Stale

[Khyber53]

Carolina isn't rebuilding right now. Rebuilding is much more drastic than what we are experiencing at this time. Rebuilding is what happens to perennial losers -- it starts with a coaching staff being jettisoned, the front office getting pink slips and then players getting axed by the new regime.

What is happening in Carolina right now is a team fighting a tendency that all good teams face: going stale. Stale is what we had become, and the better teams were beginning to show us how stale we were.

A team goes stale when their successful style of play or personnel grouping goes to the field too many times. Basically, the well-oiled, practiced plays become to commonplace and innovation drops off. And the good teams get book on you, or have enough game tape on you to know every nuance of your best plays. It results in the Cards picking you off five times in a game, or the Eagles getting six picks against you. Or they learn which plays your defensive end takes off, or which safety bites the hardest on a play action pass.

Or specifically for Carolina, what are the signs that you are setting up the draw play, or that Smith wants the smoke pass. Remember, the draw on third down used to be a sneak play and the smoke pass (wide receiver screen) was a novelty too, both designed to exploit tendencies in defenses now and then. But somehow, they became part of each Carolina game, three or four times a game most Sundays. It got stale, it got old, it wasn't a trick play anymore -- just a risky play if the defense knew it was coming.

It's not just the Panthers. McNabb and Westbrook weren't offering any new wrinkles to the game the Eagles played, but they did put the team into doing the same old plays again and again. And eventually, everyone had the book on the Eagles offense. It still worked against the chump teams or those with new coaching staffs, but not against the steady contenders and champs of the league.

So what do you do? Especially if you have a decent coach already under contract and a team that knows that coach's distinct style of play? You churn the players, cutting many and retaining the best of the young. You keep a cadre of good, smart players and surround them with folks you hope can execute the game plan.

What makes it fresh, when it works, is that even though it is the same old game plan, new players in the scheme find new wrinkles. Wrinkles that the other teams won't have tape on yet.

It's why the song "All Along the Watchtower" sounds so different between Bob Dylan, Jimi Hendrix and Dave Matthews -- same song, same notes (roughly) but the execution and arrangement are uniquely their own.

Close to home, we saw Stephen Davis and DeShaun Foster run great behind Brad Hoover's blocking, and then we saw that refreshed and regenerated with Williams and Stewart behind the blocking of Hoover. Sadly, letting Hoover go, however, may put more oomph into the rushing attack simply because no one really knows how Fiametta will throw his blocks.

On defense, the line had gotten very stale for us. Most teams knew how to bottle up our pass rush and the good ones could often take the phenomenal Peppers out of the game early. And teams learned to throw away from Gamble. We were once a defensive power, and we had become stale.

Let's not even talk about special teams... it shouldn't even be necessary when it comes to discussing stale.

So, we will have new blood in new positions next year. I don't expect our team's power running offense/ bend don't break defense strategy to change one bit. But it may very well look very different, very fresh next year.

At least I hope so.

[CLTPanther]

Sounds like you jacked the arguement on CBSsports about Philadelphia this morning..

[Khyber53]

Really? Wow. Nope, but I'll go read it.

Sorry CLTPanther, I can't find an article discussing the Eagles going stale. Won't say that there isn't, but I didn't catch it scanning those on the site. Was it in the discussion forums maybe?

[Jangler]

We need to put it back in the fridge. Maybe it will be better tommorrow.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

Good write up. Let's hope Davidson can create a more formidable passing attack, and that Fox will allow him to use the passing game when necessary.

[Pumpkin King]

Nice.

[Khyber53]

I really see it as a chance to come back to the passing attack that we used to have. Remember, once upon a time, Smitty regularly led the lead in WR stats and Moose even had the league tops in TDs one year under Fox.

A bit of freshening in the personnel could bring that back. As much as I hated to see Jake go, and probably Moose as well, it was time. I hope Moore and whoever (I still have little faith in Jarrett -- but I'd love to be surprised here) will put some new breath to this classic Air Coryell-type offense.

[CharlotteBeer.com]

I think we've actually got some guys that will step up: Rosario and Barnidge have both shown great ability as pass-catching tight-ends, and maybe some of the younger recievers can do some good yet.

I'm more concerned with Fox and Davidson using these players to their potential.