Exhibition Game 1

So ,  what’s everyone’s thoughts on our first exhibition game against the Cleveland Browns ?

I thought the offense looked ok .  Bryce , Coker, Chubba stood out. If Chubba stood out I guess the o line opened some holes .
I didn’t think Dalton looked good. 2 min drill especially.  Those little dump off passes were not helping.

Depth seemed to be a concern again this year.  

I realize we didn’t open the playbook.  Yards after catches wasn’t good. 

Thoughts ?

Nothing is ever what it seems, especially in the first pre-season game. The same can be said for the next two as well, really.... Because this "game" is not designed as a W-L contest. Never has been, never will be. The sole reason for these games is to evaluate new and rookie talent in a playing environment.

Here is what I mean. Starting with the REAL Week-1 game the Panthers will NEVER field a complete team of rookies or unknown talent. There may (will) be rookies on the field, but they will be supported by 1st-team players at most positions. So... SURE, Bryce looked better than Dalton and Plummer. He's expected to. He was playing with a bunch of 1st-teamers. Both Dalton and Plummer had to play with reserves. All the first team players were on the sidelines. In a real game situation, either Dalton or Plummer would step on the field behind and with a 1st-team. THEN... you could compare them on equal footing. If the Panthers had to play all of those guys TOGETHER, at one time, (like this game) we would get soundly trounced (just like this game..). It's not about a team of reserves and backups with little experience playing a game. It's about evaluating players to determine which ones could be slotted into the lineup as a backup alongside ten 1st-teamers. A competent backup could be expected to play decently in that situation. He wouldn't have to worry about ten other guys, none of whom knew any more than he did.

So... Thoughts..?? Well, Bryce looked OK for the first time out this year. However, remember, he and our 1st-team were playing against a bunch of reserves and backups. He (and WE..) SHOULD have destroyed the Opfor. Didn't happen. So, actually, I was pretty disappointed in Bryce and our entire 1st-team. Can you imagine what would have happened if he had been playing against their 1st-team..? -- like it would be in a normal game...?? The Browns 2nd, 3rd, 4th teams competed straight-up against our #1s, and came up about even. Good for the Browns - TERRIBLE for the Panthers. The ST guys were another disappointment. They looked like they had no idea what was happening. 

Individually -- Tet-Mac looked pretty good. Coker looked good for the most part. His routes need work. (BUT REALLY - shouldn't those guys look good while playing against a bunch of reserves..???)  XL was disappointing because he was goaded into a real mistake. Our running game needs to solidify. Defensively, we were lacking mostly because these players had not played much together. I couldn't keep track of who was in the game most of the time. You'd need the coaches film cuts to home-in on individual players.

I think our O-line did pretty well, remembering of course that they were playing against backups. Our D-line and front five did OK too (once again - remember who they were matched up against..).

We have to have backups, and depth, so we need these players. And we have that, I believe. You just can't put a whole TEAM of them on the field at the same time and expect them to function as a TEAM.

So, overall -- Pretty disappointing display considering the level of the Opfor talent. I really DO expect the Panthers to solidify and play well as a team when the entire team is on the field. -- ???