Top 10 things for the Carolina Panthers to fix.

[LooGie]

The Charlotte Observer:

Ten things that are very wrong with the Carolina Panthers right now after their embarrassing 35-14 loss to Dallas Sunday night, in which Carolina looked very much like a team headed toward 6-10 and a seat on the couch in January:

 

1. Finishing games. John Fox said it well after Sunday night's game, when he sounded like he might suddenly stop talking and start spewing molten lava. He said in his postgame news conference that the Panthers hadn't closed out games all year and that the bye week might give them a chance to 'find some guys who can finish games.'

 

Fox also apologized to every Panthers fan who bought a ticket to the game and called the fourth quarter 'as poor of a performance that I've been associated with.'

 

Fox talks that way about his team about as often as we have a presidential election. I've never seen him any angrier. And he's right to be that way, for he recognizes this as a team in crisis.

 

2. Run offense. You can claim your philosophy is to be a power-running team all you want, but the proof is in the pudding. Ever since the 2003 Super Bowl season, when Stephen Davis was in his prime, the Panthers haven't been able to consistently rip off yardage between the tackles.

 

3. Run defense. Carolina has allowed more than 100 yards rushing four times all season (156 to Dallas), and the Panthers are 0-4 in those games. The thoroughly unimpressive linebacking corps misses Dan Morgan, but it's much more than that.

 

4. Coaching. From bad luck to bad decision-making, hardly anything Fox and his staff did was working Sunday night. The Panthers just aren't good enough to go anywhere right now, and it's wrong to only blame the players for that.

 

5. Dropped balls. There were at least five easy ones that Panthers receivers let go right through their hands -- two by DeShaun Foster and one each by Michael Gaines, Keyshawn Johnson and Steve Smith. Johnson's, the most glaring, could have gone for a touchdown.

 

6. Special teams. Carolina managed fumbles from Brad Hoover and Steve Smith and got an unnecessary roughness call on Karl Hankton. Unacceptable.

 

7. Jake Delhomme. The quarterback's usual fourth-quarter magic was nowhere in sight the past two weeks, and he was outplayed by Tony Romo.

 

8. Turnovers. The Panthers had three and were lucky not to have had more.

 

9. Front four. Yes, Julius Peppers has been exceptional and Kris Jenkins has had a few moments. But this is a unit where the Panthers have spent tens of millions in hopes of dominating games. It just hasn't happened.

 

10. Lack of pride. How do you let the Cowboys score 25 fourth-quarter points, setting a Dallas franchise record? If you're associated with the Panthers in any way today, that's absolutely sickening.

 

I could not have said it better myself. But I think Run offense should be higher.

I'm so sick of watching DeShaun put us in 3rd and long situations. I'm sick of watching them throw on 1st down, and run for an Edge-esque no gain on 2nd. I'm just sick of it. I hate DeShaun Foster, and while he hasn't been hurt, I'd rather him be. The only times he ever broke big runs was right after DeAngelo Williams was ripping it up. As soon as DeAngelo trailed off, so did Foster. I hate him.

This loss was disgusting, and I'm pretty ashamed of this team right now.

One thing to note, the defense has been playing worse and worse in the 2nd half. I dont know if it's just due to being tired, or altering the gameplan at half time and the scheme isnt' solid or what. But I'm sick of it.

Another thing is this team NEVER plays good at home (except for about 1 game a year). What could cause that? It's unacceptable. It's like the defense doesn't like the noise, and they play better on the road, because the home crowd is quiet for the offense or some crap. I just dont get it, and I'm sick of it.

The good news is now I get to learn what this team is made of. They aren't out of it, but they easily could be. They are a team that consistantly plays better in the second half of the season. So now we'll see if this team is truly championship bred.

[Endzone]

Bring on Deganelo!

[Rockerbraves]

Bring on Deganelo!

 

 

Foster needs to carry the ball 30 plus times a game for the Panthers to have any success. Much like the Ravens did this weekend.

[Bronco Billy]

1) Their uniforms. Only puzzies were "Carolina Blue".

 

[WaterMan]

I never could understand the love for Foster. If you watched the Panthers when it was Foster/Davis. Only Davis could get the touch yardage.

[LooGie]

I never could understand the love for Foster. If you watched the Panthers when it was Foster/Davis. Only Davis could get the touch yardage.

 

I've been saying the same thing for what feels like eons. One thing I can say good about Foster, is this year, he's a bit more consistant. He's still averaging barely ovefr 3 ypc, but last year he had TONS of carries for lost yardage. So, I'd rather have two 2 yard carries then 1 5 yard carry and 1 carry for a lost yard.

I hate him. I'm tired of rooting for him.

 

on a side note, after Vandershank missed that FG, i called Foster "DaShank Foster" all night. It helped to ease the pain.

[CD6405]

I think the one thing the Panthers need to fix is the losing.

[junebugz]

Who is this Deganelo you speak of?

[hutchprime]

I agree. Clearly, as far as I can tell, DeAngelo Williams will fix all of this. Well, at the very least it would allow me some leverage on the Foster owners in my leagues.