Panther Paw Prints: First Victory of 2009 Edition
by Jaxon on Oct 12, 2009 9:04 PM EDT
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PrintThey say winning solves all of a teams' problems. For the Panthers that is true for at least a couple days as this edition of Paw Prints is saturated in the sweet taste of victory. The first four come courtesy of Darin Gannt and QB Jake Delhomme:
Panthers rally from dismal start to post first victory in 287 days | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"That is what it's about," Delhomme said. "It's about coming into the locker room after a game when it's just the coaches, players, trainers and equipment managers. It's been a month since the season started. We've got so many young guys, and you want that atmosphere to breed. That is what you want. That is the big thing. "That is why you do any and everything you can during the week; take care of your body to get ready, because this is what Sunday is about. You want it to feel like this on Sunday afternoon."
Jake isn't without his problems but demonstrating leadership isn't one of them.Along those lines, its not often he hear John Fox self-eviscerate:
Panthers' Peppers earns his pay with solid outing | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"It was real big," Panthers coach John Fox said of Peppers and Davis' play. "The dumb head coach for the Panthers went for it on fourth down and didn't get it. So, that was important to get field position."
WR Kenny Moore admits to not following his blocks on his first return, then gets it right with his game-changing return:
Moore gives special teams a boost with big return | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
"Right before the play, I was big on just making a play," Moore said. "Just get something started. I just wanted to come out and do something big, because we looked flat. The play before, I had a chance to, but I didn't run my track right, so that time I was real focused on setting it up right and it was there. "The whole emotion of the game changed after that. That was big. We drove it in and scored on that drive, and the defense came out big and everyone was ready to play after that."
Another player who had a 'big' impact that was maybe less noticeable to the average fan was new DT/NG Hollis Thomas:
Darin Gantt's Panthers Blog | The Herald - Rock Hill, SC
You know who made a big impact today without getting his name called? Hollis Thomas. This just in, it actually helps having a nose tackle to play nose tackle, rather than a narrow-pantsed Nick Hayden. Having a big body helped with the run defense, and helped clear some things for Damione Lewis and the ends. It's no accident it was their best pressure game of the year, and it's not just because of Julius Peppers.
Remember when we were complaining about the poor tackling by the Panthers? Not to exacerbate someone else misery but its nice to hear the other team making these complaints, in particular when they involve our skinny, old QB
Recap: Panthers Game Highlights Everything Wrong with the Washington Redskins - Hogs Haven
I'm still furious with the tackling. The most obvious is DeAngelo Hall's failure to contain on the final bootleg, then his inability to bring down a skinny, old QB in the open field. Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down? Look at Hall on that play. He barely throws a shoulder. Pathetic.
It doesn't hurt that they are railing on DeAngelo Hall either. Though KevinE at Hogs Haven keeps it real about his teams tackling, this Chris Chase with Shutdown Corner gets it wrong when describing the Redskins muffed punt:
It's legal to block a guy into a returner who has called fair catch - Shutdown Corner - NFL - Yahoo! Sports
With the Redskins holding a 17-12 lead early in the fourth quarter, the team was set to return a punt after forcing a three-and-out from the Panthers. Antwaan Randle El(notes) signaled for a fair catch but was run into by teammate Byron Westbrook(notes) who, while preparing to block, was pushed into Randle El by Panthers safety Quinton Teal(notes). The ball dropped into the resulting scrum, hit Westbrook in the foot and was eventually recovered by Carolina.
Sorry Chris but Westbrook was fully engaged and just got tooled by Quinton Teal. Speaking of getting tooled, Redskins RT Stephon Heyer
Redskins Return Home With Carolina Blues - washingtonpost.com
The Panthers cut the Redskins' lead to 7-2 in the second quarter when Portis was tackled in the end zone for a safety after Peppers pushed Heyer back into the end zone on a sweep play to the right. "Stephon got pushed back a little bit," Zorn said. "Clinton had no chance."
Pushed back a little? He "got trucked" would be a better description. I guess Zorn has got to be more politically correct when describing his own players but I can see why the 'Skins fans are concerned about their depth on the o-line.
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"Did you notice that one run play where Jon Stewart carried the entire Redskins defense for 10 yards and a first down?"
No I didn’t. I don’t remember anything remotely close to that.
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city
that was will power
this was the kind of game that power runners like jonathan stewart love, it reminded me of our game last season against the chicago bears pretty? no, but very gutsy
by carolinabrave89 on Oct 12, 2009 10:22 PM EDT up reply actions
A little bit of hyperbole was used...
But it was the final scoring drive. I believe is was 2nd and 7. J-Stew went right side for 6 yards before first contact from the OLB, he carried the OLB for 2 yards before a corner came over to help, Stewart got one more yard before a safety came in (Landry I believe) he carried the OLB, CB and safety for 3 more yards for his longest run of the day , a 12 yarder.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
by James Dator on Oct 12, 2009 11:12 PM EDT up reply actions
It did go for 12 yards, and Stewart made about 9 of that on his own...
the last three yards resulted from the pushes he got in the back from Rosario and Jeff King, who pushed the pile. Nice effort by those two to not quit on the play after they’d made their initial blocks.
Listened on the radio, and I nearly put my head through the ceiling! : D
That was a powerful run, just from listening to Mixon and Robinson, it sounded like he carried half the defense five yards on his back.
by Flowing Willow on Oct 13, 2009 6:41 AM EDT up reply actions
I was at the game
I remember Fox running DeAngelo, the slightly smaller back, up the middle about 30 times for 2 yards best. Then maybe 2 good runs by Stewart… One through a gaping lane for a TD, and another for a first down where he pushed back a LB and maybe a Safety.
But mainly I just saw us getting stuffed by a 7-8 man box
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city
by southtunnel on Oct 13, 2009 7:01 AM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Play Calling: O
One thing I haven’t seen anyone talking much about was our situational play calling.
I routinely burn Davidson for not keeping the offense fresh and interesting, but on three plays, I think his calls were almost perfect.
1) 4th and goal: FB give. I think the only other acceptable calls would be a QB sneak (which we should’ve done ala “NE hurry-up” for that 4th down conversion in the first half), or maybe a J Stew direct snap out of the wildcat. If we had kicked the FG I probably would have turned the game off.
2) The 2 point conversion. Steve Smith on the quick-in. Perfect.
3) The bootleg. Everyone and their mama was thinking kill clock with the HB, and everyone sold the play to perfection.
This has me thinking that these plays were tailored for these situations long in advance (probably not the naked boot, but who knows?). So what did I learn from this? Well, we probably have a few tricks up our sleeve that we haven’t used yet (situations haven’t arisen).
by the bomb dot com on Oct 13, 2009 6:46 AM EDT reply actions
Not many people have talked about the 2pt conversion.
It looked quick and simple, but that was one of the most difficult plays our offense executed. Jake had to put that ball right on the money, and quick. Smitty ran his route perfectly.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
That's one of those plays where you wonder
Why haven’t you been doing stuff like this all season???
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city
by southtunnel on Oct 13, 2009 3:59 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
Yes! I thought that exactly...
That looks like an easy 5 to 10 yards for sure.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Anyone notice last night
how much berth teams were giving their own returners when they called for fair catches? In the heat of a game it’s easy to forget a controversial call that wasn’t really controversial outside of Charlotte and Washington. I don’t believe those cushions were as a result of Teal’s play, its obviously something that’s coached.
Anyone crying about this in Washington needs to get over it and admit that Westbrook just made a mistake.
NFL teams practice their fair catch procedure. Basically, when a returner calls for a fair catch the recieving team stops blocking and disengages their blocks ASAP.
This call has been argued back and forth with a friend of mine who’s a Redskins fan.
1. Westbrook never should have been within 5 yards of Randle El… you never see a blocker get that close to a PR.
2. When Randle El called for the fair catch Westbrook should have disengaged from Teal, which he failed to do.
3. Teal was able to manhandle Westbrook and push him the 5 yards into Randle El.
As Teal did not block Westbrook in the back, Westbrook was engaged in a block with Teal and no Carolina player touched Randle El, then, by definition it’s not fair catch interference.
I understand Skins fans are unhappy, and I’m sure their beer were watered down with several ounces of tears… but to blame it on officiating is obscene. Chris Cooley didn’t have one reception…. NOT ONE. They need to blame the guys in crimson before the guys in black and white.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
jake hatin
as much as we have dissed jake this year, you have to give credit for that first down run. those kinds of plays are what gets people like me and steve smith to want jake under center. you can’t coach heart.
the 49ers cut this guy to sign crabtree, maybe we should take a look
Rossum was coming off one of his best seasons in 2008, having set career highs of 26.8 yards per kickoff return and 14.9 per punt return. The kickoff average ranked third in the NFC while the punt mark was second best in the NFL.
Read more: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/football/nfl/10/12/49ers.Rossum.ap/index.html#ixzz0TobEboJg
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It will be interesting to see if the Panthers show interest
I can’t imagine they wouldn’t, but I always have a tough time predicting what they will do
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
I would also say maybe
but I have no idea who I would cut. Wesley, Sutton, Martin, someone else? I’m not saying we shouldn’t look, but I"m not sure who I would cut if it was my decision.
My guess, they will pass.
Good point...not sure who would get the axe
Kind of related. How much longer will the Panthers continue to float Dwayne Jarrett? Third season and he is doing nothing.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
I'm still very concerned about the lack of versatility
Everyone now knows they can stop our running game with a 7 man box. And since most of the time we only run 2 receiver sets and block with our TEs, it is easy to have 2 DBs on each receiver.
If Fox can’t add another staple to our offense, then I just don’t see us getting any better.
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city
by southtunnel on Oct 13, 2009 4:08 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think this game shows the Panthers have to run more play action
until the other team stops stacking the box. Then we run the ball. If they show run blitz but then drop zone we have to hit the RB in the flat.
I blog the Carolina Panthers at www.catscratchreader.com
Playing devil's advocate
Can teams really stop our running game? Just for some perspective:
- Carolina’s two backs vs. Washington: 26 carries, 79 yards, 3.05 YPC, 1 TD
- Maurice Jones-Drew: 12 carries, 34 yards, 3.0 YPC, 0 TD
- Steve Slaton: 13 carries, 39 yards, 3.0 YPC, 0 TD
- Joseph Addai: 14 carries, 27 yards, 1.9 YPC, 1 TD
Those are from week 5. Three other examples of poor performances by very good backs. Now, lets look at the game against Dallas:
Carolina’s backs: 14 carries, 64 yards, 4.6 YPC
I’d like to think that the Washington performance is the exception, not the rule. I think it has less to do with teams stacking the box and more with horrible, atrocious play calling on running downs. When we moved from ISOs and dives to powers we had success. That’s why J-Stew had 5.8 ypc in the 4th quarter.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
C'mon now James
Do you really think that other than Washington, our o-line has been opening lanes like last year? DeAngelo has looked like a jumping bean trying to find any resemblance of something to run through… which probably has something to do with his fumbles.
We were just lucky last week that the Skin’s crappy offense didn’t get so far ahead that we had to abandon the run.
on behalf of tha dirty south: soul food, carolina blue, southern hospitality, and tha queen city
We were lucky we didn't have more turnovers
Take those out and it’s 20-3, a lot more of a blowout right? And at one point it was 17-2, we stuck with the run, set up playaction, Delhomme used a nifty pump fake and hit King. That’s what we should be doing, running the ball even when it’s not there. When you have two backs like Williams and Stewart, even when you are getting stuffed you have the threat of a long run. The first ten carries you can get a total of five yards, it doesn’t matter if you’re eleventh goes for fifty. All it takes is one good block, remember that when you get down on the O-line.
by Flowing Willow on Oct 14, 2009 7:42 AM EDT up reply actions
I preceeded what I wrote with 'playing devil's advocate' but now that I look at the stats:
Yeah, I think they’re opening holes like last season.
Lets look at Williams:
1st four games of 2008: 55 carries, 198 yards, 3.6 ypc, 0 TD
1st four games of 2009: 59 carries, 220 yards, 3.7 ypc, 2 TD
Now Stewart:
1st four games of 2008: 46 carries, 200 yards, 4.3 ypc, 4 TD
1st four games of 2009: 33 carries, 138 yards, 4.2 ypc, 1 TD
Williams in slightly exceeding last year’s numbers at this same time, and Jonathan Stewart is slighty off pace. But, both are pretty much right at the same point they were in 2008.
Cat Scratch Reader's resident optimist.
by James Dator on Oct 14, 2009 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Yes
That’s where the TEs/FB is in single coverage.
We need these players to be threats from the I.
by the bomb dot com on Oct 13, 2009 11:52 PM EDT up reply actions
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