Isn't it ironic how we were all worried about defense...

[top dawg]

...And it has been mainly the offense, or a major part thereof, that has left us weeping and gnashing our teeth? Our total defense ranks 6 in the league at this point. We are number 6 in week 6. Our passing defense ranks FIRST. Now, of course our run defense ranks 25, but we have stiffened up now that our starters are on the field (and the new addition of Thomas). With all of this, and the addition of Tank, we have great reason for optimism. Now, we are a train wreck on offense which hit us out of left field. We rank 29. We are 31 in passing, 28 in receiving and 16 in rushing. Here we were all taking the offense for granted, and you know that 99.9 percent of us were (even in spite of our last playoff disaster), and it is the offense, or parts thereof, that has us pulling our hair out.

Shakespeare couldn't have put it together any better. Fox is the puppetmaster, Jake is the tragic hero, and Peppers and the boys are the only thing worth smiling about at this point. If it wasn't so serious (from a totally football perspective), it would be damned funny. Irony has seized the day and turned the world of Panthers fans upside down and inside out.

[Sam Mills Fan]

You must not have read enough threads here in the offseason. There were a million different people warning about how Delhomme had lost it and we needed to upgrade and how the crop of receivers continued to be a joke.

[AKPantherFan]

well the good thing is that we know what our offense is capable of if they can get on a roll.

Lets hope it continues tomorrow.

[top dawg]

You must not have read enough threads here in the offseason. There were a million different people warning about how Delhomme had lost it and we needed to upgrade and how the crop of receivers continued to be a joke.

Yeah I read some of the threads, and maybe even started a couple. The thing is SMF, I believe that people saw a Jake fall-off as a gradual decline. I don't think that anyone thought that his skills would fall off the damned cliff. Those of us (pre-contract) who were arguing against Jake were doing so in the midst of the Jake lovers, and the Jake-is-our-best-option (if not only option) crowd, and doing so more of looking at the long term future as opposed to this season.

At least, that's how I was looking at it. Moreover, I don't remember any sane minded people referring to our crop of receivers as a "joke", but that we desperately needed a viable threat opposite Smith because Moose was getting old and maybe not cut the mustard. Some believed, and possibly still believe, that Jarrett could be that guy, but of course most of us were still skeptical, but not waving our arms and running around in circles over the issue.

Now, it appears that Murphy's law has prevailed, but there is still a sliver of hope that the ship can be righted. I have been very skeptical of Fox for the last four years, and Jake even longer, but I'd be lying if I said that our prolific B+ offense would drop down to D because of the ineffectiveness of Jake, lack of a viable receiving threat other than Smitty, and to a lesser extent the play calling of Fox and the OC. And I think that most would be lying if they said they saw such a prolific drop in our offensive production so quickly.

[xtheronx]

actually you have to use stats per game.. since some teams still havent had their bye weeks..

here are the real stats..

defense:

yds /game: 306 (12th)

pass yds /game: 156.8 (2nd)

rush yds /game: 149.2 (29th)

pts /game: 25 (27th)

offense:

yds /game: 290 (26th)

pass yds /game: 158.8 (29th)

rush yds /game: 131.2 (8th)

pts /game: 17 (24th)

[Snake]

I think everyone expected growing pains. I still dont think we are at the level the D can be but with Peppers playing at a high level and the D getting help at DT we have played better. I still say that our DBs have not got Cover 2 down yet. None of them have looked all that good at coverage. Really our LBs have not ether.

[Davidson Deac II]

Fwiw, I don't think our receivers are a joke. In fact, including backs, tightends, and backup receivers, we are probably in the best shape we have been since 2003. At least our receivers aren't dropping many balls they should catch.

The main problem on offense right now is lack of protection for the Qback, and the high numbers of interceptions.