So after dramatically crying myself to sleep and after washing the stinch of yesterday’s UGLY
loss off, I am finally back and ready to discuss what happened in the matchup against
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by our Carolina Panthers. Let’s just jump right into it.
Week 2 Hot Takes w/ Monty
● The Tale of Two Weeks from our O-Line & QB 5
Since signing Teddy Bridgewater to the Panthers back in March, I think I’ve been one of the more vocal fans in my support of him and in his ability to play QB. Even now, I still believe that he is
a very solid QB that is talented enough to come in and win games when needed. That being
said, Week 2 of the 2020 season was NOT a good outing for QB #5. Teddy came right out the
gates with 2 costly turnovers that put us in a 14-0 hole early in the first quarter. For most of
the first half, Bridgewater could never establish any type of rhythm with his receivers or tight
ends. Adding insult to injury, Tampa Bay did a great job of bottling up Christian McCaffery and
preventing us from running the ball effectively like we did in Week 1. You match all of that with
absolute terrible play from our offensive line, and you can see why we leave Sunday’s contest
with such a lopsided loss. Now, I will give credit where it’s due. This offense, led by Bridgewater,
never gave in and continued to battle back all the way down to the very last whistle. We in fact fought back from a 21-7 deficit in the 2nd half, and were able to cut the lead down to a TD midway throughthe 4th Quarter. But sometimes when it rains, it pours. A late INT by Bridgewater, costly
penalties in the second half, and just bad execution from our offense as a whole is what
ultimately sealed our fate. Moving forward, I still have faith that Teddy can turn things around for
this offense, and I still stand by my assessment that QB isn’t close to being the biggest need we
have on this roster. Bridgewater must be better and I expect him to be.
● Defense continues to struggle in Week 2
To be honest, this week I am willing to give our defense somewhat of a break. A minor break
but a break nonetheless. I’m sure after looking at the scoreboard and after looking at highlights
of Tom Brady shredding our defense to pieces, it’s easy to say our defense was the biggest reason
for us losing yesterday’s contest. I also think you have to consider how well this unit played
during the start of the 2nd half, especially during the top of the 4th quarter by holding the Buccaneers scoreless. I also believe that if the Panthers offense did not turn the ball over two times in our first two possessions, then we are not down 14-0 in the 1st quarter. We would potentially be talking about a complete different game at that point and potentially a completely different outcome. That’s also as far as my break goes for this defense. Just like in Week 1 there was poor tackling, a lack of a true pass rush and silly mental mistakes that led to penalties which is what ultimately cost us yesterday’s game. Not to mention, Tom Brady and his offense missed out on a couple of opportunities to make this game that much more embarrassing. A dropped TD pass from Shady McCoy in the end zone, and a doink off of a Tampa Bay’s WR helmet is what kept the game closer than it really should have been. Bottom line is that this defense is BAD and doesn’t look to be getting better anytime soon.
I’m keeping this week’s Hot Takes short, sweet and simple. There wasn’t a lot to cheer for yesterday at all and we have A LOT of work to do.
Offensive Player Of The Game: WR Robbie Anderson
Defensive Player Of The Game: EDGE Brian Burns
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