Monday Reality check...

When you have multiple 50+ yard TD runs, I tend to believe that the defense was just that bad. There were some things that you can't downplay, though. Peppers sacking Jason Campbell with Chris Samuels is one of them.

 

Match-ups are huge in football. Sometimes you're going to have advantages over the team you line up against even if they might not be a worse team compared to the rest of the league. Washington was a good match-up for us because they have a nondescript front seven that isn't very physical, and a pretty predictable offense. Philadelphia wasn't a good match-up because they are very physical, blitz a lot, and have an effective short passing game. Plus performance on the field isn't always consistent, as the same players might look great one week and disappointing the next. Best to take things one day at a time because it is what it is.

 

sustained drives are pretty big. We're running the ball well, and the passing game is almost there, so it's not a big worry, but you want to see some longer sustained drives to make sure we're controlling the tempo of the game and resting the D. Plus, sustained drives are a good amrk of consistency on your end, not someone else's mistakes.

 

Talk about matchups, did anybody see that huge Bills' O line push the Colts' smallish D all over the field last night?

 

It doesn't hurt that we have the English Cannon back there booming kicks into the endzone, giving opponents really crappy field position.

 

I loved that.

I don't love our lack of a PR after trying to find one for 2 offseasons.

 

I don't get to pick who gets hurt.

 

We were also without most of our "perceived starting WRs" Sat. We had Smitty, some bubble guys and a guy who many wanted to dump at the end of last year - Jarrett. So you need to factor that in. Makes me feel better about our WR situation anyway.

 

We pretty much peaked about 9:00 Saturday night. It's all down hill from here.

 

Interesting note from Panthers.com.

Our starters vs. Other teams starters.
75 mins of starters vs. starters: 58-3