Ipimpcrazydave
Full Access Member
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2004
- Posts
- 826
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 16
Panthers report: Strategy and personnel Dec. 6, 2005
The Sports Xchange
Strategy and personnel · Inside slant · Notes, quotes
PLAYER PERSONNEL NOTES
--DE Julius Peppers (ankle) will be re-evaluated on Wednesday when the team returns to practice. Peppers did return to action on Sunday after the injury and said he will be ready for Tampa Bay. You can bet he will. He had three sacks in his previous meeting with the Bucs on Nov. 6.
--DE Mike Rucker (ankle), who leads the team with 8.5 sacks, will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, and his status for this week's game against the Bucs remains in question. Rucker injured his ankle late in the second half against Atlanta and did not return to the game, although he stood on the sidelines with his teammates and was not taken to the locker room.
--G Tutan Reyes (knee) said he will be ready to play Sunday against Tampa Bay after going down on Carolina's final offensive play against Atlanta.
--TE Michael Gaines injured his ankle against Atlanta, and his status remains up in the air for Tampa Bay.
--FB Brad Hoover suffered an ankle injury and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. Hoover is a pretty tough guy to keep out of the lineup, so expect he will be ready for the Bucs.
REPORT CARD VS. FALCONS
PASSING OFFENSE
B-plus -- QB Jake Delhomme turned in a solid game on Sunday, throwing for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He had one interception, that coming when his arm was hit as he released the football. Outside of that one play, the offensive line played extremely well and did not allow a sack on Sunday despite facing a solid Atlanta defensive line. WR Steve Smith caught seven passes for 65 yards and snagged his 10th touchdown of the season, ending a three-game drought. RB DeShaun Foster was a weapon out of the backfield again, catching three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. FB Brad Hoover played a bigger role in the offense with three catches for 20 yards, and Keary Colbert chipped in with three grabs for 24 yards.
RUSHING OFFENSE
A-plus -- Finally. For the first time this season, the Panthers had a running back break the 100-yard barrier with Foster running 131 yards on 24 carries and his first rushing touchdown of the season. Foster ran like a man possessed -- or at least a man playing for a new contract -- breaking off several big runs, including a 30-yarder that is the second-longest run of the season for the Panthers. Stephen Davis started the game, but he had only one carry after the first quarter and finished with just 8 yards on five carries. The big question now will be when head coach John Fox drops this charade he's been playing and actually admits Foster is the team's featured back and decides to start him. At this point in his career, Davis should be relegated to short-yardage situations only.
PASS DEFENSE
A-plus -- Carolina's pass defense was nothing short of outstanding on Sunday, sacking Michael Vick five times and forcing two interceptions. Vick completed less than 50 percent of his passes for 171 yards with no touchdowns and an ugly passer rating of 39.1. The Panthers used a variety of spy packages to slow down Vick. Rookie LB Thomas Davis was crucial in the role, seeing the most reps he's seen all season. But the Panthers brought pressure from every angle with seven players combining on the seven sacks. LB Will Witherspoon did an outstanding job on TE Alge Crumpler. Other than a 32-yard grab on CB Ken Lucas, Crumpler had just two catches for 20 yards with Witherspoon on him. DEs Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers both came up with sacks, pushing their combined total to 16 for the season.
RUSH DEFENSE
A-minus -- Rarely do you get a high grade when allowing an opposing team to run for 120 yards, but you have to consider this came against an Atlanta team that came in averaging 183.1 yards per game on the ground. Warrick Dunn had 80 yards rushing on 16 carries, but Vick, who normally torments the Panthers with his legs, finished with just 36 yards rushing and took several hard shots from Carolina defenders. Carolina's cornerbacks were asked to play one-on-one on the outside much of the game and did an outstanding job in that role, allowing the Panthers to use extra players to defend against the run. Lucas led the team with eight tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
B -- Other than allowing a 47-yard return on the opening kickoff, the Panthers did a tremendous job again on special teams. Jason Baker had two punts inside the 20, and John Kasay made his only field-goal attempt of the day, a short one from 20 yards. The Falcons were clearly scared to punt the ball to Steve Smith, and they angled every kick out of bounds so he wouldn't touch the ball.
COACHING
A-plus -- S Mike Minter suggested after the game that the coaches should receive a game ball, and he's right. Defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac and his staff did an outstanding job of mixing things up on Sunday and keeping Vick off his game. Using a variety of spy packages, the Panthers confused Vick, and everyone on the defense really stepped up. Given the way his defense is playing right now, Trgovac could be positioning himself for a head coaching position in the next year or so, a la Jack Del Rio.
Copyright (C) 2005 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
The Sports Xchange
Strategy and personnel · Inside slant · Notes, quotes
PLAYER PERSONNEL NOTES
--DE Julius Peppers (ankle) will be re-evaluated on Wednesday when the team returns to practice. Peppers did return to action on Sunday after the injury and said he will be ready for Tampa Bay. You can bet he will. He had three sacks in his previous meeting with the Bucs on Nov. 6.
--DE Mike Rucker (ankle), who leads the team with 8.5 sacks, will be re-evaluated on Wednesday, and his status for this week's game against the Bucs remains in question. Rucker injured his ankle late in the second half against Atlanta and did not return to the game, although he stood on the sidelines with his teammates and was not taken to the locker room.
--G Tutan Reyes (knee) said he will be ready to play Sunday against Tampa Bay after going down on Carolina's final offensive play against Atlanta.
--TE Michael Gaines injured his ankle against Atlanta, and his status remains up in the air for Tampa Bay.
--FB Brad Hoover suffered an ankle injury and will be re-evaluated on Wednesday. Hoover is a pretty tough guy to keep out of the lineup, so expect he will be ready for the Bucs.
REPORT CARD VS. FALCONS
PASSING OFFENSE
B-plus -- QB Jake Delhomme turned in a solid game on Sunday, throwing for 194 yards and two touchdowns. He had one interception, that coming when his arm was hit as he released the football. Outside of that one play, the offensive line played extremely well and did not allow a sack on Sunday despite facing a solid Atlanta defensive line. WR Steve Smith caught seven passes for 65 yards and snagged his 10th touchdown of the season, ending a three-game drought. RB DeShaun Foster was a weapon out of the backfield again, catching three passes for 49 yards and a touchdown. FB Brad Hoover played a bigger role in the offense with three catches for 20 yards, and Keary Colbert chipped in with three grabs for 24 yards.
RUSHING OFFENSE
A-plus -- Finally. For the first time this season, the Panthers had a running back break the 100-yard barrier with Foster running 131 yards on 24 carries and his first rushing touchdown of the season. Foster ran like a man possessed -- or at least a man playing for a new contract -- breaking off several big runs, including a 30-yarder that is the second-longest run of the season for the Panthers. Stephen Davis started the game, but he had only one carry after the first quarter and finished with just 8 yards on five carries. The big question now will be when head coach John Fox drops this charade he's been playing and actually admits Foster is the team's featured back and decides to start him. At this point in his career, Davis should be relegated to short-yardage situations only.
PASS DEFENSE
A-plus -- Carolina's pass defense was nothing short of outstanding on Sunday, sacking Michael Vick five times and forcing two interceptions. Vick completed less than 50 percent of his passes for 171 yards with no touchdowns and an ugly passer rating of 39.1. The Panthers used a variety of spy packages to slow down Vick. Rookie LB Thomas Davis was crucial in the role, seeing the most reps he's seen all season. But the Panthers brought pressure from every angle with seven players combining on the seven sacks. LB Will Witherspoon did an outstanding job on TE Alge Crumpler. Other than a 32-yard grab on CB Ken Lucas, Crumpler had just two catches for 20 yards with Witherspoon on him. DEs Mike Rucker and Julius Peppers both came up with sacks, pushing their combined total to 16 for the season.
RUSH DEFENSE
A-minus -- Rarely do you get a high grade when allowing an opposing team to run for 120 yards, but you have to consider this came against an Atlanta team that came in averaging 183.1 yards per game on the ground. Warrick Dunn had 80 yards rushing on 16 carries, but Vick, who normally torments the Panthers with his legs, finished with just 36 yards rushing and took several hard shots from Carolina defenders. Carolina's cornerbacks were asked to play one-on-one on the outside much of the game and did an outstanding job in that role, allowing the Panthers to use extra players to defend against the run. Lucas led the team with eight tackles.
SPECIAL TEAMS
B -- Other than allowing a 47-yard return on the opening kickoff, the Panthers did a tremendous job again on special teams. Jason Baker had two punts inside the 20, and John Kasay made his only field-goal attempt of the day, a short one from 20 yards. The Falcons were clearly scared to punt the ball to Steve Smith, and they angled every kick out of bounds so he wouldn't touch the ball.
COACHING
A-plus -- S Mike Minter suggested after the game that the coaches should receive a game ball, and he's right. Defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac and his staff did an outstanding job of mixing things up on Sunday and keeping Vick off his game. Using a variety of spy packages, the Panthers confused Vick, and everyone on the defense really stepped up. Given the way his defense is playing right now, Trgovac could be positioning himself for a head coaching position in the next year or so, a la Jack Del Rio.
Copyright (C) 2005 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
