The Athletic's Week 4 'Reality Checks'

[Mr. Scot]

From Sheil Kapadia (link)

Team that shouldn’t panic: The Carolina Panthers

I didn’t watch their 36-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and think they were outclassed. The Panthers had a 14-13 lead at halftime before falling victim to a disastrous third quarter when they were outscored 20-0.

Sam Darnold played well in the first half, but the pressure got to him in the second half. And the Panthers’ defense got gashed on the ground, giving up 245 yards. There were some things that just didn’t go their way. Carolina had two potential forced fumbles in the first half that didn’t get ruled in their favor, and they missed a long field goal at the start of the third quarter.

The Panthers are without Christian McCaffrey, cornerback Jaycee Horn and linebacker Shaq Thompson. Carolina’s offensive line is going to be outmanned most weeks. But the Panthers are well-coached. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has done an excellent job of playing to Darnold’s strengths, and defensive coordinator Phil Snow is creative and aggressive. I loved that Matt Rhule was willing to go for it on fourth-and-1 from the Carolina 34 in the third. The Panthers were down 26-14 at the time, and Rhule took an honest evaluation of his team, knowing that they were going to have a hard time keeping Dallas’ offense in check. A lot of coaches would have rushed to punt in that spot.

I don’t know if the Panthers are going to make the playoffs, but they look like a group that’s going to be competitive and frisky most weeks.

 

Also, for the Steeler haters...

Team that should panic: The Pittsburgh Steelers

Amazing sequence in the third quarter of their 27-17 loss to the Green Bay Packers. Trailing 27-10, the Steelers faced a third-and-4 from the Green Bay 32. Ben Roethlisberger threw a go ball down the right sideline against Pro Bowl corner Jaire Alexander. Incomplete. Then the Steelers burned a timeout because the play clock was winding down. Pittsburgh got lined up again. Roethlisberger took the snap, and it was as if he thought his head might turn into a pumpkin if he took more than one-and-a-half seconds to get rid of the ball. Roethlisberger completed a pass to Najee Harris that was 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. The Packers were rushing three on the play and swarmed to Harris. It was a loss of 1 and a turnover on downs. The Steelers are now 0-for-5 on fourth downs this season.

Their offense had chances to make some plays in this game, but Roethlisberger was off-target all afternoon. Through four weeks, Pittsburgh ranks 28th in EPA per play offensively.

At 1-3, the Steelers are in sole possession of last place in the AFC North, with the three other teams all sitting at 3-1. It’s hard to see a scenario where they turn things around.

[Popsickle]

1 minute ago, Mr. Scot said:

I didn’t watch their 36-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys and think they were outclassed.

 But I’ll sure as hell write about it…

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, Popsickle said:

 But I’ll sure as hell write about it…

He's not saying he didn't watch it.

He's saying that after watching it, he didn't feel like we were outclassed.

[Luciu5]

2 minutes ago, Popsickle said:

 But I’ll sure as hell write about it…

Read the whole sentence, not just the first 3 words.  Read it twice, it's not great structure.

[Mr. Scot]

Just now, Luciu5 said:

Read it twice, it's not great structure.

Agree on that; not the best wording for what he's trying to say...

[outlaw4]

Certainly would rather be us than the Steelers right now. Will say Steelers also got screwed by the refs for being called offsides on a blocked FG returned for a TD. 

[onmyown]

Did we even adjust at all in halftime? Or did we even plan on Dallas adjusting? I know sure as hell Dallas did. Seemed like Dallas switched up everything while we continued to line up and do more of the same.

I’m not sure what the coaches expected doing that.

Edited October 5, 2021 by onmyown

[Jon Snow]

4 minutes ago, onmyown said:

Did we even adjust at all in halftime? Or did we even plan on Dallas adjusting? I know sure as hell Dallas did. Seemed like Dallas switched up everything while we continued to line up and do more of the same.

I’m not sure what the coaches expected doing that.

That would have been a good question to ask Rhule after the game. 

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, Jon Snow said:

That would have been a good question to ask Rhule after the game. 

I think that question's been asked (by fans at least) after every game so far.

[Jon Snow]

Just now, Mr. Scot said:

I think that question's been asked (by fans at least) after every game so far.

It's a valid question. 

[CarolinaLivin]

As the players are learning, so are the coaches. 2nd year coaches in the NFL. Sometimes experience beats potential when it comes to coaching. 

[CashNewton22]

About on balance as to who I thought we were before the season started. We’re going to be a tough team to beat and I’d venture to say we split those 8 games we lost by a score so 8/9 wins with the possibility of overachieving to playoffs is where my mind has been and will remain. Our o-line and loss of Horn will truly hurt us down the stretch imo…

And Mike Tomlin…PLEASE call Cameron Jerell Newton! Ben is absolutely cooked and done. He’s not the Cam he once was but this team has a chance with him at QB….but absolutely landing a top 5 pick with Big Ben. But maybe that’s what they want.

Edited October 5, 2021 by CashNewton22

[CashNewton22]

27 minutes ago, onmyown said:

Did we even adjust at all in halftime? Or did we even plan on Dallas adjusting? I know sure as hell Dallas did. Seemed like Dallas switched up everything while we continued to line up and do more of the same.

I’m not sure what the coaches expected doing that.

Yeah bro one of the weaknesses of this staff is how bad we are after the 2nd half initially. I’ve got to think a lot of that has to do with the college-pro gap and won’t be so bad as our staff gets more experience.

[Mr. Scot]

17 minutes ago, CarolinaLivin said:

As the players are learning, so are the coaches. 2nd year coaches in the NFL. Sometimes experience beats potential when it comes to coaching. 

Fair point.