WEEK 8 THOUGHTS --- BEFORE & AFTER THE GAME

Week 8 is upon us (week 7 is history---have to forget and move forward..).  The Falcons are 3-4 this season and the Panthers are 2-5. QB Marcus Mariota has already won an "Offensive Player of the Week" this year, and seems to be settling down and improving. The Panthers QBs = "Who Knows".??

PJ Walker is due to start again this week. That makes me happy, considering the state of our QB room. Wilks seemed to think that Mayfield would be the backup behind Walker. So, that means that Jacob Eason will rotate back and resume his place on the Practice Squad. Sure would have liked to see a few more 'reps' for Eason...

So, we are now almost half-way into the season....into the "middle third" so to speak. We have won two games, both against NFC-South Division teams. (What a shock..)  I think everyone will agree, last week was a COMPLETE surprise. No one could have predicted that....

So, two of the next three games are against the Atlanta Falcons. Broken up in the middle with a game against the Bengals. The next two games are on the road. First at Atlanta on Sunday, then at Cincinnati against the Bengals. THEN a short week before we play the Falcons again on Thursday at home.  There is NOTHING about this string of three games that makes me feel confident.  The Falcons in Atlanta-- SMDH-- We have a terrible record in Atlanta. All-time against the Falcons the Panthers are 20-34. We're close at B of A (12-15..) but we're 8-19 at Atlanta.  The Bengals this season are a bit of an enigma. They lost their first two games against Pittsburgh and Dallas, both games by 3 points. Then they lost one more against the Ravens by 2 points. So, three losses by a combined total of 8 points...... Hmmm.... Joe Burrow has finally decided to "turn-on" the QB faucet too. Last week against the Falcons, the Bengals had 537 Total NET Yards..... AND Burrow went off for 481 Passing Yards.  YES... YOU READ THAT RIGHT.

I don't know Guys and Gals. Even though this is supposed to be a bit easier than the opening 7 games....... It doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me.!!

Atl Runs! We will too! O line v d line big, secondary consistency will b something to watch.

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One game at a time.

I was squarely on the "Might as well lose out for a QB" last week because I thought there was no other option. Now I'm completely in limbo. I still don't see any way we beat the Bengals. Of course, I saw no way for us to beat the Bucs either, but I'm back to being all-in rooting for wins.

It's more than just that we had the surprise win. It's that we looked like a competent team for the first time. I very seriously doubt everything falls our way again this week but I think we have a decent chance against Atlanta and a good win would be a major boost. The team would have their needed inspiration being undefeated in the division and tied for the lead. But this week just seems like such a pivotal game on where we go from there. And I don't think we misread PJ earlier. I think we'll see a lot more INTs when things aren't going as well as last week. But I sure won't complain if he's turned a corner.

I am expecting an ugly slug fest. We will trail 13-0 going into the 4th quarter. Baker will enter the game and throw two TD’s and we win 14-13. Baker becomes the starting QB we win out the rest of the year and will be Super Bowl bound, unfortunately we lose to the Bills.

I am expecting an ugly slug fest. We will trail 13-0 going into the 4th quarter. Baker will enter the game and throw two TD’s and we win 14-13. Baker becomes the starting QB we win out the rest of the year and will be Super Bowl bound, unfortunately we lose to the Bills.

ROTFLMAO..... You can be pretty funny when you want to be. LOL.. !!  

Thinking about this week at Atlanta and the short week against Atlanta at B of A on Thursday after the Bengals.  Wondering what Atlanta is thinking. Are they sorry they traded Matty Ice..??  He's not doing really well, but neither are the Falcons. You can't tell a lot in a few weeks.  I think Mariota will end up doing well down there. And with our record in Atlanta, it won't take an awful lot.....

Beware Desmond Ridder.

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I don’t fear Mariota. Short passed n runs. Kinda worried bout that second guy. Our d is solid. Just stop the run (including Marriotta). Ridders gonna cause havock soon.

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Gonna take spy’s.

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Gonna take spy’s.

Every week before the games, sometimes on Thursday, sometimes on Friday or Saturday, I take a few minutes and wander over to the OPFOR website. It's always interesting, and sometimes it's funny too. This week of course, it's the Atlanta Falcons and we will be playing in a 'hostile' environment (so to speak..) down there. I watched/listened to Marcus Mariota talk with the reporters. Dude is pretty 'light-hearted' and seemed to be a "good interview". It's always fun to hear what your opponents are saying about you (at least what they're saying in PUBLIC..).

Mariota seems pretty thoughtful and was careful to avoid any sense of impropriety when he was asked specific questions about Carolina. There was, of course, very little new information there, as would be expected. Still....it was fun listening in, you know, sort of like spying on the enemy.   

It's going to be an interesting game. They seem to be 'mostly' healthy and should give us a pretty balanced offense to defend against. All of the prognosticators are 'talking' Atlanta to win. The odds line favors them as well, although we saw exactly what that was worth last week. For those who care, the Panthers were 12.5 point 'dogs' against the Bucs last week at game time. If you were a betting man, and bet the line (Bucs to win..), you would have lost your ass. The Over/Under was sitting somewhere around 40 and THAT would've been "safe" only if you knew something about the outcome before the game started. I imagine a LOT of money changed hands last week on our game.

This week the Panthers are 4.5 point dogs (once again no love for the Panthers..), and the O/U is sitting at 41.5..... I think the ONLY smart bet here is the UNDER (and that MAY not fly either..). If you bet the Panthers +4.5, I think you probably lose. I feel like we lose this game by 7-10....... but I don't think it gets up to 41.5 total. 
So, I'm on the record here. And all of you know how terrible my "bets" are. (That's why I don't bet..).

Ha Ha Ha.......

Well, I guess you can understand why I don't bet...  Boy that's quite a mess up there...^^^

So, UNDER 41.5........ Yeah, Right.  I sure hit that one on the nose.!!  The only thing I got right was the Falcons for the win. But they didn't cover the spread.  If you had taken the 4.5 points and bet the Panthers, you would be a WINNER..!!

That was a game that stupidity lost.  Plain and simple.  Or, perhaps DJ was trying to ward off the trade bandits calling from other teams? If that was the case, he's smart as hell.  

I don't feel nearly as bad about that loss as I have over the others for a few seasons now.  The offense looked good, PJ had a lot of time to throw, and the running backs looked solid.   I hope they start missing in some TE's as receivers next game;  DJ can't do it all by himself, and Shy Smith (yeah, he's my guy) just isn't showing up yet.  He is getting downfield, but for whatever reason PJ never sees him.

Defense played lights out.  Teams should be afraid of our D.