Fame and Shame - Saints at Panthers

[Zod]

The Carolina Panthers are now 2-0 after a convincing victory against the New Orleans Saints. For my money, here is who deserves a heaping of fame and shame as a result. 

FOR FAME

I was ask skeptical as most when Matt Rhule chose Phil Snow to be his defensive coordinator. Man was I wrong. The Panthers held New Orleans to 128 yards, the fewest for New Orleans under  Sean Payton. The Saints were only down one player from the previous week when they dropped 38 on Green Bay. Dominating them in this fashion does mean something and don't let anyone tell you it doesn't. 

I have been a Donte Jackson critic for a while. His inconsistent tackling drove me nuts. But now with his new Captain badge on his jersey, Donte is proving to be a very solid corner. Watching him aggressively pursue and tackle Kamara was probably the best thing I have ever seen him do. Well done, Donte. 

Tight end Dan Arnold had 55 receiving yards on three catches. This is huge yardage in the middle of the field that will now force opposing defenses to adjust. That, in turn, will open up things for DJ and Robby. Don't be shocked to see either of those guys have a huge night on Thursday. 

 

FOR SHAME 

Special Teams Coordinator Chase Blackburn is probably feeling a little heat on his back side this morning. Blackburn oversaw what was probably the worst Special Teams performance in a decade. If there is one thing Matt Rhule hates, it is self inflicted wounds. The Special Teams unit yesterday had enough of those to last an entire season. 

I have been biting at the but to see Brady Christensen in the lineup. Now I see why the Panthers are bringing him along slowly. While I do believe Christensen will develop into a great player, it is going to take some time for him to adjust to the pro game. Heck, even the reps yesterday should go a long way in getting him settled. Perhaps we will see Thursday how this progresses depending on injury news this week. 

 

[Khyber53]

Can't argue with you on either the fame or the shame. Might add Zylstra in there on the fame... the dude must have eaten his Wheaties that morning!

 

[mbarbour21]

Sam Darnold looked really good yesterday particularly in the first half. If we can string together two of our first halves in a single game…..that’s a playoff team.

[TheSpecialJuan]

Free agent pickups DaQuan Jones and Morgan Fox were sensational 

[Panthers Rhule]

Riddick,Burns, Shaq and Horn all had nice games

[therealmjl]

Dennis Daley was getting pwned during his limited stint

SHAME

[ForJimmy]

[Fox007]

Yea didn't Christensen get pancaked backwards

[Captain Morgan]

Monday morning feeling like

[*FreeFua*]

53 minutes ago, mbarbour21 said:

Sam Darnold looked really good yesterday particularly in the first half. If we can string together two of our first halves in a single game…..that’s a playoff team.

We were set up nicely in the 3rd on the Saints 26 with 10 mins left. 2nd and 10

The Panthers had a screen pass set up perfectly for Marshall. There was nothing but green. Marshall slipped after the catch and didn’t get anything. The following play was the sack then blocked field goal. Had Marshall not slipped our 3rd quarter might have not looked so bad again.

You can tell they’re bringing Sam along slowly and that’s the correct thing to do. Week 1 it felt pretty conservative. Yesterday they opened it up a little more. Darnold is 23 and has shown so far that he can make every throw. Just keep allowing Sam to play within himself and get comfortable and who knows. 

Zach Wilson was boo’d off the field after his 4th interception yesterday. Belichick did to him what he’d done to Sam previously. With that said, I think yesterday was another strong indicator just how tough it is to succeed at QB for the Jets. In 3 years it won’t surprise me at all if the Wilson situation plays out just like the Darnold one. These highly touted QB prospects aren’t the problem.

[AndrewLaskoski]

34 minutes ago, Fox007 said:

Yea didn't Christensen get pancaked backwards

Apparently he got stepped on

[Panther'sBigD]

My favorite thing about these two games is that you can tell they’re learning from their mistakes. They don’t get everything fixed week to week, but they improve enough that you can tell they’re focused on it and there isn’t any lack of effort. If they’re this good and still learning, think about how crazy it’ll be when things finally click. 

[Fox007]

3 minutes ago, AndrewLaskoski said:

Apparently he got stepped on

Gotcha, thanks. So not much you can do when that happens.

[mbarbour21]

19 minutes ago, *FreeFua* said:

The Panthers had a screen pass set up perfectly for Marshall. There was nothing but green. Marshall slipped after the catch and didn’t get anything. The following play was the sack then blocked field goal. Had Marshall not slipped our 3rd quarter might have not looked so bad again.

True. That's the stuff we gotta fine tune. The NFC West looks like a division of playoff teams. We have to beat out at least one of them to make the playoffs. Luckily, they have to beat up on each other. We can make it in, but we have to put teams away. We have not played a team yet that has their crap together. That's not taking away from our success, but it's just a fact. Looking at the schedule, I'm not sure that even happens until we play the Cardinals on Nov. 14. Watching the Cowboys and Vikings makes me believe they may not be a playoff caliber team. Still wondering about Philly and New England as well.  Cards are the first sure-fire playoff team on the schedule in my opinion.