Yates reminded us he's a rookie and the Panthers just out played and out-smarted the Texans today. I actually think this type of loss was inevitable and valuable. Hopefully this will be a reality check for the team to prepare them and Yates for when the playoffs get here. Just a couple observations - Arian Foster and Demeco Ryans looked better than they have all year. Especially nice to see Ryans coming back to form.
I know Wade wasn't running the D today, so I don't know how the scheme would have been different, but I'm worried the D's weakness is containing a running QB. This could be bad news if we face the Broncos in the playoffs.
If the offense had done their typical clock grinding, never turn the ball over style, the defense likely gives up maybe 14 or 21 points. The defense is fine. Newton runs on everyone. The problem is it's not good enough where the offense can do nothing and still shutdown the opponents. We're not on the same level as the SB Raves/Bucs defense that just shut down people regardless.
Texans looks complacent today but to me, it's not a big deal. I would rather take a loss after clinching the division title than winning one and having another injury somewhere.
Ravens are going to lose. If we just won the last 3 games, we would have 1st round off and home field throughout the playoffs, against both the Pats and the Ravens. What ifs...
How long is Big Ben out? We do have the tie breaker over them if it came to it. Baltimore is looking HORRIBLE!
Uh, the football Gods have blessed them with 3 Superbowl wins in the last 10 years, another appearance, and multiple playoff bounces, tucks, calls, double turnover plays, and wacky things going the Patriots' way.
The only time I noticed Ryans was when he was missing key tackles, and Foster's early fumble was critical. That said, I would agree Foster played well except for that fumble.
The Texans just struggled on third and long situations against the Panthers like they did last year. I think that is a function of coaching. Without the turnovers, the Texans were right there. This is a two week trend, so they need to clean that up. The fumbles are unacceptable.
we didn't play well but give carolina credit, they did. not the end of the world. in the grand scheme of things this matters little. this is our first year to make the playoffs and we'll see how good we are. nobody thought we were a Super Bowl team going in to the season so i think we will play loose in the playoffs and win at least one. i would be satisfied with that.
Carolina played better than the Texans. They did a great job against the bootleg. Smith ate Joseph's lunch. Foster had a fumble, but ran great. Tate had trouble on limited carries. Yates underthrew a lot of passes. Jones and Walter either weren't getting open or weren't being seen open. On the plus side, Kareem Jackson dominated his guy.
It was only one play but how could you miss that perfectly timed crushing hit from behind on one of Carolina's receivers who immediately dropped the ball after getting hit with a pass right on the numbers. I seem to recall seeing him make another impact play or two but can't recall for sure. The game was too frustrating to stay focused on those things.
Really hope Thursday gets here quick and gets the bad taste out of my mouth. I'm still in a pisser of a mood over that showing. The coaching from Kubiak and Herring was pathetic. Kubiak's script looked like he wasn't even trying to go for a win with a potential bye at stake. Foster ended up with a nice stat line....but that fumble on the second play laid the groundwork for the upset. That early. This offense isn't built to come from behind, and without Schaub or AJ and against a high octane offense it was a mountain to climb. This defense is at its best when protecting a lead, and the Panthers are a team that scores on everyone. Only 3 teams have held them to under 3 TDs, and we have not put up 3 TDs since the bye. Yates got exposed a bit, and there were red flags in Cincy before his awesome 4th quarter. I said it a week ago - if the D didn't get him the ball back with 2:30 to pull off the miracle drive, he was going to be the goat for those 2 turnovers. Winning has a way of putting lots of makeup on the pig. The receiving corps didn't do Yates any favors. They looked like they just got to Reliant after a week long party celebrating the division crown. With no Johnson to open up things, they've got to step up - there's no margin of error for C games. Turk stunk. I'm a big advocate for punting to the pylons when you're at midfield....but what was that crap 30 yard boot to the 18? Kubiak keeps trotting out Rackers when we're just outside of his range. Again, we were facing a dangerous offense that got swagger early on thanks to Foster's gift. Why try for a (at best) 50-50 FG that could hand them good field position (AGAIN). Kubiak's decision making was dubious at best all day. The red zone issues were disturbing to see. Like last week, we're seeing WAY too many TOs and FGs inside the 20. Again, this offense has no margin for error. As it stands, they need to bring an A+ game every week. Failing to cash in can't happen. Some folks were still riding high and declaring us to be a top 10 offense. That's BS. Post-Bye, we're averaging 17.5 ppg. That is decidedly bottom 10 offense, and skirting bottom 5. The defense has been outstanding, but they can't bail us out every single week. As good as they are, they aren't a defense that scores points. Kiss any notion of the #2 seed goodbye if Kubiak is relegating us to the preseason playbook in a misguided notion to withhold film material from scouts going into the playoffs. I don't know if the staff isn't concerned about winning out and chasing a bye or if they just badly underestimated this Panthers team. But they got thoroughly outcoached and it seemed like the Panthers wanted this win far more than we did. Let's hope the team is angry, embarrassed, and kicks the snot out of Indy to vent.
I still believe that if the Jets got to two AFC title games with Mark Sanchez, we can do it with Yates. Have to cut the turnovers and have a consistent running game. Having Andre back as the deep threat should help tremendously. We missed him more than ever yesterday ... I don't think we tried to throw it deep even once.
