The Defense Loves the Offense

by Jaxon on Jun 21, 2007 12:11 AM EDT in Panther News

The love fest that is emanating from the Panther clubhouse continues from Mike & Mike, not the ESPN duo, but Panthers Minter and Rucker. Apparently they didn’t think the offense provided much of a challenge in practice last year. Unfortunately neither did our opponents.

Mike Minter and Mike Rucker used to know what was coming when they lined up in practice against the Carolina Panthers' offense.
They weren't the only ones. Opponents limited Carolina's offense to just under 17 points per game last season, sixth-worst in the NFL. The Panthers also had the league's worst third-down conversion rate.

I know it’s always easy to blame your problems on the outgoing coach (reference the Parcels saga in Big D). But I think it’s well documented that everyone thought the Panthers offense lacked surprise and creativity, particularly on 3rd down.

Things are looking up though. Minter and Rucker are confused. Let’s hope that’s a good thing. Oh course, they both went to Nebraska... (who lost to GT in the 1990 National Championship game) lol. I don’t get many opportunities to throw that in!

But after spending three weeks watching new offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson's system during optional workouts, Minter and Rucker are confused -- and excited. He says it looks like the Panthers are drawing plays in the dirt.

That backwards lateral on a punt return against the Vikings looked like it was drawn up in the dirt. Let’s hope Davidson’s "dirt" plays are better than Henning’s.

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AZCardinals has a nice summary of the Panthers all time series with the Cardinals, which the Panthers lead 4-2. The Panthers visit Arizona in week 6 this year. The Cards should be much improved this year but I don’t think they will be able to score enough to beat the Panthers. My prediction: Panthers 27 Cardinals 16

Panthers All-time results vs. the Cardinals
1995 Panthers A 27-7
2001 Cardinals A 30-7
2002 Cardinals A 16-13
2003 Panthers H 20-17
2004 Panthers A 35-10
2005 Panthers H 24-20

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the offense

I'm glad everybody's all excited about the offense. The key is going to be the zone blocking, and the integration of a new TE (King or Rosario) and starting WR (Jarrett or Carter.) People criticized the play calling last year, and rightfully so, but think about this, if Steve Smith and the O-line were 100% healthy from the start of training camp, the play calling probably would've earned us a playoff spot. This year, though, we need to take advantage of Drew Carter's speed. I like Jarrett playing wide and Carter in the slot, with a LB or safety trying to cover him on a double move corner post. He's faster than Steve Smith, but obviously not as good. Keeping the ground game going and converting 3rd downs with plays that include dumping the ball off to D. Williams, the TE and Jarrett, will keep the defense off the field and keep our safeties from getting exposed. If Ryne Robinson can get us five more yards per punt return than we had last year, that would be a big plus, too. That would be the difference between kicking a field goal or punting on many possessions.

by usana_gaines on Jun 21, 2007 1:14 AM EDT reply actions

Injuries were a factor

I notice you didn't mention Michael Gaines as the TE. He may get the spot though he's not much of a receiving threat. It will probably be King that gets the chance to catch the ball. I'm not too high on Rosario. Not many people had much to say about him leading up to the draft. We'll see.

by Jaxon on Jun 21, 2007 2:28 PM EDT up reply actions

The TEs

I'm not real high on Gaines because I thought Mangum wasn't all that great, but he was a solid starter. So if Gaines backep up Mangum, who was a 7th rd draft choice and a back-up to Wesley Walls, then how good is Gaines really? I've heard some positive things about Rosario. I've heard good things about a couple TEs drafted after him like Ben Patrick. I heard he's a natural pass catcher, but Jeff King was pretty solid in college, too, and now has a year of experience. However, if neither of those two can block as well as Gaines, then we may be better off getting him to run routes or go with some two TE sets.

by usana_gaines on Jun 22, 2007 5:12 AM EDT up reply actions