Wes & Walker- Vashti Hurt

Willie is joined by Vashti Hurt, editor-in-chief of Carolina Blitz, as they discuss how important this game is for Bryce Young, where this team stands after ten games and just how important the injuries are that this team is dealing with. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
We talked to Vashti Herd, who will keep it all
a buck with us on sports right at ninety just
seven WFNZ is, so get you ready for Panthers and Falcons.
What's going on, vash Ti? How are you?

Speaker 2 (00:09):
It's been a busy day, but we keep blitzing.

Speaker 1 (00:12):
I'm big, I'm big on it. People are making this
game out to be Bryce Young's crossroads moment. Do you
think it's that big or do you think it's more
about totality the final seven games?

Speaker 2 (00:24):
Yeah, I think I'm not ready to say that. This
is all or nothing for Bryce Young always said and
this was at the beginning of the season that I
wanted to see a full season's worth of work from
Bryce Young. Just two weeks ago, you know, everybody was
happy and now everybody's mad again. So listen, They're ups
and downs during the season. This is not a make

(00:46):
or break game for Bryce. Now, when you go and
look at the report card for the whole season, that
might be another story. But I just want to before
I'm going to reserve judgment until we have a full seaton.
This is worth the work as far as Bryce Young
is concerned.

Speaker 1 (01:03):
You're saying everybody's bad. Are you inferring that their anger
is not justified?

Speaker 2 (01:09):
No? I mean when you put a product on the
field like they did last week, it seems like when
the Panthers have an opportunity to really make a splash,
they they kind of fall short. And I'm also thinking about,
you know, the season with Steve Wilkes and they had
the protect the bank. I think it was the Steelers
that came to town and it was and it was awful.
So now, I mean, when you put that that product

(01:30):
on the field there, there's gonna be criticism and and justified.
But you know, you gotta question what is it all?
Bryce Young? Is Dave Panalis in there? Some? Is it
both of them? We don't know. But as far as
make or break game for Bryce Young today, I just
think that that's a bit of a reach.

Speaker 1 (01:48):
And it's weird because part of me thinks this is
a week where he can gain some confidence. But then
looking at the opposition vash Tie, I see a Falcon
team who as a higher pensivety giving up many rushing yards.
We saw it in the first matchup between these two.
We saw it last week against the colt with Jonathan Taylor,
It almost seems like, hey, they can take the game

(02:10):
plan they had it against the New Orleans Saints and
hope it works against the Falcons. The problem is, I
hope they at least bring a Plan B to the
table if it goes like it did last week for
the Panthers against New Orleans.

Speaker 2 (02:23):
Yeah, I mean the playbook is out on the Panthers
right well so or so as of right now. Stop
the run and they become one dimensional or they are
one dimensional team. Stop the run and you don't have anything.
So now this is where Dave Canalis and his offensive
staff have to come up with another game plan. They
have to make it so that they aren't just one dimensional.

(02:45):
That doesn't mean you abandon the run, but you are
you have to have other options as far as as
far as an offense is concerned, and Bryce has looked
questionable and they aren't getting deep passes, are they even
is Bryce even able to to throw that d ball
and be productive? Those all those all things that we
just don't know yet. And so they the Panthers, they're

(03:10):
gonna have to be balanced on offense for sure if
they're gonna have a chance at winning this game.

Speaker 1 (03:14):
You mentioned as we're talking with Vashti heard about the
Panthers and the Falcons that it could be factors outside
of Bryce that are leading to the Panthers passing offense
not being what it's cracked up to be. I mentioned
earlier that the player that probably needs to step up
the most offensively for the Panthers outside of Bryce is
Xaviorly get if I had to ask you to fill
on a blank. Are Panther fans being too hard or

(03:37):
not hard enough on XCEL?

Speaker 2 (03:40):
Well, I think they've been very hard on XCEL, and
so I don't think not hard enough is the answer.
Too hard I would have said that the first few games,
I would say, you know, and I had and I
did say that, let up on XL, you know, give
him time. I didn't think that a lot of people
were being reasonable. But we haven't seen the reduction that

(04:01):
we would have expected from him during his second season,
And so, you know, is it lack of opportunity? Because
t Mack has gotten his, but he hasn't gotten his
the last couple of weeks. So is it the fact
that he hasn't been able to make those plays? But
when he has been able to make those plays, he
hasn't made them. I don't think it's a mixed bag
for me for Excel because he's a hard worker. But

(04:23):
if you can't get it done on Sunday, then people
are going to criticize you, And so far he hasn't
been able to get it done on Sunday. I think
the criticism is criticism is justified. I don't think there
needs to be any more or any less.

Speaker 1 (04:36):
Where do you feel like the Falcons are most threatening
against the Panthers.

Speaker 2 (04:41):
Probably in the run game. The Panthers have been able
to stop the run, but then they've had letups, right,
They've had letups where Allah the Buffalo Bills where they
allowed a career day for their running back. So the
Panthers are going to have to be consistent against stopping
the run and try to make the Falcons one dimensional.

(05:02):
And there's a lot being made of their pass rush,
and I think they're one of the best in the
league when it comes to stacking opposition quarterbacks. So yeah,
they're gonna have to I say, the rushing the ball
won and then one b would be their pass rush,
And I think those are both things that the Panthers
can take care of. You asked if it was a

(05:25):
make or break game for Bryce Young. I don't think
it's a make or break game for Bryce Young, but
it might be one of those make up break games
for the Panthers as far as even being in the
conversation for a playoff spot if they don't win this game,
I think it's a rap and I think both teams
are gonna be desperate, but this is this is the one.
They're gonna have to stop the run and they're gonna

(05:46):
have to protect Bryce if they have any chance.

Speaker 1 (05:48):
Of winning, especially with an opportunity that exists again with
Tampa Bay playing on the road at Buffalo and the
Panthers playing the Falcons. Chance to get to within a
game of the division lead obviously gives you an opportunity
to have that, not only with the two games remaining
head to head. You know, thinking about where the Panthers
are at five and five, ashed, I've heard a lot

(06:08):
of people this week say, Hey, if you would have
told me that Panthers be five and five ten weeks,
I would have taken it. Independent of the circumstance. How
do the Panthers look with respect to where you thought
they'd be at this point? Maybe before the season.

Speaker 2 (06:24):
Yeah, they're about where I thought they would be record wise.
Consistency wise, No, they've had lapses and where you know,
they might've looked good the week before and then the
next week they look like they've taken one hundred steps back.
So I feel like they would be a more consistent
team by now. But as far as the record is concerned,

(06:44):
I think that they're on track. You know, I had
maybe eight nine wins this season. That's still very doable
at this point. So I think they're on track and
wins and losses. They just have to fix that consistency.
And you mentioned Tampa Bay. I always coming into this
stretch with Tampa Bay reeling from injuries and then they're
also going into a tough part of their schedule. The

(07:07):
parent has had an opportunity to really kind of close
that gap between themselves and the Bucks. And but they
have to win the games that they're supposed to win,
and they haven't done so this so far. But Atlanta as.

Speaker 1 (07:20):
A must win and no Irving and no god win
this week for Tampa in Buffalo, so that makes things
even more difficult for them. Found out earlier today that
no Trevin Wallace no late than Ransom. Obviously, it feels
like Wallace is the bigger loss there. How much of
a loss is it to you?

Speaker 2 (07:37):
Honestly, I think that, yeah, Wallace is a big loss,
and because he wears a green dottist on the defense,
and so they really haven't told us, and I haven't
had an opportunity to listen to Canalis's press conference, but
I'm sure he wouldn't have told us anyway. Who's gonna
wear the green dot this week, whether it will be

(07:59):
Rose Boom or will be claud and churlis who will
be filling in for filling in for Trevin Wallace. But
this is the next man up league, and so Clawdon
is gonna have to get it done in Trevon Wallace's place.
And you know, Lathan Ransom isn't as big of a
loss because you still have married in that back who

(08:20):
has been playing lights out. But yeah, that's gonna be
a tough loss. But I still I don't think that
that is game changing for the Panthers defense. It starts
up front. They're healthy upfront. That's where dB, That's where
A'shawn Robinson, That's where Turk, That's where those gots Bobby Brown.
That's where those guys have to make it easier, as

(08:42):
you had to put more into the back end of
that defense.

Speaker 1 (08:45):
I know a lot of conversations surrounded Mike Jackson's role
on this team too. Vash did just based on the
fact that we had the whole will Jase get a
passport and travel discussion and things about the scheme and
things of that nature, that this could be a week
to maybe once again improved to him and and prove
to the rest of the league that hey, they do
at least have a thread on that side if you

(09:05):
trying to stay away from JC, particularly with a couple
of very big scale vision players London, Pits, et cetera,
that the Falcons bring to the table.

Speaker 2 (09:15):
Yeah, and you know, Mike jack he's had his moment.
He's not j C. Horn and I don't think he's
trying to be. He wants to be a formidable, you know,
second guy in that secondary or second cornerback, and he
has you know, I think that we as media and fans,
when you have a bad game, you kind of multiply
that even more. But he's had a solid year. He

(09:38):
gets picked on at times, which we have seen him
get picked on. But he's a solid cornerback. He's a
solid number two cornerback in games like this or where
you make your money. But I think that he's going
to have a decent game for the Panthers. I don't
think they will lose because Mike Jack is getting torched.

Speaker 1 (09:56):
One other thing, I hate to go back to the offense,
but some thing we found out in Dave Canalis's presser
is that he did say that Chandlersvalla will be back
in the starting lineup after a full week of practice
at right guard in place of Austin Corbett. It's it's
kind of been, unfortunately a revolving door at that right
guard position. Because of the injury to Rob Hunt than
the injury to Brady Christensen, Zavalla has been in and

(10:17):
out of the lineup, as has Corbett. How do you
feel about that move? Do you feel like that could
be a potential leaky portion of that offensive Lottie you mentioned?
Of course, this this Falcons defensive line definitely knows how
to get pressure.

Speaker 2 (10:31):
Yeah. Honestly, as a right guard position, I think Zavala
is a better option for the Panthers than Austin Corbett
and that's why they're gonna put him there. Austin Corbett
has kind of had a rough season. He's had battled
injuries himself. I think that when it comes to shoring
up that offensive line, you want Zavala in there. I
don't think that that's gonna I don't think that's a

(10:51):
drop off at all. I do think it might even
be a slight improvement, don't. That's not that's not that's
not a concern there. Plus, you Austin there as a
backup center just in case something happens with Kate Mays,
who has been in and out of the alignment, in
and out of the lineup due to injuries himself.

Speaker 1 (11:10):
Fash Ti hurt Carolina blitz Keith Blitzen. I know it's
a big, big weekend for you because you not only
have what's going on with the Panthers, but also a
pulse on all the college action going on as well.

Speaker 2 (11:21):
Absolutely, I'm headed up to Durham and Chapel Hill. I'll
be at Duke for the seven o'clock game, and then
I'll catch the end of the UNC game in Central tonight.
So follow me. Sure you're following Carolina blitz for updates.

Speaker 1 (11:32):
She is getting all of that action with them, of course.
Appreciate the Timeashti, thank you and we'll talk soon, all right,
Thanks for having me