Upcoming Season

So, it's March, and free agency is in full swing,  if there's any doubt,  just ask the Chicago Bears. The Panthers have been pretty quiet so far, other than a huge purge of experienced players, and Matt Moore signing his one year tender, and stepping up to the plate as the projected starter.  I'm curious as to how this will play out, It's been a really long time since I've witnessed the off season moves of a team in "non-salary cap" year.  I think Brad Hoover is going to leave a massive hole. This is a player that has played in the same role for the same organization for ten years. Good times and bad, Brad Hoover did his best, and played with heart.  He will be sorely missed. I hope Tony Fiammetta has some big feet, he's got some enormous shoes to fill. 

      Matt Moore, now I'm excited about this move.  Moore stepped in to an offense that was struggling.  I'll admit I was skeptical, but it was one of those situations where, after witnessing Jake throw eighteen interceptions, I figured how bad can it be?  It came on slowly, with the panthers relying mostly on their running game, then Moore drops in a couple passes, short outs. So then I'm like "wow, he's accurate".  Then it gets even better, he can hit Steve Smith in stride.  So then I'm thinking this could work, and then it happens, bang, the kid shows he's got a cannon, with a long TD pass. Then, it seemed to me, the entire team came alive. Players seemed to be trying harder, on both sides of the ball. One thing to remember is that the team didn't struggle defensively in 2009. Statistically they had fewer points scored against them than any team in their division, included the celebrated Saints. On that point...

     Julius Peppers, he's going to missed, maybe not by the fan base as much as Hoover, but statistically, he's a defensive monster. He was the only Panther last year with sacks in the double digits. In fact, 2007 was the only year in the NFL without double digits sacks. And the only defensive touchdown scored last year was on an interception return for a touchdown, and not by a DB, no, it was Peppers again. I'll admit, he didn't  always play with the heart of a lion, but this isn't kindergarten, and there are no A's for effort, people are keeping score. With that in mind I hope the front office has something in mind to reproduce those numbers on defense.

     All in all, it's going to be an interesting year, look for Dante Rosario, and Dwayne Jarrett to have good years, I sense untapped talent there. I just hope with all the changes that the play calling  keeps with the Panthers philosophy,  with the clock controlling ground game, staying out of third and forever, with "must pass" situations. When you have an opponent that you know has to pass, it's easy to drop eight men in coverage, and just look for a pick.. This alone could have huge ramifications on Moores success, or failure.