3 years ago yesterday...

[carolinarolls]

For the team to maintain heart they have to have confidence. They have to have confidence in their teammates, coaches, and themselves.

With almost any player, mediocre, star, or jury still out you can make an argument for why they may lack confidence in one or more of the three categories.

I think they just need to have fun. No pressure. No stratospheric aspirations of a cinderella run. Just play assignments, have fun, and cream the poo out of somebody.

I would appreciate that.

[Snake]

Coaching= No ♥ Its like a guy at work knowing its his last day there.

[Delhommey]

As soon as a person starts talking about "heart" as a major factor in wins and losses, you can pretty much discount them as a football retard.

[CatMan72]

As soon as a person starts talking about "heart" as a major factor in wins and losses, you can pretty much discount them as a football retard.

Heart, passion, whatever you want to call it - it's an important component of a winning football team.

[TylerDurden]

But again, I think this year's problem isn't desire, it looks like guys are giving it their all, especially on defense... Just seems like on offense they're trying too hard. Clausen for example, he's been taking snaps from a center his whole life... So what's going on there?

Even on defense, I know those guys are on that side of the ball for a reason, but we should've had 5+ INTs EASY that game... We would've been forced to win against our will if that would've happened. This year just seems to be a combo of poor coaching and poor execution and consistent focus on the players.

[Delhommey]

i dont agree at all. if you want to win in the big-boy leagues, it takes more than just talent.

the difference between the Carolina Panthers and the Kansas City Cheifs is that the Cheifs have a coach and a system that they beleive in, that they have enough passion that they think they can win the game.

they accually beleive that they are the better football team on the feild, know matter who they are playing. do you think that the Bucs and the Giants are a better team than the Panthers? yet both of them whooped us.

50% talent. 30% coaching. 20% luck.

And yes. The Giants and Bucs field a better team than we do. As do the Chiefs.

[Icege]

Heart/passion directly effects intangibles such as motivation, drive, and willpower.

Believing it to have not have a direct effect on the outcome of the game is the equivalent of believing that we were going to sign a FA WR after we just drafted three of them.

I've always been bothered at how the Panthers seemed to start slow and lose games that they should win. It all came down to heart. The team has been coached to be apathetic and just give up (it is what it is). I'd still rather that we keep Fox, but the passion that Beason and Smitty have needs to be harnessed. There have been waaaay too many games where the team has simply come out of the gate at a pedestrian pace, then just piss the game away with what appeared to be lack of effort. I highly doubt that the players are not trying, but I would guess that many of them don't like having the shackles kept on them. They're being paid the big bucks for a reason. Turn 'em loose!

[Squirrel]

50% talent. 30% coaching. 20% luck.

And yes. The Giants and Bucs field a better team than we do. As do the Chiefs.

Experience right now is a big problem. Players not executing plays right.

[Davidson Deac II]

Jenkins words might have meant something if he was more of a leader. But he had no discipline or drive or determination. If he had those things, he would have kept himself in better shape and wouldn't have been injured so much of his career. He will end up missing almost half of the games in his career all because he didn't have the discipline to stay in shape.

And discipline is more important than heart.

[blackcatgrowl]

Experience right now is a big problem. Players not executing plays right.

Our O-line isn't all rookies. What accounts for their lack of execution?

[Delhommey]

Our O-line isn't all rookies. What accounts for their lack of execution?

Bernadeau is decidedly average while Schwartz isn't nearly that good.

Gross has to shake off rust.

Moore was horrid at calling protection at the line and Clausen's just learning.

[Delhommey]

Life ain't a Hollywood movie.

[Davidson Deac II]

i agree. there is nothing they can do about the enexperience, but it seems to me that they can do something about execution,

that is where passion and "heart" come into play.

passion for the game should have these guy out there after practice trying to get their routes down, working on they're coverage skills, and working on trying to get to the passer.

instead of smitty yelling at clausen, they should be out there after practice, working extra hard to get their timing down, so that they can have that chemistry that they are looking for.

i hope that that is exactly what they are doing. they shouyld be embarrassed about the product they have produced on the feild, and the only way to correct that is to work at it until they succeed. if they have "heart" and passion, they will get it eventually.

So what happens if both teams have equal amounts of passion and heart?

And fwiw, what you are talking about is not heart or passion. Its mental discipline. Its practicing something over and over again until you get it right, even when you would rather be somewhere else. Its keeping yourself in peak physical condition even during the offseason (something Jenkins never did).

[blackcatgrowl]

Bernadeau is decidedly average while Schwartz isn't nearly that good.

Gross has to shake off rust.

Moore was horrid at calling protection at the line and Clausen's just learning.

So we have players that suck or need to shake off rust?

In either case, we're back to talking about coaching, conditioning, and talent evaluation. All of which is Fox has a significant hand in.

Honestly, I think it's conditioning. If you aren't requiring your players to meet high levels of physical training, you will get a low level performance. A weak O-line is going to allow pressure on the QB, and not block to make running lanes.

Moore was horrid at calling protection at the line and Clausen's just learning.

Delhomme rarely audibled line shifts. Hell, I can count on one hand how many times I saw him change the play at the line. In fact, after watching Fox coach 4+ different quarterbacks, one thing that stands out is that everything was scripted, and the QB has very little room to make adjustments on the line.

And besides, if you're a power running team, your QB isn't going to shift protection at the line but in the rarest of circumstances, because that can cause the blocking scheme to collapse. You're going to get the play in the huddle, run it, and hope your Fullback picks up any line penetration (unless you're running a draw play)

There is no way you can fault Moore/Clausen for our O-line play. No way in hell.