Archives for November 2020

Hot Takes w/Monty: Week 11 Rush Review vs. Detroit Lions

Hot Takes with Monty

Boy doesn’t it feel good to get a big decisive win?

Waking up this morning celebrating a 20-0 victory, after coming off a five game losing streak, truly does the soul some good and was right on time too. With Thanksgiving just a couple of days away Sunday’s game gave us a lot to be thankful for. Sure there are still a lot of things that need to be fixed with this roster. We likely aren’t playing for any type of playoff positioning this season. That being said there are three very winnable games still left on our schedule. This team is looking like they are starting to finally click. We could end the 2020 season on a high note with a couple of late season victories. No need to beat around the bush here so let’s jump right in to things.

Week 11’s Hot Takes w/ Monty

• Next Man Up

The quarterback position is and has always arguably been the most talked about position in the NFL. They receive the most praise when their teams win and they receive the most blame when their team loses. So it’s only right that coming into this week’s game with Teddy Bridgewater coming off of a knee MCL sprain, that whoever would be named the starter at QB, was going to be the hot topic of Week 11. The decision to sit Teddy came one hour before kickoff and was a good one to make. So with Teddy out, PJ Walker was named the starter which would be his 1st ever in the NFL. Walker might not have been perfect in his debut, but he sure did play a very important role in helping Carolina coast to an easy victory over Detroit. Walker finished the game completing 70.5% of his passes. Some of his best highlights were beautiful throws down field to DJ Moore that resulted in gains of 52 yards, and a 17 yard touchdown pass to Curtis Samuel. However as I said earlier, Walker wasn’t perfect by any means. He threw  costly interceptions in our own end zone that prevented us from extending the lead to an even larger margin in both the first and second half. Walker also at times made this offense look a tad bit stagnant, while staring down receivers throughout the game. This was also a big reason for his turnovers. That being said, Walker did his job and never lost his composure which is all you really can ask for. We all should be very proud and happy as fans to know we potentially have found our new backup QB moving forward.

• A Defense We All Have Been Waiting For

I think it’s fair to say for the most part we as fans have all been a tad bit critical of Phil Snow and this new look defense as a whole. We’ve all at one point or another been critical of this “bend but don’t break” philosophy we currently play by in 2020. We’ve all had questions about this young core of defenders and about how they would actually adjust to the speed of the NFL. Or just how well would we play as a unit with no real off-season or preseason to go by. All of which are good reasons might I add. For a large portion of the season, our defense as a whole has looked subpar at best. Sunday’s contest felt a lot like this teams coming out party on the defensive side of the ball and I absolutely loved every second of it. Now let me start by saying, I recognize Detroit isn’t a playoff contending team and that they too have a laundry list of issues that needs fixing on their roster. I also say that to say our defense played lights out in Week 11 and I’m happy to see it. We held a Matthew Stafford led offense to 185 total yards for the day while also forcing them to punt the ball off a defensive season high six times. It’s also worth noting that all season we’ve struggled on defense with getting off of the field on 3rd downs and with getting pressure on the QB. We saw this defense excel at both at a very high level. Detroit was actually 3 for 14 on 3rd downs, and we sacked Stafford a total of 5 times along with 11 QB hits with Brian Burns leading the way. Burns simply had a monster day with 2 sacks, 4 QB pressures, 2 tackles for loss, 1 pass breakup and 5 total tackles. Match that with solid performances from Marquis Haynes, Efe Obada, Yetur Gross-Matos and Shaq Thompson and you can see why we pitched a shut-out yesterday. I could talk all day about this defense, but I’ll end it short with this. If we can get a full season of games like yesterday on the defensive side of the ball then 2021 looks to be a very promising year.

• Moore Life

I’m keeping this segment short sweet and simply. DJ MOORE IS CAROLINA’S #1 WR. That’s it. That’s the point. After 11 weeks of football, Moore has quietly become one of the better WRs throughout the entire NFL. He’s currently ranked 4th overall in receiving yards and has done that with less targets and catches than Carolina’s team leader in Robby Anderson. Moore is currently leading the team in receiving yards (863), receiving TDs (4) and is also currently ranked 1st overall in yards per catch with 18.7. To make this sweeter, DJ is also on pace to break 1200+ yards receiving, on 60+ catches and will finish anywhere between 4-6 TDs on the year. This really isn’t even up for debate anymore. DJ Moore is a stud WR with elite upside and it’s about time we gave him that respect as fans.

• Offensive Game Ball(s): DJ Moore

• Defensive Game Ball(s): Entire Defensive Unit

With Minnesota next up on our schedule, it’s going to be fun watching Teddy going back to the team that drafted him and potentially watching him compete.
I myself and all the fellas at the #4ManRush would also like to wish everyone Happy Holidays and to stay safe out here.
#KeepPounding Carolina fans

Week 9: Teddy Bridgewater Film Review vs. Kansas City Chiefs

Justifications with JaDarius

This past week the Carolina Panthers suffered a close loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. A continuing narrative amongst national media and Panther nation alike is that starting QB Teddy Bridgewater hurts the offense by not pushing the ball downfield. In this article I will take a closer look at some of Teddy’s missed deep balls as well as some of his best throws.

Missed deep balls:

1st and 10: 0:15 in the 1st quarter (intended for Robby Anderson)

 

-Panthers are in 12 personnel with twin TEs. Robby gains leverage after an inside release and climbs the middle,then breaks to the corner.

-Chiefs are blitzing, leaving man coverage with a single high safety (Mathieu).

 

-Blitz is picked up by the OL with help from McCaffrey (excellent pass pro rep) and Manhertz. Mathieu sees Teddy eyeing Robby and anticipates the break, therefore closing the gap.

-The result of the play is an incompletion but Teddy did a good job of placing the throw down and away from the trailing defender and Mathieu. Robby was able to get a hand or two on the throw but unable to secure a tough catch. 

 

Good Play Call [CAR]

Good Execution (pre throw) [CAR]

Good Defensive Play [KC]

OK decision by Teddy (aided by throw).

 

2nd and 10: 1:00 in 2nd Quarter (intended for Ian Thomas)

-Panthers are using 11 personnel WR with trips right. Ian Thomas is matched up against a LB and takes the outside leverage given and stacks quickly (nicely done). Curtis Samuel and Robby Anderson both end up having a window around the 30 yard line thanks to what looks like a rub concept.

-Chiefs are playing a Cover 2 man look with off-man coverage over the bunch formation. LB Ben Niemann (#56) is playing lined up over the inside shoulder of Thomas. Safeties gain no depth which leaves them prepared to jump on intermediate breaking routes.

-It looks like Thomas breaks his route off towards the front pylon and this is where the play devolved. In my opinion, Teddy threw the pass way too flat. If he would have placed more air under the throw he could have totally cleared the nearest defenders head (he never turned around).

-Trust Ian Thomas to make the adjustment to the throw with more air under it. At worst, it could be a pass interference penalty with 1st and Goal to go. So at best it’s six points.. I am comfortable to call this a missed throw.

 

Great Play Call [CAR]

Good Execution (pre throw) [CAR]

Poor Defense [KC]

Bad throw by Teddy.

 

3rd and 27: 1:34 in the 3rd Quarter

-Panthers again in 11 personnel with twin WRs to the left. Robby has a deep out, Curtis has a post route.

-Chiefs come out in what looks like a single high look pre snap (could be Cover 3 or Cover 1 man coverage to the offense) It’s a disguised look. All the defenders run almost immediately and gain depth. They protect the sticks on third and long.

-Thomas is open after he chips the edge defender along with Mike Davis is open on the right side. However it’s 3rd down. The coverage is perfect in this situation, and the Chiefs DL got pressure with a stunt off the right side.

-Teddy put the pass out of bounds, which is not the wrong decision necessarily. But he still could have gotten some yardage back by hitting Mike Davis in the flat. They would not have picked up the 1st down, but it would have given the punt team a better chance at pinning them deep.

 

OK play call [CAR]

Poor Blocking [CAR]

Excellent Defense [KC]

OK decision by Teddy.

 

2nd and 14: 13:40 in the 4th quarter 

–Panthers come out in 12 personnel.  2 TEs (Thomas split out wide) and one RB. WRs both lined up on the right. Four verticals concept. Everybody runs streaks.

-Chiefs come to the line in a disguised Cover 2. Corners pressed up on the boundary, but it could be man or zone pre snap. They end up blitzing with six rushers. No safety help. Man coverage across the board.

-Because the Chiefs blitzers out number the Panthers blockers (6 vs 5), one rusher gets home free. Teddy did not anticipate the blitz before the snap.

-It is likely he anticipated that there was some form of man coverage because of how the defenders were lined up on the boundary, which is why he did not audible.

-Robby did have vertical leverage on his defender, but Teddy was hit on the throw resulting in an incompletion. This is a dangerous throw, but I like that he trusted his guy Robby to give him a chance one on one.

 

OK play call [CAR]

Great Defense [KC]

OK decision by Teddy.

 

Made deep balls:

1st and 10: 14:25 in 4th Quarter (Curtis Samuel 28 yard reception)

-Panthers come out in a singleback 11 personnel with DJ and Pharoah Cooper lined up on the left side. Pharoah runs a post, DJ runs a go, and Curtis has the deep over. It’s a play-action pass.

-Chiefs are in zone coverage, and the play-action fake keeps the LBs from gaining depth. The post and go route on the left side of the Panthers formation opens a hole in the coverage for the deep over route.

-The throw is a little behind Curtis.

-First read is the deep over. Many say DJ is wide open for a TD, and he did stack the CB. But if the first read is there, then that is the throw most QBs will take. This is not a missed opportunity for that reason.

-The reason why this is not necessarily a bad throw on Teddy’s end is because he is throwing to a spot. Curtis almost overran the gap in the zone. But the ball is still placed fine. 

-There is a flat defender on the left side as well as a hook zone from the middle. Teddy had to throw it before the flat defender could carry underneath the route. It’s more obvious from the end zone view.

-Probably the toughest deep ball throw Teddy made all day. He anticipated where the hole in zones would be and threw to that spot. Great grab by Curtis.

 

Excellent play call

Good Execution

OK Defense

Good throw and decision by Teddy.

1st and 10: 12:54 in the 4th Quarter (Christian McCaffrey 24 yard reception)

-Panthers line up with11 personnel shotgun formation with 2 WRs on left. Christian runs vertically out of the backfield, splitting the LBs and breaking to the front pylon at around the 25 yard line.

-Chiefs shows blitz pre snap, but drops back their LBs. Looks like Cover 1 man coverage as Zylstra gets chased across formation. One deep safety and an underneath zone by a linebacker.

-Chiefs LBs too late to regain depth when CMC goes vertical and are out of position for the throw after his break.

-Teddy makes a great throw from a muddy pocket, and CMC shows his WR-like ability to track the ball deep and make the grab.

Excellent play call [CAR]

OK Execution [CAR]

Poor Defense [KC]

Excellent Throw.

 

1st and 10: 4:42 in 4th quarter (Robby Anderson 22 yard reception)

-Panthers use 11 personnel look, two WRs to the right. Curtis is running a 5 yard curl, Robby looks to be running a flag route.

-Chiefs are in a man coverage with two deep safeties.

-Teddy trusts Robby to beat his man in coverage and leverages the throw away from the safety and towards the sideline. Classic pitch and catch in a hurry up situation.

 

 

Good play call

Good Execution

Good Defense

Great Throw.

 

3rd and 5: 0:25 in the 4th Quarter (Curtis Samuel 23 yard reception)

-Panthers are in 11 personnel once again with Robby and Curtis on the right side of formation. Verticals with an underneath crosser by DJ.

-Chiefs shows and brings a five man blitz. The flat defender both jump the crosser and stop gaining depth leaving Curtis open in between zones.

-Gave Carolina the ball at the 50 in crunch time. Great awareness by Curtis to look for the ball when he got behind the two defenders. Routine pitch and catch in the 4th Quarter.

 

OK play Call [CAR]

Good Execution [CAR]

Poor Defense [KC]

Good throw by Teddy.

 

FINAL VERDICT:

The idea that Teddy did not push the ball enough in this game is slightly overstated. I think his ability to get the ball to his playmakers in the intermediate game is extremely valuable to the offense, as it helped them sustain drives and keep Mahomes off the field. I find it hard to blame Teddy for missing some deep throws too harshly, as they scored more TDs this game than the season average, capping sustained drives with Touchdowns, which was pleasing to watch. With that being said, the deep balls started being completed in the 4th quarter. There were chances that were missed for bad throws, and bad protection. I want to see the deep ball become a bigger threat at any point in the game, but from this film it’s obvious that Teddy and Joe Brady use the intermediate and underneath game to produce deep shots.

 

TEDDY GRADE: ABOVE AVERAGE