Cautiously Optomistic

The 2-0 record is nice, but what have we accomplished? Peete, though not the long term answer has played better than my expectations ie no turnovers. Coming off The Ravens win I really wasn't that thrilled with the performance of the offense. Too many stalled drives some due to penalty and some due to play calling. Henning opened it up a little this week, but was far too conservative on third down. Some of it had to do with field postion I'm sure, but there were a couple of times that I felt he just gave up trying for no good reason. The run game was somewhat stiffled yesterday due to the fact we didn't try to get outside enough. Smith did have a couple of good runs as did Hoover on the one dive play and Goings getting outside on one.

Smith looks to be getting worn down a little by playing both ST and Offense. He didn't seem to have that burst after the first step he had on punt returns last year. Fair can give him an occasional break there and another WR needs to set up so Smith won't burnout on offense. Kasay needs to get back into kicking shape quickly. The block was a combination of a lack of holding the point of attack from the linemen and a low kick. Coverage teams were up to our usual standards yesterday, a good sign.

The defense is growing in confidence with each series out there.
Peppers performance yesterday was worthy of player of the week honors. Rucker brought heat all game long also. The CB's get their first real test this week with Moss. Our D-line and LB's should be able to hold down the Vikings running game. It only gets harder from here on out. not many gimmes left on the schedule.

I'm not ready to proclaim Fox and Co. geniuses YET. They're gonna have to show me improvement against some of the better teams remaining on the schedule before I go that far.I realize that all the pieces aren't in place yet for the team to maximize it's potential, but how the staff adapts the personel to overcome the team's shortcommings will say alot.

 

>> The 2-0 record is nice, but what have we accomplished?

two wins vs two losses is what we accomplished ... and that's a lot for a team that went 1-15 last year. guess you'd still be happier if we'd just forfeited our first 2 games so we could develop our future QB?

>> I really wasn't that thrilled with the performance of the offense

fuck my man. did you think we were a superbowl team? that was a good defense we were playing. we were going with a QB that had thrown something like 1 pass in the past 2 years and a RB that everyone was saying was washed up and that will probably soon become our #2 back. i don't know what it takes for you to get thrilled but i was pretty thrilled to win that first game ... and the second. it doesn't mean we're ready for the superbowl but it does mean we're no longer on the trash heap of NFL teams. it would have been devastating to lose to the lions. we didn't and that alone is enough to get thrilled.

>> The run game was somewhat stiffled yesterday due to the fact we didn't try to get outside enough

don't think Smith (or any of our other healthy backs) is that good going to the outside. he seems to be more of an inside runner. when Foster comes back, we'll probably see a more of an outside running game.

>> but how the staff adapts the personel to overcome the team's shortcommings will say alot.

ya mean like going with a 36 year old has been QB? ya mean like finding adequate CBs from other teams scrap piles? or utilizing Smith as a WR to help open up our passing attack? or getting Terry to play a game without taking a penalty? i think our staff has already said a lot and some of our fans need to quit being so fucking negative and acting like they know more than our coaches. we won a couple of games we felt like we had a good chance to win ... they weren't gimmies. and it's a lot more than what we did last year. get off your fucking high horse and start supporting the team with a little fucking enthusiasm.

 

it all boils down to not beating yourself. They aren't taking too many bad penalties and more importantly aren't turning the ball over. Getting rid of Mr Fumble Biakabatuka (is he playing anywhere) had paid big dividends and peete is not making mistakes. If you don't beat yourself, you are going to win games in this league. This is a sign of good coaching.

One thing in particular to notice about peete, he's getting rid of the thing fast. there is really no time for a sack. He's throwing to spots, a lot of times the receivers haven't even broke yet...he's just getting rid of it and letting his receivers make plays.

At this point, they have beaten two lousy teams with two basically rookie QBs. Minnesota is a "show me" game.

 

My point exactly Snoil. We've beaten two of the weakest teams in the league so far. Idiots like HeadCase only look for short term results, this is about building the team into a consistant winner. Odds are Peete's here for this year and we'll start over with the Great QB Hunt in the offseason. Enough of the Fox is god bullshit. He still has to prove himself against better competion, so far he hasn't went against any.

HeadCase, I'm not talking about taking some one else's players and proclaiming them adequate in order to justify my rant. I'm talking coaching here. How do Fox and Co. adjust their schemes to cover up or make up for the weaknesses? We'll learn alot just watching them try to cover Moss this weekend.

So you think it's OK to win 6-7 games this year with Peete at QB and fuck ourselves out of a Leftwich or the other top two QB's while Peete leaves town next year? Smart thinking. Weinke is toast everybody knows it. That leaves us with Fasani who's at least two or three years away from being a consistant starting QB if then. Given his injury history can he be really counted on in the long run? Your intelligence amazes me. Free Agency you say? Don't count on it. The best of the prospective bunch just signed a five year deal with New Orleans. Plummer you say? Too inconsistant. He'd just give us the offense's version of Gilbert...all bucks, no bang. Batch? A few more games like the first two, and he'll be starting and not Kordell. Trade perhaps? Other than Shaun King, who? Hey, I hear Aikman wants to make a comeback. Maybe we'll sign him.

 

Well, as you can tell with the Lions, getting that high draft pick QB doesn’t mean a hole lot. Going 6 and 10, 7-9 and getting that big play receiver may be better, and get us closer to learning to win, than tanking it.

 

A big play WR is needed and would be nice. How effective would he be with no one to get him the ball though? We still have several holes to fill. Buckner is here this year and next, but we don't have anything behind him. Burton is a joke and wil be gone. Gilbert is done. Upgrading at CB is a must. Replacing Terry is beginning to look more and more like a need. How much does Mitchell have left? He goes and Nesbitt moves to center opening up another hole at guard. Steussie has a few years left but can we afford his contract in the long run? Walls will need to be replaced shortly also.

 

Your point that we have a bunch of holes fill? Sure. We will have to do all those things. We will have to have another solid draft next year. Well need to get some mid-priced FAs. Keep the same theme from this year.

We are better off than this time last year. We have less holes.

Mitchell isn't that old. I imagine Donnaley is gone at his age. I don't know how much CB will be a need, we play cover 2, I'd just as soon go with a mid-priced FA.

All those things are reachable goals and will make great offseason debate. I can't wait for my first Ragone/Rogers argument.

 

thing that worries me about peete is quite a few of his throws yesterday had very little zip on them...lots of pretty floaters...needless to say i'm interested in seeing the team in a game against a real team for lack of a better phrase. we were good enough to beat the ravens, and detroit is just terrible...almost unfair to count that game in any stats examination.

defense has been solid. in fact...saw posted on a lions board last night, a comment about how good our secondary is. not sure about that...think its more the lions skill postions on offense are just not that skillful.

anyone else surprised at the nfc south? i know in the offseason this was looked at as being a loser division. we're 2-0, the saints have looked like world-beaters so far and bucs and falcons are extremely competitive so far.

 

>> My point exactly Snoil ... Enough of the Fox is god bullshit

did ya simply miss snoil's other point, "If you don't beat yourself, you are going to win games in this league. This is a sign of good coaching." No one has said Fox is god. But so far he has made some awesome calls and has his team playing well offensively and defensively while not having the best talent. All most of us want is a coach that can do well with the talent he's got and can build this team into a winner ... the sooner the better. It's a shame ya can't see or won't admit to Fox and Co. having done a good job in getting this team off on a positive track. I guess unless we go out and beat a team with one of the top receivers and QBs in the NFL, then you're gonna be convinced that Fox sucks. It doesn't matter to ya that he beats teams with similar talent levels.

>> The 2-0 record is nice, but what have we accomplished ... this is about building the team into a consistant winner ... So you think it's OK to win 6-7 games this year with Peete at QB and fuck ourselves out of a Leftwich

please help me understand if there is anything remotely coherent or vaguely intelligent in the above thoughts? first you're bitching cuz we won our first 2 games, then you're bitching cuz you want to win consistently (which is sorta like winning the first 2 games), and then you sound like we'd be better off losing all our games so we can draft a saviour. in the meantime, while we'd put ourselves in position to draft a possible saviour, we'd lose several more of our players to FA cuz they tired of being the league's laughing stock. at some point ya gotta learn how to win. it's easier against the lions than the packers. you win and you try to build on that. the closer you get to winning on a consistent basis the easier it is to see and fix what needs fixing and the harder the guys work and quicker they and the team develops. your idea of losing all our games on purpose so you can get your saviour might work in basketball but not football. ask Cinn. having high picks does not ensure success. the way to begin building a winning franchise is to start winning games and it doesn't matter how or against whom, IMHO. again, beating detroit may not have been a big deal but it would have been devastating to lose to them ... just look at the detroit fans and media. so i'm thrilled. the team has a chance to go forward, which is what you claim you are looking to see. so you too should be thrilled.

i asked you in earlier thread to enlighten us all with your plan but you never did respond. so far it appears to me that you have one of two plans in the massive brain of yours. one was to lose all our games, which Fox spoiled for you and now you're pissed, or two is to sit back and wait for the Panthers to lose a game so you can have your fun spewing your negative crap about our coaches in an effort to convince someone that you're so much smarter than everyone else. by the way, calling others names like idiot and crackhead just shows you for what you lack.

i mean seriously. what is your plan? please share with us exactly what it is that your smart thinking is telling ya that we should be doing.

>> Weinke is toast everybody knows it

geez. is that anywhere near consistent with what ya were saying just a couple of weeks ago when you were bashing our coaches for starting Peete? so you don't want to go with Peete or Weinke. guess that leaves Fasani? so exactly what would ya do? i know, ya gonna sit back and mock our coaches at the first sign of something going wrong. good plan.

 

man, if you can't recognize the difference between this year's team and lat year's "team" -- then i'mnot sure you've been watching the right games.

coaching has made all the differnce in the world.

i'd love to see a QB of the future, but who says he has to be drafted? i saw something the other say that said the vast majority of playoff QBs last season weren't drafted by the team they took to the postseason.

i trust this staff to make the right decisions -- moreso than seifert's staff. they are playing football the only way they can to have a shot at winning. i dont give a rat's ass if it's detroit, houston, dallas or baltimore that the wins are coming against. they are all Ws -- and for a team (not to mention a city) that has been starving for those, well, they taste mighty good.

i don't think this staff has any delusions. at the same time, they want to win. a winning attitude is an intangible assett. and these guys are winning the right way.

no mater where the panthers draft next season, i trust that the correct pics will be made. fox has a vision and he knows what parts are missing/need to be added.