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Grading the Defense: Arizona Cardinals vs. Chicago Bears

Hawkwind — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 18:00:54 -0000

More photos » by Charles Rex Arbogast - AP

2 days ago: Arizona Cardinals defensive tackle Darnell Dockett, bottom left, sacks Chicago Bears quarterback Jay Cutler (6) in the second quarter of an NFL football game in Chicago, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. In the background is the Cardinals' Gabe Watson (98). (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast)

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Coming off a disappointing loss against the Carolina Panthers, Kurt Warner wasn't the only Arizona Cardinals' player with something to prove this past weekend. The Cardinals' defense, namely the front seven, had some serious questions to answer after allowing the Panthers to run rough shot over them just seven days prior. Standing in their way would be a Chicago Bears team that was undefeated at home and one of the league's more complete running backs in Matt Forte. Needless to say the Cardinals defense had their work cut out for them and here's a breakdown of how they performed.

Overall Defensive Performance: Depending on how you look at it the Cardinals defense was anywhere from very good to very marginal. From the "very good" department, the defense only allowed two drives of 45 yards or longer but the two "very bad" drives were both 90+ yards and resulted in touchdowns. From the "very good" file, with roughly one minute left in the third quarter the defense had allowed just 200 yards on the Bears' first seven drives, 90 of which came on their opening drive, but the Bears also racked up another 180 yards on their final four drives (including a 93 yard TD drive). One thing is pretty clear, the defense either started to fail or relaxed in the fourth quarter resulting in most of their overall numbers looking very average. it is worth mentioning however that portions of the fourth quarter were played with backups like Will Davis and Kenny Iwebema. By the time the game was over the Bears' offense had racked up 417 yards from scrimmage (averaging 6.6 yards per snap) and had scored 21 points.

Rush Defense: It's pretty fair to say that the Bears' abandoned their run game early in the game considering that they played at least 3/4 of the game from a two touchdown deficit. For the game they attempted just 12 rushes, although they did average 5.8 yards per carry. Forte led the way with 33 yards on five carries while (the other) Adrian Peterson and Jay Cutler added another 40 yards on the ground with their five combined carries. Their running game simply never had a chance to get on track and was limited to draw plays out of shotgun for most of the game, a scenerio the Cardinals are quite familar with.

Pass Defense: Normally when a team gets behind early they are forced to air it out for the rest of the game and that was certainly the case for the Bears. Cutler set season highs in completions (29), attempts (47), yards (369) and touchdowns (3) and posted a very respectable 98.6 QB rating. Most of his completions were a result of their short passing game where YAC receivers like Devin Hester and Johny Knox could excel, although two of his most successful deep balls were to tight end Greg Olsen. The Cardinals registered four sacks but more importantly they continously pressured and knocked down Cutler. Pressure from guys like Darnell Dockett, Calais Campbell, Chike Okeafor and Clark Haggans were a big reason why the Bears were limited to short passes for most of the day.

Honor Roll:

Karlos Dansby and Ali Highsmith: Thanks to a back injury that prevented Gerald Hayes from suiting up, Highsmith got his first start as a pro and the defense didn't seem to miss a beat. There were times that he got pushed around but his energy and athleticism also made him an asset once the Bears turned pass-happy. Dansby did what he normally does, leading the team in tackles despite the Bears lack of a running game.

Darnell Dockett and Calais Campbell: There may be better 3-4 defensive ends in this league but the way DD and CC are playing right now, I don't know that I'd trade them for any other pair. Dockett was his normal disruptive force and his second sack of the season. Campbell, regardless of what the boxscore says, recorded at least half a sack, if not a full sack (the sack that was awarded to Okeafor). One thing that really stands out about Campbell though is that he never gives up on a play. At least once a game it seems like he'll make a tackle ten yards down field while a back tries to wiggle through the secondary.

Matt Ware: We haven't talked much about Ware this season but if you me, that's a good thing. Ware has stepped into Aaron Francisco's role and has been a moster upgrade. He's not a great cover safety but he does alot of things well and so far the Cardinals are using him in a way that allows him to succeed. He registered his first career pick late in the fourth quarter.

Will Davis: Welcome to the NFL rook! Davis recorded his first career sack and don't look now but he's starting to get a couple of snaps a week with the defensive unit. He's already proving that he has the athletic ability to play in this league and his relentless motor and ability to get off blocks led to his fourth quarter sack on Cutler.

Overall Defensive Grade: C+

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Overall the Cardinals defensive effort can classified as good with plenty of room for improvement. One thing that will stick with me for a while is how dejected Jay Cutler looked after he continually got hit by the Arizona Cardinals. Very rarely do you visibly see a player quit, especially a quarterback, but he was very close on Sunday. As the game wore on he got up slower and slower as the hits kept coming and quaterbacks in the future will recognize that on tape. The Cardinals feel like they're building something special here and there were glimpses of that on Sunday. What's you're grade for the defense?

Poll

How would you grade the Cardinals defensive effort on Sunday?

Panthers vs. Saints Highlights Discussion

Jaxon — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 14:24:17 -0000

As I was watching the NFL.com highlights from the game I had the urge to point out some of the keys to the big plays that are being discussed or I just have a question that you may be able to help me with. As I watched the embedded clip (after the jump) I was left with the impression that our secondary gambled too much on the INT or simply just blew the coverage, something they had avoided pretty well most of the season.

So take a look at the clip and then my comments and lets see if we can agree on some of the fault or clear up some questions:

So for each of the key plays here's a tidbit that is not discussed shall we say:

1. On the D-Will 66 yard TD Williams stiff arms the DE who should have made the tackle. Great blocking from the o-line that just silences the crowd

2. The Brayotn sack and FF was just a great example of a non-stop motor, nice play

3. On D-Will 2nd TD the announcer correctly poitns out that C Ryna Kalil drove the NG out of the play. Kalil has been a star performer and could be a future PBer.

4. On J-Stew's fumble, how many times do you see a RB fighting for that last unneeded yard only to lose the ball. Just go down Stewart and take the loss!

5. CB Chris Gamble INT was made possible by the fact he knew he had deep coverage so he could gamble, no pun intended. Unfortunately Gamble rolls the dice later with no so good results.

6. On the Colston 45 yd catch down the sideline someone goes for the INT (Martin?) but misses. Gamble then makes the tackle. This play essentially allowed 3 points before the half.

7. On the 63 yard Henderson catch Chris Gamble got caught playing off on the slot receiver who then split the safeties who were out of position. Who more to blame for this one, Gamble, Harris or Martin?

8. On the Thomas 10 yd TD run someone runs up and whiffs on the tackle but I couldn't get a number? Harris or Martin is my guess.

9. On the 54 yd TD pass to Meachum Gamble does just that, gambles on the INT and misses. Did he think he had deep help but didn't? What annoyed me about the play was Gamble didn;t even make sure he had the tackle if he did miss and then he just continued to back peddle out of the play.

10. On the game winning drive Meachum again made a key 21 yd play, this time surprisingly wide open. Who blew the coverage? Its hard to say from the tape but hoping someone else can clarify.

11. On the Hargrove fumble recovery and TD he is obviously touched by Jeff King when on the ground but since the Panthers didn't have a TO they couldn't challenge. Not that is probably would made a difference but you never know.

I await your comments my friends...

Shallow Thoughts & Nearsighted Observations

Ted Bartlett — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 13:30:23 -0000

More photos » by David Zalubowski - AP

1 day ago: Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger, left, tries to elude the rush of Denver Broncos' Darrell Reid (95) and a second defender during the first quarter of an NFL football game Monday, Nov. 9, 2009, in Denver. (AP Photo/ David Zalubowski)

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Happy Tuesday, friends. After being up late, and watching a hard-fought game go awry, I bet you're pretty bleary-eyed, and grumpy, but let's try to make this a good day. I don't want to think that the Broncos have fallen into losing habits here, and I really don't think that's the case.

Of course, those who speak, but don't know what they're talking about, will start screaming about how the Broncos have been exposed, and they're a fraud, and every other damn thing. A few persistent issues have emerged, but they can be corrected. If anything, losing back-to-back games against good teams can teach you a great deal about your own team.

Let's reflect on this, as I know the coaching staff is, and the players are. Next week, the Broncos face the Redskins, which presents a great opportunity to get back on the winning track. After that, San Diego comes to town. The Broncos still control the AFC West, make no mistake about that.

On the other side of the jump, we'll break it all down. Ready..... BEGIN!!!!

1. It's now midseason, and the Broncos are 6-2, and in first place by a game, and having beaten San Diego on the road. Think back to August, and if I told you that's where the Broncos would be, you'd be happy to take that deal, right? It's a little less great to win the first 6 and lose the last 2, but whatever.

I mentioned some issues, and I want to talk about them briefly. I think all are fixable in the second half of the season.

a. Ben Hamilton is getting to be pretty useless, and I think it's time to see what Seth Olsen has. Hamilton has gone from being above-average before his concussion-driven missed season, to average last season, to decidedly below-average this season. Every time the Ravens and Steelers needed to get pressure on Kyle Orton, they did it over Hamilton. Every other team in the NFL has seen that, and will try to replicate that strategy.

From former NFL scout Daniel Jeremiah, during the game:

I don't know what Olsen can do yet, but he's definitely bigger and stouter than Hamilton. I have to think he can anchor better than what we've seen from #50. I am pretty sure Russ Hochstein isn't the answer, but I'd like to see what Olsen looks like.

b. The Broncos need better execution overall on offense. The scheme is fine, and the players are fine, they just need to make the plays that they have a chance to make. They have had some bad penalties, some poorly-timed drops, some slip-and-falls in the running game putting them off schedule, and lately, some bad throws. Plays like Brandon Stokley coming just short of a first down, and Hamilton getting called for a (really questionable) holding penalty on a converted 4th-and-5 are what has been hurting the Broncos offense. The coaches need to send the message that if the players who are playing don't execute, they'll find somebody who will.

c. Signing Mitch Berger was a big mistake. I think it's worth working out some other punters, but really, I liked Brett Kern. If somebody better than Berger is available, I think he should be brought in. Getting a good punter needs to be a high priority in the offseason, too.

d. Interestingly, short-yardage offense has improved during the two losses, as the Broncos have shown a willingness to throw some in those situations. It is still a concern going forward, though. Olsen may help here, if he is given a shot.

e. No-huddle offenses have been problematic for the Broncos the last two weeks. They limit their ability to disguise coverages and rush packages, and they also make it hard to substitute as much as the Broncos want to. Not every team is effective in the no-huddle, but just about every team the Broncos might see in the playoffs is. They need to figure out who their best base defensive group is against the no-huddle.

I think my underlying thought right now is that the Broncos probably aren't quite ready for the Super Bowl, but they hung with a team tonight who is a real championship contender. They beat New England a couple weeks ago, who is a real championship contender. They beat Dallas and Cincinnati, who at the least are good teams. The Broncos have a ways to go, but as first halves of the season go, you have to feel pretty good about theirs. It's not time to start anything over, or blow anything up. It's time to make a few adjustments, execute better, and keep working toward winning games.

2. Information from My Eyes, Steelers at Broncos.

a. Did I mention that I think Mitch Berger sucks? Nothing has particularly changed for me on that score. John Bena coined a new term last night, Brett Kern-backers. I liked Kern, but I don't think I am a Brett Kern-backer. I am a guy who wants a consistent good performance from the Broncos punter, whoever it is.

Philosophically, not a single player or coach on this team means more to me than the team itself. I don't care who is doing it, I just want it done. As much as I love John Elway, the team always came before him to me, too. Part of his greatness, though, was that he'd never make you separate him from the team.

b. It didn't get mentioned a lot, but Tyler Polumbus struggled at RT, especially in the second half of the game. LaMarr Woodley got a lot of pressure and forced a few key throwaways. He'll be okay against most teams, but this was a tough situation for him. Ryan Harris's absence was most definitely felt.

c. I liked the work of both Brandon Marshall and Eddie Royal in this game. They consistently did a good job getting open and catching the ball. Marshall had the one drop, but it was a good effort for him overall.

d. I thought D.J. Williams had his worst game of the year, by far. He was taking bad angles all night, and didn't look like he had a prayer of getting off a lot of blocks. I'm admittedly not generally his biggest fan, but he's had the best year of his career in 2009. Monday night, not so much.

e. Wesley Woodyard played a lot more snaps than he's used to, and I thought he wore down in the second half of the game. The Steelers played a tremendous amount of 3 WR sets, which kept Andra Davis on the sideline, and Woodyard in the game.

f. Kyle Orton was actually not too bad for most of the game. He had 2 bad throws, and about 3 bad decisions (one of them was picked off). He was pretty sharp the rest of the night. He needs to cut out the bad decisions, but I was generally a lot happier with his performance tonight than I was against the Ravens. (I don't care about statistics, of course.) Nobody is saying they're thrilled with his ultimate performance, of course, but there's more nuance to the situation, than just looking at the stat sheet.

g. Rashard Mendenhall was the primary reason the Steelers won the game. He got going in the second half, and it forced the Broncos to be more aggressive in the box. I used to think very little of Mendenhall, but he has improved a lot. He runs with vastly better patience and body lean than he did even just a month ago.

h. The Steelers also have themselves a find with Mike Wallace. He's very dangerous for a 3rd WR. They don't do a lot of traditional slot-type stuff, and in nickel offense, if anything, Hines Ward is their slot guy. (I think making definitive distinctions between #1, #2, and #3 WRs is silly.) Wallace has great speed, and he showed good route-running skills Monday night.

i. I liked what I saw of Ty Law in his limited action. Champ Bailey and Brian Dawkins both mostly struggled in the game, neither making a great impact. Champ ought to be embarassed by letting Ward jump over him in garbage time. He knows better than that. He also got beat in man-to-man coverage several times by Santonio Holmes. Andre' Goodman was good in this game, though, even beyond his interception.

j. The Broncos use of the "mush rush" was very good in the first half, and very bad for most of the second. Robert Ayers played a key role in containing Ben Roethlisberger when he as assigned that duty, and that's what he was doing when Kenny Peterson knocked the ball free.

k. The Broncos got hosed on the Gaffney challenge, and also on the Haggan fumble recovery. Don Carey has joined my list of bad referees. I like how a return team becomes an intercepting team. I can't believe that he's related to Mike Carey, who is excellent. And he's the older brother? Wow.

3. Information From My Eyes, Other Games:

a. I watched a lot of the Green Bay-Tampa Bay game Sunday, for a few reasons. I haven't seen much of the Bucs this year, and I wanted to look at Josh Freeman, who I liked a lot coming out of college. He looked like a rookie at times, but he showed a lot of positives too. I thought he looked poised and confident, and I am not that surprised. I remember when he beat Texas as a freshman, and commanded the game. (My buddy lost a grand on the game, and he called me frantically looking for NFL advice for the next day, to "get back even." It was a debacle. I don't give gambling advice anymore, because of that weekend.)

Anyway, Freeman looked like a star that day in 2006, and he looked like he may be one someday in the NFL on Sunday. I think Tampa did the right thing, giving him some time to learn from the sideline, but it has to be Freeman Time the rest of the season.

b. I loved Raheem Morris's line after getting his first victory as a head coach.

Statistics are for losers, and today, we're winners.

And then, there's Chicago Bears lover/reporter/enabler/apologist Brad Biggs of National Football Post, after his beloveds got blown out again.

That's positive news? The Bears got smoked, again, Brad. Their best player, who is supposed to always play well, performed close to expectations. It's only positive news if he is on your fantasy team, which is why I don't really like fantasy football. (Well, that and the dorktastic "experts' you have to tolerate on TV.)

Cutler played alright, but he didn't do anything to elevate the play of anybody else, as usual, and the interception he threw in the 4th quarter did kill the Bears' chances of coming back.

It's amazing how the Bears team has assumed the personality of the 2008 Broncos. There's a good chance they'll get blown away on defense, and Cutler is almost definitely going to need to carry the offense. In my business, we contract with companies to take over non-core operations. We call it a lift-and-shift. You terminate your employees who work in a call center, and we'll instantly hire them. They'll work for us, and you'll pay us a fee that is less than what you pay for this operation. Meanwhile, we'll optimize, and reduce the headcount, and correspondingly, the costs.

Everybody considered Cutler's acqusition to be a lift-and-shift. The Bears got a franchise QB. Imagine what he'll do on a team that plays good defense and runs the ball. Football is such a multi-variate system, it's really amazing.

c. I would really hate to be a Bears fan. They have no high draft picks this year, and suddenly a lot of roster holes to fill. They need 3 or 4 new starters on their offensive line, to begin with. Orlando Pace is done, Josh Beekman and Roberto Garza were never starting-caliber players in the NFL, and Olin Kreutz is getting close to done. I don't care for Chris Williams, either. He's looked passable at RT, but if he was worthy of his draft slot, he would have bumped Pace, because it's clear as day that he isn't good enough. You wouldn't use a #1 on an RTO (Right Tackle Only), unless it was Jeff Otah.

They could also use some WRs, some secondary players, and a pass rusher. We're not asking for much, right?

Chicago has a cash-poor ownership group, and the cold weather and their ugly uniforms don't tend to help draw free agents. (Yes, both things matter. It's part of the problem in Cleveland too.) I just don't know how you can bring in enough players there to improve for next season.

d. On Monday I read a lot of epitaphs about the Chicago defense, which didn't get into a lot of the "why" they're so bad. As I was explaining to a friend a few days ago, a defense has to have all 11 players working well together, in order for it to be sound and effective. Because defense is fundamentally a reactive mission, there are many inter-dependencies among the three levels, and communication, like-mindedness through practice, and discipline make all the difference. That sounds simple, and it really is.

First of all, you'd better either be good against the run with 7 in the box, or have a big-time safety who can move 12 yards from a cover-2 shell to the line of scrimmage really quickly. The Bears can't stop the run with 7, so you know they'll have 8 in the box. Then, there's the passing game. When a team can't rush the passer with 4 players, they need to blitz with numbers. When they blitz with numbers, it makes it hard to play soundly in zone coverage, so you mostly have to start playing man coverage. When you play a lot of man coverage, you'd better hope you have the athletes to cover the other team's athletes - and chances are, their #3 and #4 options are better than yours. That's a simple fact of it being harder to find players with coverage skills than it is to find guys who can run a route and catch a ball, when he knows where he is supposed to go.

So you can't stop the run, you can't get pressure with 4, you can't play zone, and you can't play man. All that's left is to guess at what the offense is going to do, and play for that. The obvious problem there is what happens when you guess wrong. You get exposed, and give up huge plays. That sounds a lot like the 2008 Broncos' defense, right?

To apply this to the Bears, they used to get pressure with their front 4, but Tommie Harris is having a bad season. He was a healthy scratch for the Cincinnati game, reportedly because of some attitude issues, and they got lambasted. Then, he got ejected over some extreme foolishness 1 minute into Sunday's game. The Bears again got crushed. Harris is among the best 3-technique DTs in the NFL, when his body and attitude are right.

With no Harris, Alex Brown and Adewale Ogunleye have struggled to get any pressure, so the Bears have blitzed, ineffectively. They have all these tall, slow CBs who can't do anything except play zone coverage, and they got shredded in man-to-man on Sunday, as they did against Cincinnati. If you decide to be a cover-2 team, you'd better play a lot of cover-2, because your personnel can't hold up playing man.

If Harris can manage to get his body and mind right, and have a dominant second half, he could personally bring a soundness back to the Bears that could send them on a 6-2ish run in the second half to finish 10-6. The more likely outcome is that he continues to sulk, the Bears continue to get gashed, and they finish 7-9 at best. And the Broncos have a nice draft pick. Thanks, guys :)

e. Funny story. My brother Chris (who did join MHR as Chris911, incidentally) and I were talking on the phone the other night, like we do sometimes.

Chris: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record in games where he throws for over 300 yards.

Ted: You know, Jay Cutler has a losing record as a starting QB in the NFL.

Yessir. I love that draft pick more and more every day.

f. Remember the spring of 2008 when many wanted Denver to become Vanderbilt West? It hasn't worked out so well for Chicago. Earl Bennett's ceiling is to be an average starter, if he puts it all together. He can't get off bump coverage right now, whatsoever. He also runs bad routes and drops the ball a lot. In other words, everything he was supposed to do well, he doesn't. Yes, I know he had 7 catches for 93 yards Sunday, but the vast majority of it was in garbage time, against soft zone coverage. (And, yes, wise guys, I know, most of the game was garbage time.)

Chris Williams, I already discussed. He has definitely been a disappointment. This year, the Bears took D.J. Moore, a CB, who is somehow not good enough to beat out any of the pu pu platter of guys who take turns opposite Charles Tillman. He has been a gameday inactive all season, and is not even a special teams contributor.

I watched the Florida-Vanderbilt game Saturday night, and was reflecting on this. Vanderbilt has no hope in the SEC. They can't recruit talent that is nearly good enough to compete, and most of their guys have tended to underachieve in the NFL. They are on my list with Texas and Ohio State of schools whose players I am naturally suspicious of, although it's all for different reasons.

I wonder if Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Northwestern, Stanford, Duke, Rice,and Baylor ever thought about forming a football-only, high-SATs conference. Actually, this year, Vandy would be in the bottom half of that league, too.

g. Staying with the college theme for a minute, the best all-around QB I have seen this season at any school is Cincinnati's sophomore backup, Zach Collaros. He has completed 76% of his passes for 1,229 yards, with 10 TDs and 1 interception in the 3+ games he has appeared in. He has also rushed 43 times for 281 yards, and 4 TDs, while only being sacked 10 times.

Cincinnati's original starter, senior Tony Pike, is expected to start this week, although head coach Brian Kelly did cop to it being a tough decision. Pike is likely to be drafted on Day 1 next spring. Collaros is going to contend for the Heisman Trophy next season, and he'll be a high pick too, when he decides to leave school. He's the total package, with an above-average arm, very good poise, and outstanding accuracy and athleticism. The only knock on him is that he's 6 feet tall, but he has some definite Drew Brees-like qualities as a thrower. This is a 75-yard TD run against a South Florida team with lots of athletes. The guy is real.

h. A guy I really like on an otherwise not-great unit is Atlanta Guard Harvey Dahl. He has been getting very good pad level, and driving guys, in helping Michael Turner have his best two games of the season. I beat up Sam Baker for his pass protection last week, but he did well in the running game Sunday, too. The Redskins are normally solid against the run, but Atlanta gashed them repeatedly.

i. Michael Lombardi stole my thunder, which is an occasional hazard of writing for Tuesday mornings. (The) Other smart analysts see(s) the same things and beat(s) you to talking about them sometimes. Ray Lewis definitely looks like he's doing it more on guile and want-to than skill anymore. I respect his effort greatly, and sometimes he makes a huge play, like against the Chargers, but he's clearly hit his downside. Big up Lombardi, for consistently seeing what the reporters don't see. (By the way, it's weird and unnatural to see Lombardi stand with a mic and interview players and coaches for NFL Network. Stop the madness, and be an analyst, Mike. You're better than some locker jockey.)

j. I was pretty critical of Dallas' Mike Jenkins earlier in the season, and he deserved it. Lately, though, he's been playing fantastic football. He did a great job Sunday night, and was the largest part of the Dallas secondary's outstanding effort not to give up the big plays that Philly wins with every week.

k. The Eagles are reputed to be a West Coast team, but they are not that, and never have been since Mr. Game Management, Andy Reid, came to town. Donovan McNabb isn't a West Coast QB, who does really well with timing throws. The Eagles are a vertical, downfield team, and they finally have guys in DeSean Jackson, Jeremy Maclin, and Brent Celek, who can get down the field and make the plays they want to make.

l. By the way, everybody knows I like Tim Tebow, but McNabb is the guy who Tebow most reminds me of. They played in similar-ish option-heavy offenses in college, and they have very similar profiles as throwers coming into the NFL. Tebow's stats are down this year, mostly due to bad pass protection, but he's throwing the ball better than ever when he gets some time.

m. The Chargers might be back. I haven't seen their LBs look as good as they did on Sunday in two years. Some of that may be due to the Giants offensive line, though, which is good in the running game, and below-average in the passing game. All this stuff about them having the best line is hogwash. (I've actually seen Michael Lombardi say that this season.) They have a natural LG, David Diehl, playing LT, and he gets owned by good pass rushers.

n. Brandon Jacobs looks really slow to the hole this season. He was never quick, but he's a different player. I have to wonder if he is hurt. Of course, I am prejudiced against tall RBs, because, definitionally, it's easier to hit them, than it is the compact guys. It's fair to say Jacobs has never been a favorite of mine.

o. I'd like to say that ST&NO favorite Alex Smith has established himself as a clear-cut solution at QB for the 49ers, but the fact is, they've lost all three games which he has played in. Two of the three interceptions he threw on Sunday were off the hands of his own players, so I don't really put those on him, personally. On the positive side, that play he made for a TD pass at the end of the first half was an All-Pro caliber play, that not many QBs could make. He kept himself alive with his feet, and made a perfect throw on the run.

This is what I know about Smith. His biggest problem is that he struggles with the mechanics of drops from under center which are more than 3 steps. It's not natural to him, and his footwork is slow, like he is thinking about it. That got him sacked on A-gap blitzes two or three times Sunday.

Smith is much more comfortable from the shotgun, and I think I would go to a medium-gun alignment with him, that is often called the Pistol. It's run a bit at some colleges, notably Nevada, and the Chiefs used it with Tyler Thigpen last season. The QB lines up 3 yards behind the center, with the RB 3 yards behind the QB. It provides better directional evenness to your running game than lining up in a full shotgun with the RB to one side or the other of the QB.

Smith can do all the things you need your QB to do; it's just a matter of putting him in position to be successful. I'll be interested to watch this game on Thursday night, against Chicago, because he could have a huge game.

p. I did like what I saw of Vince Young, again. He has played like he's fine with being part of a conservative game plan, which is what he needs. The option stuff he was running with Chris Johnson was effective, and he did hit Justin Gage deep on a couple throws. One, in particular, used all of Gage's vertical. He was actually a starter on Missouri's basketball team in his college days.

q. The Titans are suddenly playing some defense again too, especially Michael Griffin at safety. I also was impressed with William Hayes, who has taken over at LDE for Jevon Kearse, who may have finally had it, at this point. The Titans are a threat to make noise as a spoiler in the second half of the season. The return of Cortland Finnegan has helped them a lot, too. He's not the greatest cover guy, but he's a hitter, and he is always close to the ball. He compares favorably to Asante Samuel in that way.

r. The Panthers just make me shake my head sometimes. They are almost completely back to their 12-4 level from last year lately, except for their QB play. They really erred by not getting one, but John Fox and Jake Delhomme are almost married. Delhomme is going to cost Fox his job, for his sentimentality.

Remember when the Chargers whacked Marty Schottenheimer coming off the 14-2 record? It was the right move. So would cutting ties with Delhomme have been, after last season. Of course, the Chargers blew the second part by hiring Norv Turner. The Panthers will get their chance to do something in the offseason, but they have no first-round pick. If San Francisco decides Alex Smith isn't their guy, he'd be perfect for a team like Carolina, who runs the ball and attacks downfield off of play action. Marc Bulger might be a possible fit too, as the Rams will almost certainly be drafting a QB this year. The Panthers will likely need to get a retread, though.

s. The Saints deserved to get beat on Sunday, but they managed to win anyway. That's something championship teams do, is win without their best stuff.

t. The Texans are really close to being a serious playoff contender, but a Chris Brown goal-line fumble and a Kris Brown missed field goal have basically cost them two games. People haven't noticed, but Matt Schaub is putting up Pro Bowl numbers in Houston. Old friend Gary Kubiak needs to get his team to execute better in key situations.

u. I said I wasn't going to pick the addict Jaguars again, but I did on Sunday, because the Chiefs are horrible. The addicts then proceeded to almost give the game away. Shocker! ST&NO favorite Reggie Nelson had a very good game for the Jags, and so did Brandon Marshall's best friend from college, Mike Sims-Walker.

v. Matt Cassel was the bright spot for the Chiefs, again, and he continues to do pretty well with very little help. I guarantee that the Chiefs don't regret trading for him, especially at the price they paid.

4. In honor of Veterans' Day, I wanted to blaze a different path by doing something apolitical and propaganda-free. It's Tangential Story Time, in ST&NO. Yay!!!

Most regular readers are at least generally aware that I spent 4 years in the United States Navy. I don't think I have ever mentioned that going to sea is basically my family business, though. My dad was in the Navy for 14 years, and then has worked as an executive for companies which supply the Navy for the last 20+ years. His brother recently retired as a long-time civilian mariner for the Navy, and his other brother was a Marine, who rode a Navy ship or two. My youngest brother is currently employed as a Naval civilian mariner, presently working for a ship stationed in Gaeta, Italy. There's lots of salt in my family.

So, I woke up early on Sucker-Free Saturday, and a headline popped into my RSS reader that grabbed my attention.

Navy ship built with WTC steel to go into service

I clicked the link to read the article, and saw something very interesting in the first sentence.

NEW YORK — The Navy is commissioning its newest battleship with a bow forged from steel that once held up the World Trade Center.

The Navy decommissioned its last four remaining Iowa-class Battleships in the early 1990s, and I didn't think that they had any plans to bring them back, despite some misgivings from parts of the Marine Corps that current Naval Gunfire Support programs wouldn't be sufficient for a Normandy-like shore landing.

A Battleship is a specific type of ship, like in the children's game of the same name. The Iowa class had wooden decks, and three turrets with three independent 50-caliber 16-inch guns each, for a total of 9 guns. The shells were 16 inches in diameter, and weighed 2,700 pounds each. (Modern Cruisers and Destroyers have one or two (mostly two) 5-inch, 54-caliber guns each, by comparison. Those shells are 5 inches in diameter, and weigh 70 pounds.) Each Iowa-class turret took a crew of 94 men to operate, and I actually served with a guy who was working in Turret #3 on the Iowa in 1989, when Turret #2 exploded and killed 47 men.

Battleships played a large part in the Pacific theater in World War II, and somewhat minor parts in Korea, Vietnam, and the first Persian Gulf War. The primary missions of Battleships were shore bombardment, and ship-to-ship combat. The advent of precision-guided munitions (like Harpoon missiles, for ship-to-ship combat), and the reality that 5-inch, 54-caliber guns are considered by the Navy to be sufficient for Naval Gunfire Support, largely made battleships unnecessary, and the last Battleships were decommissioned not long after World War II, with a few held in reserve status. Iowa, New Jersey, Wisconsin, and Missouri were each re-commissioned several times over the coming decades, with the Missouri being the last active battleship, being decommissioned for the last time in 1992. (The picture below is of the Iowa, shooting her guns to starboard.)

So, there's this new ship, called the USS New York, and the AP says it's a battleship. At first, I was skeptical, because I know that the Battleship mission is obsolete. Thinking about it, though, it is named after a state, like US battleships have historically been. I also know that the Bush Adminstration Pentagon had some meat-heads in high places of their procurement organization, who favored weapons systems with some badass factor to them, whether they were strictly necessary or not. But I would have heard about new Battleships, right? Hmmmm.

I called the guy who would know, my father Ed, who has appeared in ST&NO before, and I got my answer.

Ted: Hey, what do you know about this new ship, New York, that was partially built from World Trade Center steel?

Ed: Well, it's being commissioned this morning.

Ted: What kind of ship is it?

Ed: It's a piece-of-(bleep) LPD-17 class. A Gator Freighter. (Note: Gator Freighter is the ~~somewhat~~ very derisive name for Amphibious Navy ships which primarily carry Marines. Surface combatant guys, like me, don't think too much of Amphibs, or the people who ride them.)

Ted: Oh, OK. This AP reporter called it a battleship, and it's named after a state, which lends that some coincidental level of plausibility. I was skeptical, so I thought I'd ask somebody who knows.

Ed: <Scoffs> The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about.

The media doesn't know what the hell they're talking about. Hmmm... Where have I heard that before?

5. What's New In Cleveland Update:

We have a great local brewery here called Great Lakes Brewing Company, that puts out this great stuff they call Christmas Ale every year, at this time. It tastes like cinnamon, but it's 7.5% alcohol by volume, so if you're like me, and you drink them like they're just expensive Bud Lights, they can really creep on you quickly.

So, I was at a the Cleveland State University bar called Becky's last Thursday, for my fraternity's monthly alumni happy hour. I was pleased to discover that they had Christmas Ale on tap, which I would later find out was running me $18 per pitcher, times 3 pitchers. Whatever. I am drinking some fine seasonal beer, and one of the guys says, "Hey, that's Mike Trivisonno right there, like 5 feet away."

Trivisonno is the local Radio Idiot, who I have disparaged on here before a few times, as being part of the Browns problems. I am not sure what he was doing at Becky's, of all places, but he was hanging out with some uglo-Americans, who may or may not have been related to him. He's holding court, and talking about the Browns, and how the city is cursed, and blah blah blah. (I hate it when people say "blah blah blah" in a conversation, but for some strange reason I just felt the strong need to type it there, like my ex-wife possessed my body momentarily, or something. Deal with it.)

It seems the work of the Radio Idiot is never finished. He bloviates even off the clock. I wonder if Rush Limbaugh does too.... That was a little deeper than a Shallow Thought. Focus.

OK, here's the deal. There's no such thing as curses. There's only confusing hope for a plan (hat tip to Michael Lombardi). That's what they do here, in all sports - even the Cavs, to some extent. (Let's face it: the Shaq acqusition is all about hope.)

Randy Lerner, by all accounts, is an OK guy, and he wants to win. He doesn't know anything about football, and I don't think he particularly wants to, either. He's actually a soccer guy, and he owns Aston Villa. He needs somebody to establish and run a program for him. It can't be a Head Coach, because he's too hands-off for that kind of arrangement. (That works fine with appropriately engaged owners like Robert Kraft, Bud Adams, and Pat Bowlen.)

He needs a Bill Parcells-type situation, which is why he is reportedly pursuing Mike Holmgren. I think Holmgren is going to end up saying he'd rather coach than head a front office, but it's a good idea to try. Whoever ends up being the head honcho is going to fire Eric Mangini, and start over from scratch, again. This is increasingly clear. The trick is going to be hiring the right honcho, for the first time since they came back into the NFL in 1999.

Ron Wolf and Ernie Accorsi aren't going to want the job, but if I were Lerner, I'd put on a full-court press to get one of them to help me find the right honcho. A guy I would make a run at is Jimmy Johnson, but only as a team president, not a coach. You hire him, tell him he only has to work 30 hours a week, some of it from Florida, and let him hire a focused GM, (maybe Chris Polian, or Marty Hurney if he is let go at Carolina?) and let them decide what to do with the coaching staff. Then, the chain of command is clear: Owner, to President, to GM, to Head Coach.

As a side note, I expect Mangini to struggle to find future work in coaching. His credibility in the NFL is shot at this point, and what college is going to hire a guy like that? Can you see him talking a kid into coming to play at State U? Absolutely not.

6. So, I know you've been wondering what a guy like me does on a Friday night. My gameplan changes every week, like any good team's (except the Colts); and this past Friday, my friend Ashley was looking for somebody to go with her to a happy hour event at the Cleveland Museum of Art. It sounded like fun, so I emailed her, and we went.

I'd like to tell you that I am a really cultured, artsy guy, but the truth is that I'm not. I'm kind of a rugged football, business, and politics guy. Somewhat embarassingly, it was the first time I had gone to the Museum in 7 1/2 years of living in Cleveland. Ashley is really smart, though, and I figured correctly that I would learn some stuff from her.

There was a Paul Gauguin exhibit, which was included in the price of admission. I looked up Gauguin on the interwebz, and learned that he was a contemporary of Vincent Van Gogh. Van Gogh's brother Theo was actually Gauguin's agent, and he got them to work together in 1888. They spent 9 weeks together at Van Gogh's famous Yellow House in Arles, and they quarreled constantly, because they saw the right way to paint very differently. (At the CMA, there were several examples, side-by-side, where both men painted the same thing, and they looked extremely different.) Both men had bouts of depression and suicidal tendencies. When Gauguin fled the tense situation after Van Gogh threatened him with a razor blade, Van Gogh freaked out, and went to a brothel, where he famously cut part of his ear off. They never saw each other again.

When I saw the news that the Chiefs cut Larry Johnson on Monday, the thought of his relationship with Todd Haley made me think of Gauguin and Van Gogh. Haley is a talented coach, and Johnson is a talented player. Both men have reputations for being difficult, though, and many (including me) were skeptical about the pairing when Haley was hired. Johnson's actions, around callng out Haley on Twitter and using gay slurs, were stupid. Really, it's not too different from cutting your ear off, on the foolishness scale.

Haley couldn't have Johnson play for him again, just as Gauguin couldn't return to Arles to work with Van Gogh. If you're betting on futures, take Haley's (like it would have been wise to take Gauguin.) Johnson is 30 and well-worn, old for a RB; Haley is 42, which is young for a Head Coach. Van Gogh died two years after the ear incident, while Gauguin had 13 more years, and a lot of productivity after that. Go with the guy who knew it was time to cut the cord, rather than the one who cut off his ear to spite his face.

7. Retired for John Elway.

8. The worst thing about November is the jewelry commercials during football games. (Well, I guess I should be glad not to see Chevy commercials with any Mellencamp songs.) I have found the answer, friends, if you're into man-cavery like me.

If you have Sunday Ticket with SuperFan, the setup works like this. Watch games on a muted TV (or two, if you can manage it, like I do). Watch the Red Zone channel on a laptop, with SuperConnect, and listen to the sound on the laptop, preferably over some decent speakers. Red Zone has no commercials, so when they come on TV, you can just ignore the visual stimulus, and listen to the sounds of what's going on on the laptop screen. I spent the whole day Sunday with this, so I got to see a lot of football, without hearing incessantly about how you're no kind of man if you don't go to Jared, the Galleria of Jewelry, and that every kiss begins with Kay. Damn, it's great to be single. (This is Ourrrrrrr Country!!!!!)

Have a good week, and let's get ready for a Broncos victory in Washington on Sunday. No hysterics are necessary, let's just take some comfort in the fairly safe assumption that our coaching staff is driving the players to learn from and improve on their mistakes. See you next Tuesday!

Incognito out, Amendola in: Random Ramsdom, 11/10

VanRam — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:56:18 -0000

Feelin' kind of random today? Headlines are percolating as the St. Louis Rams gear up for a tough game against the New Orleans Saints this week, so let's shake off the bye week rust and jump right in.

RG Richie Incognito will be out. It's not official yet, but he's not practicing this week because of his foot injury. Adam Goldberg will start in his place. WR/KR Danny Amendola has recovered from his concussion and will play this week.

A couple of cornerbacks, Marcus Brown and Marquis Floyd, visited Rams Park yesterday. Neither has been inked yet, and S Anthony Smith's roster spot remains open. It seem like we could use the help at CB.

The NFL's schedule makers gave the 2-win Rams of '08 no breaks this year. New Orleans is the third undefeated team they'll face. That's the last, as of this week, elite team the Rams are scheduled to play, but 5-4 Houston comes to town in week 15 looking to keep their wild card shot alive. We've got two more games against the Cardinals as well.

New Orleans had a rough outing against the Panthers last week, having to fight their way back from a 14-point hole. Head coach Sean Payton doesn't seem ready to let that happen again.

Rams Gab takes a look at the New Orleans game this week.

Didn't get enough speculation with yesterday's Jason Campbell talk? How 'bout Tony Dungy suggesting Michael Vick for the Rams? His past aside, I'm going to give that a thumbs down based on Vick's stated desire to be a QB again. I want a guy who can run a passing game with more authority, sorry.

Donnie Avery, fantasy sleeper for week 10? Maybe. I'd feel a lot better about it if I knew Marc Bulger could throw.

Saints Player Grades for Defense and Special Teams vs. Panthers

saints-nation — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:22 -0000

by Bill Haber - AP

View full size photo »

Below are the player grades for the defense and special teams vs. the Panthers.

Panthers vs Saints recap

Panthers vs Saints boxscore

Will Smith: B+ (2.79) Will Smith was partly to blame for the big touchdown run DeAngelo Williams had on the second play of the game. He had a clear shot at Williams, but tried to shove him instead of going for his legs/ankles to trip him up. Instead of slowing Williams down, he gave him a little boost to spring free. He made other mistakes against the run and was not at his best as he over pursued the edge allowing gaps. Otherwise, his pass rush was constant and overall fantastic. He finished with 4 tackles, 3 for losses (2 of those sacks) and a forced fumble at the biggest of times. He could have been credited with 3 sacks, but a bobbled snap by Jake Delhomme led to a Smith tackle and was ruled a running play. Smith has played the run better than in this game, but overall he's had a fantastic season. Half way through the year he's at 6.5 sacks, so he's on pace for 13, which would be a career best. He's already more than doubled his sack total from last year.

Charles Grant: B (2.29) Grant held his ground extremely well in this game and was never really pushed around at the point of attack. He was exceptional against the run disrupting the blocking schemes, setting up the linebackers and defensive tackles to make plays. Several of the running plays that went for losses were a result of Grant's leverage with runs coming at him. He finished with 3 tackles. His pass rushing was mediocre, but give him a lot of credit for playing fantastic football against the run.

Remi Ayodele: C+ (2.10) Ayodele was better than the last couple of games, but I still struggle to understand the coaching staff's fascination with him. On both of Williams' touchdown runs, Ayodele was wiped completely out of the play. He finished with just two tackles, but was better at holding his ground as the game progressed. I think he struggles more with double teams when Hargrove is in the game, which allows teams to be more physical because Hargrove isn't a great tackle on running downs. Ayodele seemed to have a lot more success with DeMario Pressley lined up next to him.

DeMario Pressley: B- (2.67) Nice adjustment by the Saints. Hargrove wasn't cutting it on obvious running downs early, so Pressley got a lot of playing time. As the game wore on, Pressley was essentially the "starter" on running downs, and Hargrove came in for him on passing downs. Pressley actually played a pretty good game. Ayodele's performance as mentioned improved almost immediately with him on the field. He held his ground and the Panthers' running game started to suffer with Pressley on the field. He finished with 2 tackles, including one very nice one for a loss.

Anthony Hargrove: B+ (2.48) Hargrove was manhandled early and not looking too good. As the game wore on, though, the Saints put him in positions better suited for his style of play, and he dominated. Hargrove would get an A if he didn't look so shaky against the run early. He finished with 3 tackles and two fumble recoveries, including one for a touchdown. The replay showed he was clearly down at the 1, so Hargrove was lucky the Panthers were out of timeouts and couldn't challenge it. He also did well rushing the passer and forcing early throws.

Bobby McCray: D+ (1.86) The only tackle he made was on a 3rd and short running play. On the play, Jonathan Stewart seemed stacked up short of the 1st down, but McCray pushed him forward to the ground to allow him to get the first down. Low IQ play from McCray, who should have recognized the situation and grabbed Stewart to pull him back rather than allowing him to fall to the ground going forward. McCray just isn't making plays this year, and has performed much worse than he did last year. His GPA as evidence, he has 7 tackles and 1 sack through 8 games. To McCray's credit, he did an ok job rushing the passer late and put one nice hit on Delhomme as he released the ball. Otherwise, another lame performance. I keep thinking sooner or later he's going to make a play for the Saints, but it hasn't happened yet.

Jonathan Vilma: B+ (2.96) Vilma had bad angles on a couple of running plays, including two 3rd and long running plays that allowed the Panthers to secure improbable first downs. Otherwise, he was all over the field as usual and played both fast and physical. 12 tackles, including 2 for a loss. He did miss a couple of coverage assignments on tight ends, most likely because the Saints were so committed to stopping the run.

Jo-Lonn Dunbar: B+ (2.78) Do we even let Fujita start when he's healthy? Seriously, this young linebacker is just getting better and better! Dunbar is terrific against the run, and VERY physical. The only drawback is he's very aggressive so he sometimes contains poorly and lacks discipline. Those are things, by the way, that Fujita excels at. He had 8 tackles and played a very good game. I'm glad the Saints decided Dunbar was a better option than Troy Evans. Physically there is just a huge difference between the two. I think Dunbar could be a viable starter for the Saints in the future.

Scott Shanle: B- (2.79) Nice to see Shanle bounce back from what I considered his worst performance of the season. He finished with 4 tackles. He still got pushed around and cleared out of some running plays where he could have had an opportunity to make a tackle, but he showed off some terrific coverage skills against the Panthers.

Jabari Greer: B (3.46) You'll notice that Greer has the highest GPA among the Saints through 8 games. I know this might not be a popular call (with Brees and Sharper having great seasons), but my vote for team MVP half way through the season is JABARI GREER. He went out with what is apparently a groin injury. He finished the game with just 2 tackles, but consider Steve Smith's stats: 4 catches for 64 yards. Never has Smith been so limited against the Saints. The Saints need this guy, badly, so hopefully he's not too banged up.

Tracy Porter: B+ (3.25) Porter was awesome yet again. He forced a BIG fumble to get the Saints back in the game early. Unfortunately Brees threw an INT in the red zone to negate the big play. He was physical, helpful against the run, and pretty good in pass coverage. He finished with 7 tackles and was all over the field.

Randall Gay: B (3.00) Gay came in for Greer and gave medium passing gain once, but otherwise did a reasonably good job. He came blitzing on one play and was able to deflect a pass Delhomme tried to get to Jarrett. He helped his teammates on gang tackles and finished with 3 total. If Greer has to miss a game, I feel ok about Gay holding down the fort, provided it's temporary.

Malcolm Jenkins: B- (3.11) Jenkins was once again a standout on special teams. Nothing was bigger than the ball he downed at the Carolina 2, which ultimately led to the Hargrove touchdown. Jenkins filled in for Gay in the nickel slot when Greer went down, and was VERY fortunate not to get flagged for pass interference on a big 3rd down play late in the game. He finished with 2 tackles and showed some need for improvement in pass coverage. Clearly, though, he's the Saints' best playmaker on special teams. I really believe he needs to be groomed as the heir to Darren Sharper.

Pierson Prioleau: B- (2.84) Prioleau was good in pass coverage the few times he played. He also did a terrific job of recovering the fumble forced by Tracy Porter earlier in the game. He jumped on top of the pile and somehow wrestled the ball away from Panther linemen. Sidenote, I forgot to grade Prioleau last week, but I retroactively gave him a B because he had 5 tackles and played well.

Roman Harper: A- (3.25) The only thing negative I can say about Harper was the pass interference call that got flagged for where the tight end caught the ball anyway. By now we all know that playing pass defense isn't his forte. He was assigned to play in the box all game and help limit the running game of Carolina. After a bad start, he finished with 12 tackles including 4 for losses. He was fast, active and all over the place. Anytime the Saints made a good play against the run, I saw Harper involved. Consider that the Saints fell down 14-0 with about 7 minutes left in the 1st quarter. Carolina would only score 6 points the rest of the day. Give Harper a lot of credit as he was a big reason the Saints were able to turn this game around.

Darren Sharper: B+ (3.21) Sharper, per usual, was extremely good in pass defense. He also had 9 tackles and had two terrific open field tackles (once on Smith and once on Williams) to stop the Panthers from getting huge gains. Delhomme tried to throw a slant pass to Smith near the end zone which Sharper read perfectly and almost picked off. The only negatives were a stupid personal foul hitting Steve Smith out of bounds to give the Panthers 15 yards, and a HORRIBLE angle on the long touchdown run by DeAngelo Williams. That's twice in two weeks now that he's allowed a breakaway run for a touchdown by taking a bad angle on the runner. He just doesn't have the recovery speed anymore to make up for mistakes like that, so once again while Sharper is terrific the Saints were victimized by his limitations.

John Carney: A- (2.67) Can't say anything bad about Carney. He did his job. He hit a 40 yard field goal right down the middle to give the Saints a 23-20 lead with under 5 minutes to go in the game, which was clutch. He was 3 for 3 on field goals and 3 for 3 on extra points. He doesn't get an A because he made me nervous, twice, by barely making chip shots just inside the right goal post.

Thomas Morstead: B (3.08) Mixed bag for Morstead. His first kickoff of the game barely made it past the 15, and he had a horrendous punt that was not only short but got a tremendous Panthers bounce. That punt ended up being 22 yards. Still, none of his 3 punts were returned and Carolina had no success returning kickoffs. With the game on the line, he got much better. He had two kickoffs deep in the end zone for touchbacks, preventing a Carolina comeback attempt from getting good field position. His biggest play has a very high monster punt that went 48 yards down to the Carolina 2 yard line, where Malcolm Jenkins downed it.

Courtney Roby: B- (2.71) Roby was good on coverage, forcing a fair catch on Morstead's first punt. He was disciplined and downed kickoffs deep in the end zone. He took one out and was able to get past the 20. He averaged 23 yards on 2 returns, so nothing special there but no mistakes either.

Defensive Player of the Game: Roman Harper
Special Teams Player of the Game: John Carney

Breaking Down Key Panthers Miscues in Sunday's Loss

Ryan Basen — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 03:58:21 -0000

More photos » by Patrick Semansky - AP

Quarterback Jake Delhomme, center, is stripped by Saints defensive end Will Smith, behind, in the fourth quarter Sunday, Delhomme's fumble was one of several Panthers mistakes that helped New Orleans rally from a 17-3 deficit to win. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky)

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For the better part of six quarters the Panthers played solid, smart football. They did not turn the ball over, ran it seemingly at will and forced turnovers. As a result, a team that had started 2-4 and struggled at home against Buffalo and Washington soundly defeated a division leader (Arizona) and built a 17-3 lead on the road over an unbeaten team (New Orleans). For nearly 90 minutes, essentially, the 2009 Panthers again looked like the 2008 Panthers.

Then the Panthers suddenly reverted back to 2009 form. It started Sunday with a fumbled snap late in the second quarter, and ended with consecutive turnovers in the final three minutes of what became a 30-20 loss to the Saints. In between they dropped passes, lost a potential touchdown pass in the lights and committed costly penalties.

The sudden breakdown of the Carolina offense cost the team a game it needed to hang in the NFC South race. A win would have drawn the Panthers within three games of New Orleans with a 2-1 division record and their final three divisional games at home. Instead Carolina is five games out and will need a huge surge just to snatch a wild card berth.

The defense was not great; New Orleans rolled up 414 yards of offense. But the unit held the Saints to 23 points and forced two turnovers. It gave the Panthers a chance to win. But the offense, after a good start, could not capitalize.

Here is a breakdown of the offensive miscues that cost Carolina a game it was controlling:

Situation: Third-and-16, midfield. 17-3 Carolina. 2:00 to play in the second quarter.

The Panthers followed a Chris Gamble interception with a 13-yard DeAngelo Williams run for a first down at the New Orleans 44, and 2:33 to play in the first half. Delhomme fumbled the ensuing snap and, although he recovered the ball, he lost three yards on the play. Tight end Jeff King than was penalized for a false start and Williams ran for two yards to set up this third-down play.

Formations: Carolina lined up with one back, two receivers (one on each side) and two tight ends. The Saints used four down linemen with two defenders showing blitz and two corners playing press coverage.

What happened: Williams ran up the middle for no gain. New Orleans called timeout to stop the clock with 1:53 left in the half.

How it happened: The Saints blitzed three defenders, including a corner and safety Darren Sharper. Sharper fired into the backfield untouched and nailed Williams.

The Panthers had successfully run on third-and-long earlier in the possession, but the Saints were not fooled this time.

The result: The Panthers blew good field position following the Gamble interception and, to compound their failure, punted the ball back to the Saints with enough time for Drew Brees to move them into position to kick a field goal. That kick launched a 27-3 run by the Saints to close the game.

Situation: First-and-goal, New Orleans 1. 17-13 Carolina. 4:51 to play in third quarter.

Formations: Carolina lined up in I-formation with a tight end left and a receiver on each side. New Orleans used six down linemen with two corners in press coverage and three other defenders in the box.

What happened: Before the play the Panthers wasted a timeout because they could not get the right players onto the field. Then Delhomme was sacked for a 6-yard loss when he fumbled attempting to hand the ball off.

How it happened: With the Panthers' top two fullbacks injured, guard Mackenzy Bernadeau lined up at fullback in front of tailback Jonathan Stewart. Delhomme prepared to handoff to Stewart as Bernadeau ran straight ahead. Bernadeau‘s left elbow struck the ball and jarred it loose. As Stewart looked for the handoff, Delhomme caught the ball and Stewart ran past him. The Saints' right defensive end fired in and tackled Delhomme.

Stewart had a gaping hole in between right guard and tackle. He may not have needed a block from the fullback to score.

The result: The Panthers failed to score a touchdown that would have made given them a two-score lead with less than 20 minutes to play. After a 1-yard run, the Panthers faced third-and-goal.

Situation: Third-and-goal, New Orleans 6. 17-13 Carolina. 3:37 to play in third.

Formations: Carolina lined up with one back, trips left and a receiver right. The Saints were in a 4-3 with one corner in press coverage on the receiver split right, and other defenders off the line.

What happened: Delhomme threw incomplete for Williams, open at the goal line.

How it happened: Delhomme looked left, turned right and spotted Williams, who ran free past a defensive end. Nobody picked up Williams and Delhomme hit him in the hands, but Williams could not hang on.

The result: The Panthers had to settle for a field goal. The Saints responded with a quick touchdown to tie the game 20-20 entering the fourth quarter.

Situation: First-and-15, Carolina 15. 20-20 tie. 15:00 to play in fourth quarter.

Formations: Carolina lined up in I-formation with a tight end and receiver on each side. New Orleans used a 4-3 with its two corners in press coverage.

What happened: Receiver Dwayne Jarrett missed a bomb from Delhomme that fell incomplete.

How it happened: Jarrett beat single coverage from a corner and sprinted down the right sideline. The Saints' safeties were on the other side of the field, leaving Jarrett and the corner alone. Jarrett extended for Delhomme's pass at the Saints 40 but the ball slid through his hands.

The result: A few plays later the Panthers punted. New Orleans responded with a long drive and a field goal to go ahead for the first time all day.

Situation: Fourth-and-8, New Orleans 43. 23-20 Saints. 2:51 to play.

Formations: Carolina lined up with one back, three receivers (two right), and a tight end in the left slot. The Saints used three linemen with their corners in press coverage and a linebacker showing blitz.

What happened: Defensive end Will Smith stripped Delhomme and the Saints recovered at their 48.

How it happened: The Panthers had driven to the 43 and faced a second-and-8 with just over three minutes to play. Delhomme fired long for receiver Steve Smith, who was single-covered. But Smith lost the ball in the lights and it fell incomplete at the 10. On the next play Jarrett failed to adjust to a Delhomme lob near the 20. He looked for the ball over his left shoulder, but Delhomme threw it to his right and it fell incomplete.

That forced the fourth-down play. Delhomme held the ball for nearly three seconds. He seemed to look for Williams coming out of the backfield, but the linebacker who had shown blitz covered Williams. Will Smith hit his arm from behind as he began to throw downfield.

The result: The Saints squashed the drive just outside of field goal range and forced the Panthers to use their final two timeouts on defense. New Orleans then pinned a punt at the Carolina 2.

Situation: First-and-10, Carolina 2. 23-20 Saints. 2:17 to play.

Formations: Carolina lined up with one back, a tight end left and three receivers (two right). The Saints used a 4-3 and dropped their defensive backs deep.

What happened: Williams ran up the middle and fumbled. The Saints recovered and returned the fumble 1 yard for a touchdown.

How it happened: Williams ran in between the center and right guard. He had a seam if he had cut right, around a good block from Smith on corner Malcolm Jenkins. But the Saints' left defensive tackle stripped the ball as Williams ran through the hole.

The result: The Panthers trailed by two scores with two minutes, and no timeouts, left.

Saints Offensive Player Grades vs. Panthers

saints-nation — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:00:49 -0000

by Dave Martin - AP

2 days ago: New Orleans Saints receiver Robert Meachem (17) scores on a long touchdown catch in the fourth quarter of their NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers in New Orleans, Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. New Orleans won 30-20. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

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Below are the offensive players grades against the Panthers. The letter grade represents the player's performance in the game and the GPA in parentheses represents their cumulative performance for the season.

Drew Brees: B- (3.09) Prior to the drive just before halftime, I was seriously considering whether or not Brees was worthy of the first "F" I've given out. He fumbled inside his own 20, threw an interception in the red zone, botched a snap that cost his team, and was settling for little passes underneath. But of course I knew he would turn it around and he was nearly flawless in the second half, so he saved his grade. He wasn't helped by a few Colston drops, including two in the end zone. Brees finished 24 of 35 for 330 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception and 1 lost fumble. He also converted a 3rd and 1 on a 5 yard sneak.

Reggie Bush: B+ (2.42) Bush did all the little things very well. He carried the ball twice, rushing for 9 and 7 yards respectively. On both carries he hit the hole and showed a nice burst. He was heavily involved in the passing game, finishing with 7 catches for 37 yards. He helped the Saints convert big 3rd downs when they needed it. He returned one punt for 4 yards, avoiding his backpedaling tendency. His best play of the game was chasing Chris Gamble downfield after an interception to save a touchdown return. Despite being blocked by a couple Panthers on that play he was able to catch Gamble, and as low as the Saints were at that point in the game he helped limit the damage already done.

Mike Bell: C+ (2.95) Bell converted twice on 3rd and short, so give him credit for powering through with his aggressive running style. Otherwise he just had 5 carries for 17 yards. Quiet day.

Devery Henderson: B+ (3.12) Henderson came up with a HUGE 63 yard reception on3rd down to set up the Pierre Thomas score. He finished with 3 catches for 93 yards. He also had another 3rd down conversion and made the most of his opportunities. He had no chance on an end around that went for a 3 yard loss as Thomas Davis read the play perfectly.

Marques Colston: D+ (2.92) Colston had at least 4 drops and had by far his worse game of the season. While a couple of those were gimmes, a couple of those were admittedly tough catches to make. None the less, we've come to expect Colston to make those spectacular catches and he just didn't show up. Poor performance for the Saints' star receiver who finished with just 1 catch for 45 yards. His one catch did set up the field goal before halftime, which was important for the Saints' momentum going into the locker room, but the bad overshadowed the good. He specifically had two drops in the end zone on plays I've seen him make countless times.

Robert Meachem: A- (2.83) Meachem was the most targeted and reliable Saints' receiver on the day. It was a nice surprise to see him so involved and performing well. He finished with 5 catches for 93 yards and a touchdown. His touchdown was a 54 strike from Brees where he was able to show off his terrific hands and speed, and it was crucial as it tied the game at 20.

Pierre Thomas: B+ (3.22) Thomas was off to a slow start, especially in the first half, but played a terrific second half when he got more touches. Finished with 50 yards on 13 carries, none bigger than the 10 yard touchdown run that pulled the Saints back within 4 to start the second half. As the game wore on he refused to go down and was seen shedding two to three tacklers before going down. He also had 5 catches for 31 yards.

Jeremy Shockey: C- (3.21) Shockey had his worse game of the season. He didn't block particularly well, and he wasn't looking on a pass in the end zone that Brees threw to him. A little embarrassing, considering Fox analyst Brian Billick spent the better part of a drive talking about how Shockey and Brees were finally on the same page. He was flagged for an offensive pass interference call that was suspect, and finished with 3 catches for 26 yards.

David Thomas: D+ (1.89) Thomas played a decent amount of snaps at fullback, but didn't seem to throw great lead blocks. He did throw a couple good blocks on screen passes to the running backs, but he was never targeted in the passing game. His low grade is mostly due to the fact that I saw him beat by Thomas Davis and pushed around by Jon Beason.

Jermon Bushrod: A- (2.81) Brees got little pressure from Bushrod's edge all game, and when he did he was able to step up in the pocket. Bushrod did an admirable job in both pass protection and run blocking. While it seemed like he went out for a portion of the game with an injury, Julius Peppers had just 1 tackle and was almost non-existent in the game. Give Bushrod credit, Jammal Brown has never kept Peppers that quiet.

Jahri Evans: B- (3.29) Hard to forget about the most costly penalty of the game. On a screen pass to Thomas that converted a 3rd down inside the Panthers' 5, Evans was called for a hold, forcing the Saints to settle for a field goal and a 23-20 lead. The Saints were fortunate it didn't come back to haunt them, but Evans picked a crucial time to make a mistake. Otherwise, he was pretty solid but not as dominant as usual.

Jonathan Goodwin: B (3.04) Goodwin was back to pulling on screens and showing a nasty streak inside. He showed no ill effects from the knee injury that forced him to leave the game early last week. The shotgun snap that was dropped by Brees was not his fault.

Carl Nicks: B (3.00) Nicks was terrific run blocking, mauling ex Saint Hollis Thomas on a couple of occasions. Thomas is a load, so it was fun to see Nicks bullying the hefty veteran. I only remembered him get beat once on a passing play.

Jon Stinchcomb: C+ (2.88) Stinchcomb was responsible for the sack and strip in the 1st quarter. There was a lot of pressure coming from his edge, but Brees was able to step up in the pocket to avoid most of it. Stinchcomb did spring one of Bell's 3rd and 1 conversions, but he also did a bad job containing linebackers bringing backside pursuit.

Offensive Player of the Game: Robert Meachem

Carolina Panthers 20 @ New Orleans Saints 30: Who Dat Say!?

Saintsational — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:00:59 -0000

Linkage

New Orleans Saints play with fire but prove they can take the heat - Times-Pic

"That's not how we want to keep playing these games, "

-Jonathan Vilma

"It is what it is, " said Vilma, who had 12 tackles (10 solo), including two for losses. "And we can't lose sight of the fact that we're playing good opponents, giving us their A game. We've got to tip our hats to them."

-Jonathan Vilma

"I would say we're blessed, because a lot of teams can't make all those mistakes and be down 17-6, " said Meachem, who finished with five catches for 98 yards. "Coach said one thing that stuck in our minds at halftime: If we stop making the mistakes, we can come back and win the game."

-Robert Meachem

New Orleans Saints bounce back from shaky start to defeat Carolina Panthers, go 8-0 - Times-Pic

"We all knew what we had to do, " Pierre Thomas said. "We said, 'Let's take it 98 yards, let's take it all the way and keep this thing going.' "

-Pierre Thomas

"Man, 1991 is a long time ago, " Hargrove said. "I was 8 years old, in foster care in Queens (N.Y.). I remember my third grade teacher was Miss Schneider, but I didn't know nothing about the Saints.

"8-0, huh? A franchise record? I ain't never been 8-0 before. This is awesome. This is crazy."

-Anthony Hargrove

"Going 16-0 and finishing the regular season would be great, but we want to win the division and get home-field advantage, " Saints defensive end Will Smith said. "The only thing this win today guarantees us is 8-8. That's all."

-Darren Sharper

"We weren't overconfident by any stretch, " Panthers Coach John Fox said. "We played this team before, and we know their potency on offense. It's a 60-minute game."

-John Fox

"I take responsibility for the way we came out offensively, " said Brees, who finished with more-than-respectable numbers of 24-of-35 for 330 yards with one touchdown and one interception for a 96.1 passer rating. "I turned the ball over twice. I'm really disappointed in myself, knowing how important the game was today.

"What I can take pride in is the way we bounced back, our entire team. We know we got what it takes to come back and win."

-Drew Brees

Recapping the New Orleans Saints' win over the Carolina Panthers - Times-Pic

"We just know when that ball's thrown to us, it's on us to make the play, " ... "That's what guys have been doing, from the running backs to the tight ends to us to Drew (Brees), taking advantage of opportunities. That's the thing. When you're doing that, it's hard to beat."

-Devery Henderson

"He gambled a little bit -- just like his last name. And we were able to make him pay on that play, "

-Robert Meachem, on safety Chris Gamble

"I'm just enjoying the ride, " Meachem said. "I knew my speed was back. I knew my swagger was back. Everything was back. The Good Lord was blessing me. And I just kept praying, 'Lord, please get me out of this hole.' And he's gotten me out of that hole, and I'm back where I want to be. But there's still more to come."

-Robert Meachem

"You know, you don't get hired to miss kicks, so I was disappointed in the last few weeks, " said Carney, who is 11-of-14 on the season. "I wanted to come out and have a clean game, and I'm very fortunate to work with Jason Kyle, who's a great snapper, a great veteran, and (holder) Mark Brunell. They can make a kicker's job very easy."

-Jon Carney

"I was just trying to keep the ball in, and I remembered that I had to get my feet back in bounds before I could touch the ball, " said Jenkins, who briefly ran into the end zone but had the presence of mind to get back out across the goal line as he had been coached. "And Thomas did a great job of getting the ball to bounce our way. It kind of bounced flat."

-Malcolm Jenkins

Each week a new hero emerges for the undefeated New Orleans Saints: Jeff Duncan - Times-Pic

"It's great," quarterback Drew Brees said. "1967 'til now, and we're the only team to have done that. That's special. It's really special."

-Drew Brees

"The Saints are a heck of a football team," said Jake Delhomme, the Panthers' quarterback, a Breaux Bridge native and former Saint . "I said it all week, it's the best team in football, in our opinion."

-Jake Delhomme

"It just shows you what kind of character we have on this football team, to be able to come back and win games like this," -Darren Sharper "8-0 is nice but we want to go 19-0," Sharper said. "That's our goal."

-Darren Sharper

"Anything's possible," Brees said. "Would we like to win them all? Absolutely. But you can never look too far ahead."

-Drew Brees

New Orleans Saints' Anthony Hargrove 'trying not to be a weakness for our defense' - Times-Pic

"That first leap, my toe kind of caught the wall a little bit. I had to set myself and get my mind right, " said Hargrove, who then started to revise his excuse. "Actually, what happened was, I don't think the fans were ready. They were still cheering. I think if I would have went in there, they might not have been ready for me. . . . There was a little girl there. I might have hurt her."

-Anthony Hargrove

"Usually by this time of year I'm in jail or been arrested or failed a drug test or something. If you look back, that's how it is. I get about a month in and go AWOL, " Hargrove said. "It's November, I haven't been arrested, I haven't failed a drug test. Seriously, I have to call a spade a spade. That's my reality. I'm in a very new place right now."

-Anthony Hargrove

"This is crazy. Honest to god. Just making a play like this once a week, it's a blessing, " said Hargrove, who recovered two fumbles Sunday -- one forced by defensive end Will Smith earlier in the fourth quarter -- and scored the first touchdown of his career. "It's crazy. I come out here and I just try to play. For me, it's a blessing. I don't think I've played this well, this consistent."

-Anthony Hargrove

"Just being in position to make a play like that, it was awesome. I knew nobody else saw (the loose ball), so I just picked it up and kind of hobbled into the end zone, " Hargrove said. "I'm no Sedrick Ellis by any stretch. I just started playing defensive tackle this year. I'm just in here trying not to be a weakness for our defense."

-Anthony Hargrove

"We wanted to establish that in the second half, get the run game going more and really take it to these guys so we could open up the pass, " said Thomas, who ran for 50 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and caught five passes for 31 yards. "We talk all the time about finishing. Finishing runs, finishing catches and finishing games."

-Pierre Thomas

Grieving Hargrove delivers strong performance - ESPN

"It’s really just starting to sink in and it’s hitting me hard,’’ Hargrove said. "It’s a rough world out there. It makes you realize life is short and you have to make the most of each day.’’

-Anthony Hargrove

"I think I’ve grown up a lot in the last year or so,’’ said Hargrove, 26. "I had to grow up. It was past time to grow up. I think the biggest thing I learned was how important each day is and making the most of every opportunity in life.’’

-Anthony Hargrove

"I’m truly having fun out there,’’ Hargrove said. "This is a fun defense to play in. We all play off one another and no one guy is bigger than the team. It’s fun to be a part of something like this.’’

-Anthony Hargrove

"I just have to keep reminding myself every day about the wonderful chance the New Orleans Saints have given me,’’ Hargrove said. "They gave me a chance to play again when nobody else was really doing that. They gave me an opportunity and what’s happened the last couple days has really reinforced that you have to take advantage of every opportunity you get because you never know when opportunities will stop coming.’’

-Anthony Hargrove

Jake Delhomme suffers first loss at Superdome at hands of Saints - Times-Pic

"Being part of teams that have won here before (at the Superdome) is great, " said Delhomme, who entered the game 7-0 in the Superdome as a starter, counting games in college and professionally. "At UL (Lafayette) we did it, and we did it with the Panthers. But it just didn't happen today."

-Jake Delhomme

"Jake managed the game well, " said Carolina Coach John Fox, who like his quarterback lost for the first time at the Dome as a head coach. "He's done that for a lot of games. We had our chances. Unfortunately, we came up a little short today. It's kind of like how I coached and how the rest of us played. We just came up short."

-John Fox

"We are real disappointed, " Delhomme said. "They are a heck of a football team. I said it all week, it's the best team in football in our opinion. You look at them on film and then in the game, they give you all you want."

-Jake Delhomme

"It's tough to lose this one, especially because of how we lost, " Williams said. "We got the ball back, and then I commit a turnover. That's how games are won and lost in this league by the team who makes the least amount of mistakes."

-DeAngelo Williams

"Early on we had it in our grasp, but we just couldn't make enough plays, and that's what it came down to, " Thomas said. "It's not a surprise (the Saints are 8-0). They are a good team. We just didn't do the things we needed to do today to beat a good team."

-Hollis Thomas

Saints explode in second half as Panthers unravel - Charlotte Observer

"The first thing that went through my mind was, 'game over,'" said Delhomme. "I mean, we didn't have any timeouts left and that was it." -Jake Delhomme "We had our chances, but we blew it,"

-Chris Harris

"It was a first-time mistake," said Bernadeau. "I guarantee you it will never happen again. It was just something that happened (that) I've got to adjust to. I'll know the next time to get further back from the ball. It's unfortunate because I felt like it would have worked (and the running lane to the end zone) was open."

-Mackenzy Bernadeau

"It's still a long season" yet to play, said defensive tackle Hollis Thomas. "You can't let this ruin your season."

-Hollis Thomas

Beason: 'it's pretty disheartening' - Charlotte Observer

"You've got to give them credit," Beason said after the unbeaten Saints rallied to beat the Panthers 30-20 in the Super Dome. "They're a pretty good football team – I didn't say great.

"We showed we can play with them. We proved it for 3½ quarters. But you can't give them stuff and that's what we did late in the game."

-Jon Beason

"Anytime you don't know what's wrong with a knee, it's definitely scary," said Beason. "Unfortunately, he's having a great season. Pro Bowl numbers. I can't think of any outside linebacker playing any better. You've just got to keep the faith. Hopefully everything works out and he'll be back next week."

-Jon Beason

"It's pretty disheartening," Beason said. "That's on us. (We) missed tackles, had a blown assignment one time. It's something to build on, but you can't have it if you're going to win games. It's too tough in this league."

-Jon Beason

"They've gotten to where they're running the ball better," said Beason. "It used to be that a lot of teams just sat on the pass. You can't be one dimensional in this league. We did a good job containing the run, but we blew some coverages."

-Jon Beason

New Orleans Saints-Carolina Panthers photo gallery - Times-Pic

Grading the New Orleans Saints' performance against the Carolina Panthers - Times-Pic

Saints vs Panthers Game Story - New Orleans Saints official website

Photos - Saints 30, Panthers 20 - Charlotte Observer

Improved Panthers still lack a true closer - Charlotte Observer

Key Moments - Charlotte Observer

Scott Says ...: 5 things I didn't like in loss to New Orleans - Charlotte Observer

Panthers Report Card - Charlotte Observer

Saints Postgame Notes - Panthers official website

Saints vs Panthers Game Notes - New Orleans Saints official website

Saints come from behind to beat Panthers 30-20, improve to 8-0 - WWLTV

Week Nine Morning Aftermath: Saints 30, Panthers 20 - Pro Football Talk

Saints win heavyfight bout with Panthers; 30-20 buys them 8-0 - New Orleans Pro Football

Video

Jeff Duncan's Panthers-Saints Vlog (Nov. 8, 2009)

Out of the mouth's of babes...

Sean Payton Transcript

From the New Orleans Saints official website

"Just from an injury standpoint, Jabari (Greer) came out for a few plays; he tweaked his groin.
"One of the things we talked about was trying to get our legs back. We played a good team.
"I thought we hung in there in the second half. The kicking game, we won that battle, and that was significant for us. We hung around offensively and got some things going. It's good to get the win. There's a lot of things we can improve on. I think it's a very well coached team we played.
"I thought there was a point in the fourth quarter where the momentum kind of shifted.
(on 8-0 start) "It doesn't really promise you anything. I'm encouraged with how we've been playing. I'm encouraged we've been able to win some of these games without playing our best football. I don't think we're paying a lot of attention to where this compares to past teams. I think we're just focused on the job at hand and next week. I'm excited for our players. Early on, it would have been real easy to get discouraged. We battled back and I think all three phases in the second half played well.
"We were getting a lot of coverage. We're not going to force throws. Carolina did a good job in coverage. Historically, they've been a real patient defense. We made a few plays later in the game. I thought the offensive line played well, particularly in the second half.
"I think it's important to get these guys away for a couple of days and get them rested.
(on resiliency) "That's been the encouraging thing. The body language is important. We had made a few mistakes. We had the turnover in the red zone just after we had gotten the turnover. Those are all things that can potentially hurt you in a game. You never lose sight of your ability to come back. That was encouraging.
(on Anthony Hargrove) "To his credit, he's been able to take it one day at a time and work hard. I think the support cast and his decision to seize that opportunity, obviously we're real proud of him.
(on fourth quarter success this season) "We made a point of emphasis in the offseason of trying to finish. I think we're playing better defense. I think we're running the ball better. I think we're getting turnovers. Those things lend themselves to playing better at the end of the game.
(on Carolina RBs) "Those are two good running backs. Once we got a handle of what they were doing, we were able to hold up. I thought our players, especially as the game went on, did a good job on their run-pass keys.
(on Robert Meachem) "It was big. He made a few big plays in the seams. At different times, you don't know where the ball's going to go based on the coverage. Robert took advantage; that was significant."

Carolina Panthers’ Monday Morning Optimist 11/9/09

James The Aussie — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 14:47:41 -0000

More photos » by Dave Martin - AP

2 days ago: Carolina Panthers coach John Fox reacts near the end of a 30-20 loss to the New Orleans Saints in their NFL football game in New Orleans Sunday, Nov. 8, 2009. (AP Photo/Dave Martin)

Browse more photos »

Good morning Panther faithful. We came close, very, very close... and that's why this win hurts more than it should. I said in Wednesday's prognostication column that the Panthers were a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team, and that Mr. Hyde (the beast) would need to show up for 60 minutes in New Orleans if we hoped to best the Saints. We got 30 minutes of beastliness, and 30 minutes of the placid doctor on Sunday; and that's why we're 3-5 this morning.

We were a confident fan base heading into the weekend; but we all knew just how hard this game was going to be. The Saints were 7-0 for a reason, conversely we were 3-4 for a reason, and that reason had a lot to do with being unable to find our identity. As fast as we gained it, we lost it in the second half of Sunday's game. Players blew coverage, the offense stalled, and we left too much of an opening for the best offense in the NFL to burn us.

So, it's time to lick our wounds, look behind the numbers and find out what went wrong in the Bayou.

More after the jump...

Maybe someone should head to Charlotte with a TV, a DVD player and a copy of Herm Edwards' famous ‘You play to win the game' post-game press conference. It seems that the coaching staff (in particular John Fox and Jeff Davidson) didn't look interested in winning the game. They wanted to keep it close so it would be tougher to fire them in their exit interviews. When the Panthers jumped to the lead in the first half, going into halftime it seems the prevailing wisdom was ‘Let's do what we did last week, just keep running the ball and burn the clock'. That wisdom worked against Arizona because the defense was able to consistently get turnovers, but against New Orleans we were not going to have as much luck.

A couple of weeks ago after Buffalo I excluded Jake Delhomme from the Optimistic/Pessimistic ratings to focus on him. Well, now's the time to focus on offensive co-coordinator Jeff Davidson who's made a weekly name for himself on the pessimistic side of the column. It's hard to believe this man has been with the team over a season, and it's hard to believe the team went 12-4 last season with him at the helm of the offense. He is clearly a man who looks petrified he's going to lose his job and will do anything to keep it, including sinking the team.

The questionable play calls were vast. Okay, you have success with Tyrell Sutton twice on FB dives; we get it, but why call that play on the 1 yard line? Botched handoff or not, I never want a rookie in his first game, with less than 3 carries to his name to be responsible for a goal line dive; especially with DeAngelo and Stewart in the wings. There is no excuse for it.

While their may be some hidden blueprint for how many carries D-Will should get and how many J-Stew should have it needs to be malleable. It was clear that J-Stew was ineffective yesterday and DeAngelo was the hot hand. You ride that pony as much as you can and you don't stop until you've won the game. Williams had 14 carries in the first half, and 7 in the second. Conversely, Stewart had 6 carries in the first half and 7 in the second. Is this the idea of a halftime adjustment? Going to the weaker back? There are going to be days where Williams is better and there are going to be days Stewart is better, but not recognizing which is which becomes a major failing of the offensive coordinator.

Then we come to the passing game. 17 of Jake Delhomme's 30 passing attempts came in the 4^th quarter; we ran the ball 7 times. The game was not out of hand in the 4^th and only truly over after the Williams fumble. What is the excuse for passing the ball 71% of the time in the 4^th? Was this supposed to stop the bleeding? Without Muhsin Muhammad and Dante Rosario how exactly was the passing game going to be dynamic enough to best the Saints? Had Jake thrown an interception, or a pick 6 in the 4^th we'd all be in Charlotte right now with flaming torches and pitchforks; maybe we still should. If John Fox survives this season Jeff Davidson has to go... he has to... he's that bad.

It wasn't all bad though in New Orleans, like I said earlier it stings more than it probably should, but there were some bright spots in the game. I'm going to kick off the individual ratings a little differently today. During the live thread and via e-mail I had numerous requests for players who deserve to be in this morning's column and I appreciate the feedback... but, some of them I don't see as positive or negative so I'll start with a few ‘pushes' of noticeable players who either erased great performances with mediocrity, or vice-versa.

DeAngelo Williams- Push: Loved the TD runs D-Will, I really did. You had them reeling! But the dropped TD pass and the fumble... not so much.

Dwayne Jarrett- Push: Loved that you caught some passes this week and liked your run blocking. Didn't love the dropped deep pass in the 4^th; you should have had that one.

Optimistic

Ron Meeks- Somewhat Optimistic: The defense did an outstanding job against the Saints on a whole. Revshawn said it best yesterday stating that the Panthers only allowed 23 points (sans the D-Will fumble) yesterday. The big gains were preventable and hurt us, but New Orleans are a team who averaged 39 points and 428 yards going into Sunday's game. The Panther's D allowed 23 points and 414 yards. Holding an offense as good as the Saints under their averages is a major accomplishment, and who knows what could have happened if playmaker Thomas Davis was able to stay in the full game. A dark spot however is that the Panthers fell to 7^th in the NFL in pass defense after this game.

Jon Beason- Somewhat Optimistic: The leader played a great game. He called out numerous defensive adjustments that helped solidify the goal line stands.

Gary Barnidge- Somewhat Optimistic: Barnidge is starting to develop into the pass catching and blocking TE we were hoping he would. Let's hope he keeps it up.

Tyrell Sutton- Somewhat Optimistic: Wow Tyrell, where have you been? Sutton played well enough to vault over Mike Goodson on the depth chart and proved dynamic in his playing time.

Chris Gamble- Somewhat Optimistic: Nice game Chris. He tackled well and had an INT, enough to get recognized.

Tyler Brayton- Somewhat Optimistic: Good game by Tyler with a sack and FF. He's making a name for himself on the d-line.

Pessimistic

Richard Marshall- Extremely Pessimistic: Get burned once, shame on you... get burned twice... still shame on you, and now you're in this section of the column. The two biggest gains of the day by Devery Henderson and Robert Meachem were directly related to Richard Marshall's coverage. He also offered no help in stopping outside runs, horrible game.

Julius Peppers- Somewhat Pessimistic: Pep was a non-factor on Sunday. We expected so much more.

Sherrod Martin- Somewhat Pessimistic: I think we all drank from the Kool-Aid a little too soon. I expected more this week.

Overall Analysis

We played the Saints well, very well. Perhaps better than any other team has played the Saints this season. While we lost the battle, we haven't lost the war. We have a game with Atlanta next and a chance to pull a little closer in the NFC South. Losses by Chicago, Green Bay and the NY Giants help our cause to push for a wild card. It's going to be extremely difficult and darn near impossible, but there's still hope yet. We did play well against New Orleans, but right now we have to fight with a team every week and an offensive coordinator... something has to give.

60% Optimistic heading home to face the Falcons.

Poll

Do you hold out any hope for the remainder of the 2009 season?

Falcons And Redskins Recap: Winning Is Always Easy

Dave the Falconer — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:00:49 -0000

by Erik S. Lesser - AP

Michael Turner high-kicked his way to victory Sunday. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)

View full size photo »

This game was the polar opposite of last week's.

Against the Saints, we executed well all the way through and nearly won against a very tough team. In this one, we played poorly for long stretches and still found a way to win against the Redskins. The Falcons are maddeningly capable of switching back and forth between sheer brilliance and utter ineptitude, something that will hopefully disappear with time.

Still, the win is what's most important here, and the Falcons managed that 31-17. There were also quite a few encouraging bright spots this week, so it's not like there's any reason to be truly concerned here. I hope.

Follow me after the jump and we'll get to the real meat n' potatoes of this post.

HIGHLIGHTS

Michael Turner is awesome. My greatest fear right now is that he's going to be running, the camera's going to switch to the back of the end zone and he's going to keep running and come right through the television screen and punch me in the stomach. I'm sorry I doubted you! That 58 yard touchdown was beautiful!

I maintain that there was something not quite right with Turner earlier in the season, but whatever it was has vaporized like an ant under a death ray. Right now, I think the Panthers, who have the top-rated pass defense in the league, are going to have to worry about our good friend Touchdown Vampire.
Big ups to Tye Hill, who went from not playing at all to locking down the starting job in Atlanta in the span of two weeks. Hill's interception and 62-yard return for a touchdown clearly caught the attention of the coaching staff, as the AJC speculates he'll start again. He's got the physical skills to win the job and may just have developed in the system well enough to make this work. This comes at the expense of Brent Grimes, obviously, but I still think he'll do good things at the nickle.
Jason Elam's back! Yes!
Tony Gonzalez had a very underrated game. The Redskins blanket the tight end, but Gonzo still managed to pick up 40 yards and a touchdown against that suffocating coverage. He's simply the most reliable option in the passing game, though he's not blowing up like Roddy White is.
Speaking of blowing up, Jonathan Babineaux went off like ten tons of dynamite. Ten total tackles, two-and-a-half sacks and some generally rage-filled play went a long ways on Sunday. Teams with weak interior offensive linemen ought to be peeing their pants about now.
Props to Kroy Biermann and Chevis Jackson (?), who both managed to sack Jason Campbell in a hit parade which unfortunately knocked the young quarterback out of the game. Half props to John Abraham, who managed a half of a sack.
Eric Weems is the man. Still doing well in the return game, so he gets another gold star.

LOWLIGHTS

Matty Ice, appropriately enough, is not doing so hot right now. It's not so much the one interception as it is the handful of bad throws, the inability to find anyone open downfield and the happy feet. It's not anything I'm worried about long term—I mean, hell, I'm barely worried about it short term—but it's yet another reminder that he's human and needs time to grow as a quarterback. Let's all give him that time.
This was a tough secondary, which partly explains both Ryan's struggles and Roddy White's. I don't think the injury was affecting him so much as he wasn't open all that often. Wasn't much of a game for either of 'em, really.
Everyone has different feelings about Jerious Norwood and Jason Snelling, but can we all agree that it would be nice to have them back? I have no problem with Aaron Stecker and Verron Haynes, but they're not getting the job done behind Turner.
As orang3b astutely noted, Mike Peterson was getting killed in coverage today. He wasn't alone, though, as the entire defense forgot how to tackle and cover anyone for long stretches. The Redskins' offense isn't exactly dynamic, especially with that O-line, so our inability to make things happen during the second half of the game was disappointing. Again, it comes down to simple consistency.

THE WRAPUP

Game MVP: I dare not incur the wrath of Michael Turner. Here's your MVP, sir!

Game Theme Song: It's been too long.

One Thing To Take Away: We're still very much in the thick of the wild card race. I'm pretty happy with that.

Next Week: Our damnable foes in Carolina, the Panthers, who as you know are represented by Cat Scratch Reader (bwao naw now). Be sure to visit 'em during the week.

Final Word: Win.