Love him or hate him....he's spot on. Steve Smith

[Khyber53]

11 minutes ago, Raleigh PF said:

 

The key to winning a Super Bowl is to have a balanced team. If not, then you need something exceptional to make up for the lack of balance (like a Mahomes). And remember, the Super Bowl is just ONE game. If KC had been healthy, what would that game have been like?

The key to winning a Super Bowl is often which team is the healthiest. The season is a war of attrition.

[saX man]

6 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean, we don't have a single NFL LB on the roster other than Shaq. When Samuel moves on, we will no longer have a starting caliber slot WR. We need another starting DT, we need a TE, we could use an upgrade from Burris at S, we need DE depth, we need just about every position on the field in terms of backups. 

I am not sure there is a single position group that we are solid into the two deep. We played well last year compared to our talent level but make no mistake, this is still one of the least talented rosters in the NFL. We have to move in the right direction this offseason in terms of fixing that.

We are razor thin to nonexistent at LB right now.  Question is how we address it.  Whether it was Fit or someone else, but Seattle always had an eye for LBs (not exclusive to Hurney), so I am curious to the moves we make there.  It's way more important than people let on.  Especially when the DL isn't getting a consistent push.

[Waldo]

3 minutes ago, kungfoodude said:

I mean, we don't have a single NFL LB on the roster other than Shaq. When Samuel moves on, we will no longer have a starting caliber slot WR. We need another starting DT, we need a TE, we could use an upgrade from Burris at S, we need DE depth, we need just about every position on the field in terms of backups. 

I am not sure there is a single position group that we are solid into the two deep. We played well last year compared to our talent level but make no mistake, this is still one of the least talented rosters in the NFL. We have to move in the right direction this offseason in terms of fixing that.

A lot of that will be filled by 1 year free agents because of the volume of need. No matter what we do this year we are not contenders nor fill all of our holes adequately. Getting a QB, an oline and a CB puts us in a position to build on going forward. 

[Leotiger]

4 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

If we get Watson and can have a stellar defense we can go back to our rightful spot at the top of the division. 

You mean after Tom Brady retires ?

[onmyown]

It’s not really either or, the defense and the oline are equally abysmal. And they’re both very important.

The difference is we went all defense in the draft last year and expect the extremely young defense to get better even by doing nothing. 

The oline on the other hand has zero investment. We’ve seen this movie play out before...

[top dawg]

Just wondering, why would any Panthers fan hate Smitty? 

Sure, he was far from perfect off the field, but "hate?"

[kungfoodude]

24 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

The defense did not improve. Ya they played a good game vs. the horrible Lions and WFT. But otherwise they struggled to even force a punt.

As a unit perhaps they will do better this season but I remain firm they do not have the proper coaching to improve to elite NFL status.

Let's take a look at how it went down in Games 1-8 vs. Games 9-16.

Games 1-8

Opponent Points: 34+31+16+21+16+23+27+25 = 24.1 ppg
Panthers Points: 30+17+21+31+23+16+24+17 = 22.4 ppg

Opponent Yards: 372+339+436+262+373+261+415+401 = 357.4 ypg
Panthers Yards: 388+427+302+444+437+303+283+304 = 361.0 ypg

Opponent First Downs: 23+20+26+21+21+22+26+28 = 23.4 1st D/GM
Panthers First Downs: 22+24+14+30+24+23+18+18 = 21.6 1st D/GM

Opponent TOP: 31:12+25:28+31:11+22:52+26:55+31:06+34:41+36:30 = 30:00 TOP
Panthers TOP: 28:48+34:32+28:49+37:08+33:05+28:54+25:19+23:30 = 30:00 TOP

Opponents Punts: 4+4+3+5+3+4+0+1 = 3.0 Punts/GM
Panthers Punts: 2+2+3+1+3+1+1+2 = 1.88 Punts/GM

Opponent Third Down Conversions: (3/9)+(6/9)+(7/14)+(6/13)+(3/9)+(10/15)+(5/11)+(6/11) = 50.5%
Panthers Third Down Conversions: (2/10)+(12/14)+(3/13)+(6/12)+(7/11)+(3/12)+(6/11)+(7/13) = 50.0%

Opponent TO's: 1+1+1+1+1+4+2+0 = 1.38 TO/GM
Panthers TO's: 1+0+3+0+1+0+4+0 = 1.13 TO/GM

Opponents Sacks: 3+1+4+0+0+2+5+1 = 2.0 Sack/GM
Panthers Sacks: 2+1+0+2+1+2+0+0 = 1.0 Sack/GM

Games 9-16:

Opponent Points: 33+46+0+28+32+24+13+33 = 26.1 ppg
Panthers Points: 31+23+20+27+27+16+20+7 = 21.4 ppg

Opponent Yards: 397+544+185+387+365+291+386+347 = 362.8 ypg
Panthers Yards: 435+187+374+374+370+364+280+320 = 338.0 ypg

Opponent First Downs: 24+30+10+26+23+20+20+20 = 21.6 1st D/GM
Panthers First Downs: 30+13+20+21+22+20+19+17 = 20.3 1st D/GM

Opponent TOP: 21:59+36:05+23:12+31:13+29:32+29:09+24:24+30:54 = 28:43
Panthers TOP: 38:01+23:55+36:48+28:47+30:28+30:51+35:36+29:06 = 31:17

Opponent Punts: 1+0+6+3+4+6+3+5 = 3.5 Punts/GM
Panthers Punts: 2+4+4+3+4+4+5+3 = 3.6 Punts/GM

Opponent Third Down Conversions: (6/14)+(7/15)+(5/12)+(3/8)+(6/13)+(3/14)+(10/16)+(6/11) = 44.7%
Panthers Third Down Conversions: (1/9)+(6/15)+(4/12)+(6/14)+(6/14)+(5/15)+(1/9)+(7/16) = 34.6%

Opponent TO's: 0+4+0+1+3+1+1+1 = 1.38 TO/GM
Panthers TO's: 5+2+1+0+1+2+1+0 = 1.5 TO/GM

Opponents Sacks: 3+4+3+4+0+1+3+2 = 2.5 Sacks/GM
Panthers Sacks: 2+3+5+1+2+5+1+2 = 2.63 Sacks/GM

Second Half Season Differentials

Opponent Points: +2.0 ppg
Panthers Points: -1.0 ppg

Opponent Yards: +5.4 ypg
Panthers Yards: -23.0 ypg

Opponent First Downs: -1.8 1st D/GM
Panthers First Downs: -2.4 1st D/GM

Opponent TOP: -1:17
Panthers TOP: +1:17

Opponent Punts: +0.5 Punts/GM
Panthers Punts: +1.72 Punts/GM

Opponent Third Down Conversions: -5.8%
Panthers Third Down Conversions: -15.4%

Opponent TO's: Even
Panthers TO's: +0.37 TO/GM

Opponents Sacks: +0.5 Sacks/GM
Panthers Sacks: +1.63 Sacks/GM

 

To summarize:

Offensively, we scored less points, had a dramatic drop in yardage, a dramatic drop in 1st downs per game, possessed the ball LONGER on average per game, punted the ball more, had a MASSIVE drop in 3rd down conversions, while turning the ball over more, and allowing slightly more sacks.

Defensively, we allowed more points per game, allowed slightly more yardage per game, while allowing less first downs, allowing less time of possession, forcing more punts per game, allowing a lower 3rd down conversion rate, forcing more turnovers and sacking the opposing QB more.

 

Sooooo.....please explain to me how we didn't get worse offensively but better defensively in the second half of the season?

[kungfoodude]

57 minutes ago, Waldo said:

A lot of that will be filled by 1 year free agents because of the volume of need. No matter what we do this year we are not contenders nor fill all of our holes adequately. Getting a QB, an oline and a CB puts us in a position to build on going forward. 

I agree with this. I said it would take years to build our roster back up.

[Fox007]

16 minutes ago, top dawg said:

Just wondering, why would any Panthers fan hate Smitty? 

Sure, he was far from perfect off the field, but "hate?"

I took it as just a saying. Even if the saying isn't used properly a lot of the time. But yea I don't think anyone hates Smitty.

[CanePantherHornet]

3 hours ago, Pup McBarky said:

Steve said nothing about Oline, which surprises me. But yeah, he's right about the other stuff. He's basically preaching the Fox/Rivera message of, "Defense wins championships." Hard to argue against that given the latest results.

It’s a flawed logic. Complete teams wins championships, not defenses. If one team has a subpar offensive line and the other has top tier pass rushers the defense is going to win every time though.  

[MechaZain]

I'd be ok rolling with Teddy for another year if we got Sewell.

Edited February 26, 2021 by MechaZain

[kungfoodude]

24 minutes ago, MechaZain said:

I'd be ok rolling with Teddy for another year if we got Sewell.

I would rather have a QB but a prospect like Sewell doesn't come along often. If he pans out, you'd be filling the second hardest position to obtain in the NFL.

[RumHam]

3 hours ago, DaveThePanther2008 said:

It will be interesting to see what Fitterer does in the Free Agent Market.

I really feel like he has no control

[DaveThePanther2008]

1 hour ago, RumHam said:

I really feel like he has no control

What would make you make such an inaccurate statement. He's not Marty Hurney.  I am sure he will have the majority of the input. 

Rhule and Fitterer will have a good working relationship and put a good team on the field.