they’re supposed to do.”

On how WR Kelvin Benjamin compares to the other wide receivers: “Special. He is capped. Special. Makes my life extremely easy. Helps me a lot. Extremely special.”

 

 

Tons more quotes worth reading here:

http://www.panthers.com/news/article-2/Game-Quotes-Panthers-vs-49ers/5e705894-a891-441b-8f14-0ed650203b1d

 

[KB_fan]

Nice piece from Jonathan Jones for Sports Illustrated on Kelvin Benjamin's growing maturity, and very healthy perspective on this season to date:

Here's the lede:

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/09/19/kelvin-benjamin-carolina-panthers-san-francisco-49ers-nfl-week-2

Quote

 

Kelvin Benjamin understands that his train has to slow down at some point.

Through the first two games of the regular season, Benjamin has 199 receiving yards, including a 108-yard performance Sunday against San Francisco. But in this NFL, teams aren’t going to let you catch 90 or 100 yards week in and week out, no matter if you’re a 6' 5", 240-pound guy playing wide receiver. Benjamin, who missed his sophomore campaign due to an ACL tear last year, has never put together three straight games of 50 or more receiving yards, so he’s preparing for a letdown against the Vikings in Week 3.

“It’s only the second game. We’ve got a long season,” Benjamin said after Carolina’s 46–27 home win against the 49ers. “I don’t want to count my eggs before they hatch. I just want to keep doing the things I have to do off the cameras and I’ll show up every game.”

 

 

And a few more excerpts:

Quote

But don’t discount him too much. His 199 receiving yards on 13 catches is good for eighth-most in the league going into Monday night’s game, and he’s tied for the league lead with three receiving touchdowns.

 

 

Quote

 

Proehl thought too much was made of Ron Rivera saying the team would target 30–35 snaps for Benjamin in the season opener. He saw the breathless, panting giant taking his helping of breaks during training camp in the South Carolina heat, but he also knew Benjamin would show up for the games.

Benjamin played in 52 snaps in Denver, caught six passes for 91 yards and a score. On Sunday at home against San Francisco, he again played in 52 snaps in a humid three-hour, 43-minute contest.

There were two catches from the 49ers game that Cam Newton excitedly pointed out afterward. There was a circus grab that no one—even Proehl—can teach. And then there was the kind of third-down catch that reinforces Dave Gettleman’s belief that Benjamin was the second-best receiver in the 2014 draft behind Odell Beckham Jr.

 

 

[TheSpecialJuan]

11 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

Nice piece from Jonathan Jones for Sports Illustrated on Kelvin Benjamin's growing maturity, and very healthy perspective on this season to date:

Here's the lede:

http://www.si.com/nfl/2016/09/19/kelvin-benjamin-carolina-panthers-san-francisco-49ers-nfl-week-2

 

And a few more excerpts:

 

 

 

nice find

[KB_fan]

A few more tidbits that I've seen on Twitter in the past 24 hours, then I'll get back to my gamebook spreadsheet and work on posting some more detailed game analysis & stats:

The guys at PFR are good at finding odd bits of trivia...:

 

 

[KB_fan]

This is probably as good and succinct a summary of yesterday's game as I've seen.   I mean, 4 turnovers and some bad mistakes and the Panthers STILL put up 46 points?  Pretty amazing:

 

 

[KB_fan]

There's at least one or two separate threads on the Huddle to discuss this news, - some think the TD allowed should have been against him and not Boston - but this is pretty sweet for our rookie CB James Bradberry in only his 2nd NFL game.

http://www.carolinahuddle.com/2016/09/19/carolina-panthers-james-bradberry-3/

 

 

Quote

 

According to ProFootballFocus , Bradberry not only performed better than Josh Norman, but also better than every other corner in the league.

From the article:

James Bradberry, CB, Carolina Panthers (93.3)

Ironically, the only cornerback to outperform Josh Norman this week was the rookie tasked with filling his shoes for the Carolina Panthers. Going up against the 49ers receivers will help, but Bradberry allowed just one catch on seven targets, and it went for only six yards. He notched a pick and a pass defensed, and when targeted yielded a passer rating of 0.0.

Josh Norman, CB, Washington Redskins (91.9)

Norman was thrown at twice when covering Dez Bryant, and he broke both of them up. Washington finally started asking him to track Bryant to start the fourth quarter, and he didn’t allow a single target to Bryant when he was covering him from that.

 

 

Peter King also highlighted this today at MMQB in his unsung heroes section:

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2016/09/18/sam-bradford-vikings-nfl-week-2-peter-king

Quote

CB James Bradberry, Carolina. One of the two rookie starting cornerbacks for the Panthers’ defense in 2016, Bradberry was much improved in Week 2. He was targeted seven times against the 49ers, allowing one catch for six yards. He intercepted Blaine Gabbert and had one pass defensed, finishing with a 93.1 coverage grade. That was the best Week 2 grade for a corner.

 

[KB_fan]

ESPN is a bit annoying in focusing only on the Panthers' consecutive REGULAR SEASON home wins streak.  The actual total includes 3 home playoff wins for a total of 14 consecutive wins...  But in any case, the numbers and the points scored are impressive!

 

[KB_fan]

A Panthers blogger named Sideline Mike has a nice short article highlighting some of the good and the bad from yesterday's game.

http://www.sidelinemike.com/single-post/2016/09/19/Panthers-got-back-to-basics

I particularly like his comparison of Cam's passing stats in weeks 1 & 2 last year with week 1 & 2 this year.  As I commented in my week 1 game analysis, even with the loss to Denver, our offense is already playing at a higher level than they started at last season:

Quote

 

Cam Newton

 

Newton played like the reigning MVP against the niners, throwing for 353 yards and four touchdowns.

 

In doing so, Newton surpassed former Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme to become the all-time touchdown pass leader in franchise history (122).

 

If Newton was the MVP last season, take a look at my tweet in which I compare his start from last season to his start this season through the first two games:

 

 

 

 

 

CAMVP Part 2? Possibly! 

 

Good or Bad: GOOD

 

 

[KB_fan]

Nice shot of the Funchess TD catch

 

[KB_fan]

From C-S-R:  Three plays to love, three plays to hate:

http://www.derp/2016/9/19/12966478/panthers-49ers-3-plays-love-3-plays-hate-week-2-nfl?utm_campaign=catscratchreader&utm_content=chorus&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

Among the plays to love:

Quote

 

2nd Quarter 9:52 – Panthers 7, 49ers 10. Panthers ball 1st-and-10 on Carolina 22

The Situation: The 49ers had just taken a 10-7 lead and the Panthers offense was sputtering, going interception-punt-fumble.

The Play: On the first play following San Francisco’s touchdown, Greg Olsen lined up on the right side of the line. Olsen ran straight up the seam facing man-to-man coverage by Antoine Bethea. Olsen gave a fake with his head and shoulders like he would break to his right (toward the sideline) and Bethea bit. Olsen then broke left on a skinny post and ended up wide open streaking down the middle of the field. Newton hit him in stride with a perfect pass, and Olsen sprinted untouched for a career-long 78-yard touchdown. The huge play jumpstarted the Panthers offense and put them back in the lead 14-10.

 

I personally might vote that play of the game, since it really seemed to ignite our offense after a rough start...

Among the bad plays, this was the one where I was perhaps most horrified... How did a 21 point lead suddenly shrink to 7 points>?!?!

Quote

 

4th Quarter 8:03 – Panthers 34, 49ers 20. 49ers ball 2nd-and-10 on San Francisco 25

The Situation: After a Graham Gano field goal, the 49ers trailed 34-20 with just 8:03 remaining. A stop by the Panther defense could have put the game away.

The Play: Tight end Vance McDonald lined up left and ran a simple post corner route. Thomas Davis bypassed McDonald to cover a running back leaking into the flat. After Davis went underneath, Luke Kuechly was just a step slow getting to McDonald. McDonald stayed three steps ahead of the trailing Kuechly and hauled in a long pass, heading toward the left sideline. McDonald then just turned on the jets – surprising given his size – and sprinted down the sideline. Daryl Worley slipped and fell as he turned to purse McDonald, and safety Kurt Coleman could not get the angle to track him down as McDonald rumbled for a shocking 75-yard TD. Suddenly, and almost inexplicably, the Panthers lead was cut to just 34-27 with less than eight minutes remaining.