Red Zone Running

by blueridgecat on Oct 5, 2011 6:05 PM EDT

Much has been written and discussed about Carolina's red zone woes this season and rightfully so. The team just isn't scoring touchdowns when inside the opponent's 20 yard line. Penalties and bad calls have had as much to do with this as anything but I came across some interesting stats from a fantasy football article on ESPN earlier today that helped shed some light on this problem of the Panthers.

When the Panthers are going to run the ball inside their opponent's 10-yard line, they turn to Newton. Newton has had 10 such carries. If you are wondering about how much the Carolina Panthers' running backs are used in those situations, the numbers are surprising.Jonathan Stewart has only two chances, and DeAngelo Williams' next carry inside the opponent's 10-yard line this season will be his first.

http://sports.espn.go.com/fantasy/football/ffl/story?page=trendspotting111005

More after the jump...

Now I for one am deeply enjoying Chud ball as we finally have a fun and exciting offense to watch. But if Newton remains our leading rusher for TDs, we may be in trouble. Granted he scored on 4 of the 10 attempts but how long will he hold up? To me it is unconscionable that we are not using our backs more inside the 10. We have arguably two of the best RBs in the game and you're running your prized franchise QB 5 times more than JStew? DWill hasn't even been given a touch? I would much rather take my chances in the red zone lining up in the Power I with JStew or DWill and pounding the ball than throwing outs to Naanee or fades to LaFell or worse, risking injury to Newton. As for the guys upfront, is this not the same OLine that dominated the league in 2008 running the ball?

Chud can shorten a field as well as any OC in the league. But he needs to remember his titans near the promised land. He needs to remember he has two of the best scoring weapons in the league behind a once great line looking to regain its' swagger.

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Devil's advocate: establishing precedent

On Newton’s runs, all of them contained a RB on the field, and sometimes the FB. Most teams won’t honor the keeper threat until they realize it is a viable and useful weapon. Maybe we’ll see it tail off as teams start to honor the playcall.

by ppalm on Oct 5, 2011 6:33 PM EDT reply actions

Great Stats "BRC", Thanks

What part of the Blue Ridge are you from?

by PanthersRoar on Oct 5, 2011 7:00 PM EDT reply actions

Sin City NC

Ashevegas

by blueridgecat on Oct 5, 2011 10:52 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

I'm From That Little Pocket Of Hell Known As Wilkes Co., But I Escaped Around 25 Years Ago

It’s shaped like an open ended box at the foot of the mountains. From it’s central point at Wilkesboro (elevation around 750 feet), just drive 15-20 miles west and your at the fall line (the crest of the mountain range where all water flowing west drains into the Mississippi River, and water flowing east drains into the Atlantic Ocean, at around an elevation of 3,500 to 3,700 feet), go around 15 miles north and your at an elevation of around 3,300 to 3,500 feet, go south 5 miles or less and your at the crest of the Brushy Mountains (an off shoot arm of the Blue Ridge Mountains, goin west to east) at an elevation of around 2,000 feet, and this Mountain prison’s open door faces east to northeast. It’s a air inversion layer trap, with hgiher altitude winds just passing over the top. It’s freezing cold in the winter, and stifflingly hot and humid in the summer.

by PanthersRoar on Oct 5, 2011 11:43 PM EDT up reply actions

I am a UNC-A Alum

Love Ashvegas – a WHOLE lot more night life there now than in the mid-90s when I was there.

Follow me on Twitter @manu4t

by manu4t on Oct 7, 2011 2:48 PM EDT up reply actions

couldnt agree more

i’m loving the downfield passing game; but the red zone inefficiency needs to be addressed, and running the ball more is part of the solution

SIMPLE AND PLAIN

by revdwl34 on Oct 5, 2011 7:06 PM EDT reply actions

Another red zone problem..

I went through the first three games earlier today, noting each play inside the 20 (I haven’t got to the 4th one yet) but from what I’ve noticed at a glance in those 3…

Newtons Red Zone stat line: 8/19, 64yds, 2 TD, 31 R-yds, 2 R-TD, 86.3 QB rating

Despite being better than I thought, that’s not what I found interesting. Everything looked good except for that sub 50% completion rate… Then Naanee jumped out at me and dropped the ball..

Over the first three games, Naanee was targeted in the red zone 6 times and only caught 1 pass. That means of Newtons 11 incomplete passes, Naanee was the target of nearly half of them. That obviously doesn’t mean the ball was thrown well or even catchable but when we’re talking about Naanee, I’m leaning more in favor of him dropping passes/not bringing in catch-able balls than Newton making bad throws…

If we put LaFell in place of Naanee, there’s no telling what Cam’s red zone numbers would look like. (I’ll guess take a fans guess though and say 11/19, 85yds, 4 TD, 31 R-yds, 2 R-TD, 108.5 QBR :) – yeah, I’ll take that)

Put some reliable hands across from Smith and we might see our RZ issues fade away.

I can’t wait to do the 4th game to see if the trend continues.

http://www.facebook.com/dranged1 - Add me on Facebook. Can never have too many CSR/Panther friends.

by D-Ranged1 on Oct 5, 2011 8:43 PM EDT reply actions

PS..

I don’t guarantee the accuracy of any of the above because I haven’t double checked my numbers, those were just what I jotted down earlier today for personal reference and I could have easily missed something.

http://www.facebook.com/dranged1 - Add me on Facebook. Can never have too many CSR/Panther friends.

by D-Ranged1 on Oct 5, 2011 8:44 PM EDT up reply actions

looking forward to getting gettis back next year so

naanee becomes a distant memory

SIMPLE AND PLAIN

by revdwl34 on Oct 5, 2011 10:06 PM EDT up reply actions

Nice work

Why target Naanee 11 times when you have two great backs and a solid O-line? Throwing in the red zone is difficult to do especially for a rookie. Dig in and cram it down their throats once in a while. And don’t get the QB hurt!

by blueridgecat on Oct 5, 2011 11:24 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions

It makes me wonder..

I’ve heard mention that Naanee is often the “open” receiver because defenses don’t fear him… It makes me wonder who the better option is, an open Naanee or a covered Steve Smith. lol

http://www.facebook.com/dranged1 - Add me on Facebook. Can never have too many CSR/Panther friends.

by D-Ranged1 on Oct 6, 2011 1:52 PM EDT up reply actions

Anyone know the redzone stats on our TEs

We have had 2 TDs called back on them (and we KNOW one of those calls was t-total horseshit). It seems they are getting more tosses in there now than the first 2 games

Follow me on Twitter @manu4t

by manu4t on Oct 7, 2011 2:50 PM EDT reply actions