Mid Season thoughts

I try to console myself by thinking these close loses are going to come in handy next April.

 

Young teams tend to lose close games. Don't overthink it.

I know it's an improvement from last year, when the Panthers were a young team rarely coming close.

 

Find the best Special teams coach out there and pay what it takes. STs have killed this team since S. Obrien

 

this

 

1. We've got a star QB in the making, something we've never had.
2. A good receiving group. Two TE's that make a world of difference.
3. A good offensive line.. make you cuss sometimes but good overall.
4. Chud.. maybe the best coach we've ever had on staff. Imaginative and unpredictable. Smart enough to tailor the offense to his QB's strengths and not try to make him into a preset mold of an NFL QB.
5. Some talent on defense. They play better than you think considering who has been injured.
6. Stew is coming around. Wish I could say the same about DW.

The downside? Middle of the defensive line isn't good. Some way they have to plug that next season. Special teams aren't special. All these damn penalties they take. The coaches need to drill their asses on how to play the game. These aren't aggressive penalties either, just lack of focus and football smarts. They need to learn how to close out games. At worst we should be 4-4 now instead of 2-6. Maybe this is a learning year and they'll put it together next season. Hope so.

I will say this, at least you look forward to watching the team play. It's always a roller coaster game. But it's exciting to watch. Think about last year. You watched but hated every minute of it because you knew the game was over if the other team scored twice. This year every game is fun. I'll take that for now.

 

Kyle Williams has been hurt.

9 sacks, 2.5 for dareus, 26 yards rushing vs. washington.

5-2

 

The guy we have, Murphy, has a pretty good rep. I'm not so sure it's the coach, tending to think we need to upgrade the players.

He wasn't ultimately responsible for deciding to kick to Hester, the way I understood it, and he's not really able to go out and kick for Baker or Mare.

I'm not down on any of the coaching staff really, at this point.

 

Positional upgrades? where are they needed? thoughts?

 

Interior DL, CB, S... better special team players

 

Rivera is showing some of that John Fox stubbornness about certain players.

They still need a #2 WR, defensive tackle, kick returner, safety (Godfrey can't tackle), depth at corner, outside linebacker, depth on the o-line, kicker....this team has a long list of needs to address. They have matched their win total from all of 2010 in half the time, so I guess that's progress.