Some positive and critical thoughts on yesterdays game

[Saca312]

Well, after the Panthers debut this regular season, they didn't come out with a win in Atlanta unfortunately. Of course, with a new scheme, new regime and a rookie QB, growing pains are to be expected. 

Nevertheless, there is quite a bit to be excited about, and a bit that certainly needs work. 

Here are a few thoughts I personally have:

1.) Bryce Young's Debut Is Very Promising

Yes, Bryce Young threw two interceptions. But aside from that, he was very much a franchise level QB and way ahead of the curve compared to most rookies.

His ability to progress through his reads is elite. He knew how to quickly scan from one guy to the next, and throw the ball away to avoid sacks. Very smart in his decision making.

During the interceptions, interestingly enough it showed how much the coaching staff did trust him. That type of play typically is not what most coaches would give their rookie QB unless they trusted in their ability to make reads and progress. The route concept involves a complex analysis and progression that you wouldn't see most rookie QBs undergo.

The level of complexity on that, as well as other instances, shows that Bryce Young has the whole playbook open for him and ready, way ahead of the curve in regards to that.

Now, the interceptions were also partly Young's fault. He failed to look off and hold the safety. Part of that play's success involves holding the safety so that they don't time the route properly and jump Young. That is something I see Bryce working on.

BUT, part fault also relies on the playcalling in general, and mostly on the WRs as well. The Falcons understood the Panthers had no chance with deep routes with the type of WRs they had. With no one stretchint the field, Bates simply cheated and put his cards down on the idea the Panthers would be short-intermediate all game, which made it an easier read for him to pick off.

So, with that being said, that brings me to my next thought:

2.) For the love of all things holy: GET A FIELD STRETCHER.

Before the game, I showed concern about the WRs inability to separate.

That manifested itself quite a bit.

No one could separate. It was 2017 end of year bad (When Bersin, Clay, Shepard and JAGS were Cam's options). 

At the time, Cam literally had to play a perfect game against the Saints in the playoffs to stand a chance, and then the "bright lights" on Funchess still caused them to lose.

The WRs are indeed that bad, and Young had to make do with a lot.

The Falcons had a very specific gameplan daring the Panthers to throw deep. They knew Carolina had no field stretcher and the Panthers knew that too. The Panthers playcalling was very limited resultingly in regards to the pass game because of the WRs bad ability to separate.

Hopefully, this gets schemed around more in the future and Chark adds some potential in that area. Because man, it's the primary reason the offense is being held back.

3.) OLine and DLine were great

Very solid play from the OL most of the game. Of course, such was expected for those understanding that preseason=/= regular season.

DLine surprisingly was dominant against a retooled Falcons oline. So dominant, in fact, Ridder was extremely limited in the second half with quick dropbacks to avoid Burns attacking him.

Would be nice to have more talent to get opposing teams worried other than just Burns and Brown, but very solid showing either way.

Against the run needs work. Wrapping up and tackling has been an enigma for the defense since 2016 it feels like. Better CB depth would be ideal too. But, some great positive signs.

4.) Frank Reich takes responsibility

Unlike a certain snake oil salesman, Carolina finally has a head coach that, well, knows how to take responsibility.

His comments during the presser were very positive from a leadership standpoing, in particular on Bryce Young's play. Rather than throw him under the bus for the interceptions, he relegates the responsibility elsewhere and not on his quarterback.

 

Extremely refreshing to see the praise in public rather than villify him. I'm sure they'll iron out any actual issues they see behind the scenes, but says a lot he won't publicly shame his rookie QB.

Positive leadership direction.

5.) The Panthers were not the worse team. They beat themselves.

Frankly put, the Panthers didn't lose to a more talented team in my opinion. The Falcons were worse in most statistics during the game vs the Panthers.

But, of course, the W-L statistic was the one that mattered ultimately, and the Panthers fell short of that.

Primarily, the turnovers were what killed the Panthers. Even though the Panthers WRs were pretty bad, the team as a whole looked and statistically were better than the Falcons.

But when you have three turnovers in a game of inches, it's hard to come back from. The Falcons capitalized on all three turnovers, turning them into points. Without those turnovers, with how the defense played, seemed it would have been much harder for the Falcons to score the full length of the field.

Much like the Broncos capitalized on turnovers in SB50, the Falcons did so as well. They had the worst team, but they still won, just like the Broncos were the worse team but won.

Ultimately, I'm not as concerned and rather excited. The Saints LT yesterday was put on skates against Arden Key, so I suspect Burns will take big advantage of that. 

From there, I am being cautiously optimistic for next week's game pending the Panthers handle the turnovers and open up the playbook more.

[Jon Snow]

Great summary! That's exactly what I saw out there but I couldn't have said it any better.  Have some pie on me.

[Manna]

I too was encouraged by the coaching staff's trust in Young. They allowed him to run no-huddle which was directly responsible for the TD throw to Hurst. I'll channel Aaron Rodgers on this one in that we're in good hands with Bryce Young. 

[ncstatekwi]

And for that assessment I give you......

[Harbingers]

Great post. 

[TheCasillas]

[mccjeff]

Thanks for the positivity.

[therealmjl]

More of this

[Harbingers]

Oh the huddle. The thread about benching Young has 68 replies and 1.8K views. This one 5 replies and 200 views. People love to complain on Monday’s. @LinvilleGorge @rayzor this one might be sticky worthy.

[Stuart Smith]

41 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

Well, after the Panthers debut this regular season, they didn't come out with a win in Atlanta unfortunately. Of course, with a new scheme, new regime and a rookie QB, growing pains are to be expected. 

Nevertheless, there is quite a bit to be excited about, and a bit that certainly needs work. 

Here are a few thoughts I personally have:

1.) Bryce Young's Debut Is Very Promising

Yes, Bryce Young threw two interceptions. But aside from that, he was very much a franchise level QB and way ahead of the curve compared to most rookies.

His ability to progress through his reads is elite. He knew how to quickly scan from one guy to the next, and throw the ball away to avoid sacks. Very smart in his decision making.

During the interceptions, interestingly enough it showed how much the coaching staff did trust him. That type of play typically is not what most coaches would give their rookie QB unless they trusted in their ability to make reads and progress. The route concept involves a complex analysis and progression that you wouldn't see most rookie QBs undergo.

The level of complexity on that, as well as other instances, shows that Bryce Young has the whole playbook open for him and ready, way ahead of the curve in regards to that.

Now, the interceptions were also partly Young's fault. He failed to look off and hold the safety. Part of that play's success involves holding the safety so that they don't time the route properly and jump Young. That is something I see Bryce working on.

BUT, part fault also relies on the playcalling in general, and mostly on the WRs as well. The Falcons understood the Panthers had no chance with deep routes with the type of WRs they had. With no one stretchint the field, Bates simply cheated and put his cards down on the idea the Panthers would be short-intermediate all game, which made it an easier read for him to pick off.

So, with that being said, that brings me to my next thought:

2.) For the love of all things holy: GET A FIELD STRETCHER.

Before the game, I showed concern about the WRs inability to separate.

That manifested itself quite a bit.

No one could separate. It was 2017 end of year bad (When Bersin, Clay, Shepard and JAGS were Cam's options). 

At the time, Cam literally had to play a perfect game against the Saints in the playoffs to stand a chance, and then the "bright lights" on Funchess still caused them to lose.

The WRs are indeed that bad, and Young had to make do with a lot.

The Falcons had a very specific gameplan daring the Panthers to throw deep. They knew Carolina had no field stretcher and the Panthers knew that too. The Panthers playcalling was very limited resultingly in regards to the pass game because of the WRs bad ability to separate.

Hopefully, this gets schemed around more in the future and Chark adds some potential in that area. Because man, it's the primary reason the offense is being held back.

3.) OLine and DLine were great

Very solid play from the OL most of the game. Of course, such was expected for those understanding that preseason=/= regular season.

DLine surprisingly was dominant against a retooled Falcons oline. So dominant, in fact, Ridder was extremely limited in the second half with quick dropbacks to avoid Burns attacking him.

Would be nice to have more talent to get opposing teams worried other than just Burns and Brown, but very solid showing either way.

Against the run needs work. Wrapping up and tackling has been an enigma for the defense since 2016 it feels like. Better CB depth would be ideal too. But, some great positive signs.

4.) Frank Reich takes responsibility

Unlike a certain snake oil salesman, Carolina finally has a head coach that, well, knows how to take responsibility.

His comments during the presser were very positive from a leadership standpoing, in particular on Bryce Young's play. Rather than throw him under the bus for the interceptions, he relegates the responsibility elsewhere and not on his quarterback.

 

Extremely refreshing to see the praise in public rather than villify him. I'm sure they'll iron out any actual issues they see behind the scenes, but says a lot he won't publicly shame his rookie QB.

Positive leadership direction.

5.) The Panthers were not the worse team. They beat themselves.

Frankly put, the Panthers didn't lose to a more talented team in my opinion. The Falcons were worse in most statistics during the game vs the Panthers.

But, of course, the W-L statistic was the one that mattered ultimately, and the Panthers fell short of that.

Primarily, the turnovers were what killed the Panthers. Even though the Panthers WRs were pretty bad, the team as a whole looked and statistically were better than the Falcons.

But when you have three turnovers in a game of inches, it's hard to come back from. The Falcons capitalized on all three turnovers, turning them into points. Without those turnovers, with how the defense played, seemed it would have been much harder for the Falcons to score the full length of the field.

Much like the Broncos capitalized on turnovers in SB50, the Falcons did so as well. They had the worst team, but they still won, just like the Broncos were the worse team but won.

Ultimately, I'm not as concerned and rather excited. The Saints LT yesterday was put on skates against Arden Key, so I suspect Burns will take big advantage of that. 

From there, I am being cautiously optimistic for next week's game pending the Panthers handle the turnovers and open up the playbook more.

So refreshing to see this post!

[WarPanthers89]

Unreal. What a homer post. We should be focused on how many years this franchise has been set back after seeing that Bryce clearly isn’t a franchise QB after his first game in the NFL, on the road

[Tbe]

3 minutes ago, Harbingers said:

Oh the huddle. The thread about benching Young has 68 replies and 1.8K views. This one 5 replies and 200 views. People love to complain on Monday’s. @LinvilleGorge @rayzor this one might be sticky worthy.

I was just about the point out the same thing.

[ClawOn]

Great stuff @Saca312

On play calling, am I correct that Reich was calling the plays instead of Brown, and if so, why?

[Jon Snow]

8 minutes ago, ClawOn said:

Great stuff @Saca312

On play calling, am I correct that Reich was calling the plays instead of Brown, and if so, why?

Frank has said numerous times in the offseason that he will call plays initially and at some point turn it over to Brown.  I would say after the first game might be premature for him to make that decision.  He will probably make that decision around the by-week break if I were guessing. That will ultimately come down to when he is comfortable that Thomas is ready and he no longer wants or needs to do it.

Edited September 11, 2023 by Jon Snow