Carolina Panthers' Monday Morning Optimist- 12/6/10

That team quit yesterday. No excuses.

last night that we were 11-1, JC had thrown about 30 TDs and only 5 ints. DWill was back and lighting the world on fire, the defense was like a brick wall, and we had julius peppers tied to a goalpost so whoever scored got a free hit everytime they crossed the goalline. BUT THEN I looked around and elvis was the coach, Jake Delhomme was the OC and the stadium was made out of clouds and flowers and I realized it was just a dream and promptly woke up to feel sorry for myself about coming to work this morning to face all the Cowboys, Saints, Giants, and Steelers fans that I have the displeasure of sharing an office with. Football Life Sucks. But HEY!!! next year is only about 8 months away, if there is no lockout!

“franchise quarterbacks aren’t made when the blocking is perfect and the play calling is dialed in; they’re made when the chips are down, everything is failing and through a mixture of sheer will, determination and motivation they are able to make the best of what is happening.”

I couldn’t agree more and I wish I could write like that.

Is it Jason Bakers Epic tackle or that run where Stewie ran over Tatupu after already having brokne a bunch of tackles?

Utter, Dark, All-Consuming Despair.

We need to draft puppies with the #1 pick!

It was more like a sweeping right hook than an ankle tap, lol. It’s sad that the highlight of the game was a freaking tackle by the punter.

As far as the QB situation, I’m not going to get into it like last Monday, but I will say this: Jimmy didn’t do himself any favors in hushing the “Draft Luck” crowd.

Great article as always James.

…Did anyone else notice Steve Smith and John Fox hugging each other like they were saying goodbye after the last failed pass?

Also, why does Clausen do that “squinting” thing before he goes under center? Did he do that in college?

the kittens is priceless

This type of showing is what I have come to expect this year. I had hope in the first half that we were going to at least make a game out of it again (like we did against Cleveland). This season has me too skeptical to buy into the chances of us actually blowing somebody out so I didn’t let the 14-3 fool me.

However, that second half was still epically disappointing. I was hoping that this team may at least find a little confidence and have some success at the end of this season, if for nothing other than giving our young team a little taste of success and some hope going into next season. I sure hope the coaching staff next year can establish some confidence and some leadership with these guys.

Given how this season has been a loss for a couple weeks now, I’ve been watching some other aspects of the game as well. Yesterday we had Matt Hasslebeck, who is going to be likely the best veteran QB in free agency this coming off season unless somebody else gets let go and also featured Golden Tate who many Panther faithful wanted to draft.

As far as Tate, I can’t say I seen much from him that was any better than anything I’ve seen Gettis or Lafell do this season, so I can’t say I’m all that disappointed we missed out on him. As far as Hasslebeck, he’s not the greatest QB in the world, but I wouldn’t mind seeing him in the lineup with both Clausen and Luck to bring some veteran experience to help out our young QB’s. However, what are the chances he would be content not being a starter?

At one point in the game, we had Captain Munnerlyn and Robert McClain as our two CBs.

I think 1% of the atlanta game is to much. Is it mathematically possible to go into negative percentages?

Anyway, good write up, but one thing I think you left out was Charles Godfry (I would almost say the entire secondary if it weren’t for Munnerlyn and a couple of good plays by Martin to offset his crap ones). For the love of God, why is Godfry still a starter on this team? Both he and Marshall and pack up now and leave as far as I am concerned. Blown assignments, piss ass tackling, and just crap play. I don’t care how many INT’s Godfry may have, he has played like shit for most of this year, and a healthy Jordan Pugh should be in that SS spot.

Not going to get into the Clausen vs every other QB thing. All I’m going to say is that we are seriously F’ed if we go into the season with this guy as our #1 and nobody here to challenge him. (a’la Delhomme a few years back).

Other than that, another disappointing game, another loss, another game wacthing both the other team and their stupid fans going nuts because the beat up on a crappy 1-11 team, and another day closer to FA, the Draft, and the end of the Fox/Davidson reign in Carolina.

How’s that for a little optimism?

We just looked like a completely different team in the first half, down to the play calling. We were throwing on FIRST down! When do we EVER stray from run run pass punt? We were getting first down after first down. The playcalling was working so well it had us creating conspiracy theories as to what the hell happen to Davidson, and just who was actually calling our plays? Sadly, Davidson returned in the second half to that tired, ineffective gameplan we’ve seen all season. Maybe he was still on EST time and late to the game.

I was just shaking my head the whole second half. I wasn’t surprised, nor was I angry. That’s been our season and its bewildering to me how these things happen. Now just what in the hell happened at half time? Did JR call in to yell at Fox for trying to ruin ‘Operation Luck’?

And is it within the league rules to stall the game at the 2 minute warning for a jersey hanging ceremony? That needs to be looked into because that was just unreal; talk about a momentum killer.

Did anyone notice how poorly Martin was tackling this game? Seem’s he didn’t want to lose another two games’ worth of checks again. He was tackling so low he was just falling off of guys waists. it’s sad it’s come to that.

Nothing to see here.

I’ve gotten to the point where I’m just trying to view our team from another perspective. Like, how will prospective coaches view the talent on our team? Money aside, I can’t see why anyone wouldn’t want to coach this team next year. We’re going to have the #1 draft pick. (Which I think we should use on a QB). We’ve got a lot of good, young talent at wide receiver that is getting valuable playing time. We’ve got a very nice stable of running backs. Our defense is pretty solid overall. And, we’re going to have a lot of cap space to sign free agents to fill in the gaps.

As bad as we’ve looked this season, I still watch the games and come away thinking that we’re not as bad as we look. I know it sounds crazy, but that’s what I come away with after every game. The coaching bothers me a lot more than the play on the field. I really, really, believe that we could be a better team, without changing any players, if we had another coaching staff. QB is an issue, but I think even Clausen would be better if we had a coaching staff that would cater to his strengths. Maybe I’m delusional, but I think we have a pretty good football team. We just need someone to lead it. Please be gentle, this is just my 2 cents.

what the hell does “there’s always Wal-Mart” mean? Can we buy wins there? Are they “rolling back” defensive pressure on us? I don’t get it.

I feel it’s needed at this point to offer an advanced warning for this kind of thing. Let me let you all in on a little secret: Literally thousands of people read this article every week and recently the comment section has become completely and utterly derailed by a handful of people.

Also, if you feel yourself getting worked up then scroll up! Look at the kittens… it helps!

Thank you soooo much for the quoted statements above (and the adorable kitten picture). Last night, I stated, privately, that I was going to refrain from posting on CSR for awhile, and possibly even stop reading. I know that the team sucks, and posters are frustrated, and people have varying opinions on how the team could be improved. But I hate to see other posters (and I have felt this often, myself) being scoffed at or having their opinions condescendingly dismissed.

However, I freaking love this team and it’s almost impossible for me to not comment. It’s like I can’t control my hands from approaching the keyboard.

So, please, just let me get my humble opinion vented and out there: Blogs and forums are a wonderful place to have many people contribute to the marketplace of ideas. Civil agreement/disagreement and commentary is encouraged. Condescending dismissal and name-calling pointed toward other posters is not. It is disrespectful and non-productive. If anyone ever feels that I don’t follow what I preach, call me out on it.

That being said…

The Panthers decided to go all Two-Face on us and displayed two entirely different teams. The first somewhat encouraging. The second, the most deflating, non-effort-making team I’ve ever seen. That includes every level from Pop Warner to pro.

I temporarily gave Foxy the benefit of the doubt for the past 2 or so weeks after he’s looked a little more animated on the sidelines and after hearing the team speak up for him. But the man was not a player’s coach last night. I have never seen the team utterly give up like that. A good player’s coach doesn’t let that happen. Did anyone see the film of Garrett’s speech in the Cowboy’s locker room last night, and the players’ reactions? That’s a guy who has his team’s back and who has its respect. Again, JR, look to the other Jerry’s example in that one aspect.

We desperately need someone to consistently man up, take a leadership role in the locker room, on the sidelines, and on the field, and get these guys to play lights-out like they have the capability of doing. I didn’t realize exactly how valuable Delhomme was in that position.

Smitty looked like he was somewhere between crying and sleeping on the bench at the end of the game. That was one of the most disheartening things that I have ever seen. You never want to see that. Seeing Smitty ripping off his helmet and yelling and stomping along the sidelines means he cares and is fired up. Seeing him on the bench last night was the most depressing aspect of the entire game for me.

I agree on the entire optimistic category. Very few players on any side of the ball truly kept up the fight to the end.
- J-Stew – Literally, thank God the man was back on his game
- Goodson – I have so much respect for this guy’s off-field efforts to improve and his on-field display of that work. The word has been used before, but I’ll say it again. Tenacity.
- Sutton – I remember him last season as just being an “eh” substitute – last night, he was truly respectable.
*James said above that we have an embarrassment of riches at LB. I say the same at RB.
- Munnerlyn – The guy was creamed multiple times on punt returns, and just kept getting up and doing his job at CB. Was he perfect? No. But he’s made some big-time plays and gets a lot done for a guy his size.
- Our LBs (although Beason looked like he’d given up at the end). I’m continually impressed by these guys. Next season, I want to see lots of Anderson, Beason, Jason Williams, Connor, and Davis (and possibly McClain). Rotate the guys in and out if you have to. But I want to see all of them.
- Charles Johnson. Just think what the guy could do with some DTs and with a comparable DE opposite of him. Apparently Hardy needs a little more teaching as to the mental aspect, but he no doubt has the physical capability and the hunger.

Clausen, O-line, play-calling, DTs, Marshall – same song and dance. One exception to the play-calling – I liked seeing a few throws tossed Fiametta’s way. That was something that we’ve hardly seen before (I think I remember seeing him targetted only once or twice through the whole season up until yesterday).

Gross may be a Pro Bowler, but the guy’s not playing like it. In a clip of the 2008 season that was posted in another recent thread, you could see that the guy used to be a monster. A defender would come up against him, and Gross just shoved the guy back, like, “Nope, don’t think so.” The guy would come running back again, Gross would shove him back even harder, like, “Son. Really. I said no.” As the highest paid player on this team (correct me if I’m wrong on that), and with arguably the most important job on the team – protecting the QB’s blind side – his current play is not acceptable. This season, he, along with pretty much every other person who is supposed to be protecting against the pass rush, just lets his guy get around him if it takes the slightest bit of effort to hold him back. The fiercest blockers have been our RBs and WRs. That’s bad.

Why is Gettis not being targetted more? Is there some place to check statistics on the percentage of completions a WR makes on the number of times he’s been targetted? (Obviously you can check a QB’s completion rate, I just don’t know of a place to see a WR’s completion rate…it would be interesting). I would dare to say that Gettis probably has the highest percentage of completions based on how many times he’s been targetted.

I freaking want to see more of Pugh.

I was so excited to see AE get a jersey in place of Clowney yesterday. And all for naught.

I cannot wait to see what a new coaching staff brings to the table next season. Seriously, unless we promote Davidson or an ameoba to HC, it can’t be worse. From the optimistic column, it’s clear that we have much more talent on this team than the record reflects. Unfortunately, those guys can’t make a team all by themselves.

Can you name a quarterback who went from being “bad” to “good” as a result of improved line play?

I remember when Panthers fans were so excited about David Carr. “Houston’s offensive line was terrible. Now he’ll be good behind the Panthers’ line!” I know several people who wanted to hand him the starting job outright.

As it turns out, Carr’s ineptitude had nothing to do with the various offensive lines that blocked for him. He’s just inept. It’s too early to give up on Clausen, but he’ll either succeed or fail on his own.

I was thinking in the first half, " Don’t start winning now!" The team didn’t let me or Andrew Luck down. Lose ’em all for Luck baby! :)

You seemed to have kept the QB talk at a minimum. Hats off to you sir.

Whether we are 1-15 or 3-13, we still suck. All those additional wins potentially do is push us away from that 1st round pick. The only thing I’m looking forward to at this point is potentially drafting Luck, or trading back for a slew of picks/players.

for not fielding a competitive team and for lowballing the budget this year. But before the year, a lot of us were okay with this. We knew that we were “preparing for the future by cleaning out the bad contracts and going young and cheap”. Now this season has turned out worse than we could have imagined, but I get the idea that people think Richardson is going to continue to treat us poorly. Honestly, Jerry Richardson has been one of the best owners in sports. He has never been afraid of spending money, and he for every season except this season and 2001 fielded a competitive team. Don’t forget/lose site of that guys. In two years, when Chicago is paying a washed up Julius Peppers 20 mil and he is taking up 1/7 of the salary cap on his own, we will get the last laugh. It will only go up from here y’all! BE OPTIMISTIC and don’t forget that there is light on the other side of the hill.

Some players have the tools and abilities to overcome. But for the most part this is a team game and everyone relies on the performance of others to stand out. At this level of competition, most of the QBs have good mechanics (comparatively speaking to amateur athletes) and if given time can pick apart a defense. Most excelled at the collegiate level precisely because they had time to cover up for their shortcomings or were just that much more talented than the guys they are facing.

Luck is actually that IMO. He is playing against some of the worst defenses in torrid Pac-10..

He has won against TWO teams with a winning record, TWO.. I can understand why you all like him, he does seem to have the stats and does look good and have the tools. But he has played against some pathetic teams, actually downright awful teams who would struggle to win more than 2 games in the SEC. That is all I’m saying, horrible competition.

Now, if he goes and tears up Va Tech, that could change my tune. But I am holding all this with a grain of salt. Jimmy may turn to be garbage, but I’m just not sold on Luck. I mean the best D he faced was that of a 7-6 team (Zona). I’m more sold on Mallett than Luck.. Can definitely see him becoming the next power-arm gunslinger of the NFL, but Luck….. just not close to declaring him this mega prospect/savior type fellow or anything near that

I really thought these last two weeks would be the turning point but they were not. Thank God Yuengling are on sale right down the road.

BTW, thank you for the Kittens.