December 29, 2025 • 48 mins
In the show's opening hour, Kyle reacted to the Panthers falling to the Seahawks and how the offense sputtered, and Kyle looks at how the Panthers are in a do-or-die situation in Tampa on Saturday.
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
You're listening to the Kyle Bailey Show powered by Victory
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Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good afternoon, Queen Sady, Good afternoon, Carolina's Welcome back Sports
Radio ninety two to seven WF and Z. It's the
best damn sports talking to Carolinas. We appreciate you being
with us. Hope you all had a great Christmas and
an early happy New Year. We got plenty of time
to talk happy New Year, of course, but first we
look back to yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
At Bank of America Stadium.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The Panthers had a chance to do something they haven't done,
you know, since twenty fifteen clinch the NFC South Tampa
Bay lost to Miami. The path was there, win the game,
win the division in the seven year playoff drought, But
instead Carolina walked off the field in what Dave Canalis
called the non victory formation, some called it the l formation.
(01:09):
More on that in just a bit, and by the
time the scoreboard math had finished updating, everyone realized just
how big an opportunity had slipped away. Seattle beat Carolina
twenty seven to ten, and instead of celebrating a division
title in front of the home crowd, the Panthers now
head into Week eighteen needing to regroup again and figure
(01:30):
out how to finish the job on the road in Tampa.
And you know this has been the defining theme of
the Panthers season. Opportunity followed by frustration, progress, followed by
a step backward, win, then loss, and repeat. Yesterday made
five straight times this team has followed a win with
a loss, part of what is now the fourth longest
(01:51):
win loss win loss streak in NFL history, ten games
of back and forth football. And if there's such a
thing as being reliably unpredictable, these Carolina Panthers might have
trademarked it this year. It is the ultimate sign of
a team that has been consistently inconsistent, and yesterday that
inconsistency showed up everywhere, at least on the offensive side,
(02:13):
because Seattle's defense dictated the day. Bryce Young, who had
been on something of a four or five game heater
coming in, finished with just fifty four passing yards, a
career low as a starter, with an interception and a
passer rating in the mid forties. His top three receivers
combined for four catches for twenty four yards. Teta Ro McMillan,
battling illness, were told, did not record his first or
(02:36):
didn't record his first and only catch until the fourth
quarter one catch five yards on a fourth and seventeen
if memory serves. At one point late in the third quarter,
Bryce Young had rushed for more yards than he'd thrown for,
and after the game, Dave Canalis acknowledged something important, something
that spoke to why the offense never looked comfortable. Seattle,
(02:57):
a defense that leads the league in zone usage, played
more man coverage than they'd shown on film. The mix
they mixed coverage looks titan throwing windows, sped up the
pocket two point two six seconds. The average time that
Bryce Young had to throw yesterday second least in the
second fewest in the NFL, behind only Minnesota, and the
Panthers were just slow to adjust to it. Canalis said
(03:20):
it caught him off guard. He admitted that yesterday in
the postgame press conference. And when you combine that surprise
with an elite pass rush and wide receivers who struggled
to separate, the result was what we saw. No vertical game,
no rhythm and a lot of drives that never got
off the ground. But even with all that, the defense
(03:40):
gave this team chances. The defense, it was its criminal
that the offense put forth the effort that they did yesterday.
Given what the Carolina defense did against a really good offense,
against a very good football team, I mean, Carolina's defense
came to play yesterday. The big mistake the third and
twenty one with JC Horn. A couple of things, now,
withstanding that defense played winning football yesterday. Two takeaways off
(04:05):
Sam Darnold probably should have been about five, if we're
being honest, opportunities to flip momentum, and yet Carolina turned
those into just three points, while their own turnovers turned
into fourteen Seattle points and short fields, two of them
the biggest two of course, in the third quarter, and
even still early in the fourth quarter. Bryce Young runs
(04:27):
one in It's seventeen to ten, The crowd comes alive,
Bank of America stadiums back in it. Seattle faces third
and twenty one. You've got them exactly where you want them,
and instead of getting off the field, a face mass
penalty on JC Horn extends the drive, Seattle tax on
points and the window pretty much closes for good. It
wasn't a meltdown, it wasn't an implosion necessarily. It was
(04:51):
a game where the Panthers played tight, where the mistakes
were magnified, and where execution and critical moments just wasn't
nearly good enough. And that's what ma makes it sting
for fans today. I believe and you can tell me,
because this wasn't just another loss. It was a chance
to finish something, a chance to finally slam the door
shut on the division, and it slipped away, a chance
for us to be debating, you know, who's quarterbacking this
(05:13):
team in week eighteen, how many carries should Traver etn
get as opposed to you know, the starting two running backs,
things of that nature. But instead we're on to week
eighteen for a do or die game against the Buccaneers. Now,
to the team's credit, and I do think this matters.
Before Dave Canalis even reached the locker room, you know,
guys like Bryce Young and Derek Brown were already telling guys,
turn the page, Tampa's next. Everything's still in front of us,
(05:36):
everything's on the line still, and they're right, despite all
the inconsistency, despite the frustration. Despite the missed opportunities, the
NFC South does still come down to Week eighteen in
Tampa Bay, win the game, sweep the season series, and
Carolina's NFC South champions, with hats and t shirts to
prove it, and confetti probably well, maybe not confettian in
(05:56):
Tampa Bay, but you know, seven year playoff drought over
division title back in car that's still on the line.
It's still ahead of them, and yes, there's a weird
scenario where they could still back into the division with
a loss and Atlanta win out, but that's not how
you want to enter the postseason, and it's almost assuredly
not going to happen that way anyway, Not after a
season like this, not after all the swings and momentum
(06:17):
shifts and the gut check moments. This team has earned
the right to play for a head to head spot
in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They have.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
As maddening as they've been, they're eight and eight. They've
earned the right to be here, and the rest of
the league can lament how bad the NFC sat. That's fine,
doesn't matter. It's how the NFL works, and the Panthers
have shown us over and over again that when they
get punched in the mouth one week, they usually answer
the next win loss, win, loss, win, loss, consistently, inconsistent,
but you know, still standing, and you know it's been
(06:47):
ten straight games of it. So this week is I
guess about continuing it. Every single time this team has stumbled,
they've responded. Every time they've taken one on the chin,
they bounce back the next Sunday. And for all the
frustration that creates, for all the headache and the heartburn,
it also means this version of Carolina usually answers in
these situations. So can they do it one more time?
Not rewrite the identity, not reinvent themselves necessarily, but stay
(07:11):
true to the roller coaster and make sure this is
one of the quote unquote up weeks, because if the
pattern holds, if the trend continues, then the Panthers should
like their chances in Tampa. One more week, one more
response game, and the division once again sitting right there
in front of them. We're talking about it all this afternoon.
The FanDuel text line is open. I want to hear
from you how big a missed opportunity was yesterday? Do
(07:34):
you still feel confident because of this pattern? Heading into
week eighteen, and do you believe this team has one
more bounce back performance left in them. Let's talk about it.
Seven oh four, five, seven oh ninety six to ten.
Hit us up with your thoughts. Smoke Ludwig's in the house.
He and I have two shows together today and tomorrow,
and then I'm going to be out the remainder of
the week, and then of course we're all just barreling
(07:56):
downhill for twenty twenty six, this time a week from now.
So we're here today and tomorrow. Smoke joined us in
the press box yesterday. You've seen plenty of games of
the bank. Yesterday you got to take one in with
us in the press box. I know it's not the
way you wanted it to end, but how would you
describe what we watched yesterday?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Sir?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Ugly?
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Ugly Ugly is a good way to describe it, specifically offensively.
But I think we found out why Mike McDonald got
the head coaching job after the twenty twenty three season,
because he's that damn good of a defensive coach. And honestly,
in my opinion, I think Mike mcdonie Mike McDonald pants
Dave Canalis in the coaching department. Oh yeah, yeah, And
(08:34):
I don't think there's really it's really up for debate.
He's just he was that much more well prepared, and
it felt like, once you got hit in the face,
Dave can Allison, the whole offense just didn't really know
what to do throughout the whole entire process. And a
credit to Mike McDonald in that process. But uh, what
did I tell you immediately after we left the game
and we were walking out doing our mile long trek
(08:57):
to get back up here today, walking down Moorhead and up. Yeah,
I told you they're winning on Saturday. You're convicted about this.
You think they're definitely winning on Saturday.
Speaker 7 (09:06):
I just I feel it, and I don't know why.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
It's just this team seems to have a confidence that
when they get punched, they get knocked down, they're like Chumbawamba.
They get knocked down, but they get up again. You're
never gonna like it's cheesy, but it's true.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
Man.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I really just laughing because you kept continuing with the lyrics.
That's all, but go ahead.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Yeah, I just think this team knows how to bounce back,
and they know that they got in their own way.
For as bad as they played yesterday offensively before that
JC Horn penalty, if he didn't get the face mask,
they get the ball back with nine minutes left to
go down seven.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
Points at home.
Speaker 6 (09:40):
Yeah, throughout the whole process, the only time they scored
was because of turnovers. If Chuba doesn't fumble that ball,
we're possibly talking about a different ball game.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And you know, you turn the ball over twice in
ensuing drives and gave them back to back short fields.
The damn was all the damn is is typically gonna
burst when you do that. And then you just look
at what Tampa Bay's going for right now. They lose.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
They get blown up by Quinn Ewers, a seventh round
draft pick, and I know, you know he was pretty
good at Texas, but still he was a seventh round
draft pick. He feels like he's going to be back
up his whole career. A Miami team with nothing to
play for, they lose. You see Tristan Wurs and Bucky
Irvin getting into it on the sidelines. The defense for
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which by the way, that's what
Todd Bowles does, has had some many worse numbers throughout
(10:22):
this losing streak, it feels like it. I told you
just a couple of weeks ago, and now it's looking
more and more like this. This is looking like the
exact same thing as we saw from the AFC South
in twenty twenty two. You go back and look at that.
That's when the Titans had to lead. The only difference
was Ryan Tannehill was out for the remainder of the
year and they had to go with Malik Willis. They
were collapsing. The Jaguars after starting slow, they were like
(10:44):
three and eight. They'd come back and win all but
one game, and then they beat the Titans in the
last week of the season on ESPN to make it
to the wild Card. It's playing out exactly, almost exactly
the same note for note, bar for bar for the
Carolina Panthers into tape to Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Now, I hear you. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
By the way, I got a lot of texts coming
in already about the JC Horn penalty, about Dave Canalis
being out coached by Mike McDonald yesterday. It's a simple question,
and we always ask this on a Monday, especially after
a loss. You know, where does the blame lie and
you know who's most responsible. What was the biggest problem
yesterday for Carolina? You know, and once again I watched
(11:24):
the game. You know, we sat in the press box yesterday,
went back and reviewed some of the film, actually watched
more you know, film breakdowns this morning, just trying to
get a sense of if what we saw live in
the press box matched what the film said after the fact,
and it kind of did. That Seattle defense is legit,
Like they're a Super Bowl contender, I think based on
(11:44):
the back of that defense. Like Sam Darnold's having a
good year, but he's still turning the ball over a lot,
and you know that's a big concern obviously, but that
defense will give them an opportunity to play for a
Super Bowl potentially because that defense is legit. I mean,
the Rams put up a hefty number of points on
on their last time out. I haven't forgotten about that,
(12:05):
But that defense. Mike McDonald, he was one of my
favorite coaching candidates in that coaching cycle. And you can
see the difference by the way in Baltimore's defense since
he's gone. But he's a great young defensive coach. That defense,
it's one of the best tackling performances that I've seen,
because I do I want to give some credit.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
To Seattle here, I really do.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That was one of the better tackling performances from a
defense that I've seen in some time. Right, you can
find good defenses across the NFL each and every Sunday
putting on good performances tackling well, because most good defenses do,
but year to year there aren't. But you know what,
seven or eight really top end defenses in the NFL.
Maybe fewer than that obviously, honestly, maybe you know four
(12:45):
or five. But the way they tackled yesterday in open space,
I was just incredibly impressed by When they needed to
make an open field tackle yesterday, they did it, And
I got to give them credit because Seattle's defense, I
think is really legit.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
But I also can't.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I'm having a hard time still wrapping my head around
the fact that, you know, Dave Canalis, who did just
come out and openly admit it yesterday in the postgame
press conference, that Seattle, who came into that game leading
the league in zone coverage zone usage, you know, made
the decision to switch demand coverage and played a lot
of man yesterday, something that he admitted caught them off guard.
(13:21):
They didn't expect it, they didn't see it coming, and
it didn't feel like they made any sort of adjustment
to that until a late third quarter at the earliest.
Speaker 7 (13:30):
The touchdown drive.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Yeah, one day scored a suchdown late third into the
fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean, you know, and again I'm watching film breakdowns.
Bryce had on average two point twenty six seconds to
throw yesterday before the pressure arrived. Only Minnesota had had
less time to throw in week seventeen. So I don't
think that Detroit, but I'm sorry in the Minnesota Detroit came,
I apologize, and Detroit had the only team that had
(13:54):
fewer time to throw, less time that is. But you know,
there were also reps where you know, I thought Ice
probably feeling the pressure, bailed on a clean pocket a
couple of times missed a couple of open receivers, so
he's not completely off the hook, you know, but receivers
weren't consistently getting open. Excel man, I know he's an
easy punching bag today and I'm not here to bury
(14:16):
the kid. He's Every single week, it just seems like
there's some new display of just a brutal lack of
awareness out there, you know, not checking with the sideline
official to make sure he's lined up on side. I
know there's some contention and argument today about you know,
just how egregious it was, but the week prior it was,
(14:36):
you know, not getting his feet inbounds. Again, It's just
always something and so you know, yesterday you just had
guys not creating separation, not getting open often enough. Clearly,
I don't think Bryce trusts Xavier League get at all.
I don't know, man, it was just a really overall
bad offensive performance. They couldn't get the run game going
when JT Sanders went down. And I don't want to
(14:56):
put too much on that, because losing JT. Sanders should
not be a reason that you cannot score the football
at all, but it did seem like they wanted to
get multiple tight ends involved in that game yesterday, and
losing him I think impacted the way they wanted to
do some things. It just across the board failure, lack
of adjustments to all the man coverage, couldn't get the
run game going, just another maddening offensive display. And on
(15:19):
the pregame show yesterday, as it relates to the quarterback.
You know, one of the questions that came up was
what are you doing about Bryce? What do you think
two games to go? What are they going to do
about his contract this offseason? And the only answer I
had was ask me again in eight days. I asked
me again when the regular season is over. And boy,
he and the offense certainly did not put their best
foot forward yesterday against Seattle. And it's stinks smoke because
(15:42):
it was right there because the Dolphins did. That's what
makes it, I think the most maddening. If the Bucks
blow out the Dolphins. If the Bucks handle the Dolphins yesterday,
people are probably a little bit less upset than they
are today. But that opportunity was right there, and you
could see it from the very beginning of that Bucks
and Dolphins game yesterday that you know the Dolphins were
in it to win it, and you knew early on, oh,
(16:03):
Carolina is going to have a chance to do this,
Like there was a buzz in the press box yesterday.
Oh God, the Dolphins might actually do this. There's a
chance to clinch the division today and they just couldn't take.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Advantage of it.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
And it's been like that for the last three weeks
because you go back and look at the loss to
New Orleans at New Orleans and it's like, well, you
would have just taken care of business in that game.
If that fourth down play call would have gone differently,
probably would have won the game, and we wouldn't be
having this discussion right now. If anything, we would have
been talking about this game today like, well, it kind
of sucks because that hurts the seeding, but well we're
(16:34):
still in the playoffs. Yeah, but that's not the case
because you didn't take care of business. And I ever
win of the Saints games, there's game I mean that
Cardinals game is looming large again today. Oh yeah, so
because it could have already been done. Those are like
the three games. I get it, like I wouldn't part
of It's just the wait happened because I said before
the game, I predicted the Seahawks win. Sure, I just
thought Carolina was going to be more in tune and
(16:56):
I didn't expect Bryce Young to for fifty four yards
and you know we're gonna be talking about it unless
he froze. I think for like two hundred and fifty
yards at least, if not two hundred and sixty yards.
He's going to have another year of not being at
three thousand passing yards in his career. Yeah, that's a problem,
and that's a problem, and it's gonna be a big
talking point. But I also know that this team's completely
consistently inconsistent. I've seen how the Tampa Bay defense is
(17:18):
played this year, and the back half there in his
collapse and they're asking for someone to take them out.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
They are a right listen. I'll take your phone calls.
On the other side.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Seven oh four, five, seven oh ninety six, ten Panthers
fall to Seattle blow a chance to clench the division,
and as we thought it might, it all comes down
to week eighteen, your phone calls. Next Sports Radio ninety
two to seven wfn Z.
Speaker 9 (17:45):
I had a chance to watch a film with the staff,
go over some notes. We'll check in with the players
kind of on an individual basis about some of the
things that we can improve upon. But you know, as
you know, for a Saturday game, our shift has focused,
I mean, our folks has shifted so we can get
ready for the bucks. Here, primetime, opportunity, championship, opportunity.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Everything right in front of us.
Speaker 9 (18:06):
The group's excited about it and looking forward to this week.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Dave Canalis's opening statement during his Monday press conference earlier today,
you certainly know by now if you're a WFNZ listener,
a Panthers fan, that the game has been flexed to
Sunday or Saturday. Pardon me at four thirty that one's
on ESPN and smoke. As I understand it, we'll get
the combination of Chris Fowler, Lewis Riddick, and dan Orlovsky
(18:31):
on the call on ESPN for Panthers Bucks Week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
Hasn't been made official, but that's usually the second NFL
broadcast crew that they have.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
So that's the speculation, is what it is.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Right now, that's a speculation just based off the history. Okay,
but if that's the case, going to be a very
busy week for Chris Valor. He's going to call at
least one college football playoff game, yeah, yes, and then
going to go straight to the NFL for a key
game in the NFC South.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah, that's true. It also blew up my travel plans
this week just a little bit. So I'm going to
be listening to Chris Fowler call a game as I'm
driving the family back down from New England coming up
later this week.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I gotta fly up and get them.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
The plan was for me to fly up, get them,
drive back, and plenty of time to get back for
what I thought or figured might be. I knew this
was possible, but get back for a Panthers Sunday game.
But they flexed this thing to Saturday. And so now
I'm going to be driving down the Eastern Seaboard on Friday,
listening to all these playoff games.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
As I go.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
But that's fine because I want to get back in
time for Saturday and a game that you think Carolina
is absolutely going to win in Tampa to clench the
NFC South. And that was Dave Canallis again acknowledging the
schedule change and what's coming up this weekend. Here's Dave
Canallis earlier today. Asked if looking back, there was anything
he'd change about the game.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
He called, you don't live with regrets.
Speaker 9 (19:43):
These are the plays we practice, These are the things
we ask our guys to execute on. We have full
faith in the group to do it. Are they things
we evaluated that we talked about this morning. Absolutely, there's
things always to improve after every game, but you go
out there and you play your best game and you
try to throw out the things that you can execute
really well, the plays that you can play fast with
on offense, defense, and special teams, and I truly believe
(20:04):
that's what we went into with. And it also gives
me an opportunity to give the Seahawks credit. This is
a really good team and they limit us in some
different ways based on how they played and the plays
that they made, so it was a great opponent. We
played them well for three quarters and it got away
from us at the end because we weren't able to
stay out there and get more points. But I'm proud
of the group and proud of how hard we played.
(20:25):
We got to bounce back. Then we got to make
sure that we take the bucks this week and just
continue to move our football forward. Still continue to look
for that game, looking for our guys to play complete
football all together, not a perfect game, but where all
groups are firing on all cylinders. And that doesn't mean
that every play works, but there's something about it. When
guys are executing well, playing off of each other, playing together,
(20:46):
a team becomes really hard to beat. And that's what
we're looking for this week is to just put our
best football out there.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
So he gave a good deal of credit to Seattle
right there, and I did too to an extent. The
Bagel guy, though, says, can we please stop praising the
Seattle defense like the two thousand Ravens. Yes, they're very good,
but fourteenth against the pass, they're not fifty four yards
passing from Bryce good. Our game plan and Bryce were terrible.
It's a very good defense. I understand your point, though,
I mean, fifty four yards passing in the NFL is
(21:13):
unacceptable no matter who it is.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I agree with you on that. But they are good.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I thought it was one of the better tackling performances
that I've seen from a defense in quite some time.
I thought they were great against the run, you know, defensively,
they just they won the line of scrimmage over and
over again. I thought Rico had some nice runs, don't
get me wrong, But you know, Seattle won more often
than not upfront, and they applied a good deal of
pressure to Bryce Young yesterday. In fact, you know, that's
(21:39):
what a lot of the film breakdowns have shown. But
Dave Canalys was asked this, and I want to play
this for you because this seems to have struck up
a fierce debate online when this quote came out. Here's
Dave Canallis earlier today asked for his evaluation of the
offensive line against the Seahawks.
Speaker 9 (21:54):
I thought the group generally did a good job. The
Seahawks certainly got some wins. They had some nice stunts
where they came free some one on one wins. I
felt like consistently, though there wasn't enough time to operate.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
And Bryce felt that too.
Speaker 9 (22:08):
He was going through his progressions, there were times he
had to move and get out of the pocket.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
That's life in the big leagues, that's the NFL.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
I didn't see the offensive line as being a real
limiting factor to what we could do yesterday. I think
just collectively, you know, we didn't take advantage of some
opportunities in the run game and also in the past game.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
But I have confidence in this group, and I'm.
Speaker 9 (22:29):
Proud of Ikey, you know, to be able to get
himself back off of a Nie sprain, to get back
out there for his teammates.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Really proud of the way he played.
Speaker 9 (22:37):
He wasn't perfect, but I'll take Ikey with the version
of Ikey that we got because of just the heart
and soul of the guy, how much he cares about
his teammates.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Listen, did that sound to you like he was because
there were people saying it'd sound like he threw Bryce
under the bus right there. Yeah, we saw a lot
of pressure two point twenty six seconds to throw yesterday.
The film doesn't line up with what Dave said. There
are a lot of folks it was the Joe person
tweet I think where the quote initially came out and
people are jumping on and saying, sure, sounds like Dave's
throwing his quarterback under the bus right there.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I don't know what'd you think.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
It didn't sound as bad when you listen to it
as compared to when it was tweeted out by Joe Person.
And I'm not getting on to Joe Person just because
he just tweeted the quote.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
He just tweeted the quote and he actually said that.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
But when you listen to it, it's like, okay, yeah,
he basically is saying we all have a spot to blame,
essentially with what I kind of got gathered. Now, do
I agree with him saying the offensive line played as well? No,
But to be fair to him, apparently PFF thinks the
same thing, all five of the highest grade.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
I don't get it, but you know, and it's not.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
The gospel, but it does make it reconciling some of
this stuff difficult, right because I watched it. I was
again sitting with Al Wallace and Colin Hoggard to my
left yesterday, and I saw a lot of pressure. I'll
also be the first to admit that I do think
Bryce missed on a couple of plays where the pressure
probably got to him. He stayed too early or he yeah,
I mean, things like that absolutely happened. So I just
also thought again that man coverage that Seattle came out
(23:59):
with seemed to just flummox Dave Canalis and Bryce Young
and the Panthers offense.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
And that part, to me is inexcusable.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
People are saying on the text line, Dave's still young,
he's still learning, and that's true, everybody gets that, But
there are no moral victories in the NFL, and I
just thought they did a terrible job adjusting yesterday to
what Seattle was doing defensively. On top of that, the
receivers weren't winning often enough. It was once again, this
team never seems to lose close? Do they When they lose,
they lose big. They either are good from the jump,
(24:29):
they take control, they're moving offensively, or they come out
and they can't adjust to what's being presented to them
and they end up losing the game by fifteen to
twenty points.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
There's just there are very few close losses for this team.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
It's gonna say the Saints game in New Orleans and
I forget that. Probably Sanfran and Arizona.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, but even Sanfran turned into a late blowout, right,
you know what I mean? Like the same thing as yesterday,
same thing as yesterday. Let's take some phone calls.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Here.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Dale is up first here on a Panther Monday, Dale,
what's going on, brother? What's on your mind?
Speaker 10 (25:00):
Hey?
Speaker 11 (25:00):
Take av anything?
Speaker 4 (25:01):
He's taking a call. Sure, I picked the Panthers go
eight wins this year, so I'm happy with that, but
I hope they proved me wrong Saturday. I think I
think you know no one person that can win or
lose a game. But I think chalk it up is
five My belief is five kent and that's the height
(25:21):
of Bryce Young. I think he's got the arm strength.
I think he's got the Cerebuel. I think he can
get out of the pocket when he needs to. I
just think he has a hard time seeing over these
Paul Lineman, and I think they should bring it back,
give him one more year, see what happens. Thanks for
taking my call.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I appreciate the phone call. I think you said a lot.
I think what you said right there was largely accurate.
And I've heard Hoggard say it this way, and I
think it's the best way to put it. When Bryce,
when things go poorly, when Bryce looks small, he looks
real small when he when he's out there, and that
happens when that pocket collapse. When he looks small, he
looks really small. But it's not always, but when it happens,
it feels like it's an avalanche. Every single time they
(25:58):
can't pull out of it. And yesterday was one of
those days. And again you can boil it down to
the JC Horn penalty was bad.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I know he kind of snickered.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
About it in the post game, which bothered some people,
and said that he felt like Jackson Smith jig but
sold the call, and he did, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
He saw it like death.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
He definitely sold it.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But that's what you want your guys to do in
that situation. That's what you want and jc's got to
know better. A simple form tackle to run him out
of bounds gets the job done. Thirteen yards short of
the line to gain. That's all you have to do
at that time.
Speaker 6 (26:31):
And it's crazy because you were talking about how you
saw the Seahawks, how they were just formed tackling. Well,
the opposite could be said at times for the Panthers defense.
Speaker 7 (26:38):
Despite as well as they played.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
There's one time where prince Lely didn't wrap up and
just tried to shoulder tackle I believe the tight end Oughton,
and then he came to the sideline and I saw
he got a chewing. Yeah from his position. Coach, it's
like stuff like that. I think Nick Scott also did one.
It's just like, shoulder tackles don't usually work in the NFL. Man, Nope, No,
And Princely got yanked for that.
Speaker 8 (26:56):
One.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Tie is up next on the phones, ty, what's going on?
Speaker 10 (27:00):
Hey? What's going on here?
Speaker 11 (27:01):
Yare you're doing?
Speaker 7 (27:01):
Good?
Speaker 10 (27:02):
Man?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
What's on your mind?
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Man?
Speaker 11 (27:04):
The Panthers have showed us exactly who they are all year.
I've called in a couple of times, and I've been
harping on Bryce is not the guy for us, and
he showed us that early in his career. I got
a hot take here, but you know, making the playoffs
is not gonna make us any more happy than we
are now going through this up and down year. Because
(27:26):
he knows I'm gonna be out in the first round
and we're gonna be back talking about the draft and stuff.
So we'll bring Bryce back to one year, and we'll
bring Dave back to one year, and if they don't
get it done, both would be out at the same time.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Oh I think that. Yeah, No, they're going. They're going.
There's a very good chance they go together.
Speaker 10 (27:43):
Tom.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I appreciate the phone call man.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Listen, the people who already don't like the guy that
are already out on Bryce show. Yesterday was just more ammunition.
But it was a collective failure too. He was not good.
They were not good. I can point you to several
snaps or wide receivers just didn't separate. Tedoro McMillan fell
down once early in the game on a ball that
was on the money. So these things happened multiple times.
When this offense is bad, it is bad and these
(28:07):
wild swings just continue. And I don't know if that's
a product of you know, the wrong personnel, which many
of you believe, if Dave is not good enough week
to week. But the results are what the results are,
and yesterday was a terrible result. A good nugget. I
love that name. Good nugget. Up next on the phones,
what's up, nuggy?
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Hey, how you doing. I'm a little bit a little
bit less heated than I was yesterday when I called
into Willie p. I've tooken time. I rewatched the game
on haults point two with the NFL buff and I've
got to say this, I agree with you completely. Our
wide receivers, we're not getting any separation. The few times
that there was separation though, just like the first caller said,
(28:45):
Bryce could not see there was. There was one play
I think it was in the third quarter t Max
streaking in the middle of the field. No one around
them got good five maybe ten yard separation. I saw that,
but Bryce couldn't see it, and the Seattle see And
that's something I saw multiple times. Rewatching this game with
a clear head, you know, the Seahawks gave us the
(29:08):
middle of the field and the and the wheel routes
the flats, but Bryce couldn't see either he couldn't see
it or he wasn't comfortable trying to make those middle
of the field, So we had fifty four yards of passing.
Like you said, the Seattle Seahawks, their defense is phenomenal.
I'm not gonna say I agree. They're not eighty five Bears,
(29:29):
but they might be good enough to make maybe the
NFC Championship game, maybe even the Super Bowl, because that
was an effective shutdown of what has been a pretty
okay to good offense, especially at home. So that's all
I got to say today. I appreciate y'all. Happy New Year,
(29:50):
and I'm sure I'll be calling in on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Happy New Year to you, brother. Appreciate the phone call.
Yeah again, great phone call. I've gone back and seen
many of the same things. I also just again, you know,
I didn't feel like the offensive coaching staff had a
The defense is very good. Seattle's defense is very good.
But I was waiting for some kind of response from
the coaching staff from Dave Canalis to do something different,
and they finally got around of figuring it out. You know,
(30:15):
in late third quarter after those two turnovers, when they
were down fourteen points, and at that point it felt
like the wins were completely out of the sales. Let's see,
Lamar is up next, Lamar, what's going on?
Speaker 12 (30:26):
How's it going?
Speaker 10 (30:27):
Man? Yeah?
Speaker 12 (30:31):
I actually agree with everything that the last callers said.
And and here's here's my biggest thing. We can't sit
here and not I'm not saying you're doing this, but
we can't sit here at like Bryce youwan didn't have
fifty four yards. So like, I'll give it up when
you give me something, you know, the the Atlanta game
(30:53):
or record, I'll give it up to you, man. But
I can't come out here and say, oh, it's the
offensive line spault. Is you know, we didn't do anything.
We didn't change anything in the second half. Bryce going
through for fifty four yards, man, Like that's not going
to get it done in the NFL. And you know,
I don't I don't know where we go as a
(31:15):
team with him in the contract, But like, fifty four
yards is? I keep looking back at that, like the
play calling wasn't that great either, but fifty four yards?
Speaker 10 (31:25):
Come on, what are we doing guys?
Speaker 8 (31:27):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yeah, No, it's bad. I appreciate the phone call, Lamar.
There's no way around it. We're not going to ignore it.
I'm not trying to explain it away. Getting punked on
the text line said it makes me sick to hear
y'all talk. Bryce needs more time. He already has that.
That position is for tall dudes. Good dcs know how
to force quarterbacks like Bryce to play it with size.
It's not Canalis's play calling. Bryce can't max or sustain it.
I think he can max it. Sustaining it though, has
(31:49):
evaded him, and you're listen, you're fair to point it out.
I don't think it was all on him yesterday. I
think he got sped up and I think everything unraveled,
as you know.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Good Nugget just.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Called in and said he watched the All twenty two
confirmed what many of us saw. The wide receivers got
no separation quite often. And then somebody, I think it
was Bebop said a minute ago, Well, you got to
throw your guys open in the NFL. Sometimes you do,
but when you have a quarterback who's constantly putting the
ball in peril the way that you want him to,
when he turns the ball over. You're gonna crush him
for that too, So in some ways it's a you
can't win for losing type of situation. All right, we
(32:23):
got Steve Smith coming up in about seven minutes. I'm
gonna take your phone calls throughout the course of the show.
Stay tight on the phone lines. I promise I will
get to you. But right now we go to smoke
on the headlines.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Who is smoke? Where is smoked? Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Let's go what you got?
Speaker 6 (32:41):
All right, Well, here's a good situation that we're not
talking about. The tank Ball five thousand between the Giants
end Raiders happened yesterday and the Giants won, but they lost.
Because that means now the Las Vegas Raiders have an
eighty percent chance to get the number one pick all.
All they have to do is lose to the Kansas
(33:02):
City Chiefs, and if the Chiefs played like they did
on Christmas Night against the Broncos, that should probably happen.
So it's looking like Las Vegas Sin City will likely
win the Fernando Mendoza sweepstakes.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
So you think that's a lot At this point, he's
gonna go number one overall.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I think he's.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
Gonna blow out the interview process because those I mean
you saw, I don't know. Oh he's an impressive kid, Yeah,
an impressive kid. Urban Meyer was gushing over him when
he had him on his podcast. Yep, he was just like,
Oh my god, I wish I could coach you. So
I think it's gonna happen with a lot of coaches
in the NFL. Mendoza is the guy. I'm with you, quick?
What else you got? Also utter news in the NFL
(33:39):
the Giant speaking of they have a coaching vacancy, what
we now know one coach is not going to be
taking that job, Marcus Freeman. He will be staying in
South Bend at Notre Dame. Watch out College Football World,
He's coming. Can you hear the glee in his life
or in his voice? You can hear the glee in
his voice? Right His guy's going back to South Bend.
Speaker 10 (33:57):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Carr back to Oh Yeah, Steve Smith Senior. Smith's back.
Next Sports Radio ninety two to seven WF and Z.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Over fifteen thousand total yards away, sixteen NFL seasons.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Have you say that's nice?
Speaker 11 (34:17):
Not mean?
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Last five Pro Bowls and countless memories when.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
A dog gets an X ray, They've got that Steve
Smith inside their rib game.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Steve Smith is on wfn.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Z Hi Sup Son, Well, he's back Sports Radio ninety
two to seven wf and z KB and smoke with
you here on a Panthers Monday, not a victory Monday,
and real quick, I got big Cat Dan on the
FANDUL text line listening from every day from down in Florida,
says the loss was disappointing, but it's not the end
(34:46):
of the world.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Again.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Who picked us to beat Seattle? We've roller coastered the
whole season. Why is everyone surprised? The same things were
said after the Saints loss. Let Dan Morgan keep building, Canalis,
Bryce and Avero have us knocking on the door to
the playoff after seven years of mock draft talk and
not being picked to win more than six games, much
less make the playoffs? What are we doing? Ride the
(35:08):
frick and ride. He's one of many that are sending
that in. I'm actually surprised how many people are sending
that in. And let's see what Steve Smith thinks about that.
Panthers legend. NFL Network analyst Agent eighty nine back for
his Monday conversation. Merry Christmas, Happy new your brother, How
are you appreciate you?
Speaker 10 (35:24):
I'm good hater in a building? Or should I say
hayter on the telephone?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Oh oh okay, all right, so we're in a spicy
mood today then.
Speaker 10 (35:32):
Huh no, I'm just throwing you all.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I know, I know, I'm good. I'm good, full of
holiday spirit and cheer. I'm not down today. You know,
this is this is who they are Steve and uh,
I'm actually you know, just as a fan, right because
this is we all started as sports fans, as a
as a fan week eighteen to make the playoffs. It's
a good thing. I'm still fired up about it. But
I think people are really and I'm talking about all fans,
(35:58):
former players. If you're upset to I think it's probably
more so because the Dolphins did beat Tampa and the
opportunity was right there and they just couldn't take advantage
of it.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
What do you think about that?
Speaker 10 (36:11):
I had a conversation with someone today and he said, hey,
what do you think about the Panthers? And I said,
what do you think? He was like, Man, I was
at the game and it was disappointing. I said, what
are you disappointed at? He said, well, I'm disappointed because
they didn't beat Seattle. And I looked at him and
(36:31):
I said how many wins did Seattle have? And he
looked at me. He said, what does that mean? I says,
it means a lot. He goes, well, they just won thirteen.
I said, the only part you're disappointed at is you
thought that Seattle was going to lay an egg. That's
(36:52):
really the disappointment. Seattle is a twelve thirteen win team.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yep.
Speaker 10 (36:58):
You don't win no those games because you got a
cute uniform, because your coach has a nice has has
awesome cliches. You do it because you stay diligent in
the run game. You minimize the turnovers, and you take
advantage of every opportunity the opposing team gives you. And
(37:22):
that's the difference between the game yesterday, too many turnovers,
not being able to adjust to the momentum swing and
oh yeah, I forgot. You're playing a really good team
who has shown you they're good all year.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I think Mike McDonald's done a great job with that defense.
I mean great job. And I don't want to gass
anybody up too much, right because the league's full of
good players league players, but.
Speaker 10 (37:49):
The league is full of good players, and the league
is also full of coaches who don't know how to
position good players. Or there's good coaches kind of players, right,
And I'm not indicating that the Panthers are that way.
(38:11):
I'm just saying you gotta look at what it is.
Is you played a pretty good team. They won twelve games,
and so that says that it was not going to
be a cakewalk. You are not playing Atlanta Falcons who
have no identity, right, Yeah, You're not playing New You're
(38:35):
not playing New Orleans who has a rookie quarterback. You're
playing a team. Yes, Sam Donald was here in Carolina,
but he's been coached obviously, and he's playing better.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Speaking of coaching, what did you think.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
I was a little bit surprised yesterday when I was
in the postgame press conference when Dave Canalis just came
out and admit, you know, they played a lot more
man than we'd anticipated. Seattle came in playing more zone
than anybody else in the NFL. All of a sudden,
they're playing man coverage, and Dave Canalis basically admitted yesterday
that it caught him off guard.
Speaker 7 (39:11):
What does that say to you, Hm.
Speaker 10 (39:17):
That says that a team who plays primarily zone coverage
comes in and says, we're gonna play man because we
like our matchups. That's what that says. And you should
take it personal if they generally go zone and then
(39:40):
they go man. Right, you go back Chicago Bears two
thousand and five. They were a primarily zone team when
we came to town. Guess what they stayed. They stayed they
ass and zone coverage. Then when we went to the playoffs,
they didn't switch it out. They still went into his
(40:02):
own coverage. You got to make adjustments. Like the teams,
they have tendencies, but you got to understand the playbook.
That is not a living and breathing organism. It's a
piece of paper that you've put together and you've laminated
and you write on it and looks like a fat
(40:23):
boy's menu, you know, when you're watching a coach on
the sideline. But the game, though, is coming and going
as you see is you've got to make adjustments and
you got to adapt to the circumstances and the surroundings
that you're going through at that moment.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, now you're right. Steve Smith senior with us here
on a Monday conversation. Bright through for fifty four yards.
There's no way you can spend that. That's bad. I've
gone back and rewatched it, and it did affirm a
lot of what I saw in the press box yesterday
that you know, he missed some things. But also you
know they that pressure got there quick yesterday and there
was not There was not a lot of wide receiver
(41:04):
separation on a lot of those snaps either. I mean,
it just kind of felt like back to front start
to finish. You know, a lot of offensive failure, but
like fifty four yards passing, who's most of it? And
I'm not asking you to throw anybody out of the bus,
but I'm just saying, when you're looking for problems after
a performance like that, where.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Does it start?
Speaker 10 (41:20):
It starts with you. First of all, starts with looking
at your opponent. What is the Seattle Seahawks. They have
a really good front seven. They stop to run right,
and then the offensively, Clint Kubiak does an excellent job
bro of running the football. Even when they don't get
(41:43):
any yards. He never abandons the run. They will bump
their heads up on the goal post, not moving a football,
but they will still run the football. They are committed
to running and they don't deviate from it. They're not
(42:05):
a really good running team if you look them up
statistically they're okay, but they commit to running the football.
And man, you got to respect that coach. You know,
I used to as a receiver. I hated Coach Fox
with being diligent and running the football. We're gonna run it.
We're gonna do this because at times that was frustrating
(42:27):
is when you needed a pass you didn't have a
lot of data information to kind of know what to
do in the past game because you keep running it
with a cloud of dust. Well that's what that's what
the Seattle Seahawks do is they run a football and
oh yeah, news alert. They throw into number eleven a lot,
(42:49):
a lot just in case no one noticed.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah they did.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
And let me ask you real quick on that too,
because this is one of the big talking points today,
you know it. They cut the lead to seventeen to ten,
defense forced a third and twenty one. They go to
there's your guy eleven, They go to Jackson Smith and
Jig but and j. C. Horn gets called for a
face mask penalty automatic first down, Seattle ends up tacking
on points to make it a two score game. I
(43:17):
know JC after the facts that he felt like eleven
sold that thing. But there's also clear video of a
hand in a face mask. What do we what do
we take from that?
Speaker 10 (43:26):
You take for what the referee said it was, it
was a face mask?
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Yeah, I agree by what.
Speaker 10 (43:32):
You can't argue. You can try, but I've just kind
of I've just kind of reserved it to where it
doesn't matter. When have you ever seen a penalty really
get argued to where they pick it up and put
it in their pocket. Rarely, right, especially with like a
face mask, horse kyler like some of that stuff. Right
(43:54):
when you're talking about somebody being lined up in a
neutral zone, all that stuff, that's that's different, that debatable, right,
But when it's a clear face mask, horse collar, uh,
crack back, chopped block, you know some of those things. Man,
the dude in the stripes they hold the last.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Word, Yeah, they sure do.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Did you have any problem because some people did, and
I'm not talking about just fans, like Dave Canal has
caught some heat for taking it for kneeling on the
football with two minutes left to go down seventeen.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Did you have a problem with that?
Speaker 10 (44:31):
No, here's why I didn't have a problem with it.
This is a real question. You ready, Kylevi? Then I'm
looking for an answer.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
Okay.
Speaker 10 (44:40):
How many passing yards did they have?
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Fifty four?
Speaker 10 (44:44):
How many rushing yards did they have?
Speaker 11 (44:45):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (44:46):
I got to look that one up. Sorry, I didn't
come prepared for the test today. The pop quiz, I'm
sure it was.
Speaker 10 (44:50):
It was still in the fifties. Okay. So my question
is what were they going to do differently that they
weren't able to do for the last three and a
half almost four quarter.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
For the record, I agree one hundred percent. If somebody
gets hurt, they're all getting crushed for that today. So
it's not fun. Nobody liked it, but I thought it
was the right decision.
Speaker 10 (45:12):
So they were they going to march down the field
the same way they did not march down the field
the last three quarters?
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Nope?
Speaker 10 (45:22):
Oh okay, yeah. Look, I'm trying to figure out what's
logical because I'm looking and you're like, hey man, we
got to win this marathon. Yeah, bro, you're not gonna
win the marathon in the first mile when it's thirty two.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
No, no, listen again, it's a there was no win, right,
You're not winning the game. If somebody gets hurt, you're
getting crushed for that. I hated it, but it is
what it is, all right, last thing, buddy, Week eighteen.
It all comes down to this. They're still alive. I mean,
Tampa's in a spiral.
Speaker 8 (45:54):
Man.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
They've lost seven of eight.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
They lost that game yesterday, but they've got home field
advantage on Sunday. What in your mind's eye, what do
you imagine this game looks like?
Speaker 10 (46:03):
This is why I love this game. Week eighteen. This
game is you. You have the ability to control your
own destiny. You gotta wake you gotta wake up, You
(46:23):
gotta you gotta wake up on Sunday morning and figure
out do you want to show up or not? Bottom
line right, this is this is this is what every
little kid that plays football says they want to do.
Is they get the opportunity to make the winning tackle,
(46:45):
to wake them, make the winning throw, to make the
winning catch, to make the winning sack. You gotta visualize
what you prepare and want to do on Sunday, and
you gotta start it yesterday. You gotta wake up on
morning and your birth certificates say should say I wish
(47:05):
you would try me today. That's where you need to
be from. I wish you would, I wish you would
isolate me and play me man to man coverage. That's
what I see. And you want to establish yourself as
being a big dog. Go win the game, I hear you.
Go Go win the game that you're not supposed to win,
(47:30):
not the game you're supposed to because that happens. But
this is also a very young team who just may
not sound right. They're learning how to win. And when
I say win, I'm saying finish and start a complete game.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
Well, I hope they do, and I hope seven days
from now we're talking about the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Buddy.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Happy new Year to you and yours. We appreciate you,
I believe you. There you go Steve Smith's and you're
with us, will come back our number two.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
We react. We take your thoughts as well. Sports Radio
ninety two seven WF and Z
You're listening to the Kyle Bailey Show powered by Victory
Chevy Charlotte. Want to drive a sweet Silverado Trail Boss
like KB Go to Victory Chevy Charlotte dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Good afternoon, Queen Sady, Good afternoon, Carolina's Welcome back Sports
Radio ninety two to seven WF and Z. It's the
best damn sports talking to Carolinas. We appreciate you being
with us. Hope you all had a great Christmas and
an early happy New Year. We got plenty of time
to talk happy New Year, of course, but first we
look back to yesterday.
Speaker 3 (00:46):
At Bank of America Stadium.
Speaker 2 (00:48):
The Panthers had a chance to do something they haven't done,
you know, since twenty fifteen clinch the NFC South Tampa
Bay lost to Miami. The path was there, win the game,
win the division in the seven year playoff drought, But
instead Carolina walked off the field in what Dave Canalis
called the non victory formation, some called it the l formation.
(01:09):
More on that in just a bit, and by the
time the scoreboard math had finished updating, everyone realized just
how big an opportunity had slipped away. Seattle beat Carolina
twenty seven to ten, and instead of celebrating a division
title in front of the home crowd, the Panthers now
head into Week eighteen needing to regroup again and figure
(01:30):
out how to finish the job on the road in Tampa.
And you know this has been the defining theme of
the Panthers season. Opportunity followed by frustration, progress, followed by
a step backward, win, then loss, and repeat. Yesterday made
five straight times this team has followed a win with
a loss, part of what is now the fourth longest
(01:51):
win loss win loss streak in NFL history, ten games
of back and forth football. And if there's such a
thing as being reliably unpredictable, these Carolina Panthers might have
trademarked it this year. It is the ultimate sign of
a team that has been consistently inconsistent, and yesterday that
inconsistency showed up everywhere, at least on the offensive side,
(02:13):
because Seattle's defense dictated the day. Bryce Young, who had
been on something of a four or five game heater
coming in, finished with just fifty four passing yards, a
career low as a starter, with an interception and a
passer rating in the mid forties. His top three receivers
combined for four catches for twenty four yards. Teta Ro McMillan,
battling illness, were told, did not record his first or
(02:36):
didn't record his first and only catch until the fourth
quarter one catch five yards on a fourth and seventeen
if memory serves. At one point late in the third quarter,
Bryce Young had rushed for more yards than he'd thrown for,
and after the game, Dave Canalis acknowledged something important, something
that spoke to why the offense never looked comfortable. Seattle,
(02:57):
a defense that leads the league in zone usage, played
more man coverage than they'd shown on film. The mix
they mixed coverage looks titan throwing windows, sped up the
pocket two point two six seconds. The average time that
Bryce Young had to throw yesterday second least in the
second fewest in the NFL, behind only Minnesota, and the
Panthers were just slow to adjust to it. Canalis said
(03:20):
it caught him off guard. He admitted that yesterday in
the postgame press conference. And when you combine that surprise
with an elite pass rush and wide receivers who struggled
to separate, the result was what we saw. No vertical game,
no rhythm and a lot of drives that never got
off the ground. But even with all that, the defense
(03:40):
gave this team chances. The defense, it was its criminal
that the offense put forth the effort that they did yesterday.
Given what the Carolina defense did against a really good offense,
against a very good football team, I mean, Carolina's defense
came to play yesterday. The big mistake the third and
twenty one with JC Horn. A couple of things, now,
withstanding that defense played winning football yesterday. Two takeaways off
(04:05):
Sam Darnold probably should have been about five, if we're
being honest, opportunities to flip momentum, and yet Carolina turned
those into just three points, while their own turnovers turned
into fourteen Seattle points and short fields, two of them
the biggest two of course, in the third quarter, and
even still early in the fourth quarter. Bryce Young runs
(04:27):
one in It's seventeen to ten, The crowd comes alive,
Bank of America stadiums back in it. Seattle faces third
and twenty one. You've got them exactly where you want them,
and instead of getting off the field, a face mass
penalty on JC Horn extends the drive, Seattle tax on
points and the window pretty much closes for good. It
wasn't a meltdown, it wasn't an implosion necessarily. It was
(04:51):
a game where the Panthers played tight, where the mistakes
were magnified, and where execution and critical moments just wasn't
nearly good enough. And that's what ma makes it sting
for fans today. I believe and you can tell me,
because this wasn't just another loss. It was a chance
to finish something, a chance to finally slam the door
shut on the division, and it slipped away, a chance
for us to be debating, you know, who's quarterbacking this
(05:13):
team in week eighteen, how many carries should Traver etn
get as opposed to you know, the starting two running backs,
things of that nature. But instead we're on to week
eighteen for a do or die game against the Buccaneers. Now,
to the team's credit, and I do think this matters.
Before Dave Canalis even reached the locker room, you know,
guys like Bryce Young and Derek Brown were already telling guys,
turn the page, Tampa's next. Everything's still in front of us,
(05:36):
everything's on the line still, and they're right, despite all
the inconsistency, despite the frustration. Despite the missed opportunities, the
NFC South does still come down to Week eighteen in
Tampa Bay, win the game, sweep the season series, and
Carolina's NFC South champions, with hats and t shirts to
prove it, and confetti probably well, maybe not confettian in
(05:56):
Tampa Bay, but you know, seven year playoff drought over
division title back in car that's still on the line.
It's still ahead of them, and yes, there's a weird
scenario where they could still back into the division with
a loss and Atlanta win out, but that's not how
you want to enter the postseason, and it's almost assuredly
not going to happen that way anyway, Not after a
season like this, not after all the swings and momentum
(06:17):
shifts and the gut check moments. This team has earned
the right to play for a head to head spot
in the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (06:22):
They have.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
As maddening as they've been, they're eight and eight. They've
earned the right to be here, and the rest of
the league can lament how bad the NFC sat. That's fine,
doesn't matter. It's how the NFL works, and the Panthers
have shown us over and over again that when they
get punched in the mouth one week, they usually answer
the next win loss, win, loss, win, loss, consistently, inconsistent,
but you know, still standing, and you know it's been
(06:47):
ten straight games of it. So this week is I
guess about continuing it. Every single time this team has stumbled,
they've responded. Every time they've taken one on the chin,
they bounce back the next Sunday. And for all the
frustration that creates, for all the headache and the heartburn,
it also means this version of Carolina usually answers in
these situations. So can they do it one more time?
Not rewrite the identity, not reinvent themselves necessarily, but stay
(07:11):
true to the roller coaster and make sure this is
one of the quote unquote up weeks, because if the
pattern holds, if the trend continues, then the Panthers should
like their chances in Tampa. One more week, one more
response game, and the division once again sitting right there
in front of them. We're talking about it all this afternoon.
The FanDuel text line is open. I want to hear
from you how big a missed opportunity was yesterday? Do
(07:34):
you still feel confident because of this pattern? Heading into
week eighteen, and do you believe this team has one
more bounce back performance left in them. Let's talk about it.
Seven oh four, five, seven oh ninety six to ten.
Hit us up with your thoughts. Smoke Ludwig's in the house.
He and I have two shows together today and tomorrow,
and then I'm going to be out the remainder of
the week, and then of course we're all just barreling
(07:56):
downhill for twenty twenty six, this time a week from now.
So we're here today and tomorrow. Smoke joined us in
the press box yesterday. You've seen plenty of games of
the bank. Yesterday you got to take one in with
us in the press box. I know it's not the
way you wanted it to end, but how would you
describe what we watched yesterday?
Speaker 4 (08:12):
Sir?
Speaker 5 (08:13):
Ugly?
Speaker 6 (08:13):
Ugly Ugly is a good way to describe it, specifically offensively.
But I think we found out why Mike McDonald got
the head coaching job after the twenty twenty three season,
because he's that damn good of a defensive coach. And honestly,
in my opinion, I think Mike mcdonie Mike McDonald pants
Dave Canalis in the coaching department. Oh yeah, yeah, And
(08:34):
I don't think there's really it's really up for debate.
He's just he was that much more well prepared, and
it felt like, once you got hit in the face,
Dave can Allison, the whole offense just didn't really know
what to do throughout the whole entire process. And a
credit to Mike McDonald in that process. But uh, what
did I tell you immediately after we left the game
and we were walking out doing our mile long trek
(08:57):
to get back up here today, walking down Moorhead and up. Yeah,
I told you they're winning on Saturday. You're convicted about this.
You think they're definitely winning on Saturday.
Speaker 7 (09:06):
I just I feel it, and I don't know why.
Speaker 6 (09:09):
It's just this team seems to have a confidence that
when they get punched, they get knocked down, they're like Chumbawamba.
They get knocked down, but they get up again. You're
never gonna like it's cheesy, but it's true.
Speaker 8 (09:20):
Man.
Speaker 2 (09:20):
I really just laughing because you kept continuing with the lyrics.
That's all, but go ahead.
Speaker 6 (09:24):
Yeah, I just think this team knows how to bounce back,
and they know that they got in their own way.
For as bad as they played yesterday offensively before that
JC Horn penalty, if he didn't get the face mask,
they get the ball back with nine minutes left to
go down seven.
Speaker 7 (09:38):
Points at home.
Speaker 6 (09:40):
Yeah, throughout the whole process, the only time they scored
was because of turnovers. If Chuba doesn't fumble that ball,
we're possibly talking about a different ball game.
Speaker 2 (09:48):
And you know, you turn the ball over twice in
ensuing drives and gave them back to back short fields.
The damn was all the damn is is typically gonna
burst when you do that. And then you just look
at what Tampa Bay's going for right now. They lose.
Speaker 6 (09:59):
They get blown up by Quinn Ewers, a seventh round
draft pick, and I know, you know he was pretty
good at Texas, but still he was a seventh round
draft pick. He feels like he's going to be back
up his whole career. A Miami team with nothing to
play for, they lose. You see Tristan Wurs and Bucky
Irvin getting into it on the sidelines. The defense for
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, which by the way, that's what
Todd Bowles does, has had some many worse numbers throughout
(10:22):
this losing streak, it feels like it. I told you
just a couple of weeks ago, and now it's looking
more and more like this. This is looking like the
exact same thing as we saw from the AFC South
in twenty twenty two. You go back and look at that.
That's when the Titans had to lead. The only difference
was Ryan Tannehill was out for the remainder of the
year and they had to go with Malik Willis. They
were collapsing. The Jaguars after starting slow, they were like
(10:44):
three and eight. They'd come back and win all but
one game, and then they beat the Titans in the
last week of the season on ESPN to make it
to the wild Card. It's playing out exactly, almost exactly
the same note for note, bar for bar for the
Carolina Panthers into tape to Bay Buccaneers.
Speaker 3 (11:01):
Now, I hear you. I hear you.
Speaker 2 (11:02):
By the way, I got a lot of texts coming
in already about the JC Horn penalty, about Dave Canalis
being out coached by Mike McDonald yesterday. It's a simple question,
and we always ask this on a Monday, especially after
a loss. You know, where does the blame lie and
you know who's most responsible. What was the biggest problem
yesterday for Carolina? You know, and once again I watched
(11:24):
the game. You know, we sat in the press box yesterday,
went back and reviewed some of the film, actually watched
more you know, film breakdowns this morning, just trying to
get a sense of if what we saw live in
the press box matched what the film said after the fact,
and it kind of did. That Seattle defense is legit,
Like they're a Super Bowl contender, I think based on
(11:44):
the back of that defense. Like Sam Darnold's having a
good year, but he's still turning the ball over a lot,
and you know that's a big concern obviously, but that
defense will give them an opportunity to play for a
Super Bowl potentially because that defense is legit. I mean,
the Rams put up a hefty number of points on
on their last time out. I haven't forgotten about that,
(12:05):
But that defense. Mike McDonald, he was one of my
favorite coaching candidates in that coaching cycle. And you can
see the difference by the way in Baltimore's defense since
he's gone. But he's a great young defensive coach. That defense,
it's one of the best tackling performances that I've seen,
because I do I want to give some credit.
Speaker 3 (12:23):
To Seattle here, I really do.
Speaker 2 (12:25):
That was one of the better tackling performances from a
defense that I've seen in some time. Right, you can
find good defenses across the NFL each and every Sunday
putting on good performances tackling well, because most good defenses do,
but year to year there aren't. But you know what,
seven or eight really top end defenses in the NFL.
Maybe fewer than that obviously, honestly, maybe you know four
(12:45):
or five. But the way they tackled yesterday in open space,
I was just incredibly impressed by When they needed to
make an open field tackle yesterday, they did it, And
I got to give them credit because Seattle's defense, I
think is really legit.
Speaker 3 (12:58):
But I also can't.
Speaker 2 (12:59):
I'm having a hard time still wrapping my head around
the fact that, you know, Dave Canalis, who did just
come out and openly admit it yesterday in the postgame
press conference, that Seattle, who came into that game leading
the league in zone coverage zone usage, you know, made
the decision to switch demand coverage and played a lot
of man yesterday, something that he admitted caught them off guard.
(13:21):
They didn't expect it, they didn't see it coming, and
it didn't feel like they made any sort of adjustment
to that until a late third quarter at the earliest.
Speaker 7 (13:30):
The touchdown drive.
Speaker 6 (13:31):
Yeah, one day scored a suchdown late third into the
fourth quarter.
Speaker 2 (13:34):
Yeah, I mean, you know, and again I'm watching film breakdowns.
Bryce had on average two point twenty six seconds to
throw yesterday before the pressure arrived. Only Minnesota had had
less time to throw in week seventeen. So I don't
think that Detroit, but I'm sorry in the Minnesota Detroit came,
I apologize, and Detroit had the only team that had
(13:54):
fewer time to throw, less time that is. But you know,
there were also reps where you know, I thought Ice
probably feeling the pressure, bailed on a clean pocket a
couple of times missed a couple of open receivers, so
he's not completely off the hook, you know, but receivers
weren't consistently getting open. Excel man, I know he's an
easy punching bag today and I'm not here to bury
(14:16):
the kid. He's Every single week, it just seems like
there's some new display of just a brutal lack of
awareness out there, you know, not checking with the sideline
official to make sure he's lined up on side. I
know there's some contention and argument today about you know,
just how egregious it was, but the week prior it was,
(14:36):
you know, not getting his feet inbounds. Again, It's just
always something and so you know, yesterday you just had
guys not creating separation, not getting open often enough. Clearly,
I don't think Bryce trusts Xavier League get at all.
I don't know, man, it was just a really overall
bad offensive performance. They couldn't get the run game going
when JT Sanders went down. And I don't want to
(14:56):
put too much on that, because losing JT. Sanders should
not be a reason that you cannot score the football
at all, but it did seem like they wanted to
get multiple tight ends involved in that game yesterday, and
losing him I think impacted the way they wanted to
do some things. It just across the board failure, lack
of adjustments to all the man coverage, couldn't get the
run game going, just another maddening offensive display. And on
(15:19):
the pregame show yesterday, as it relates to the quarterback.
You know, one of the questions that came up was
what are you doing about Bryce? What do you think
two games to go? What are they going to do
about his contract this offseason? And the only answer I
had was ask me again in eight days. I asked
me again when the regular season is over. And boy,
he and the offense certainly did not put their best
foot forward yesterday against Seattle. And it's stinks smoke because
(15:42):
it was right there because the Dolphins did. That's what
makes it, I think the most maddening. If the Bucks
blow out the Dolphins. If the Bucks handle the Dolphins yesterday,
people are probably a little bit less upset than they
are today. But that opportunity was right there, and you
could see it from the very beginning of that Bucks
and Dolphins game yesterday that you know the Dolphins were
in it to win it, and you knew early on, oh,
(16:03):
Carolina is going to have a chance to do this,
Like there was a buzz in the press box yesterday.
Oh God, the Dolphins might actually do this. There's a
chance to clinch the division today and they just couldn't take.
Speaker 3 (16:13):
Advantage of it.
Speaker 6 (16:14):
And it's been like that for the last three weeks
because you go back and look at the loss to
New Orleans at New Orleans and it's like, well, you
would have just taken care of business in that game.
If that fourth down play call would have gone differently,
probably would have won the game, and we wouldn't be
having this discussion right now. If anything, we would have
been talking about this game today like, well, it kind
of sucks because that hurts the seeding, but well we're
(16:34):
still in the playoffs. Yeah, but that's not the case
because you didn't take care of business. And I ever
win of the Saints games, there's game I mean that
Cardinals game is looming large again today. Oh yeah, so
because it could have already been done. Those are like
the three games. I get it, like I wouldn't part
of It's just the wait happened because I said before
the game, I predicted the Seahawks win. Sure, I just
thought Carolina was going to be more in tune and
(16:56):
I didn't expect Bryce Young to for fifty four yards
and you know we're gonna be talking about it unless
he froze. I think for like two hundred and fifty
yards at least, if not two hundred and sixty yards.
He's going to have another year of not being at
three thousand passing yards in his career. Yeah, that's a problem,
and that's a problem, and it's gonna be a big
talking point. But I also know that this team's completely
consistently inconsistent. I've seen how the Tampa Bay defense is
(17:18):
played this year, and the back half there in his
collapse and they're asking for someone to take them out.
Speaker 3 (17:23):
They are a right listen. I'll take your phone calls.
On the other side.
Speaker 2 (17:25):
Seven oh four, five, seven oh ninety six, ten Panthers
fall to Seattle blow a chance to clench the division,
and as we thought it might, it all comes down
to week eighteen, your phone calls. Next Sports Radio ninety
two to seven wfn Z.
Speaker 9 (17:45):
I had a chance to watch a film with the staff,
go over some notes. We'll check in with the players
kind of on an individual basis about some of the
things that we can improve upon. But you know, as
you know, for a Saturday game, our shift has focused,
I mean, our folks has shifted so we can get
ready for the bucks. Here, primetime, opportunity, championship, opportunity.
Speaker 5 (18:05):
Everything right in front of us.
Speaker 9 (18:06):
The group's excited about it and looking forward to this week.
Speaker 2 (18:11):
Dave Canalis's opening statement during his Monday press conference earlier today,
you certainly know by now if you're a WFNZ listener,
a Panthers fan, that the game has been flexed to
Sunday or Saturday. Pardon me at four thirty that one's
on ESPN and smoke. As I understand it, we'll get
the combination of Chris Fowler, Lewis Riddick, and dan Orlovsky
(18:31):
on the call on ESPN for Panthers Bucks Week eighteen.
Speaker 6 (18:34):
Hasn't been made official, but that's usually the second NFL
broadcast crew that they have.
Speaker 3 (18:39):
So that's the speculation, is what it is.
Speaker 6 (18:41):
Right now, that's a speculation just based off the history. Okay,
but if that's the case, going to be a very
busy week for Chris Valor. He's going to call at
least one college football playoff game, yeah, yes, and then
going to go straight to the NFL for a key
game in the NFC South.
Speaker 2 (18:55):
Yeah, that's true. It also blew up my travel plans
this week just a little bit. So I'm going to
be listening to Chris Fowler call a game as I'm
driving the family back down from New England coming up
later this week.
Speaker 3 (19:05):
I gotta fly up and get them.
Speaker 2 (19:06):
The plan was for me to fly up, get them,
drive back, and plenty of time to get back for
what I thought or figured might be. I knew this
was possible, but get back for a Panthers Sunday game.
But they flexed this thing to Saturday. And so now
I'm going to be driving down the Eastern Seaboard on Friday,
listening to all these playoff games.
Speaker 3 (19:21):
As I go.
Speaker 2 (19:21):
But that's fine because I want to get back in
time for Saturday and a game that you think Carolina
is absolutely going to win in Tampa to clench the
NFC South. And that was Dave Canallis again acknowledging the
schedule change and what's coming up this weekend. Here's Dave
Canallis earlier today. Asked if looking back, there was anything
he'd change about the game.
Speaker 5 (19:41):
He called, you don't live with regrets.
Speaker 9 (19:43):
These are the plays we practice, These are the things
we ask our guys to execute on. We have full
faith in the group to do it. Are they things
we evaluated that we talked about this morning. Absolutely, there's
things always to improve after every game, but you go
out there and you play your best game and you
try to throw out the things that you can execute
really well, the plays that you can play fast with
on offense, defense, and special teams, and I truly believe
(20:04):
that's what we went into with. And it also gives
me an opportunity to give the Seahawks credit. This is
a really good team and they limit us in some
different ways based on how they played and the plays
that they made, so it was a great opponent. We
played them well for three quarters and it got away
from us at the end because we weren't able to
stay out there and get more points. But I'm proud
of the group and proud of how hard we played.
(20:25):
We got to bounce back. Then we got to make
sure that we take the bucks this week and just
continue to move our football forward. Still continue to look
for that game, looking for our guys to play complete
football all together, not a perfect game, but where all
groups are firing on all cylinders. And that doesn't mean
that every play works, but there's something about it. When
guys are executing well, playing off of each other, playing together,
(20:46):
a team becomes really hard to beat. And that's what
we're looking for this week is to just put our
best football out there.
Speaker 2 (20:51):
So he gave a good deal of credit to Seattle
right there, and I did too to an extent. The
Bagel guy, though, says, can we please stop praising the
Seattle defense like the two thousand Ravens. Yes, they're very good,
but fourteenth against the pass, they're not fifty four yards
passing from Bryce good. Our game plan and Bryce were terrible.
It's a very good defense. I understand your point, though,
I mean, fifty four yards passing in the NFL is
(21:13):
unacceptable no matter who it is.
Speaker 3 (21:14):
I agree with you on that. But they are good.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
I thought it was one of the better tackling performances
that I've seen from a defense in quite some time.
I thought they were great against the run, you know, defensively,
they just they won the line of scrimmage over and
over again. I thought Rico had some nice runs, don't
get me wrong, But you know, Seattle won more often
than not upfront, and they applied a good deal of
pressure to Bryce Young yesterday. In fact, you know, that's
(21:39):
what a lot of the film breakdowns have shown. But
Dave Canalys was asked this, and I want to play
this for you because this seems to have struck up
a fierce debate online when this quote came out. Here's
Dave Canallis earlier today asked for his evaluation of the
offensive line against the Seahawks.
Speaker 9 (21:54):
I thought the group generally did a good job. The
Seahawks certainly got some wins. They had some nice stunts
where they came free some one on one wins. I
felt like consistently, though there wasn't enough time to operate.
Speaker 5 (22:07):
And Bryce felt that too.
Speaker 9 (22:08):
He was going through his progressions, there were times he
had to move and get out of the pocket.
Speaker 5 (22:12):
That's life in the big leagues, that's the NFL.
Speaker 9 (22:15):
I didn't see the offensive line as being a real
limiting factor to what we could do yesterday. I think
just collectively, you know, we didn't take advantage of some
opportunities in the run game and also in the past game.
Speaker 5 (22:26):
But I have confidence in this group, and I'm.
Speaker 9 (22:29):
Proud of Ikey, you know, to be able to get
himself back off of a Nie sprain, to get back
out there for his teammates.
Speaker 5 (22:35):
Really proud of the way he played.
Speaker 9 (22:37):
He wasn't perfect, but I'll take Ikey with the version
of Ikey that we got because of just the heart
and soul of the guy, how much he cares about
his teammates.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
Listen, did that sound to you like he was because
there were people saying it'd sound like he threw Bryce
under the bus right there. Yeah, we saw a lot
of pressure two point twenty six seconds to throw yesterday.
The film doesn't line up with what Dave said. There
are a lot of folks it was the Joe person
tweet I think where the quote initially came out and
people are jumping on and saying, sure, sounds like Dave's
throwing his quarterback under the bus right there.
Speaker 3 (23:04):
I don't know what'd you think.
Speaker 6 (23:06):
It didn't sound as bad when you listen to it
as compared to when it was tweeted out by Joe Person.
And I'm not getting on to Joe Person just because
he just tweeted the quote.
Speaker 7 (23:13):
He just tweeted the quote and he actually said that.
Speaker 6 (23:16):
But when you listen to it, it's like, okay, yeah,
he basically is saying we all have a spot to blame,
essentially with what I kind of got gathered. Now, do
I agree with him saying the offensive line played as well? No,
But to be fair to him, apparently PFF thinks the
same thing, all five of the highest grade.
Speaker 7 (23:33):
I don't get it, but you know, and it's not.
Speaker 2 (23:36):
The gospel, but it does make it reconciling some of
this stuff difficult, right because I watched it. I was
again sitting with Al Wallace and Colin Hoggard to my
left yesterday, and I saw a lot of pressure. I'll
also be the first to admit that I do think
Bryce missed on a couple of plays where the pressure
probably got to him. He stayed too early or he yeah,
I mean, things like that absolutely happened. So I just
also thought again that man coverage that Seattle came out
(23:59):
with seemed to just flummox Dave Canalis and Bryce Young
and the Panthers offense.
Speaker 3 (24:03):
And that part, to me is inexcusable.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
People are saying on the text line, Dave's still young,
he's still learning, and that's true, everybody gets that, But
there are no moral victories in the NFL, and I
just thought they did a terrible job adjusting yesterday to
what Seattle was doing defensively. On top of that, the
receivers weren't winning often enough. It was once again, this
team never seems to lose close? Do they When they lose,
they lose big. They either are good from the jump,
(24:29):
they take control, they're moving offensively, or they come out
and they can't adjust to what's being presented to them
and they end up losing the game by fifteen to
twenty points.
Speaker 3 (24:39):
There's just there are very few close losses for this team.
Speaker 6 (24:42):
It's gonna say the Saints game in New Orleans and
I forget that. Probably Sanfran and Arizona.
Speaker 2 (24:49):
Yeah, but even Sanfran turned into a late blowout, right,
you know what I mean? Like the same thing as yesterday,
same thing as yesterday. Let's take some phone calls.
Speaker 4 (24:55):
Here.
Speaker 2 (24:56):
Dale is up first here on a Panther Monday, Dale,
what's going on, brother? What's on your mind?
Speaker 10 (25:00):
Hey?
Speaker 11 (25:00):
Take av anything?
Speaker 4 (25:01):
He's taking a call. Sure, I picked the Panthers go
eight wins this year, so I'm happy with that, but
I hope they proved me wrong Saturday. I think I
think you know no one person that can win or
lose a game. But I think chalk it up is
five My belief is five kent and that's the height
(25:21):
of Bryce Young. I think he's got the arm strength.
I think he's got the Cerebuel. I think he can
get out of the pocket when he needs to. I
just think he has a hard time seeing over these
Paul Lineman, and I think they should bring it back,
give him one more year, see what happens. Thanks for
taking my call.
Speaker 2 (25:38):
I appreciate the phone call. I think you said a lot.
I think what you said right there was largely accurate.
And I've heard Hoggard say it this way, and I
think it's the best way to put it. When Bryce,
when things go poorly, when Bryce looks small, he looks
real small when he when he's out there, and that
happens when that pocket collapse. When he looks small, he
looks really small. But it's not always, but when it happens,
it feels like it's an avalanche. Every single time they
(25:58):
can't pull out of it. And yesterday was one of
those days. And again you can boil it down to
the JC Horn penalty was bad.
Speaker 3 (26:06):
I know he kind of snickered.
Speaker 2 (26:07):
About it in the post game, which bothered some people,
and said that he felt like Jackson Smith jig but
sold the call, and he did, There's no doubt about it.
Speaker 7 (26:15):
He saw it like death.
Speaker 3 (26:16):
He definitely sold it.
Speaker 2 (26:17):
But that's what you want your guys to do in
that situation. That's what you want and jc's got to
know better. A simple form tackle to run him out
of bounds gets the job done. Thirteen yards short of
the line to gain. That's all you have to do
at that time.
Speaker 6 (26:31):
And it's crazy because you were talking about how you
saw the Seahawks, how they were just formed tackling. Well,
the opposite could be said at times for the Panthers defense.
Speaker 7 (26:38):
Despite as well as they played.
Speaker 6 (26:40):
There's one time where prince Lely didn't wrap up and
just tried to shoulder tackle I believe the tight end Oughton,
and then he came to the sideline and I saw
he got a chewing. Yeah from his position. Coach, it's
like stuff like that. I think Nick Scott also did one.
It's just like, shoulder tackles don't usually work in the NFL. Man, Nope, No,
And Princely got yanked for that.
Speaker 8 (26:56):
One.
Speaker 3 (26:57):
Tie is up next on the phones, ty, what's going on?
Speaker 10 (27:00):
Hey? What's going on here?
Speaker 11 (27:01):
Yare you're doing?
Speaker 7 (27:01):
Good?
Speaker 10 (27:02):
Man?
Speaker 3 (27:02):
What's on your mind?
Speaker 6 (27:03):
Man?
Speaker 11 (27:04):
The Panthers have showed us exactly who they are all year.
I've called in a couple of times, and I've been
harping on Bryce is not the guy for us, and
he showed us that early in his career. I got
a hot take here, but you know, making the playoffs
is not gonna make us any more happy than we
are now going through this up and down year. Because
(27:26):
he knows I'm gonna be out in the first round
and we're gonna be back talking about the draft and stuff.
So we'll bring Bryce back to one year, and we'll
bring Dave back to one year, and if they don't
get it done, both would be out at the same time.
Speaker 3 (27:39):
Oh I think that. Yeah, No, they're going. They're going.
There's a very good chance they go together.
Speaker 10 (27:43):
Tom.
Speaker 3 (27:43):
I appreciate the phone call man.
Speaker 2 (27:44):
Listen, the people who already don't like the guy that
are already out on Bryce show. Yesterday was just more ammunition.
But it was a collective failure too. He was not good.
They were not good. I can point you to several
snaps or wide receivers just didn't separate. Tedoro McMillan fell
down once early in the game on a ball that
was on the money. So these things happened multiple times.
When this offense is bad, it is bad and these
(28:07):
wild swings just continue. And I don't know if that's
a product of you know, the wrong personnel, which many
of you believe, if Dave is not good enough week
to week. But the results are what the results are,
and yesterday was a terrible result. A good nugget. I
love that name. Good nugget. Up next on the phones,
what's up, nuggy?
Speaker 8 (28:24):
Hey, how you doing. I'm a little bit a little
bit less heated than I was yesterday when I called
into Willie p. I've tooken time. I rewatched the game
on haults point two with the NFL buff and I've
got to say this, I agree with you completely. Our
wide receivers, we're not getting any separation. The few times
that there was separation though, just like the first caller said,
(28:45):
Bryce could not see there was. There was one play
I think it was in the third quarter t Max
streaking in the middle of the field. No one around
them got good five maybe ten yard separation. I saw that,
but Bryce couldn't see it, and the Seattle see And
that's something I saw multiple times. Rewatching this game with
a clear head, you know, the Seahawks gave us the
(29:08):
middle of the field and the and the wheel routes
the flats, but Bryce couldn't see either he couldn't see
it or he wasn't comfortable trying to make those middle
of the field, So we had fifty four yards of passing.
Like you said, the Seattle Seahawks, their defense is phenomenal.
I'm not gonna say I agree. They're not eighty five Bears,
(29:29):
but they might be good enough to make maybe the
NFC Championship game, maybe even the Super Bowl, because that
was an effective shutdown of what has been a pretty
okay to good offense, especially at home. So that's all
I got to say today. I appreciate y'all. Happy New Year,
(29:50):
and I'm sure I'll be calling in on Saturday.
Speaker 3 (29:52):
There you go.
Speaker 2 (29:52):
Happy New Year to you, brother. Appreciate the phone call.
Yeah again, great phone call. I've gone back and seen
many of the same things. I also just again, you know,
I didn't feel like the offensive coaching staff had a
The defense is very good. Seattle's defense is very good.
But I was waiting for some kind of response from
the coaching staff from Dave Canalis to do something different,
and they finally got around of figuring it out. You know,
(30:15):
in late third quarter after those two turnovers, when they
were down fourteen points, and at that point it felt
like the wins were completely out of the sales. Let's see,
Lamar is up next, Lamar, what's going on?
Speaker 12 (30:26):
How's it going?
Speaker 10 (30:27):
Man? Yeah?
Speaker 12 (30:31):
I actually agree with everything that the last callers said.
And and here's here's my biggest thing. We can't sit
here and not I'm not saying you're doing this, but
we can't sit here at like Bryce youwan didn't have
fifty four yards. So like, I'll give it up when
you give me something, you know, the the Atlanta game
(30:53):
or record, I'll give it up to you, man. But
I can't come out here and say, oh, it's the
offensive line spault. Is you know, we didn't do anything.
We didn't change anything in the second half. Bryce going
through for fifty four yards, man, Like that's not going
to get it done in the NFL. And you know,
I don't I don't know where we go as a
(31:15):
team with him in the contract, But like, fifty four
yards is? I keep looking back at that, like the
play calling wasn't that great either, but fifty four yards?
Speaker 10 (31:25):
Come on, what are we doing guys?
Speaker 8 (31:27):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (31:27):
Yeah, No, it's bad. I appreciate the phone call, Lamar.
There's no way around it. We're not going to ignore it.
I'm not trying to explain it away. Getting punked on
the text line said it makes me sick to hear
y'all talk. Bryce needs more time. He already has that.
That position is for tall dudes. Good dcs know how
to force quarterbacks like Bryce to play it with size.
It's not Canalis's play calling. Bryce can't max or sustain it.
I think he can max it. Sustaining it though, has
(31:49):
evaded him, and you're listen, you're fair to point it out.
I don't think it was all on him yesterday. I
think he got sped up and I think everything unraveled,
as you know.
Speaker 3 (32:00):
Good Nugget just.
Speaker 2 (32:00):
Called in and said he watched the All twenty two
confirmed what many of us saw. The wide receivers got
no separation quite often. And then somebody, I think it
was Bebop said a minute ago, Well, you got to
throw your guys open in the NFL. Sometimes you do,
but when you have a quarterback who's constantly putting the
ball in peril the way that you want him to,
when he turns the ball over. You're gonna crush him
for that too, So in some ways it's a you
can't win for losing type of situation. All right, we
(32:23):
got Steve Smith coming up in about seven minutes. I'm
gonna take your phone calls throughout the course of the show.
Stay tight on the phone lines. I promise I will
get to you. But right now we go to smoke
on the headlines.
Speaker 3 (32:34):
Who is smoke? Where is smoked? Where there's smoke, there's fire.
Speaker 7 (32:39):
Let's go what you got?
Speaker 6 (32:41):
All right, Well, here's a good situation that we're not
talking about. The tank Ball five thousand between the Giants
end Raiders happened yesterday and the Giants won, but they lost.
Because that means now the Las Vegas Raiders have an
eighty percent chance to get the number one pick all.
All they have to do is lose to the Kansas
(33:02):
City Chiefs, and if the Chiefs played like they did
on Christmas Night against the Broncos, that should probably happen.
So it's looking like Las Vegas Sin City will likely
win the Fernando Mendoza sweepstakes.
Speaker 2 (33:14):
So you think that's a lot At this point, he's
gonna go number one overall.
Speaker 3 (33:18):
I think he's.
Speaker 6 (33:19):
Gonna blow out the interview process because those I mean
you saw, I don't know. Oh he's an impressive kid, Yeah,
an impressive kid. Urban Meyer was gushing over him when
he had him on his podcast. Yep, he was just like,
Oh my god, I wish I could coach you. So
I think it's gonna happen with a lot of coaches
in the NFL. Mendoza is the guy. I'm with you, quick?
What else you got? Also utter news in the NFL
(33:39):
the Giant speaking of they have a coaching vacancy, what
we now know one coach is not going to be
taking that job, Marcus Freeman. He will be staying in
South Bend at Notre Dame. Watch out College Football World,
He's coming. Can you hear the glee in his life
or in his voice? You can hear the glee in
his voice? Right His guy's going back to South Bend.
Speaker 10 (33:57):
CJ.
Speaker 2 (33:58):
Carr back to Oh Yeah, Steve Smith Senior. Smith's back.
Next Sports Radio ninety two to seven WF and Z.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
Over fifteen thousand total yards away, sixteen NFL seasons.
Speaker 3 (34:15):
Have you say that's nice?
Speaker 11 (34:17):
Not mean?
Speaker 1 (34:17):
Last five Pro Bowls and countless memories when.
Speaker 2 (34:20):
A dog gets an X ray, They've got that Steve
Smith inside their rib game.
Speaker 1 (34:24):
Steve Smith is on wfn.
Speaker 2 (34:26):
Z Hi Sup Son, Well, he's back Sports Radio ninety
two to seven wf and z KB and smoke with
you here on a Panthers Monday, not a victory Monday,
and real quick, I got big Cat Dan on the
FANDUL text line listening from every day from down in Florida,
says the loss was disappointing, but it's not the end
(34:46):
of the world.
Speaker 3 (34:47):
Again.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
Who picked us to beat Seattle? We've roller coastered the
whole season. Why is everyone surprised? The same things were
said after the Saints loss. Let Dan Morgan keep building, Canalis,
Bryce and Avero have us knocking on the door to
the playoff after seven years of mock draft talk and
not being picked to win more than six games, much
less make the playoffs? What are we doing? Ride the
(35:08):
frick and ride. He's one of many that are sending
that in. I'm actually surprised how many people are sending
that in. And let's see what Steve Smith thinks about that.
Panthers legend. NFL Network analyst Agent eighty nine back for
his Monday conversation. Merry Christmas, Happy new your brother, How
are you appreciate you?
Speaker 10 (35:24):
I'm good hater in a building? Or should I say
hayter on the telephone?
Speaker 2 (35:28):
Oh oh okay, all right, so we're in a spicy
mood today then.
Speaker 10 (35:32):
Huh no, I'm just throwing you all.
Speaker 2 (35:36):
I know, I know, I'm good. I'm good, full of
holiday spirit and cheer. I'm not down today. You know,
this is this is who they are Steve and uh,
I'm actually you know, just as a fan, right because
this is we all started as sports fans, as a
as a fan week eighteen to make the playoffs. It's
a good thing. I'm still fired up about it. But
I think people are really and I'm talking about all fans,
(35:58):
former players. If you're upset to I think it's probably
more so because the Dolphins did beat Tampa and the
opportunity was right there and they just couldn't take advantage
of it.
Speaker 3 (36:07):
What do you think about that?
Speaker 10 (36:11):
I had a conversation with someone today and he said, hey,
what do you think about the Panthers? And I said,
what do you think? He was like, Man, I was
at the game and it was disappointing. I said, what
are you disappointed at? He said, well, I'm disappointed because
they didn't beat Seattle. And I looked at him and
(36:31):
I said how many wins did Seattle have? And he
looked at me. He said, what does that mean? I says,
it means a lot. He goes, well, they just won thirteen.
I said, the only part you're disappointed at is you
thought that Seattle was going to lay an egg. That's
(36:52):
really the disappointment. Seattle is a twelve thirteen win team.
Speaker 3 (36:57):
Yep.
Speaker 10 (36:58):
You don't win no those games because you got a
cute uniform, because your coach has a nice has has
awesome cliches. You do it because you stay diligent in
the run game. You minimize the turnovers, and you take
advantage of every opportunity the opposing team gives you. And
(37:22):
that's the difference between the game yesterday, too many turnovers,
not being able to adjust to the momentum swing and
oh yeah, I forgot. You're playing a really good team
who has shown you they're good all year.
Speaker 3 (37:40):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (37:40):
I think Mike McDonald's done a great job with that defense.
I mean great job. And I don't want to gass
anybody up too much, right because the league's full of
good players league players, but.
Speaker 10 (37:49):
The league is full of good players, and the league
is also full of coaches who don't know how to
position good players. Or there's good coaches kind of players, right,
And I'm not indicating that the Panthers are that way.
(38:11):
I'm just saying you gotta look at what it is.
Is you played a pretty good team. They won twelve games,
and so that says that it was not going to
be a cakewalk. You are not playing Atlanta Falcons who
have no identity, right, Yeah, You're not playing New You're
(38:35):
not playing New Orleans who has a rookie quarterback. You're
playing a team. Yes, Sam Donald was here in Carolina,
but he's been coached obviously, and he's playing better.
Speaker 3 (38:53):
Speaking of coaching, what did you think.
Speaker 2 (38:55):
I was a little bit surprised yesterday when I was
in the postgame press conference when Dave Canalis just came
out and admit, you know, they played a lot more
man than we'd anticipated. Seattle came in playing more zone
than anybody else in the NFL. All of a sudden,
they're playing man coverage, and Dave Canalis basically admitted yesterday
that it caught him off guard.
Speaker 7 (39:11):
What does that say to you, Hm.
Speaker 10 (39:17):
That says that a team who plays primarily zone coverage
comes in and says, we're gonna play man because we
like our matchups. That's what that says. And you should
take it personal if they generally go zone and then
(39:40):
they go man. Right, you go back Chicago Bears two
thousand and five. They were a primarily zone team when
we came to town. Guess what they stayed. They stayed they
ass and zone coverage. Then when we went to the playoffs,
they didn't switch it out. They still went into his
(40:02):
own coverage. You got to make adjustments. Like the teams,
they have tendencies, but you got to understand the playbook.
That is not a living and breathing organism. It's a
piece of paper that you've put together and you've laminated
and you write on it and looks like a fat
(40:23):
boy's menu, you know, when you're watching a coach on
the sideline. But the game, though, is coming and going
as you see is you've got to make adjustments and
you got to adapt to the circumstances and the surroundings
that you're going through at that moment.
Speaker 2 (40:44):
Yeah, now you're right. Steve Smith senior with us here
on a Monday conversation. Bright through for fifty four yards.
There's no way you can spend that. That's bad. I've
gone back and rewatched it, and it did affirm a
lot of what I saw in the press box yesterday
that you know, he missed some things. But also you
know they that pressure got there quick yesterday and there
was not There was not a lot of wide receiver
(41:04):
separation on a lot of those snaps either. I mean,
it just kind of felt like back to front start
to finish. You know, a lot of offensive failure, but
like fifty four yards passing, who's most of it? And
I'm not asking you to throw anybody out of the bus,
but I'm just saying, when you're looking for problems after
a performance like that, where.
Speaker 3 (41:18):
Does it start?
Speaker 10 (41:20):
It starts with you. First of all, starts with looking
at your opponent. What is the Seattle Seahawks. They have
a really good front seven. They stop to run right,
and then the offensively, Clint Kubiak does an excellent job
bro of running the football. Even when they don't get
(41:43):
any yards. He never abandons the run. They will bump
their heads up on the goal post, not moving a football,
but they will still run the football. They are committed
to running and they don't deviate from it. They're not
(42:05):
a really good running team if you look them up
statistically they're okay, but they commit to running the football.
And man, you got to respect that coach. You know,
I used to as a receiver. I hated Coach Fox
with being diligent and running the football. We're gonna run it.
We're gonna do this because at times that was frustrating
(42:27):
is when you needed a pass you didn't have a
lot of data information to kind of know what to
do in the past game because you keep running it
with a cloud of dust. Well that's what that's what
the Seattle Seahawks do is they run a football and
oh yeah, news alert. They throw into number eleven a lot,
(42:49):
a lot just in case no one noticed.
Speaker 3 (42:56):
Yeah they did.
Speaker 2 (42:57):
And let me ask you real quick on that too,
because this is one of the big talking points today,
you know it. They cut the lead to seventeen to ten,
defense forced a third and twenty one. They go to
there's your guy eleven, They go to Jackson Smith and
Jig but and j. C. Horn gets called for a
face mask penalty automatic first down, Seattle ends up tacking
on points to make it a two score game. I
(43:17):
know JC after the facts that he felt like eleven
sold that thing. But there's also clear video of a
hand in a face mask. What do we what do
we take from that?
Speaker 10 (43:26):
You take for what the referee said it was, it
was a face mask?
Speaker 3 (43:30):
Yeah, I agree by what.
Speaker 10 (43:32):
You can't argue. You can try, but I've just kind
of I've just kind of reserved it to where it
doesn't matter. When have you ever seen a penalty really
get argued to where they pick it up and put
it in their pocket. Rarely, right, especially with like a
face mask, horse kyler like some of that stuff. Right
(43:54):
when you're talking about somebody being lined up in a
neutral zone, all that stuff, that's that's different, that debatable, right,
But when it's a clear face mask, horse collar, uh,
crack back, chopped block, you know some of those things. Man,
the dude in the stripes they hold the last.
Speaker 3 (44:15):
Word, Yeah, they sure do.
Speaker 2 (44:18):
Did you have any problem because some people did, and
I'm not talking about just fans, like Dave Canal has
caught some heat for taking it for kneeling on the
football with two minutes left to go down seventeen.
Speaker 3 (44:28):
Did you have a problem with that?
Speaker 10 (44:31):
No, here's why I didn't have a problem with it.
This is a real question. You ready, Kylevi? Then I'm
looking for an answer.
Speaker 3 (44:38):
Okay.
Speaker 10 (44:40):
How many passing yards did they have?
Speaker 3 (44:42):
Fifty four?
Speaker 10 (44:44):
How many rushing yards did they have?
Speaker 11 (44:45):
Oh?
Speaker 3 (44:46):
I got to look that one up. Sorry, I didn't
come prepared for the test today. The pop quiz, I'm
sure it was.
Speaker 10 (44:50):
It was still in the fifties. Okay. So my question
is what were they going to do differently that they
weren't able to do for the last three and a
half almost four quarter.
Speaker 2 (45:04):
For the record, I agree one hundred percent. If somebody
gets hurt, they're all getting crushed for that today. So
it's not fun. Nobody liked it, but I thought it
was the right decision.
Speaker 10 (45:12):
So they were they going to march down the field
the same way they did not march down the field
the last three quarters?
Speaker 3 (45:21):
Nope?
Speaker 10 (45:22):
Oh okay, yeah. Look, I'm trying to figure out what's
logical because I'm looking and you're like, hey man, we
got to win this marathon. Yeah, bro, you're not gonna
win the marathon in the first mile when it's thirty two.
Speaker 2 (45:39):
No, no, listen again, it's a there was no win, right,
You're not winning the game. If somebody gets hurt, you're
getting crushed for that. I hated it, but it is
what it is, all right, last thing, buddy, Week eighteen.
It all comes down to this. They're still alive. I mean,
Tampa's in a spiral.
Speaker 8 (45:54):
Man.
Speaker 3 (45:54):
They've lost seven of eight.
Speaker 2 (45:55):
They lost that game yesterday, but they've got home field
advantage on Sunday. What in your mind's eye, what do
you imagine this game looks like?
Speaker 10 (46:03):
This is why I love this game. Week eighteen. This
game is you. You have the ability to control your
own destiny. You gotta wake you gotta wake up, You
(46:23):
gotta you gotta wake up on Sunday morning and figure
out do you want to show up or not? Bottom
line right, this is this is this is what every
little kid that plays football says they want to do.
Is they get the opportunity to make the winning tackle,
(46:45):
to wake them, make the winning throw, to make the
winning catch, to make the winning sack. You gotta visualize
what you prepare and want to do on Sunday, and
you gotta start it yesterday. You gotta wake up on
morning and your birth certificates say should say I wish
(47:05):
you would try me today. That's where you need to
be from. I wish you would, I wish you would
isolate me and play me man to man coverage. That's
what I see. And you want to establish yourself as
being a big dog. Go win the game, I hear you.
Go Go win the game that you're not supposed to win,
(47:30):
not the game you're supposed to because that happens. But
this is also a very young team who just may
not sound right. They're learning how to win. And when
I say win, I'm saying finish and start a complete game.
Speaker 2 (47:52):
Well, I hope they do, and I hope seven days
from now we're talking about the playoffs.
Speaker 3 (47:55):
Buddy.
Speaker 2 (47:55):
Happy new Year to you and yours. We appreciate you,
I believe you. There you go Steve Smith's and you're
with us, will come back our number two.
Speaker 3 (48:01):
We react. We take your thoughts as well. Sports Radio
ninety two seven WF and Z
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