THOUGHTS AFTER THE FIRST PRESEASON GAME

People keep saying “Reich said he’s not showing our full play book”. Ya da ya da ya da…. I hope that’s not code for “we don’t know”…

To be fair, it’s a new offense, a new defense, and a lot of new pieces. But SHEESH.

Not at all impressed, at least it was the first preseason game.

---

U missed little but Bryce getting popped n bounce up thrice.

But the new Defense played like a solid defense.  The new Offense played like someone's friendly dog showing the robbers where the cash was kept.

First half, be glad you missed most of it, was the most horrid display of football I have ever seen, at any level.

WELL....  I AGREE with ALL of those comments up there (^^^)...  BUT, let's be honest here..... Did anyone really expect this game to go the Panthers way.??  I know I didn't. Seriously.

**NY Jets... For years they've been a laughing-stock of the NFL...HOWEVER, last year they had a TOP 5 Defense and a terrific D-Line. AND, they've been working (seriously working...) on their Offense.

**NY Jets... Even with Aaron Rodgers sitting out, the Jets have a LOT of fire because of HIM. They're looking forward in a BIG way.

**Panthers/Jets... One of two major practices CANCELED the week of the game. Panthers taking it too easy, No fire/drive this past week.
**Panthers... ALL NEW coaching staff. Very little continuity from last year.
**Panthers... ALL NEW Defense alignment. Who is playing WHERE.?? -- Yes, EXACTLY.
**Panthers... ALL NEW Offense. Musical Chairs and WHO, WHERE, and WHEN is calling plays.??  ***shrugs*** I wish I knew.
**Panthers... ALL NEW Playbooks -- Offense & Defense.
**Panthers... LOTS of NEW pieces throughout the Offense and Defense.

The Panthers O-Line was nowhere near the same as last year.  (Ekwonu and T-Mo played a few snaps (11), but Ekwonu was ineffective as a pass defender; Christenson recovering from a broken ankle...he's "cleared" but he's def not 100%; Corbett didn't play (ACL); all the rest of the O-Line guys bounced around like a jack rabbit in a forest fire.) You can't expect anything good to happen out of that mess..... Being strictly honest here, Ikem Ekwonu is a terrific run-blocker. He was terrible early last year as a pass-blocker. He gradually improved, BUT--you can't honestly say he's a 'wunderkind' at LT. He has lazy feet. Maybe he will continue to improve..??

Bryce Young is SO cute. He's like a new puppy. Running and yipping and chewing and peeing. Everyone anointing him as the "second coming". SMH..
He's young, and he's small. He's playing a man's game in a man's league. He's NOT in college any more. He is also smart and dedicated. Still, there's a LOT of growing up to do and quickly.

In three (3) series' he completes 4 of 6 passes for 21 yards. So...a 66% completion rate. Not terrible, not bad, sort of OK but not really good. 21 yds on 4 passes amounts to about 5 yds per.... In NO way is that good. Just barely acceptable -- IMHO. In three offensive series' he took a few 'hits' and one sack. He is holding the ball too long. Top QBs get rid of the ball in just over three seconds (average). I don't know what his 'official' times were, but according to my stopwatch it was quite a bit longer than that. HERE'S THE KICKER.... You can't blame his performance on the O-Line. YES, it was a mess. But nothing is ever exactly the way you want it. You have to play the hand you're dealt.

Now, Matt Corral.  Coming back from a season-ending Lisfranc injury. He didn't do very well either. But just being straight up here.... he did better than Young (statistically speaking..). Better completion %, and better YPC. He threw one INT, and took four sacks. Of course, he played a LOT more than Young and against a highly motivated Jets D-Line it was a tough slog. Our O-Line didn't help, but the main difference-makers didn't play enough to even count..

So, there's a lot to improve on. This whole "makeover" this year is 'suspect' at this point. So MANY changes and new aspects all happening at once. It's difficult to decide WHAT needs to be changed. Everyone knows the 'correct' way to make changes is in small bites. That way you can evaluate exactly what the changes accomplish. This "scattergun" approach leaves a lot to be desired.