Monday, October 26, 2009

Are the Carolina Panthers stuck on "suck" this year?

From the performance against the woeful Buffalo Bills, they certainly are! The Panthers dominated in every facet but the scoreboard. They outgained the Bills 425-167 in total yards, held a 2 to 1 advantage in time of possession, but FOUR turnovers killed them. I can give several reasons why the Panthers are stuck on suck.

  1. Turnovers. Jake Delhomme threw three more costly interceptions, two of which led to the Bills' touchdowns. When is this guy going to get benched? It's a race between him and JaMarcus Russell to see who's going to set the NFL record for most interceptions in a season, as both QBs are on that kind of pace.
  2. Coaching. Mistakes, both mental and physical, are a reflection on the coaching staff's performance in the week leading up to the game. A well-prepared team makes FEW mistakes, and when they do, they correct them in practice the next week, or even later in that same game, and they have the team that can overcome them. The Panthers are STILL committing the same mistakes that should have been remedied by the end of TRAINING CAMP. Jumping offsides, forgetting the snap count, blowing coverages, etc. Perhaps the players have tuned out John Fox. Perhaps it's time for some new blood. Bill Cowher, are you listening?
  3. Injuries. That part, even the best teams have to deal with. Injuries are a part of the game, and losing your best run stuffer, Maake Kemoeatu, in the first minute of training camp put the Panthers behind the 8 ball. But the good teams overcome those injuries. The good teams have minimal injuries. Remember the Patriots of 2007? They had very few injuries for the whole season. The Patriots very nearly overcame Tom Brady's devastating injury and made the playoffs last year.
  4. Confidence. Or a lack thereof. Good teams KNOW they can win every time they step out on the field. Do they? A vast majority of the time. Consequently, bad teams know they can lose, and very often do.
  5. Personnel. The Panthers have two beasts at RB in Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. Why NOT average 40 rush attempts a game between the two? With 40 attempts at a 4.5 ypc average, the Panthers should average 180 rushing ypg. Build up depth in the offensive line. Don't rely on Delhomme to win the game, for crying out loud! Bench Delhomme. Put Matt Moore in there and see what he can do. AJ Feeley is NOT your long-term starter.

Now what should the Panthers do the rest of the season? I have some ideas.

  1. Bench Delhomme for the rest of the season. Park his ass on that pine and tell him to get comfortable there, because that's where he'll be. Put Matt Moore in as starter.
  2. Use Williams and Stewart more often, with a little bit of Mike Goodson thrown in.
  3. Develop a #2 receiver to complement Steve Smith and eventually succeed Muhsin Muhammad.
  4. Get healthy. The bye in Week 3 couldn't have come at a better time for the Panthers, as they had a long list of injuries. Last season, the Panthers were relatively healthy en route to winning the NFC South, although near the end of the season, the D-line was banged up significantly. This season, there is no continuity due to the injuries. Captain Munnerlyn got injured in the game against Buffalo.
  5. Establish an identity that we're going out there to kick your ass up and down that field, and that you're going to be in for a LONG day. Maybe they don't make the playoffs, but they can build for next year.

Now I'm done with my little rant.

3 comments:

Tsfanpc said...

In a word: Yes.

jon_464 said...

Tsfan, they should have benched Delhomme after the Philly game. I think it's a combination of him and the coaching staff going away from their strength, the running game.

Tsfanpc said...

jon I can always tell when the Redskins and Panthers are having a crappy season. My husband is not his friendly happy self on Sunday afternoon. lol But at least come Sunday evening he is okay.

I have seen very little of the games this season, but from what little I have seen, it really looks like the Panthers and the Redskins need to go back to training camp and restart their season.