If It Wasn't Clear That We Need Offensive Line Help (OTL Stat)

[CarolinaPanthers8789]

I just finished a great day of fishing at the beach and came back to the beach house and happened to turn on OTL on ESPN.

 

They were discussing Gettleman's comments about Cam and though I don't condone watching ESPN, Jackie McMullan presented a great stat.

 

- Cam has been hit 320+ times since 2011. The player that comes in second has been hit 180 times since 2011. With a stat out like this, you would think that the Carolina Panthers would address the offensive line position.

 

- Bomani Jones also mentioned a common stat among Panther fans being that the Panthers have lost 13 of their 19 games by a touchdown or less.

 

Note: By addressing the offensive line position, I don't mean drafting a DII project in the fourth round.

 

On a side not, Bill Plaschke believes that we will win 10 games and be a playoff team this year.

 

It's nice to hear people that are somewhat knowledgeable of our team speak rather than jackwagons like Prisco, Schein etc..

[xerxes]

I'd be curious to see if those are cross-referenced with runs. We have run Cam a lot over the past two seasons, so I wouldn't chalk it up all to bad o-line play.

[The Golden Child]

The national media were ignoring the team prior to Gettleman's comments. Maybe Getts knew what he was doing all along. Good to see people come to Cam's defense.

[PhillyB]

I'd be curious to see if those are cross-referenced with runs. We have run Cam a lot over the past two seasons, so I wouldn't chalk it up all to bad o-line play.

 

yeah this makes a huge difference

[CLTPanther]

Yea, Cam led the team in run yards and ran often, so the numbers are going to be skewed

[CLTPanther]

While he did have to run out of the pocket a lot, in the early part of the season, much of it was by design.

[panthers55]

Honestly that number wasn't due to the line.  Newton was sacked 36 times last year- 16th among teams.  Rodgers was sacked 51 times.  In 2011 Newton was sacked 35 times for a total over the 2 years of 71 times.  By contrast he has run 253 times over the past 2 years.

 

So is it the offensive line or the read option?

[TheRed]

If our GM can't see this as an issue then we are in trouble. I don't believe that to be the case though.

[panthers55]

True but consider that Cam had to abandon the pocket because our O-Line couldn't hold up (especially the right side). He literally had to run to keep the offense on the field.

How many more times did he scramble compared to other mobile quarterbacks? Why doesn't he throw the ball away like other quarterbacks instead of running it? Or dump it off instead of holding it??

 

No, Newton has a history of holding the ball, stretching out plays and trying to run with it when he should throw it away.  Most of the hits he takes are designed plays or hits that frankly could have been avoided. 

Sure the oline wasn't great but given the injuries and wholesale changes from week to week, they actually did a decent job all things considered.

[panthers55]

It's a mixture of both, I agree, but there were games like Week One that made our offensive line appear like straight up garbage. There were several plays where defenders came in untouched.

Unexcusable.

And what does Brees or Brady do when they see someone come in untouched?  Dump it off or throw it away.

 Why? Because they know they can't run. The double edged sword for Newton is that because he can run and avoid sacks he tries to do it all the time instead of throw it away and live for another day.  he has to learn that throwing it away can be better than trying to run and taking a 10 yard sack.

[panthers55]

Did he run more than RG3 and Wilson? Nope. Yet, he was slammed and sacked more than those two. Decent job? Get your eyes fixed. That core had a subpar performance for most of the year. Not only could they not protect Cam by acceptable standards, they struggled to open running lanes for our RBs too. Is that a coincidence? Again, NO.

Does Cam hold onto the ball too long sometimes? Yes, but only because our receiving options couldn't get open nearly enough. That said, there's no excuse for O-Line to have breakdowns like we had last year. Granted, injuries set this core back but we weren't having a stellar year before injuries set us back.

Why was he sacked more than RG3 and Wilson?  Might be they play in a West Coast Offense which relies on quick passes and getting the ball out before the defense can get there.  He holds the ball because he is looking for the big play not because of the receivers.  Do you really think the difference between him dumping the ball more in the second half of the year was receivers suddenly getting open or was it because Cam started taking what was being offered by the defense and being smarter and more mature as the year went on.

[panthers55]

Are you comparing our O-Line to Brees' and Brady's? Horrible comparison. Just stop right there.

The point is that their offensive line gets way too much credit because Brees and Brady get the ball out quicker and are in offenses which value quick timing throws.  No one is saying our line is great but they are also at a disadvantage when their quarterback holds the ball just like Roethlisburger.

If their line was so much better it would show in the run stats as well.  Notice that our line averaged 4,5 yards a run or 8th on the list,.  New Orleans averaged 4.3 yards per rush good for 12 on the list.  New England was 14th on the list at 4.2.

 

Football outsiders lists us number 1 in power blocking last year.  Due to the read option we were also 26th in getting stuffed.  Pass protection rankings are always about sacks and nothing else. Truth is that at least half of his sacks were attempts to run or hold the ball to make big plays instead of throwing it away or dumping it off.

 

Injuries were the problem plain and simple.  Didn't help we started a rookie at left guard either.

[panthers55]

Smarter and more mature? It was the same goddamn Cam Newton from 2011 that was making those plays. The key difference was the coaching/playcalling down the stretch. For the love of god, Newton wasn't allowed to audible at the LOS until the MNF game.

You don't need to audiblize to dump off the ball or go with a hot read.  There is a checkdown guy on most every play if they don't go max protect and often hot reads aren't audibles but instant recognitions based on where the defense is lined up.

 

Nice try but everyone admits who isn't an extreme apologist that Cam struggled in the first part of the year and made better decisions as the year went on and he took what the defense gave him. Sure Chud didn't help him early but he was to blame as well.

[CRA]

The last 2 years....Cam had arguably been the most productive rusher in the NFL.

He has taken very very few worrisome hits as a rusher. Take away the short yardage and goaline stuff and you would be challenged to name 5 hard hits he took.

Yes, Newton holds on too long and that gets him in trouble some. But the OL has stunk. They stunk all around last year. Silly to try to find ways to try to defend how bad they were....it ain't Cam's fault. Bc Cam held the ball occaasionally too long doesn't mean he created the piss poor OL