I feel special for once!

Your #3 addendum is very true, they do have quality depth and I totally agree with your #4 .. The o-line absolutely needs to avoid injury if they are to develop consistency out of the gate. Matching up against a defense which features Merriman, Williams, Olshansky, McKinney, Cooper, and Cromartie will be a great opening test, if not a wake up call for the Panther’s o-line. I’m thinking they will hold their ground, if not give the Charger’s defense problems if everyone stays healthy through training camp. I am really really hoping God (Fonoti) wins the start for RG. He will be a beast for the Panther’s run game and he personally knows what the Charger’s D is about.

Peppers, Peppers, Peppers. He needs to wake up. If Brayton and Peppers project to start, and they do their job well, which I think they will, we should refer to them as “Salt and Peppers.”

What everyone mentioned is spot on. Another thing I think we need to add to the pile overall is mental toughness. It seemed last year that if we fell behind 10 points, we were done. We need to continue to push regardless of the score. We also need the coaches to make better in-game decisions. I hate seeing us try things in the 4th quarter that failed in the first three quarters. For example, if Merriman gets a couple sacks in the 1st quarter, the coaches need to make an adjustment. Don’t pull a Bellichik in the SuperBowl and hope the O-line eventually figures it out. Those two concepts have nothing to do with the actual talent level on the field. I like Hilee Taylor a lot, but Brayton has the edge. That’s fine. But it’s about mental toughness. Smitty, Jake, Beason, Moose and other players have it. Let’s hope it’s contagious.

I was watching some highlights of Panthers games from last year, and one thing came to mind…stopping the run. Obviously Kris Jenkins was our center piece for this last year, but we still weren’t that good at it. Mike Rucker was still good against the run regardless of his sack totals. Chris Harris was a good hitter, but he was often out of place. Our LBs seemed to be out of place quite often, too. How do the additions of Godfrey, Connor, Johnson, Brayton and Lewis to the starting lineup change our ability to stop the run. Last year the trend seemed to be run it on first down, then opposing teams had 2nd and 3 to 7 yards against us. We need them to lose two yards when they run on 1st down, then they end up passing more, and we get more sacks.

Sorry…if you guys think I write too much, it’s because there isn’t as much for me to do today as most days that I’m at work.

With that said, the schedule will be important, obviously, and it emphasizes the importance of our run defense. Three of our last six games are against division opponents, and our week 16 opponent is the Giants. We start the season vs. Ladainian Tomlinson, Matt Forte, Adrian Peterson, Michael Turner, Larry Johnson and then the Bucs (don’t know the status of Cadillac Williams). Scoring points early and stuffing the run on first down puts these teams in one dimensional schemes. I don’t have much confidence in Philip Rivers, Rex Grossman, Tavaris Jackson, Matt Ryan, or Brodie Coyle. Jeff Garcia always plays well against us, but this is the last year of his contract, and I think he’s distracted because 37 year olds usually don’t get three year extensions and huge signing bonuses. If we can contain the run, we start off at least 6-0. We also face Darren McFadden, Brandon Jacobs, and Ryan Grant this year. Stopping the run will be crucial. CHris Harris was often out of position, as I mentioned on my post five minutes ago, but when he got there, he did force a team record eight fumbles last season. I’m bored and I can’t wait for the season to start.

Last year we were one of the worst teams in the league in scoring on the first drive of the second half. We must have gone three and out in at least 10 of our 16 games in our opening second half drives. Davidson did a terrible job adjusting to what the defense was doing, and that really caught up to him. Against Dallas we mounted a drive that resulted in a field goal. Against the Seahawks we managed 11 plays before turning it over on downs. Against every other opponent, our opening drive ended in a punt or a turnover. In ten of the games they got three or fewer plays on those drives (two of those were turnovers).

Davidson needs to step up big-time. Good teams make halftime adjustments and during halftime they make plans that exploit what they discover about the defense. That used to happen with Henning, and has yet to happen under Davidson.

I must say in Davidson’s defense, he had to overcome a bit of adversity as a 1st year OC starting 4 different QB’s . Before Jake got injured, the offense looked OK if you ask me and probably would have been pretty good with consistent play at the QB position, namely having your starting QB(JD) for a full year. This year I think we will finally get to see what Davidson can bring to the table, provided Jake stays healthy. We know what Moore is capable of. I think it’s safe to say we can expect MUCH more offense than what we saw in the 07’ preseason and first couple of games last year.

As for your fears on stopping the run. I agree, that is my biggest fear as well. Time will tell whether or not the new d-line can get the offense off the field on 3rd down. They obviously still have faith that JP will regain his form and are willing to bet Brayton was a product of a bad system. The combination of D. Lewis, Darwin Walker, Scott, Hayden and Kemo should be respectable at the very least. Walker has shown flashes of being a dominant run stuffer and can rush the passer. Lewis finally gets to show his skills. I think Kemo is capable of pushing the middle of the pack and freeing up the ball carrier. We shall see.

Everyone had some good things to say (even u_g—but you’d better respect Philip “ACL? I don’t need no stinkin’ ACL!” Rivers, he’s a gamer), and this has been a fun thread to read through.

My one additional key to the mythic 13-3 season:
4- John Kasay stays healthy. In years past, when Kasay went down with various knee ailments, our special teams coaching and scouting was so adept at bringing in and training replacements that not only did each of those guys perform excellently with us, but also immediately went on to long-term contracts with other clubs (The Nedney in Tennessee, S. Graham in Cincy). Nedney was a career sub-80% kicker before us, and a mid-90% guy after. Same with Graham, who improved tremendously during his year with us.

I no longer have the same confidence in our special teams coaching, for understandable reasons. Our special teams has been anything but special, and while Rhys Lloyd has a strong leg, he isn’t a 90% kicker and won’t be without Scotty O’Brien walking back through that door.

Kasay is pure money… no, Kasay is a currency unto himself, with his own exchange rate (and he’s even soaring against the Euro). He is the definition is clutch. He’ll be the pivotal difference in at least three games, meaning without him I’d put our record at 10-6.

Kasay may not be as powerful as a few years ago, but he’s never been too good at kickoffs. He did kick the kickoff out of bounds in the Superbowl. I remember when Norwood missed the FG in the Superbowl and was cut. It’s obvious that cutting Kasay would’ve been a bad idea since he’s made many long FGs for us since. This year, however, the goal is to actually get in the end zone, not just close enough for a 50 yard FG.

I thought we brought in Colclough to help with returns. I don’t really understand the idea of a 1st rd rookie RB returning kickoffs. Last year, DeAngelo Williams and Nick Goings returned some kicks. How about working on the return blocking a little bit, too. Getting five yards closer per possession is a big deal, and often is the difference between a punt and a FG.