Week 14: vs ATL

[N.E.PanthersFan]

• Greg Hardy talking ****
• Jonathan Stewart "very doubtful"
• Brandon LaFell probably doubtful
• Dwan Edwards probably doubtful
• James Anderson and Charles Godfrey are questionable

We're used to the injuries, but the injuries on defense could really hurt a lot. On the bright side, Phillips has played well, so I'm not expecting any drop off at LB. Having Nakamura and Campbell at safety = time to pray -- our weak secondary would get a lot weaker if Godfrey can't go. If Edwards is out, I'm hoping for Kearse and Neblett at DT. It's not much, but... it's not much.

The injuries on offense should make things interesting on that side of the ball too. Can Louis Murphy step into the WR2 role? How many touches will Armanti Edwards get at WR3? Will Gary Barnidge see more snaps? Can Deangelo Williams build on his success last week? Will we finally see some David Gettis? Can Newton elevate the players around him?

The last question is, perhaps, the most important. It would show enormous growth if he proved that he's able to simultaneously carry the team while still playing within himself.


Also, is anyone here from the SoCal area planning on going to the SD game next week? I'm thinking about buying tickets to that one.

[manbearchef]

• Greg Hardy talking ****
• Jonathan Stewart "very doubtful"
• Brandon LaFell probably doubtful
• Dwan Edwards probably doubtful
• James Anderson and Charles Godfrey are questionable

We're used to the injuries, but the injuries on defense could really hurt a lot. On the bright side, Phillips has played well, so I'm not expecting any drop off at LB. Having Nakamura and Campbell at safety = time to pray -- our weak secondary would get a lot weaker if Godfrey can't go. If Edwards is out, I'm hoping for Kearse and Neblett at DT. It's not much, but... it's not much.

The injuries on offense should make things interesting on that side of the ball too. Can Louis Murphy step into the WR2 role? How many touches will Armanti Edwards get at WR3? Will Gary Barnidge see more snaps? Can Deangelo Williams build on his success last week? Will we finally see some David Gettis? Can Newton elevate the players around him?

The last question is, perhaps, the most important. It would show enormous growth if he proved that he's able to simultaneously carry the team while still playing within himself.


Also, is anyone here from the SoCal area planning on going to the SD game next week? I'm thinking about buying tickets to that one.

After the bad few games Matt Ryan's had he's probably licking his chops at this defense lol.

I'd like to see Newton continue his string of 95+ passer rating and ZERO turnovers. Don't care if we win. On defense I want to see Johnson wreck the ATL OL like game 1, but he's missing half of the defense around him.

[N.E.PanthersFan]

After the bad few games Matt Ryan's had he's probably licking his chops at this defense lol.

I'd like to see Newton continue his string of 95+ passer rating and ZERO turnovers. Don't care if we win. On defense I want to see Johnson wreck the ATL OL like game 1, but he's missing half of the defense around him.

I'm completely with you at this point. Win or lose, I want to see progress with Newton. I'd love to see Johnson and Hardy continue to tear it up, but without Ron and Dwan in the middle, I'm not sure that's going to happen. I'd also love to see Armanti Edwards step up and show what he can do -- this may be his one chance. Same with Gary Barnidge. I hold less hope for Fua and the DTs, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[manbearchef]

I'm kind of expecting Fua to be cut at this point. The more I watch him the more I wonder why he was even drafted. I hate his size for a NT.

[homestarunner93]

Wow. Cam Newton is the only QB in the league that could ever hope to do anything like that run.

[ugafan]

Wow. Cam Newton is the only QB in the league that could ever hope to do anything like that run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PKQZR_cus

[manbearchef]

Wow. Cam Newton is the only QB in the league that could ever hope to do anything like that run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PKQZR_cus

I don't think he was talking about the 70 yard run. I'm pretty sure he's talking about the play where he threw a DT off of him and then ran for 20 yards. Craziest QB run I've ever seen in the NFL.


Gotta say, that game was awesome to watch. Too bad it's a meaningless win in terms of the post-season.

Carolina owned that game to an extent that the scoreboard doesn't indicate. The defense was playing prevent in the 3rd quarter and the offense never stopped moving chains.

-Newton played great most of the game. He missed a couple of throws, but other than that, just another multi-TD/ZERO turnover game from Newton. Gotta love it.
-I liked seeing AE and Adams get some more looks in the offense. Also Murphy did pretty well in the game (would've had a huge TD if Newton hadn't over thrown).
-I saw Piggy go down, but I didn't see if he came back. If he's out, our OL is going to get worse, which I didn't think possible.
-defense did very well against a very good defense. And that was without 6 starters on defense.
-Hardy backed up his smack-talk with two sacks
-That Davis INT was pretty awesome to see. As the announcers mentioned, it's a shame he isn't in talks for comeback player of the year.
-Gano did well on all of his kicks.
-Coaching was excellent. Unfortunately Williams didn't do so hot in a lot of the carries he got, so they probably won't call good plays next week. The only thing I wish they did different was defense. They were all over ATL's offense in the first half, then they let them get 5-10 yard per play in the second half.

[homestarunner93]

**** the Falcons.

[homestarunner93]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PKQZR_cus

umadbro?

[N.E.PanthersFan]

I don't think he was talking about the 70 yard run. I'm pretty sure he's talking about the play where he threw a DT off of him and then ran for 20 yards. Craziest QB run I've ever seen in the NFL.

That was crazy. Breaking that tackle is reminiscent of Roethlisberger, but extending it to a first down run is crazy. Roethlisberger likely would have kept looking downfield to pass before running as a final option, but I have no complaints with Newton finding that path to the first down and owning it.

Gotta say, that game was awesome to watch. Too bad it's a meaningless win in terms of the post-season.

Carolina owned that game to an extent that the scoreboard doesn't indicate. The defense was playing prevent in the 3rd quarter and the offense never stopped moving chains.

-Newton played great most of the game. He missed a couple of throws, but other than that, just another multi-TD/ZERO turnover game from Newton. Gotta love it.
-I liked seeing AE and Adams get some more looks in the offense. Also Murphy did pretty well in the game (would've had a huge TD if Newton hadn't over thrown).
-I saw Piggy go down, but I didn't see if he came back. If he's out, our OL is going to get worse, which I didn't think possible.
-defense did very well against a very good defense. And that was without 6 starters on defense.
-Hardy backed up his smack-talk with two sacks
-That Davis INT was pretty awesome to see. As the announcers mentioned, it's a shame he isn't in talks for comeback player of the year.
-Gano did well on all of his kicks.
-Coaching was excellent. Unfortunately Williams didn't do so hot in a lot of the carries he got, so they probably won't call good plays next week. The only thing I wish they did different was defense. They were all over ATL's offense in the first half, then they let them get 5-10 yard per play in the second half.

There are some tremendous take-aways from that game.

- This is the first time this team has defeated a top-tier opponent that can't make any excuses. We had the Texans game last year "but they were playing their third-string QB". Matt Ryan is among the best in the game and we shut him down in the first half.
- Newton continues to mature. 23-of-35 is 65.7% passing. If he continues playing safe football and making smart audibles like he has been recently, he'll silence the doubters real quick. Also, if you watch the highlights film from Fox, pay attention to the quote: "the resurgence of Cam Newton makes that job [the head coaching job] very desirable."
- Murphy played a lot better than I expected, which is always nice. I'm sad that we didn't get to see Gettis -- he must not be 100% yet. Seeing AE and Adams get some touches is nice (and Barnidge too!), but I wish we would have seen more from AE. That end-around that Adams runs is something I'd like to see AE do once in a while -- it could open up so much in terms of exploiting the defense or at least keeping them off-balance.
- Hangartner got injured, but returned, thankfully.
- Defense did a solid job, but you could tell that they were trying different things there personnel-wise. Kearse and Neblett did really well starting the game (Johnson/Kearse/Neblett/Hardy). I didn't see when they changed things up, but I don't remember seeing that lineup in the second half (I was seeing a lot of Alexander/Johnson/Fua/Hardy and Johnson/Fua/Hardy/Alexander). Norman didn't get many snaps at CB and Godfrey didn't make it in at S. It's nice to see guys step up like that.
- Davis should at least be in talks for comeback player of the year, but when you're up against Manning and Peterson, it's an uphill battle. It'd truly be a shame if he wasn't even in the discussion.
- Coaching was improved. I liked that they kept trying to move the ball offensively, even when they had the lead. That's the kind of attitude that this team needs if it's going to be successful. I also saw a lot more blitzing from LBs, which was interesting.
- Williams did really well running early in the game -- he had 36 yards on his first 6 carries. And he showed how dangerous he remains with that screen pass that he took for a TD. At the end of the same highlights film from Fox that I mentioned earlier (on NFL.com), they mention that the RBs make the head coaching job even more appealing; they just need to fix the "blocking scheme" -- something we've alluded to a couple times this season (though we usually talk in terms of play-calling, which has also been an issue).
- Did anyone miss James Anderson?

[N.E.PanthersFan]

In other news, Arizona is getting pounded like a drunk college girl by Seattle (feel free to edit out that simile, it's probably in really poor taste). If things don't work out with Rivera and Co., maybe Cowher and Whisenhunt becomes a possibility...


EDIT: You know what would make my season? If we had the same record as NO going into week 17 and we came out with the win to finish above them.

[homestarunner93]

In other news, Arizona is getting pounded like a drunk college girl by Seattle (feel free to edit out that simile, it's probably in really poor taste). If things don't work out with Rivera and Co., maybe Cowher and Whisenhunt becomes a possibility...


EDIT: You know what would make my season? If we had the same record as NO going into week 17 and we came out with the win to finish above them.

Wouldn't make mine. I'll take the better draft pick. I'm just glad we smoked the pretenders today, though.

[CarolinaFan87]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l0PKQZR_cus

You obviously didn't see the play judging by the video you linked. Everyone here would agree RG3 has more straight line speed than Newton however Newton has the type of power RG3 can only dream about. RG3 better be more careful with his body since he is smaller than Newton and he can't take hits like Cam can. Newton is worlds better at not taking unnecessary hits and if RG3 doesn't wise up he will become injury prone just like Mike Vick.

[manbearchef]

It's games like these that make a fan feel like **** for knowing we could be 9-4 or so if the coaching had been better this season. I don't know what it is, but it seems like Cam gets better in December (pulled off a string of wins in December last year).

I'm with homestarr though. I'd rather see us get a difference maker, rather than possibly reaching. We're probably out of the Star sweepstakes again, but we can still get Hankerson if we don't win any more games. We're currently tied for 8th with several teams, but if we finish 6-10 we'd probably be around the 10th pick, which would suck.

The three players I'm most interested in this draft are Star, Hankins, and Joeckel. It's looking like they might all go in the top 5. I honestly wouldn't be opposed to us trading up for Joeckel if it came to that.

[ugafan]

umadbro?

I was just replying to your comment. No need to be a dick.