So....here are my thoughts

[ladypanther]

To start....for you non readers, who like to write tldr....just skip to the last 2 paragraphs. I don't understand why some like to insult thoughtful posters who have a lot to say with that remark.

I have not posted in a few days. (I am sure you have missed me. :) ) 2 reasons: Sometimes, when things are painful...I need some time. Also...I needed to gather my thoughts and figure out where I am with all this. A guy at work always talks Panthers with me. When he came in Monday and looked at me...I said...."I don't want to talk about it." A few minutes later he started to talk about the Panthers...I stopped him. He asked when we could talk about it. I told him I did not know.

Do not think it was because I do not care. It is because I care too much. I know that does not separate me from most of you...especially PSL owners. I would be one of you if I could....and still hope to be.

Some random thoughts:

Panthers are 1-4. With the elimination of just a few mistakes....they could be 4-1.

Coaching is the popular blame. Not sure how coaching is blamed for dropped passes, some of the fumbles, poor tackling, and a QB skipping a pass to an open receiver in the endzone?

Regarding poor tackling ( and the general poor fundamentals). How do players get to the NFL and not know how to tackle???? I mean they were the best of the high school players, the best of the college players, and the few who made it to the NFL? I do not understand why an NFL coach has to teach defenders how to tackle? I understand the game is different, bigger, stronger, faster....but what did these guys do in practice? And we are not talking about all rookies.

That being said, except for the Giants game...the D has not been that bad.

I agree to those who have questioned some of Chud's calls. He has gotten too cute and out-thought himself. This team should have an identity...and it should be running the damn ball...and a QB who can punish you when you focus on stopping that. I think Chud thought he be could be a genius with his boy toy Cam. He focused on candy when he had in fact had the ingredients for health.

So then, that leads us to Rivera and Hurney. Thought the interview by Sorenson was interesting Hurney does not want to be seen in public. He said not because of negative comments, said fans were nice (not sure about that) but basically...and I am paraphrasing and taking a leap... because he was ashamed. So, got to wonder what Hurney is saying to Rivera these days. There has be a lot of pressure on Hurney...Richardson wants a SB win, with his health/heart issues...there must be pressure to get this done........ soon.

So Rivera. Initially....liked what he had to say...and his attitude. Yet he has made some new coach mistakes. So...ok for a new guy who has never been a HC. But I expect the learning curve to accelerate What I hate the most recently from Rivera is "this team is learning how to win." (Of course also not thrilled with the record this season. ) These players are professionals...there are a lot of vets. I do not have a tolerance for this learning curve. Last year, maybe. I guess the good side is Rivera does not publicly throw players under the bus. For the record...his stoic appearance is not an issue for me. Results are.

So, where am I today....10-11-12. The team had a 10 day break between the Giants and the Falcons. There was improvement, but a disappointing loss. This bye week, Rivera said they were first going to review the first 5 games. His ability to assess the Panthers performance in these games and make adjustments is crucial. Perhaps Rivera has given too much trust in his coordinators. If that is true...now is the time to correct. I did read that Rivera said that sometimes Cam was waiting for the long ball to open up when he should have thrown short. [should have been dealt with in coaching before this.] We all know that. Rivera's abilities as an evaluator and then a leader are on the radar. I feel for him, because there are some individual mistakes that may have cost games, that I cannot attribute to coaching mistakes. But, he is the man. And, with a better coaching strategy on both sides of the ball, this team would not be 1-4.

I believe the Cowboys game will tell us a lot about Rivera. So, for me, there is 1 more game. I am hoping for a great game...for the players, Rivera, Richardson, and all of us.

[Herbert The Love Bug]

show me your boobies

[CollegePanther]

Is it bad i still think we're going to the play-offs?

[ladypanther]

show me your boobies

My assumption is that you do not care that I think your response is disgusting.

[FirstRoundPick]

We are are few mistakes every game from having a prestigious franchise.

[frash.exe]

Regarding poor tackling ( and the general poor fundamentals). How do players get to the NFL and not know how to tackle???? I mean they were the best of the high school players, the best of the college players, and the few who made it to the NFL? I do not understand why an NFL coach has to teach defenders how to tackle? I understand the game is different, bigger, stronger, faster....but what did these guys do in practice? And we are not talking about all rookies.

To answer this part I'll say you kind of answered your own question. Good form tackling isn't something that's common (relative to the NFL anyway) among players at the collegiate level because a lot of the time the guy you're pursuing is some 5'9'' 185 lb running back from like Oshkosh State or something. Then the next year you're a rookie going up against a 5'11' 234 lb starting running back who is actually faster and more explosive. I think part of it as well is that we still have cover 2 type linebackers, which are much smaller and better suited for covering than being downhill thumpers. With smallish linebackers, you generally want to keep them clean so they can at least contest the ball carrier and not have to fight off blocks seeing as how they're not even 240. Our interior line is still pitiful at controlling the gaps at the line so...

[rayzor]

agreed on most of that...esp. that maybe rivera put too much trust in his coordinators. they need discipline and focus and he needs to give it to them.

both chud and mcd are smart guys, but they are also young and relatively inexperienced in their coordinator jobs. they need him to reign them in. it's his job to make sure that they are doing theirs. if he can't do that then he needs to move on as do they.

i think you're also right in that the dallas game is going to tell us a lot about this team...more so than the first five.

they screwed the pooch the first few games in a lot of areas. made a lot of mistakes. that happens, though. what matters is what you do with those mistakes. you either get better or you get worse. if they don't get better i have very little faith that they can at all.

[TruCatzFan]

Let me make this clear... I don't care anymore what the fuggin problems are or how they fix them... I want to see Wins....

That's all I care about is Wins... Winning cures everything. Just win

Absolutely sick and tired of being mediocre! Why even tease us with that offense last season?

[CRA]

Well, I think if you collectively look at the last couple years in regards to tackling.....we have CBs essentially playing S. CBs aren't tacklers. That is an issue.

Godfrey leads all secondary players in missed tackles....and it isn't a new trend.

Beason? Well, recovering from his injury couples with new ones explains a lot. I get it....just don't get why they put so much on him.

Beason and Godfrey combined are what makes us collectively stand out IMO in that area.

I was a big Rivera fan....but he isn't improving. That concerns me. From a pure game management standpoint he struggled last year.....still struggling. I don't think that can be explained away as just being a green HC.....when we have seen the league full of green HCs in recent years

[ladypanther]

I was a big Rivera fan....but he isn't improving. That concerns me. From a pure game management standpoint he struggled last year.....still struggling. I don't think that can be explained away as just being a green HC.....when we have seen the league full of green HCs in recent years

That's why my position is 1 more game.

[Keep Pounding]

To start....for you non readers, who like to write tldr....just skip to the last 2 paragraphs. I don't understand why some like to insult thoughtful posters who have a lot to say with that remark.

Good write up! As a fan of this team, I totally agree with what you wrote and how you feel.

I think a lot of Cam's regression, is also partly Chud's fault. DEF have a year of tape on us, and Chud is not game planning properly IMO. I feel at times that there is no plan B with Chud. I see other teams on the horn with there QB's or even their WR's when plays go bad, I never seen Cam or Smith on the phone talking to Chud. If Cam isnt taking what the DEF gives him, and is holding on to the ball, I would think we would correct this in game, not 6 games into the season. There is no way Cam goes 3 and a half QTRS and dont connect with Olsen. What is Chud watching when he is up in the box?

Same goes for the DEF, when we were playing soft vs the Giants, It seems they never coached the DB's to play tighter coverage. Same goes with Nakamura playing too deep. They just let Eli chip away at us all night long and we never adjusted to it. I mean we played tighter towards the Red Zone, but not when we had the Giants in their own territory. I remember RR mentioning that he felt we played too soft vs the Gaints. But he didn't adjust the game plan, or even coach up the players to play tighter. If the players played soft, that means they were coached to play soft. Its like RR lets this poo game plan go on during the games, and then wants to fix the issues during next training camp.

I hope JR lights a fire under RR, I dont see him getting fired after this season, I could see McDumbnutz get the axe as a scapegoat and maybe even Chud. But firing a HC after 2 years might be a little premature.

I cant stand looking at another 1-4 record again. These last 3 years have been so painful to watch. I just hope we can bounce back and be a contender again. I hate being bottom feeders in the NFL, let alone in the NFCS.

[rayzor]

To answer this part I'll say you kind of answered your own question. Good form tackling isn't something that's common (relative to the NFL anyway) among players at the collegiate level because a lot of the time the guy you're pursuing is some 5'9'' 185 lb running back from like Oshkosh State or something. Then the next year you're a rookie going up against a 5'11' 234 lb starting running back who is actually faster and more explosive. I think part of it as well is that we still have cover 2 type linebackers, which are much smaller and better suited for covering than being downhill thumpers. With smallish linebackers, you generally want to keep them clean so they can at least contest the ball carrier and not have to fight off blocks seeing as how they're not even 240. Our interior line is still pitiful at controlling the gaps at the line so...

one thing that isn't helping their transition to the NFL is the new CBA rules on contact during practice. tackling is going to get worse before it gets better and not just here.

your comments about having smaller LBs is also true with regards to the safeties. the cover 2 LBs are actually about the size our safeties need to be. TD would be just about perfect.

[Kuech the Sneak]

It's hard to know who to blame tbh.....but I'm with cra and im ready for some true playmaking safeties. Make the DT and safety play better and the whole defense will benefit, maybe see kuechly in the middle next year

[frash.exe]

one thing that isn't helping their transition to the NFL is the new CBA rules on contact during practice. tackling is going to get worse before it gets better and not just here.

your comments about having smaller LBs is also true with regards to the safeties. the cover 2 LBs are actually about the size our safeties need to be. TD would be just about perfect.

Yeap

Also expanding upon that point I did a lookup of missed tackles among linebackers and found this article by PFF which ranked tackling efficiency in a 3 year window. Some of those guys aren't playing anymore lol but it's fairly recent. I went and calculated average weight of the top 15 and bottom 15 in tackling and the top 15 weighed in at 247.4 lbs, while the bottom 15 weighed in on average at 240.7 lbs.

Based on what I've seen from this defense, the biggest reason for poor tackling is for the most part twofold. 1) Our line is letting guys get to the secondary level way too often, and when that happens of course there's going to be more missed tackles. Corners and even Safeties aren't very well suited to taking down plodding running backs alone in general. 2) Our linebackers are coming off major injury in addition to being undersized. Davis is the only one that reaches 240. The solution to this is pretty simple:

1. Upgrade the interior line. You do that by investing in DTs. I don't know about you, but there are some intriguing prospects in the draft and Alan Branch off the top of my head will be a free agent in 2013.

2. Get a little bit bigger at linebacker. The good news is Luke is still young so with an entire offseason of NFL weight training he should have no problem walking in next September at 245. He definitely has the frame to get that heavy, maybe even 250 without sacrificing speed. Other than that since we're locked into all these contract extensions it's going to be tough to get bigger there. Davis has kinda maxed out his 240 lb frame and at 237 Beason's approaching his max. I don't know how well they'll play at like 245 for example.