Jags vs. Panthers 1st Half Replay Musings & Notes

As I watched the replay of the Panthers win over the Jags I saw some things I didn't quite pick up or fully appreciate that I thought I would mention. I'm hopeful I'll see a number of things that make me feel even better about pulling out a victory.

• It was against DE Charles Johnson that the hands to the face penalty was called on the Jags that led to the safety by Hardy. Both of our DEs put pressure on the Jags pocket all game.
  
• MJD had 14 yards on 8 carries outside of that killer 39 yarder right before halftime. The Panthers did a good job of keeping him in check...again, outside of that last 52 seconds in the first half they did a good job.
• I'm not sure I'm buying into the theory J-Stew simply has better opportunities to run the ball than D-Will. He ran well on all 3 downs from what I saw. Yet I will also say I feel better about Williams performance after watching it a second time. On two plays I thought he should have cutback outside like he normally does but he instead kept it going up the middle. Other than that I thought he did fine for what was given. I think Williams is simply the victim of past success at the moment.
  
• After hearing the Jags kept the Panthers WRs in check with two deep safeties I have to agree that's a good scheme to run against Newton. It's those intermediate passes he has trouble with the ball sailing. Take away the deep ball and you force him to throw short. Now when Newton gets those intermediate throws down...look out!
• DE Charles Johnson's 3rd down tackle for a loss was one of the top defensive plays of the day
• Are we seeing a coaching trend with Ron Rivera in that he doesn't kick 50 yard field goals unless he has too? How did he pass up that 50 yarder to seal the deal against the Jags? He passed up a 53 yarder with 4 minutes left in the 1st half and another 50 yarder in the Cardinals game. I'm not saying it was a bad call on that last one (obviously because it worked) but I'm just not sure how a coach doesn't roll the dice given he's got a good kicker. I'm wondering Rivera just might as a rule of thumb avoid 50 yard kicks. Or maybe Mare hasn't passed all of Rivera's pledge tests? More after the jump...

• You might remember a nice run by J-Stew off RG was negated by a block in the back penalty by Smitty. The call was a good one which hurts because it was not needed, CB was not in position to make the tackles. All Smitty had to do was seal the CB from stepping back inside after he took the outside route. Off right tackle is Stewie's favorite run. 
• Still amazed Newton was never sacked... that's one part of his game no one can argue with.
  
• Still chuckling at Blaine Gabbert's nickname: Sunshine... and agree with Alfie that its partially the irony that he's really a midwestern red neck more so than a California pretty boy [no obvious references intended]
• Darius Butler made a sweet play on the ball on 3rd and 10 with 3 min left int he 1st half. He first faked a soft coverage but then jumped up to cover the underneath route and broke up the pass. Butler confused me with his #27, during the game I thought he was CJ Wilson [who is no longer on the roster btw...fml]
  
• It's around the 3 minute mark that it starts pouring like piss out of boot. The Panthers actually run a play from the shotgun in the down pour and Goodson not surprisingly drops it. There was only a 20% chance of rain that day. 
• Can someone please post more pictures of the top cats cheering during the down purr? I find those...inspiring!
• At the 2 minute mark in the 1st half we go to a commercial break and during the commercial CBS must have picked the foggiest camera they had to give the feed too and then didn't even try any other ones. Consequently you really can't see Sherrod Martin's INT, you just see all the players suddenly run in the other direction. It was funny that Martin had his jersey stretched about 2 yards before finally being tackled. The INT was a gift by the way...
  
• After a J-Stew drop with a a 1:23 left in the half a stat was shown that the Panthers are T-2nd in the NFL with 10 dropped passes. I wouldn't have thought we were ranked that high.
• If Sherrod Martin had made the tackle when he had his shot at MJD no way they score at the end of the half like they did...it was a feeble attempt at that
• and then there is the passing play for the score right at the end of the half...suck, that is all