Lead Contributor: @CatCraveBlog. Contributing Writer — On SI: Raiders/UNC/Duke. Autistic/ASD. Opinions are fluid. NFL Draft Analyst.
Joined May 2022
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Some of my instant reactions from the #Panthers ugly, no good, very bad 43-13 loss to the Buccaneers, via @CatCraveBlog: catcrave.com/7-gut-reactions…
Jared Feinberg retweeted
“Chau will get his opportunity at some point,” #Panthers head coach Dave Canales said yesterday. He then went on to mention the rest of the uninjured CBs (even guys on p-squad) when addressing the rotation.
Could be gamesmanship or an error or he felt he had already addressed Smith-Wade, who is arguably the best value player (based on selection vs. production)/most productive pick from Canales and Dan Morgan’s initial draft class.
The team is almost exclusively using three safeties in nickel with Horn and Jackson out (logical, imo). CSW isn’t a particularly good run defender from the slot, but the defense did just give up 258 rushing yards and 3 TDs with him playing a single defensive snap. He was a career boundary corner in college and had probably the best preseason performance of the non-starters there (Kaye’s Take).
Food for thought.
Wowzers.
Trade: Colts have agreed to send eight-time Pro-Bowl guard Quenton Nelson to the Seattle Seahawks, per me and @rapsheet. Nelson is on an expiring contract and the Colts are opting to get back draft capital now before they could lose him in free agency.
But an all-time Colt now moves on to the Seahawks.
Jared Feinberg retweeted
I’m not sharing this as a “pile on Evans” post, btw
I think the #Panrhers coaches need to be much more accountable for putting the team in a disadvantage by refusing to make a change. The lip service doesn’t match the tape or the statistics. It’s quantifiably poor coaching
Jared Feinberg retweeted
2024 is doing almost all the heavy lifting here.
Prior to this season the rate was ~19.6%. 2024 alone produced 8 of the 200+ rushing yard games under Evero (roughly 2/3 of the total). That unit allowed 3,057 rushing yards which was dead last in the NFL and near-historic territory. All while Derrick Brown played one game.
Most of that 2024 defense is gone and only 2 start in the NFL today. Only a couple of meaningful contributors from that group (NS21 and DB95) were on the active roster vs the Bucs.
In short, 2024 wasn’t just a few bad games.. it was a full season collapse (worst rushing defense in the league by a wide margin). Treating it as representative of EE's tenure flattens the picture.
the Panthers have allowed 200+ rushing yards in 20.69% of the games that Ejiro Evero has been the team's defensive coordinator
sportclt.com/p/711-carolina-…
Jared Feinberg retweeted
#Panthers vs Bucs Game Data Trends:
Bucs' offense won the game by running.
• Bucs ran 49 times and threw 11 times (81.7% run rate). In their other games their run rate was 42.7%.
• EPA was +0.142 per play with a 51.7% success rate, against −0.171 and 38.2% in their other games.
• Run EPA was +0.057 on 49 carries at 5.27 yards per carry, up from −0.007 and 4.76. Pass EPA was +0.519 on only 11 passes.
• The Bucs had 0 turnovers, against 11 in its other 6 games.
Panthers' passing game collapsed.
• Pass EPA was −0.620 on 36 passes, against +0.149 in their other games. That was the biggest swing in the game.
• Offense as a whole was −0.333 per play, against +0.058 before.
• Run game was better: +0.242 EPA on 18 carries at 4.89 yards per carry, against −0.094 and 4.25.
• Panthers ran only 54 plays. Lowest on the seaosn.
Protection and ball security broke down.
• BY9 faced pressure on 17 of his 38 dropbacks (44.7%), against 47.7% in other games. Slightly below the norm, but sacked 5 times (vs 12 across other 5 games).
• PAnthers had 3 turnovers vs 3 total across their other 5 games.
• Bucs' defense pressured on 44.7% of dropbacks in this game (vs 31.0% in its other games) and blitzed on 10 of 38 (26%). Lowest on the season.
Panthers defense gave up a lot on the ground.
• Bucs gained 5.27 yards per carry against the Panthers (vs their 5.12 allowed in other games).
• Panthers defense allowed +0.142 EPA per play in the game, against −0.046 before. (lower is better for the defense).
• Panthers defense blitzed on 5 of 11 dropbacks and pressured on 3 (27.3%). These figures are tiny samples, but it showed that the plan was to blitz often.
#KeepPounding #Sumer #FlushIt
Giving up another 250+ yard game sucks if you're a #Panthers fan, but from what I've watched with the Packers run game this season...it's a potential bounce-back game ⬇️
Rush YPG: 59.9 (32nd)
Rush YPP: 2.9 (32nd)
EPA per Rush: -0.28 (32nd)
Run Stuffed Rate: 23.6% (31st)
Rushing EPA: -40.9 (30th)
Success Rate: 30.6% (32nd)
YBCo/Att: 0.60 (31st)
YACo/Att: 2.42 (28th)
Yes, Josh Jacobs is back, but the Packers still had only 60 total yards on the ground and ranked 28th in success rate at 31.6% in Week 7; only the Ravens, Patriots, Raiders, and Saints were worse this past weekend.
That's a new goal for the #Panthers this season.
Canales & Co. need to learn how to be known as the hunted, not the hunters. Carolina has never been in that position, and it's clear that while they have improved talent wise, they're still learning how to win games in the respect of staying ahead of the pack RE. NFC South.
NEW — I raised a question that some fans have done through online chatter following Sunday's ultimate letdown: Is Dave Canales enough for the #Panthers to get them where they need to go?
He has a long runway to prove it.
I wrote about it for @CatCraveBlog:
catcrave.com/dave-canales-fa…
CORRECTION: The first clip is quarters/Cover 4. I misread that coverage entirely. I'll own that.
Bryce Young's two interceptions vs. the Buccaneers.
INT 1: TB is in Cover 2, and the #Panthers want to attack the sticks. Young misreads Zyon McCollum's leverage. Coker slips at his break. Pick.
INT 2: Young thinks he has John Metchie for a first down, at best, as McCollum takes T-Mac. Doesn't see Smith playing the flat. Good defense, bad throw.
This was certainly Young's worst game since Week 17 last season.
Jared Feinberg retweeted
The league is throwing entirely too many flags this year. This is not even a panthers tweet, it’s a league tweet.
Everything borderline is tilting to yellow. It’s slowing games down, and it sucks.
Jared Feinberg retweeted
Statement from Utah's university PR about Pat McAfee and College Gameday.
Free story: nytimes.com/athletic/7727393…
Jared Feinberg retweeted
Always remember!
Jared Feinberg retweeted
The #Panthers are 0-6 when entering a game with a winning record under Dave Canales. I asked him about how to sustain success:
Jared Feinberg retweeted
Canales: CB Akayleb Evans is day-to-day with a triceps issue.
"We do have options" if Evans can't play, Canales said. Declined to specify who would start.
Dave Canales confirms:
OT Taylor Moton is out for the season with a fractured fibula and ligament damage in his ankle, which he’ll have surgery on, as the fibula didn’t require it. #Panthers