Making the push

It's December. As we grind ahead like some old tank pushing along like some unassuming juggernaut through the wreckage closer towards the main battle with some of the sleeker models like the Saints, Seahawks, 49ers w Crabtree, and possibly the Eagles with their on fire QB ect.,... with Christmas dreams of playoffs and daring to even think about a Superbowl, I begin to think about the glaring weaknesses that can undo us.

There are some real ones that this team struggles to cover up. The good news? We're winning despite that. The bad news? It feels like a bad tire, and even though we're plugging along, that sucker's bound to blow.

The run game can be coached better IMHO. We ran out of power I a few times the other day with Olsen, Brockel and LaFell and I don't believe we passed out of that a single time. They run blitzed I think every time we lined up with that (at least they did the entire first half, I haven't gotten through the second yet) and lined up with 8 and 9 guys in the box. It's nitpicking, yes, but I only bring it up to illustrate that just from that formation alone, it seems that it begs for playaction, because as a result, they're stopping us for negative yards frequently. I'm wondering, and maybe we did later on, why we don't suck them up and hit them deep. We're alarmingly predictable sometimes.

Either way, it's a microcosm of a much larger problem. Our run game suffers - is actually abysmal, unless we really soften them up with the pass and Cam's scrambling. I'd love to be able to head into the playoffs knowing we can push for 2, 3 yards on first down, rather than wind up in 2nd and long every time we try to run.

Our offensive line isn't as ghastly bad as it looks from afar, but the strength is not there, and Chandler is really bad. They set and block in the pass game, but as for the run game, they're slow on pulls, block high, and get no push. They're fucking reserves, converted defensive linemen, and fuckers like Piggy who've not been picked up by other teams. So it's to be expected I guess.

It's made Williams and Stewart look tentative. I see them dancing at times when there's a hole. I see -3, -4 yards when there could be a tough yard or two earned. Obviously our guards stink, as does our RT.

It's disheartening that we felt we had to sub out Wharton for Piggy at times Sunday. Jesus, this could the the death of us.

Cam Newton? Just can't seem to be consistent. When he drops back and makes his read and gets rid of the ball, more times than not, he's magnificent. The receivers in our offense have a lot of options on their routes, which means Cam's reads have to be on point, and he's got to be in sync with what they are doing to counter the defense - which means he has to be able to read that defense - which is why when teams blitz a lot he seems to suffer unless he breaks a big run.

It's worked for us a lot when we go no huddle, or when Cam has one read then checkdown or run - and that's fine, but it's got to get corrected. There are mind numbing times where the pocket collapses just a yard or two back, and he can simply reset, then step into his throw but he just doesn't. It's like balls to the wall with him and he steps up into the pile and releases a shitty throw. Almost always high. Or a sidearm as he's not setting his feet, and it wonks out into the other guy's chest....I cannot understand, why a guy who can be SO fucking good...can't, or doesn't seem to want to fix that.

This is a CORRECTABLE MECHANICS PROBLEM.

And it's fucking maddening.

Also...the deeps balls are getting us with more frequency. Florence saved the TD and made a nice shoestring tackle, but Mikell is an outright liability in pass coverage. He's always late, biting on playfakes, and rarely in position.

The corners are getting lazy too. We play bump, and yet it's not physical. Munnerlyn doesn't even attempt to jam when he's playing a fucking yard off. I mean, come on. This secondary, they're a salty group but they're showing cracks.

Brees will be a terrific measuring stick, and it can't get here soon enough.

All this being said, we're still shutting teams out in the second half, still making great adjustments, and we just came off a big win vs. a team on a legit hot streak.




Lastly just a random complaint - we've thrown to Smith on ONE go this season. One. He caught it, and it began the malfunction of Talib. WHy are we not letting him do this more? Why?

 

Has it got enough garlic in it?

 

I can't read all that brah.

 

Carolina has soft offensive linemen and Tolbert is the only passable blocker at TE or FB, so I agree that for the run game to improve there needs to be more play action to keep defenses back, but I'd also like to see different formations. The power look just doesn't fit this roster, as DeAngelo isn't as effective behind a lead blocker either. DW's best numbers have come out of 3 WR looks, which allows either Olsen or Tolbert to give him some blocking but spreads out the defense because they have to respect Ginn. If you do go power then Stewart has to be the back or maybe Tolbert with Brockel in front. I get not wanting to wear Cam down, but I formation looks do marginalize his abilities as a rushing threat.

But getting back to the other point, I have no idea what Shula has against play action. Maybe he doesn't like Cam turning his back to the defense since some OCs don't like doing that with a young quarterback. Why they never do bootlegs or roll-outs is beyond me as well. That's particularly effective off of PA.

Consider Cam Newton's background. He spent one full season at Florida before getting kicked out, one season at Blinn, and then one season at Auburn. He's never had to earn anything or be in a system where he worked on his craft over time. He's always gotten by on talent alone, and to this point has been successful at it. In that sense, posting huge numbers as a rookie was probably a bad thing because it gave him immediate fame and diminished any incentive to work on his game.

It's worth going back to look at Nawrocki's scouting report that he took so much heat for. How much of it was actually wrong? Cam does have "limited field vision," as we've frequently noted here about him not seeing open receivers and staring down his first read. He also correct that Cam "generates all of his power from his upper-body strength and too often arms the ball," which is another way of saying that Newton doesn't step into his throws with proper footwork and weight transfer. That leads to inaccuracy, especially high throws like the one LaFell tipped that was intercepted. Would you agree that Cam "always knows where the cameras are and plays to them"? That's pretty obviously true. Is it fair to say that Newton has "an enormous ego with a sense of entitlement that continually invites trouble and makes him believe he is above the law"? The first part, sure, but he hasn't had even a hint of off-field issues here, and I haven't heard anything about him not getting along with teammates.

Ultimately what matters is if Cam's personality and history impede his ability to become a better player. I haven't seen a drive to improve. I see a drive to be famous and adored, which is better than a Manziel who seemingly resents the world, but it's not a substitute for a genuine work ethic. You don't have to be humble to want to improve yourself. You can do that with arrogance, you just need self-awareness and drive. I think if Cam had any of that, he'd already be showing signs of correcting his flaws. I don't think Cam has that in him, he only cares about results. Maybe a coaching staff could work on him to improve his technique, as could a role model if there's any QB Newton respects, but external pressure can only go so far and could ultimately lead to friction. The drive to improve has to come at least partially from within.

Because the corners are playing up too much. Carolina doesn't have one safety who is even average in coverage, much less above, so the corners can't count on someone bailing them out. Their first priority needs to be protecting against the deep ball. The good news is that the defense and the coverage becomes quality once the field is compressed in the red zone. If you don't get a deep bomb on this defense, you're probably not going to score.

Agreed, and the same goes for LaFell although he isn't as explosive a deep threat as Smith. It seems like Ginn is the only one used in that role, which makes the offense predictable. I can't believe Revis fell for that double move given that 55% of Ginn's targets this season have been 11+ yards downfield, which is a very high percentage (38% for Smith, 41% for LaFell). 21+ yards is even more dramatic with 26% for Ginn, 9% for Smith, and 14% for LaFell.

 

I agree with all of this. Especially where DeAngelo works better in single back and with a more spread out offense. He's better in space, obviously, and I cannot agree more than we're not a power run outfit, as much as we want to fancy ourselves as that.

Shula seems to run the PA every time out of the pistol or shotgun. One thing that can help us there is Cam selling it better. I've said for years, selling the PA is so underrated, but you're probably right - with Cam's limited field vision, having his back to the defense for even a second (although the same could be said about shotgun formation anyway, right!??) could hinder his reads.

But the more I watch, the more I see we have astoundingly predictable run sets...so your beefs with Shula are a little more valid than I first believed.

I also see that this offense starts and stops with Newton running the ball. It's amazing how different the defenses play us when he's gashed them just once...LaFell gets open because they had two players (outside backer and box safety) spying Cam Newton, and LaFell is wide ass open. Sure there was a breakdown, but it was because they botched which one spied and which one dropped. Kind of fucking awesome, really.

You'd think by now Shula and Dorsey would've helped work him out of this notion? But then again, a guy who can barely speak might have a learning disability. Who knows. It's incredibly frustrating, because in his third year, he still makes rookie mistakes.

There is validity to some of that in hindsight, yes. I'm not so sure about the part where he, moreso than any other player, "always knows where the camera is", in the context of it being a "bad" thing per say. I get it, but I don't think that necessarily plays a negative role in his style. I don't see him trying to truck defenders when he runs, or him trying to always hit the spectacular play. Maybe it could play into his ignoring the check downs for the deeper option?

He's literally spotted his checkdown and you can see him go through his progression at times this year, and ignore the shallower routes, which has been absolutely fucking maddening, because when he takes what's given to him, we sustain drives. Then again, the flipside, is that he's ignored wide open guys downfleid to force it into Olsen while he's doubled - which indicates he's zeroing in his first read too often - which Olsen will be a good percentage of the time.

I hope this isn't true, but of course I worry it is.

See...I think we have to play up. I see your point, but I'm afraid if we don't play physical and we let the receivers have any time, our talent level just isn't there to create stops. The safeties play so goddamn deep I think because of this. I've heard commentators say we're playing man when it's not true - we're playing a two deep zone a lot but the depth is almost outrageous, I'm guessing to keep it in front of them.

I love the idea of being aggressive and physical with our corners with the line we have, and it creates an environment where they have to work for every yard. But if we're going to do that - we have to be fundamentally sound. And I'm not seeing that. Munnerlyn, White, ffs, they whiff, they don't jam, hell they give clean releases, and if you're playing up to the line you can't do that. I dunno. Maybe you're right. Maybe we give them some room and just keep it in front.

Agreed about the safeties. Mitchell is better than I thought he'd be, but he's not a good cover guy. I do like Lester as far as having the best range, but hot damn he bites on every fake, and he's out of position so fucking much. Maybe it's the wall, but I think that's why we're seeing a lot less of him despite his INTs.

Yep. We've seen LaFell go deep some, seen him on a go or two. I'm sure it's because he's got the single look, but goddamn, create mismatches and get Smith deep. Now.

 

No shit. Someone please make a cliff notes version of this entire thread please.

 

I`d settle for the readers digest version.














yes, I`m old.

 

Every team has flaws. We see ours because they're ours.


Being a fan is somewhat like being a woman, without a lot of the baggage.

 

Speaking of making a push