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The armour has a kink in it

Jeep

Jeep

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After watching the 1st quarter of this weeks game against the Jags, it was obvious to see, that while still efficient and able, both the Offense and Defense didnt look quite as sharp as they did last week...

I still believe we'll surprise many teams and critics this year and will contend for the AFC East.. But I think I saw a couple of weaknesses (that can be exploited by others) and wanted to get your opinions of what you saw during the 1st quarter only!!!
 
I saw an extremely physical defense.. but still a little sloppy. If it weren't for that crazy Deangelo Williams TD, this board would be filled with threads saying how our defense looked ready to compete in the Superbowl..

But it's looking like for once, JP isn't our only guy making pressure. I saw Channing, I saw Wake, I saw everyone getting there man.
 
I disagree. I think they looked sharper and more efficient on offense as they ran the ball more effectively and had a couple of nice completions. The yards per carry was way up from last week and the O-line looked much more solid. On defense they did a good job of stopping the run with the exception of D. Williams crazy run in which the missed multiple tackles. The one area where they looked exposed is in safety coverage, esp. in covering the tight ends.
 
I thought the pass rush was outstanding, and the defense against the run was good except for the Williams Td run. Alot of missed tackles. Both of Carolina's starting WR's were not playing, as well as one of our DB's. The run game looked better but the Carolina run defense is not a great unit. We should have made yards against them.
Donald Thomas added a little more toughness and push while he was in there.
The passing game with Penny looks like the same as last year, dink and dunk with a few over the LB's, and an occaisional mid range deep throw.
I think the offense is progressing, and the defense is ready to start game 1 now.
The special teams are the weak link at the moment. The tackling is poor and the kick off's are usually short.
 
You thought our first team offense looked worse last night? I thought it looked better. Chad looked like his normal self and we were getting good openings during our running plays.

The pass defense was a little spotty and we gave up that one run but otherwise the D looked ok. If anything looked worse it was our special teams.
 
weaknesses: linebacker & safety pass coverage, wide receivers catching the football, kickoff distance.
 
One thing you also have to consider is that Carolina is a far better team than the Jags right now. They were one of the best teams in the NFL and were a good test for our first team O and D. The offense looked good and consistent and the D started out dominating. However, the special teams looked spotty again and could cost us games if we don't get our act together. I am not ready to cut Chris Williams yet as he can certainly change field position in a hurry but he has got to be more careful with the ball, even if it means fair catching occasionally. Our punt and kickoff coverage teams suck as well and must get better if we are going to push to be an elite team.
 
Buddy said:
One thing you also have to consider is that Carolina is a far better team than the Jags right now. They were one of the best teams in the NFL and were a good test for our first team O and D. The offense looked good and consistent and the D started out dominating. However, the special teams looked spotty again and could cost us games if we don't get our act together. I am not ready to cut Chris Williams yet as he can certainly change field position in a hurry but he has got to be more careful with the ball, even if it means fair catching occasionally. Our punt and kickoff coverage teams suck as well and must get better if we are going to push to be an elite team.
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Actually they lost their best run stopping DT Komoeatu for the season, he tore his achilles a couple weeks ago, so they were weak up front. LAst year when they lost him for a few games, teams ran all over their defensive front like a sieve.. They relied on him alot to stop the run. And he wasn't there last night.

Their best run stopping DT now is Damione Lewis who is very mediocre at best. The Giants ran like crazy on them last week because Carolina is just not good at stopping the run without Maake Komoeatu on their d-line.

And of course their best MLB and defensive leader Jon Beason left early in the game last night with an injury, Beason is their leading tackler. He left the game during the first series....

And Julius Peppers who is their best defensive player didn't even play..

So overall the Panthers were without their 3 best players on their front 7 last night. So what we saw on Carolina last night was not close to the personnel they had on defense for most of last season.

And the Panthers were without their two best receivers in Steve Smith and Muhhamad last night. They sat them for the game.

So let's try to put last night's game in perspective here.
 
I have noticed that the TE has killed us ever since Zach left. He was the last
MLB that could cover and stay with the TE. Crowder struggles to cover the TE and
it looked like Bell was a step behind the TE. It does concern me, but I hope it gets
corrected.
 
Greyboy said:
Actually they lost their best run stopping DT Komoeatu for the season, he tore his achilles a couple weeks ago, so they were weak up front. LAst year when they lost him for a few games, teams ran all over their defensive front like a sieve.. They relied on him alot to stop the run. And he wasn't there last night.

Their best run stopping DT now is Damione Lewis who is very mediocre at best. The Giants ran like crazy on them last week because Carolina is just not good at stopping the run without Maake Komoeatu on their d-line.

And of course their best MLB and defensive leader Jon Beason left early in the game last night with an injury, Beason is their leading tackler. He left the game during the first series....

And Julius Peppers who is their best defensive player didn't even play..

So overall the Panthers were without their 3 best players on their front 7 last night. So what we saw on Carolina last night was not close to the personnel they had on defense for most of last season.

And the Panthers were without their two best receivers in Steve Smith and Muhhamad last night. They sat them for the game.

So let's try to put last night's game in perspective here.
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Peppers played. Didn't notice any injury to Beason either - what was it? I'm still concerned they passed on us as well as they did without Smith and Muhammed.
 
Beason tweaked a knee, supposedly out a couple of weeks. Your right, Peppers did play.
 
I saw Will Allen giving huge cushions and allowing easy completions. Yet, when Vontae was playing at the same spot he seemed to be right around the receiver when he caught the ball and was able to make the tackle right away unlike Will Allen.
 
Greyboy said:
Actually they lost their best run stopping DT Komoeatu for the season, he tore his achilles a couple weeks ago, so they were weak up front. LAst year when they lost him for a few games, teams ran all over their defensive front like a sieve.. They relied on him alot to stop the run. And he wasn't there last night.

Their best run stopping DT now is Damione Lewis who is very mediocre at best. The Giants ran like crazy on them last week because Carolina is just not good at stopping the run without Maake Komoeatu on their d-line.

And of course their best MLB and defensive leader Jon Beason left early in the game last night with an injury, Beason is their leading tackler. He left the game during the first series....

And Julius Peppers who is their best defensive player didn't even play..

So overall the Panthers were without their 3 best players on their front 7 last night. So what we saw on Carolina last night was not close to the personnel they had on defense for most of last season.

And the Panthers were without their two best receivers in Steve Smith and Muhhamad last night. They sat them for the game.

So let's try to put last night's game in perspective here.
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Peppers did play and Beason started but nonetheless, even without the three of them and without Smith and Muhammed, I would still say that Carolina is still a better team than Jacksonville. However, your point is valid that you can not get a true gauge without both teams playing their starters.
 
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