Sam Darnold Thoughts After Game 1

[Mage]

I genuinely thought he played extremely well.

Perfect?  By no means no.  But his movement in the pocket was great.  The TD throw to Robby, while yes he was wide open, doesn't happen if Darnold doesn't smartly slide in the pocket.  I thought he showed a quick release and very good arm strength.  Missed a few throws, but that is easy to fix up with more chemistry.  And I don't recall any clear-cut reckless decisions by him.

All in all I don't see how anyone can really be disappointed in what we saw.  He looked as good as he's ever looked in the NFL.  That does not mean there isn't more to prove, because obviously there is, but at the same time I don't know how that isn't chalked up as an absolute positive when many league wide wrote him off as a bust.  It shows that the talent is there.  Now we just need to find out if Darnold is gonna do all he can to maximize that talent and if the Panthers coaches are good enough to do so.  So far, it is off to a good start.

[Jon Snow]

11 minutes ago, NAS said:

He looked better than a rookie.  Made a few protection calls and audibles at the line.  He handled the pressure with poise.  

Yes, due to some nfl experience,  bad experiences mostly but experience nonetheless.  It's going to be an uphill battle his first season here. 

I admire Rhule for his ballsy gamble on Darnold.  Very few if any would gamble their employment on a reclamation project like this without some assurance their job was safe if it doesn't pan out.

[Basbear]

I had very low expectations and came away impressed. Great start to his panther career- broke his career high for yards in a half, didnt look scared, and bushed off some real NFL hits. 

It seems CMC is awful nice to have too....

[glenwo2]

10 hours ago, amcoolio said:

No agenda. We are all hoping the Panthers and Darnold are good. We played the easiest team on the schedule yesterday and he struggled to score. Made a lot of one-read throws. 

Here's hoping its just Week 1 jitters...but I don't know how you can view that performance and say he played well.

Teddy had some good ratings last year too, yet the narrative here was that he sucked and needed to go.

Maybe it also could be the playcalling by Rhule who told him to just go to CMC early and often?   

22 hours ago, Catsfan69 said:

Thomas should have caught his and you know it.

If Howell had thrown it you'd have said Howell put it where only his guy could catch it.

eh.   It should've been a bit more on-target  than it was thrown.  He'll get better at that as he gets more familiar with his teammates.

10 hours ago, Italianpantherfan said:

Two bad passes by damn darnold a fumble by darnold . With that we could have been up by 4 scores I’ll take it as week 1 jitters but wins a win ! 

"Damn" Darnold?   lol.     WHAT A PASS BY SAM "DAMN" DARNOLD!! WOOOOOOO!! 

10 hours ago, mbarbour21 said:

We need to get Royce in on these situations. We don't even have to take CMC out. We can have two backs or CMC in slot. Whatever, but we need that element. We can have both, we just have to put the right guys in.

Does Rhule even remember we have Royce on the team?  

8 hours ago, ncsfinest21 said:

Wasnt too impressed with Sam. CMC will make any QB look amazing. But have to expect that with him being on a new team with 2 quarters of experience with them. He will develop over the year. The pass to Robby was a dime though. Definitely has the talent just needs the XP.

That pass to Robby is why chemistry is important.   He, DJ, and TMJ need to get on the same page redzone-wise.   And maybe practice endzone passing with Ian Thomas & Dan Arnold as well.

4 hours ago, Mage said:

I genuinely thought he played extremely well.

Perfect?  By no means no.  But his movement in the pocket was great.  The TD throw to Robby, while yes he was wide open, doesn't happen if Darnold doesn't smartly slide in the pocket.  I thought he showed a quick release and very good arm strength.  Missed a few throws, but that is easy to fix up with more chemistry.  And I don't recall any clear-cut reckless decisions by him.

All in all I don't see how anyone can really be disappointed in what we saw.  He looked as good as he's ever looked in the NFL.  That does not mean there isn't more to prove, because obviously there is, but at the same time I don't know how that isn't chalked up as an absolute positive when many league wide wrote him off as a bust.  It shows that the talent is there.  Now we just need to find out if Darnold is gonna do all he can to maximize that talent and if the Panthers coaches are good enough to do so.  So far, it is off to a good start.

Not only that but if you noticed, he threw it a bit off-balance, too.    That was just pure arm-talent (and talent overall) by Sam. 

And people say Zach Wilson has better Arm Strength than Sam.   GTFO of here with that sh-t. 

Edited September 14, 2021 by glenwo2

[glenwo2]

^^^^ Hey @mav1234, @Jon Snow,  I just edited it because I forgot to add replies to a few other posts. 

I'm sure you both agree that Sam will improve on his redzone play as he gets more familiar with his receivers and teammates. 

[Jon Snow]

Just now, glenwo2 said:

^^^^ Hey @mav1234, @Jon Snow,  I just edited it because I forgot to add replies to a few other posts. 

I'm sure you both agree that Sam will improve on his redzone play as he gets more familiar with his receivers and teammates. 

I sure hope so.  It's hard not to envision that happening with the options available to him.  But Brady better get his head out of his ass and help him out with better plays to mask this oline.  The middle of this line is a disaster right now.

[Madwolf]

I thought Sam looked good. I just am a little tired of the red zone issues at this point. He's the 3rd QB we've had play a regular season game that has struggled there. At some point that's coaching.

[CPsinceDay1]

On 9/13/2021 at 6:13 AM, NAS said:

Yet you wrote this pathetic nonsense on the Jets board trying to suck up

To be fair, Wilson did look better than Darnold...I dislike both... Darnold won, Wilson played better.

Switch QBs, same outcome different score, that was very evident. Wilson first game in the NFL >Darnold 1st game with the Panthers after 3years in the NFL...

The Jets slept on our Defense ...

Against Darnold this defense would've had 2 pick 6s....

[mav1234]

4 minutes ago, CPsinceDay1 said:

To be fair, Wilson did look better than Darnold...I dislike both... Darnold won, Wilson played better.

Switch QBs, same outcome different score, that was very evident. Wilson first game in the NFL >Darnold 1st game with the Panthers after 3years in the NFL...

The Jets slept on our Defense ...

Against Darnold this defense would've had 2 pick 6s....

Good to see your tune changing now that you think you're safe from that ban lol

[CPsinceDay1]

1 minute ago, mav1234 said:

Good to see your tune changing now that you think you're safe from that ban lol

It's been the same, I never changed my opinion on Darnold but if he didn't throw a pick and we won, hey ain't too much too say, at least I gave him his due...when not if PJ starts and wins, the same people hating on him still will hate, no difference.

[rayzor]

2 hours ago, CPsinceDay1 said:

To be fair, Wilson did look better than Darnold...I dislike both... Darnold won, Wilson played better.

Switch QBs, same outcome different score, that was very evident. Wilson first game in the NFL >Darnold 1st game with the Panthers after 3years in the NFL...

The Jets slept on our Defense ...

Against Darnold this defense would've had 2 pick 6s....

Oh yeah....I forgot.

Toodles.

[rayzor]

2 hours ago, mav1234 said:

Good to see your tune changing now that you think you're safe from that ban lol

Lol I knew there was something I was going to do

[rayzor]

There was someone else.

Someone jog my memory.

[Mr. Scot]

2 minutes ago, rayzor said:

There was someone else.

Someone jog my memory.

Big Teddy Fan?