All 22 last 3 Carolina regular season games

These are just a collection of observations of Carolina over the last three regular season games. Any Carolina fans should interject if they feel like I'm not being fair.

- If Carolina lines up Olsen as an in-line TE there is a better than average chance the play is going to go to Stewart. Carolina lines Olsen up in the slot or wide on a very high percentage of plays while they try to spread out the defense.

- There are no Pro or I Formations as Carolina prefers to run shotgun with 3 or 4 wide and run either a zone read or give Newton a quick read to throw to. If they line up with 2 TEs they like to run end arounds to #16-Brown (very successfully) or run Stewart between the tackles. They are far less effective running the football when they don't run zone read. I mean this even out of zone read looks when the design is for Newton to just hand off regardless of the backside end.

- One very effective play that Carolina runs vs. an under front is to go 3 wide with Olsen lined up In-line. At the snap the RT and RG will double the 5tech, Olsen will try to take the SLB, the LG #68 will pull through the A gap with the intent of blocking the MLB (although a couple times I saw him help with the NT) and from here Cam runs a QB power. It works. Cam is all man on those plays and it's impressive to watch him lower his head and get tough yards.

- Newton stares his first receiver down every bit as much as Kaepernick. Carolina like to run comebacks and short out routes on a majority of their early down pass plays and Newton is going to either throw to that initial read or tuck and run. This is when he is least effective as a runner. Tampa and Atlanta did not jam at scrimmage like we do so this won't be as easy.

- if his first read is Benjamin then I don't care what the route is, Newton is going to stare it down. I want to see Thomas take a couple chances on those go routes because Newton doesn't look safeties off...ever.

- Cam is not scared of linebackers and that makes him a dangerous runner. When he needs a couple yards for a first he will dish the punishment.

- Cam's accuracy is severely diminished beyond 8-10 yards and if a receiver is crossing the middle you can expect a defender to have a chance.

- I'm not that impressed with Stewart. He can be a load, but he after reading what Panthers fans say I was expecting him to be special. He's similar to what a Frank Gore was this season. Effective, but not great.

- I didn't really see Newton under crazy pressure except in the Seahawks game in week 8. He had a comfortable pocket for most of these games although he still tucks and moves 90% of the time when his first read isn't open

- Davis was more impressive against Seattle than he was in these games, but he's still really good. Kuechly is inhuman. They are every down linebackers, but it's much easier to throw against Davis in the nickel than Kuechly. Davis doesn't allow many YAC tho.

- Lotulelei's loss will be felt in run defense, but not pass defense. Of the four total games I watched he was the most disruptive lineman against the run and against Seattle and Atlanta he was getting big penetration on early downs and blowing up plays. His loss won't be felt as a rusher tho. He offered little.

- Johnson destroyed Atlanta's right tackle. Britt is in trouble. If you asked me for the biggest reasons Carolina whipped Atlanta I would say the constant pressure from Carolina's DL, especially Johnson, and their run defense (especially Lotulelei, Kuechly and Davis).

- #24 Norman can play corner. He makes a lot of plays and on broken plays he will gamble.

- I know Carolina fans won't like this, but watching the Bucs, Browns and Falcons defenses was less than impressive. Slow and other than the Browns secondary, the back sevens did very little. When you see how Cam reacted to our defense in week 8 (without Wags and an injured Kam) it is totally different. He gets confused when his options are limited right after the snap.

I'm not worried about the Carolina offense, at all. Cam may make a few broken plays off runs, but, it'll be spotty. Sherman and Thomas wont sleep on Benjamin this game. Sherman and Thomas have a tendency to back off a bit until you prove you can make the tough catches. Odell and Benjamin have now earned the LOB's respect.

You think the Hawks will be able to run on them fairly easily? I kind of think so.

I love this shit endzorn...love it. Thank you.

Love your threads endzorn. Excellent stuff as always.

Not having Lotulelei is going to hurt their run defense. The best way I can put it is that he is able to get so much penetration, especially the first time we played, that it almost sets the edge at the strong side B gap instead of outside the tight end. Lynch had to redirect for much of that first half and he couldn't get going until we wore them down. With Unger back and Star gone I think it'll give our run game a big advantage.

They don't rotate the front seven like we do so losing Lotulelei in their early down rotation could pay huge dividends in the second half.

Awesome analysis, endzorn, thanks! Great read.

Posts like this are better than 99% of all the sports article's I generally come across.

Thanks for sharing.

Good stuff.

You're right, Star is going to be missed. You can't replace a guy that demands so much attention.

I just watched the condensed version of the Saints game in week 14. Just a couple more observations.

- The Saints run an over front so the QB power I described before has the RT and RG blocking the 3tech DT and Olsen was doing an outstanding job of one on one blocking their LDE. When #68 pulls he's nimble enough to get in that gap and put a hat on the MLB. That is a go to play for Carolina and it rarely gets less than 3-4 yards, often much more.

- Again, Newton will not fool anyone with his eyes. I want to see Thomas take a couple gambles because there is a chance he could house one. I don't recall many post or seam routes by Carolina and no one will throw them on Thomas anyway, but when they throw deep Newton will let you know early in the play by dipping his back shoulder and watching the receivers route develop. Any go routes should be eaten up.

endzorn":3s1552zt said:

I just watched the condensed version of the Saints game in week 14. Just a couple more observations.

- The Saints run an over front so the QB power I described before has the RT and RG blocking the 3tech DT and Olsen was doing an outstanding job of one on one blocking their LDE. When #68 pulls he's nimble enough to get in that gap and put a hat on the MLB. That is a go to play for Carolina and it rarely gets less than 3-4 yards, often much more.

- Again, Newton will not fool anyone with his eyes. I want to see Thomas take a couple gambles because there is a chance he could house one. I don't recall many post or seam routes by Carolina and no one will throw them on Thomas anyway, but when they throw deep Newton will let you know early in the play by dipping his back shoulder and watching the receivers route develop. Any go routes should be eaten up.

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Fair enough, don't think you'll find many Carolina fans who are worried about Seattle's offense.

Defensive slugfest.

Thanks Endzorn! Awesome.

Great stuff, Endzorn. Thanks!

They should worry a little bit. Hawks average almost 380 yards a game. And have the best running game in football. And RW and Beast. If Panthers fans are not worried about that, they are just plain clueless.

Lukeness Monster":2frftnaf said:

endzorn":2frftnaf said:

I just watched the condensed version of the Saints game in week 14. Just a couple more observations.

- The Saints run an over front so the QB power I described before has the RT and RG blocking the 3tech DT and Olsen was doing an outstanding job of one on one blocking their LDE. When #68 pulls he's nimble enough to get in that gap and put a hat on the MLB. That is a go to play for Carolina and it rarely gets less than 3-4 yards, often much more.

- Again, Newton will not fool anyone with his eyes. I want to see Thomas take a couple gambles because there is a chance he could house one. I don't recall many post or seam routes by Carolina and no one will throw them on Thomas anyway, but when they throw deep Newton will let you know early in the play by dipping his back shoulder and watching the receivers route develop. Any go routes should be eaten up.

Click to expand...

Fair enough, don't think you'll find many Carolina fans who are worried about Seattle's offense.

Defensive slugfest.

Click to expand...

That's fine and dandy....If the Panthers players underestimate the Seahawk offense, they'll be in for a rude awakening. The Seahawks have a top 10 offense. It's overshadowed by the defense but the Seahawk offense is not as bad as some make it out to be. Collectively they are solid. Could they be better? Absolutely. There's always areas to improve but they are better than the Panther 16th ranked offense. Panther's offense is going against the best defense (by a long shot) in the NFL. Good luck with that one.

Lukeness Monster":16hz62c6 said:

endzorn":16hz62c6 said:

I just watched the condensed version of the Saints game in week 14. Just a couple more observations.

- The Saints run an over front so the QB power I described before has the RT and RG blocking the 3tech DT and Olsen was doing an outstanding job of one on one blocking their LDE. When #68 pulls he's nimble enough to get in that gap and put a hat on the MLB. That is a go to play for Carolina and it rarely gets less than 3-4 yards, often much more.

- Again, Newton will not fool anyone with his eyes. I want to see Thomas take a couple gambles because there is a chance he could house one. I don't recall many post or seam routes by Carolina and no one will throw them on Thomas anyway, but when they throw deep Newton will let you know early in the play by dipping his back shoulder and watching the receivers route develop. Any go routes should be eaten up.

Click to expand...

Fair enough, don't think you'll find many Carolina fans who are worried about Seattle's offense.

Defensive slugfest.

Click to expand...

They may want to rethink that. Last time we squandered two tds when Lynch lost one and Wilson lost one. Despite the apparent similarities, the two offenses/teams are light years apart. We are another level from them. The truth will be all to obvious for the world on Saturday night. The true nature of each team will be seen.

I think you're obviously a smart man who enjoys football. I think it's very unfair to say Cam never looks to his 2nd read when 7 different players have caught TD passes in the last 5 games. You have to remember too that it is not an all-star cast of weapons or protection and he had no time to build a rapport in the offseason. That, combined with the injuries and OC Mike Shula's less than Einstein reputation, and all can affect confidence and accuracy. Not saying he'll ever win the accuracy skills contest but he obviously has a cannon and led the league in completed passes over 20 yards in the air from the get-go as a rookie, so he's capable.

Was hoping to keep Norman a secret. He's had some head case issues but appears to be on solid footing now, is very talented, and fears nothing.

Agree with Johnson and Lotulelei.

Overall nice to get an opponent's viewpoint!

Love this stuff, EZ. Keep it coming.

I thought Kuechly was as awesome as Wagner, but in a different way. Kuechly is good at run support, but shines in taking up space in coverage. And closing. Wagner excels at run support, and covers a ton of space laterally, but in coverage, while not bad at all, doesn't do the cover 2 MLB drop and take away the middle like Kuechly at all.

I feel like without Star, we should be rolling on the ground by the 3rd quarter.

ctrcat":2235ft2c said:

I think you're obviously a smart man who enjoys football. I think it's very unfair to say Cam never looks to his 2nd read when 7 different players have caught TD passes in the last 5 games. You have to remember too that it is not an all-star cast of weapons or protection and he had no time to build a rapport in the offseason. That, combined with the injuries and OC Mike Shula's less than Einstein reputation, and all can affect confidence and accuracy. Not saying he'll ever win the accuracy skills contest but he obviously has a cannon and led the league in completed passes over 20 yards in the air from the get-go as a rookie, so he's capable.

Was hoping to keep Norman a secret. He's had some head case issues but appears to be on solid footing now, is very talented, and fears nothing.

Agree with Johnson and Lotulelei.

Overall nice to get an opponent's viewpoint!

Click to expand...

In the games I watched Newton actually sets his body where he wants to throw and then tracks his first read until he either decides to throw or knows he cant do it and starts to move from his spot. Very, very rare to see him stand in the pocket and move his head to a second receiver and even more rare to see his feet move with his head to the second receiver.

When throwing on early downs the Panthers seem far more likely to throw something that breaks to the sideline within 10 yards of scrimmage and Newton will track his first read all the way as soon as the ball is snapped. If that receiver is not open he will tuck and run. On known passing downs he did go from read one down to throws over the short middle against the Browns, but he's more likely to run. If Benjamin is the primary receiver he stares it down and throws.

Wilson is more likely to go through he reads, but like Newton he will move at the first sign of trouble.

I'm not saying this makes Newton ineffective because they know how to get the most out of him, but Carolina's overall ground game is what makes the offense go round. He's actually more accurate on those shorter out-breaking routes and that's a big part of how they move the chains.

Have you noticed that When Cam runs he is far more likely to slide when there is no contact imminent, but when he sees contact coming he braces for it and goes head first? I watched him slide a few times after he got a first down and no one was near, but when he is running into traffic he will put his shoulder into contact regardless of the sticks.

ctrcat":kyfeun4k said:

I think you're obviously a smart man who enjoys football. think it's very unfair to say Cam never looks to his 2nd read when 7 different players have caught TD passes in the last 5 games. You have to remember too that it is not an all-star cast of weapons or protection and he had no time to build a rapport in the offseason. That, combined with the injuries and OC Mike Shula's less than Einstein reputation, and all can affect confidence and accuracy. Not saying he'll ever win the accuracy skills contest but he obviously has a cannon and led the league in completed passes over 20 yards in the air from the get-go as a rookie, so he's capable.

Was hoping to keep Norman a secret. He's had some head case issues but appears to be on solid footing now, is very talented, and fears nothing.

Agree with Johnson and Lotulelei.

Overall nice to get an opponent's viewpoint!

Click to expand...

Can you confirm that those seven receivers were not his first read on the play, please?

Lukeness Monster":2vjvoowd said:

endzorn":2vjvoowd said:

I just watched the condensed version of the Saints game in week 14. Just a couple more observations.

- The Saints run an over front so the QB power I described before has the RT and RG blocking the 3tech DT and Olsen was doing an outstanding job of one on one blocking their LDE. When #68 pulls he's nimble enough to get in that gap and put a hat on the MLB. That is a go to play for Carolina and it rarely gets less than 3-4 yards, often much more.

- Again, Newton will not fool anyone with his eyes. I want to see Thomas take a couple gambles because there is a chance he could house one. I don't recall many post or seam routes by Carolina and no one will throw them on Thomas anyway, but when they throw deep Newton will let you know early in the play by dipping his back shoulder and watching the receivers route develop. Any go routes should be eaten up.

Click to expand...

Fair enough, don't think you'll find many Carolina fans who are worried about Seattle's offense.

Defensive slugfest.

Click to expand...

Perhaps, but the Seahawks lead the league in explosive plays. Most people wouldn't guess Seattle if they were asked who leads that category. If you think the Hawks Offense can't do some great things when they're rolling, you're going to be surprised a few times on Saturday.

CurryStopstheRuns":1u6r172h said:

ctrcat":1u6r172h said:

I think you're obviously a smart man who enjoys football. think it's very unfair to say Cam never looks to his 2nd read when 7 different players have caught TD passes in the last 5 games. You have to remember too that it is not an all-star cast of weapons or protection and he had no time to build a rapport in the offseason. That, combined with the injuries and OC Mike Shula's less than Einstein reputation, and all can affect confidence and accuracy. Not saying he'll ever win the accuracy skills contest but he obviously has a cannon and led the league in completed passes over 20 yards in the air from the get-go as a rookie, so he's capable.

Was hoping to keep Norman a secret. He's had some head case issues but appears to be on solid footing now, is very talented, and fears nothing.

Agree with Johnson and Lotulelei.

Overall nice to get an opponent's viewpoint!

Click to expand...

Can you confirm that those seven receivers were not his first read on the play, please?

Click to expand...

I can. I saw him make 2nd reads from the pocket. He doesn't do it often though.
I also saw him make 3 reads, but on a flood route. One deep, one short on the right side, and a middle crosser that enters his vision later in the play, who he hit for a big gain, was the 3rd read. Of course, a flood play is designed to give 3 reads without the QB changing his field of vision.