Bench the coaches.

[venom]

ok not literally...but there needs to be adjustments made in our game planning and fox or whoever need to get it together. for two weeks in a row, we managed to blow substantial leads going into the 2nd half due to conservative offensive play-calling. in both the new york and new orleans match-ups, the offense laid down. the offense had lost all spark, and rarely put the ball in jake's hands. 3rd and long's were frequent.

when you go up against teams like new york (who's running attack is tops in the league) and new orleans (who has the top QB in the NFL), you can't expect our defense to be proficient (during all 4 quarters) in containing them, especially with our lacking 2nd half time of possesion. these two offense's are tops in the league, our defense isnt THAT good.

As much as i'd hate to say it, Lucas has got to go...or at least switch roles with #31. it seems as though opposing team's passing games having been picking on him as of late, due to his inefficiency this year. you rarely see gamble giving up yardage, and you rarely hear his name called. its time for marshall to step up. i like the passion and intensity he plays with. he still has some learning to do, but he cant be any worse than lucas. knowing fox's loyalty to the vets, i doubt we will see that happen, at least this year.

offensively, we've been pretty successful at putting up big points in the first half. when we get a big lead going into the second half of the game, fox decides to rely on the defense to hold the lead in order to pull out the win. we've seen how dangerous our offense can be when we want it to be, why not play like that all four quarters? our defense plays their best when we have a ton of offensive momentum, as both sides had shown up in the first half.

there is no reason why deangelo should not have finished the game with at least 200 yards. instead, time after time, the ball was put in the hands of the struggling stewart, while deangelo sat out virtually the entire 2nd half. when the panthers found themselves down late in the 4th quarter, williams was then put back into the rotation, and came up with a couple key plays to help set up the game winning field goal.

and as a side note, who's bonehead decision was it to go for the squib kick? i mean seriously, there was 1 second on the clock, kick the ball into the stands.

bottom line is that our offense is pretty damn lethal and we need to take advantage of that. it would be ridiculous not to utilize all the playmakers we have. i really hope that fox goes into the playoffs with a killer mentality.

[Jangler]

I said this earlier. The offense is fine, outstanding matter of fact. I think Fox needs to devote all of his time, the next two weeks with Trgo and the defense. Getting then back to where they were pre October.

[beastson]

People forget part of the problem for the offense today was injuries. It was clear when Gross got a false start playing right guard

Why Stew getting a lot of carries, I have no idea. He is still a rookie and a back-up

[Snake]

I said this earlier. The offense is fine, outstanding matter of fact. I think Fox needs to devote all of his time, the next two weeks with Trgo and the defense. Getting then back to where they were pre October.

IDK if its so much the scheme as its the execution of the plays. For two weeks we have not had any inside rush to speak of and thats important cause as Brees did the QB can just step up and avoid pressure. IMO I like what I see we just need to polish it some and get a rush from all 3 spots Left, Middle, and Right.

[venom]

IDK if its so much the scheme as its the execution of the plays. For two weeks we have not had any inside rush to speak of and thats important cause as Brees did the QB can just step up and avoid pressure. IMO I like what I see we just need to polish it some and get a rush from all 3 spots Left, Middle, and Right.

yea that or throw the ball a little more to the best receiver in the nfl. smith can pretty much catch anything jake throws to him. besides, a passing threat helps the running game to be that much more successful.

[SCpanther]

People forget part of the problem for the offense today was injuries. It was clear when Gross got a false start playing right guard

Why Stew getting a lot of carries, I have no idea. He is still a rookie and a back-up

It's good that Stewart gets a lot of carries to help keep Williams fresh but I think they do go a little overboard with it. Stewart is a good RB but Williams is a special talent, like Adrian Peterson.

Vikings:

Total RB carries - 468

Peterson - 363 (77.6%)

Taylor - 101 (21.5%)

Dugan - 4 (0.8%)

Panthers:

Total RB carries - 475

Williams - 273 (57.5%)

Stewart - 184 (38.7)

Hoover/Goings - 18 (3.8%)

Of course, Stewart is a better RB than Chester Taylor but the point is that both of the teams have feature backs that are phenomenal players. Now, I wouldn't want Williams' carries to be as high a percentage as Peterson but 65-70% would be more of a sweet spot.

[John Kasay]

About the coaches... Why was a timeout called with 6 seconds left on the clock instead of 1 second left on the clock? What is the point of giving New Orleans a chance at a kickoff return?

[pantherj]

In the offseason Fox had a choice, either fix the o-line, or add top level talent to the d-line. We simply couldn't do both. Since our o-line was nothing short of horrible at run blocking, Fox decided to spend a top pick on Otah and Stew, and go out a get Keydrick Vincent. Fox also decided to spend major money to resign both Gross and Wharton. Presto, our running game is back on track, but at a cost. Lewis, passing down back up to Jenkins, is moved up to starter. No replacement was brought in for Jenkins. Lewis is getting little to no push into the middle of the pocket. Not good. Rucker's replacement, Charles Johnson, simply isn't getting enough pressure on the QB in 1 on 1 battles. Peppers is doubled. This makes our secondary very vulnerable to any good QB. To compound the problem, our entire secondary has had season long case of chronic butter fingers.

Given the current situation, we need realize that NO lead is safe. Taking the air out of the ball with a 10-20pt lead may have worked with Jenkins and company, but NOT with Lewis playing patty cake. Our offense should attack for all 4 quarters, no matter the score.

[Ashor]

I love the balance between the two. It is the reason as to why our rushing attack is so successful.

[Zod]

About the coaches... Why was a timeout called with 6 seconds left on the clock instead of 1 second left on the clock? What is the point of giving New Orleans a chance at a kickoff return?

Because if the snap was bobbled they would have time to retry the kick. Remember, they were kicking on first down, not fourth.

[SCpanther]

I love the balance between the two. It is the reason as to why our rushing attack is so successful.

I don't mind the balance but they seem to take DeAngelo out of the game for stretches at a time, instead of just spelling him like other top RBs. He's our best weapon outside of Steve Smith. What would people think if Smith was on the sideline for long periods of the game?

[SKULL]

Dang yeah Stewart is just a rookie

Give Williams that ball 65-70% and keep stewart down to 25-30%

But be sure and take away at least 3 td's

from Stewarts touches also

B/C less runs equal less chances he could have scored

I for one love the balance , why fix a tire that has not gone FLAT ?

[Darth Biscuit]

I 100% agree with the title of this thread... I was far more pissed off by the game we won yesterday than the one we lost last week. I just don't understand why we can't play with a lead. It HAS to be something to do with the coaching.

[GRWatcher]

About the coaches... Why was a timeout called with 6 seconds left on the clock instead of 1 second left on the clock? What is the point of giving New Orleans a chance at a kickoff return?

Because if the snap was bobbled they would have time to retry the kick. Remember, they were kicking on first down, not fourth.

As it was, we had that false start that moved the kick back 5 yards. That alone would've ended the game without the kick if there had been only 1 second left on the clock.