November 6, 2025 • 21 mins
Today on the Happy Half Hour, Darin and Kassidy praise Derrick Brown for continuing to step into a leadership role, preview the Panthers home game against the Saints, discuss the special teams unit, and so much more!
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Happy half Howard, Hello, friends, and welcome to a very
special edition of The Happy Half Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Wake Up Cash, I'm awake, I'm here, I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're out partying last night getting crazy with the Jonas Brothers.
Is that who that was?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We joked on the way in it was a contingent
of girls here from the Panthers, And we joked that
there was I can say girls because I am one.
That's fair, that there was a certain age demographic that
was there for that concert, and it was actually two
vastly different age demographics. It was little girls in probably
(00:39):
I would say, you know, maybe like eight to thirteen,
and then it was all women that were twenty five
to forty, and it was those were the two distinct
age demographics. But had a blast, had a ton of
fun with the Jonas Brothers. In Charlotte, they bring out
usually a special guest each show because this whole tourist
(01:00):
called like greetings from your hometown, and they try to
bring out somebody from that town to do a special with.
So we were all tossing around ideas on who it
could be, Like, who were the Charlotte singers you would
bring out?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
George Clinton?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, that one was on the list we were going
through like Luke Comb's, Renee Brothers, Fantasia Avid Brothers. It
ended up being none of them, but it was sweet.
They did a finale with their parents and their dad
played the piano and sing a song. Their dad is
from here, and so that was the hometown guest.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
We knew the Jonas brothers had their origins.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Right, Actually a lot of people because their grandmother owns
a restaurant here that's really popular.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Which one, Oh, what's the name of it? I thought
it was not the top of your head at any rate.
Whether you've eaten with the Jonas brothers, They've never been
in my kitchen, but many people have. Welcome to the
Happy half Hour now that I've found it. Now that
what is.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It, Nellie's Nellie's Southern Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I've heard of it. It's yeah.
It's a big week here other than the Jonas Brothers
being in town because the New Orleans Saints are coming
to town. It's gonna be good to be back in
Bank of America Stadium. I mean, I tell people all
the time. Charlotte, North Carolina, in the center of the universe.
The weather is perfect out there right now. It's a
(02:19):
beautiful fall day. The foliage is kicking, and the Carolina
Panthers are kicking too. After a big win in Green
Bay the other day, everybody's excited to get back home.
But it's also kind of a weird week because the
New Orleans Saints got one win under their built. They
just traded away a couple of players, and they're not
feeling great about what's going on in their lives. But
(02:39):
at the same time, your Carolina Panthers are not quite
at the point in the development where they can overlook anybody.
And as gerro Vero said it today during his press conference,
he said, there this league is built so that anybody
in the league can ruin your week if you're not prepared.
So that's kind of the mindset your Carolina Panthers have
gone into this week with.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
It's also a game. This will be only the second
division game Panthers will have played so far this season.
The back half of the season is really heavy with them,
and you know, if you're gonna make a push in
the division where you're currently a game and a half
behind Tampa, then you can't overlook any division game and
we've seen. I mean you're seeing it right now in
(03:19):
the AFC North. Like those are teams that you know
are the difference in talent right now would be considered
on paper vastly different. But they're getting into these dog
fights with each other, and that's because that's what happens
in divisions, and you can't they are also two I
would say, I want to say three or four of
(03:42):
the Saints' losses all came in like one possession games,
like one score games, right, and so it's not like
they've gotten blown out in every single game. Some of
them have been much bigger score differentials, but they haven't
gotten blown out in every single game. They've been in
a lot of these games, and then there were some
that just kind of snowballed away from them. I think
(04:03):
what's interesting is what is the Saints' mindset gonna be.
And you can obviously never know. Every team is gonna
want to win every game, no team's ever gonna just
lay down. But they did trade away two of their
offensive starters this week. Does that have an impact on
a locker room?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I guess we'll find out on Sunday, But yeah, still
division game you can't overlook anybody. And to your point, Packers,
I'm not sorry. I knew I was gonna do this.
Panthers playing really really well obviously with that Packers win.
But like I think they would all tell you ever
kind of alluded to it today I can I can
just hear Derek Brown's voice in my head saying this, like,
(04:42):
we're not at a point yet where we can afford
to overlook anybody, Like there's still a lot to do.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, And Derek has taken on that role of the
adult in the room. You know. People are used to
me being the wet blanket a lot of times in
our meetings. I have to be that guy sometimes, but
Derek has taken that on. And it's good for the
Carolina Panthers when your best players are also the guys
who are preaching that message. And that's kind of thing
we've talked about it over the course of the year.
(05:09):
More than anything else, I think what's important for the
Panthers right now is they've kind of established their how,
They've figured out an identity, They are learning how they win,
and they're kind of wrapping their mind around it right now.
And a lot of it comes with cats like Derek
Brown being willing to say to everybody else, you know,
(05:30):
to kind of wag his finger and say, you're not
there yet. So you know they know that, and Derek
said it after the game on Sunday. You know, the
Panthers have been that team. They've been that team that
other people look at as the one you go get
an easy win against. And they definitely don't want to
go back to that point. And they're showing signs of
emerging from that now and becoming one of those good
(05:53):
normal football teams in the middle of the pack in
the NFL. So Derek wants to He's seen that, he's
that he wants to make sure not to go back
to that, and that's why he's he's willing to kind
of be the wet blanket, be the dad of the
room and tell everybody to get back to work on.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That point too, like you were saying, they figured it
out how to win. I'm gonna jump topics a little
hair on you, but whatever. I've got the mic right now,
so I'm making the rules.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
At least until I turn it off.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Matt, don't let him do that. Don't give him that
kind of power.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
If I tell you to land the plane.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
That means right, we're done.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So anyways, talking about figuring out how to win, I
know there's been a lot of like kind of debate.
There's not necessarily a narrative, but there's been a debate
on you know, like looking at Bryce's numbers from Sunday,
it was like eleven of twenty for one hundred and
two yards. Obviously there was the wind that was a factor.
(06:47):
But you know, he hasn't necessarily had any games that
are like blown out numbers. There have been a couple
of though, a couple though, And I think it's interesting
and I need to actually go back and pull up
his page because I'm kind of just doing this off
the cuff, off the top of my head. What could
go wrong?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, exactly. You're not gonna start mathing spontaneously, are you.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm just trying to remember off the top of my head.
But yes, yes, yes, okay, I was right in twenty
twenty four. Let's look I'm sorry in twenty twenty five.
Let's look at twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
This is fascinating. I'm glad the people who are only
listening to the Happy half Hour presented by our friends
at Deep Eddy are enjoying this interlude, and I'll use
this interlude and cover for you by talking about our
fine sponsor. Look at these graphics in the back. I mean,
even with us wearing black, those logos pop. We enjoy
a Deep Eddy. It's good for all seasons.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
The only win from the past two seasons are the
only time that Bryce Shonk has thrown for over two
hundred yards, and one was that Atlanta game in overtime
that went overtime. All the other times, including a three
hundred plus yard game this season, we're in losses against
the Cardinals when they had to throw to kind of
get back into it. So to that point, I think
(08:00):
Bryce even said this yesterday, like numbers, who cares like
there's really only one number that matters in it's win
or loss. And that is kind of to their point
of wanting to be a running team and wanting to
control the clock. And they have figured out how to
do that. Yeah, and if that means lower passing numbers,
(08:20):
so be it.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
So what they're winning, yeah, And he's perfectly comfortable in
that mode. I mean, Bryce is not a guy who
feels like he has to have the ball in his hands.
At the end of every game. Bryce embraces all that
stuff coaches love to talk about, which is a whole
team win. And when I talk about the Panthers finding
that identity, that's kind of that place where they're at.
I mean, you know, if you've got a Patrick Mahomes
(08:44):
or a Josh Allen and you're willing to say, all right,
big boy, go get it. You know, cool. Good. If
you're not there, if you're not quarterback, if your quarterback's
not necessarily one of those guys who's in an MVP
conversation all year, what do you do? You build an
entire football team. And as they put this together over
the last two years, you can kind of see that.
I mean, last year was about stabilizing offensive line around them,
(09:07):
and you bring back a bunch of the same dudes,
and now, all of a sudden, when you get in
a situation where you're playing seven different groups of starters
in nine weeks and you know, maybe looking at at
another one coming up this week depending on some injury stuff,
you never know how that's going to go. But if
you build that stable base around it, it allows your
quarterback to grow into this. I was fascinated by Bryce
(09:29):
yesterday because Bryce was very he was very open. He's
always talked about with his foundation, he talks about the
importance of mental health and checking in with yourself, and
he talked about doing that going into that game Sundays,
like I try to be cognizant of what I need,
Where I am am I tense, am I to loose
(09:50):
am I? You know which way is it going? And
Bryce has that ability. And listen when quarterbacks start talking
about when football people, anybody in this starts talking about
what's going on in their head, the way they're feeling,
I think a lot of people kind of recoil them
a bit, like we're not used to hearing our football
people talk like that. But Bryce is in tune with
what he is and what he needs, and he's got
(10:13):
a real mature approach about the whole operation. And I
think that plays into that broad based You know, if
you can have a whole team win where it's because
the offensive line is playing well and can erase Michael
Parsons on a given week, it's because you've got two
backs in Chewba Hubbard and Rico Dwdle who can go
get it done. It's because you're throwing it to different
(10:34):
receivers every week, and one week it's XL and one
week it's Temac. And oh, by the way, it's because
Derrick Brown had defense is playing better than they did
at in point last year.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, on that note too. This is just a little
aside because you mentioned in there like running the ball
to come in the gate. Michael Parsons. Michael Parsons said
that made a comment on Sunday like that was a
boring football game, Like that was shut your mouth, like
that was a you know, it was a boring game
plan from the Panthers. Brad egit laugh today and he's like, okay,
(11:04):
like cool, he said, I got a text from my
dad after the game that said that was a beautiful
football game. And his dad was with the Tampa Bay
Bucks kind of during their heyday, and he said, you know,
they won a lot of games with boring football.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's right. You'll take it, and you know what, you
can call it boring if you want, but it's what
you've got to do to win a game. Right now.
I mean, I think everybody is kind of wired. They
remember what they were around when they were a kid,
and whatever football you kind of grew up on it
is the way you think about football. And I think
a lot of people around here, even before they were
(11:39):
Carolina Panthers, kind of remember the old Washington teams of
the eighties that were built on offensive lines and running
the ball and playing good defense. And because of that,
there's something I think inherent about the DNA of Panthers
fans because they've seen the ninety six team get to
the championship game based on running the ball, taking care
(12:00):
of it, not turning it over on offense, and playing
great defense. They remember it based on the three team
being based on a defense that went from thirty first
to second in one year and had Stephen Davis into
Sean Foster. And they remember a fifteen team going fifteen
to one without a number one wide receiver, you know,
other than Greg Olsen running across the middle of the
(12:21):
field because you could run it with Cam and Mike
Tolbert and Jonathan Stewart and Fozzy Whittaker and all those
guys Cameron Artist Paint and continue to do it that
way because those guys on the other side, including Luke
Keigley and Thomas Davis, had it locked down.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I was watching Monday night countdown before the game this
past week, and they were, you know, kind of talking
about what went wrong with the Packers, like, you know,
this explosive offense shut down, this, that and the other.
And Mina comes kind of made the comment, She's like,
I think what we don't want to get lost in
all of this is like, sure, the Packers explosiveness might
(12:57):
have gotten shut down, but like she said, the Panthers
have figured out what works. They're running the football, they're
stopping the run. That still wins football games most of
the time.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Having a formula is a good thing, and that.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Being your formula, Like, no matter what football becomes or changes,
and you knows it goes in cycles like if you
can run it and if you can stop the run,
that's still going to win you a lot of football games.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That stuff's portable too. You can take it on the
road and that's travelsition. You can put yourself in good
positions to be like they were last week in Green Bay.
And I mean it's gonna be different. I mean obviously
back here at home, you know. And I do think
it's fascinating how much those guys have talked about don't
get comfortable with it. Don't settle in. I mean, because
(13:42):
you know, we we see the discussion every week in
the NFL. Somebody gets declared a trap game, and you
know this could be it. I mean, but they've talked
so much about process, they've talked so much about the
way they want to work, the way they want to play,
it's harder to imagine them falling into that kind of
try right now.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And the fact that you're coming off such a huge
emotional win like Sundays, which is when a trap game
can happen. You could almost argue that that could be
what happened with Green Bay. They're coming off that huge
emotional win versus Aaron Rodgers, and then this was their
next game that's neither here nor there. But coming off
of a win like you did Sunday and your next
(14:21):
two games both being divisional games, that I think is
what can keep you from kind of falling into that
quote unquote trap game scenario as well, because this is
a this could be a race to the finish. Yeah,
with the way this team's playing well, the fact that
your two Tampa Bay games are two of the last.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Three weeks, no doubt. I mean, if they continue to
play the kind of football they're playing right now. If
you can envision and without getting ahead of yourself and
projecting wins and losses, if you can stay in this
competitive five hundred ish neighborhood going into the last three
weeks of the season, guess what you got Tampa here,
Seattle here, and at Tampa Bay to close it out.
(14:59):
I mean a lot of people are going to want
to watch those games because a it could be for
the NFC South, it could be for wild card positions,
and you know who wouldn't enjoy a good Sam Darnold
revenge game. I mean, we love Sam around here. Sam's
a Panthers legend and always will be made a great
T shirt for us. But that's kind of the place
(15:19):
they're at right now, and this is new territory for
a lot of fans, and you could see it. I mean,
you could see the Panthers fans up in Green Bay
the other day. We had some great shots of you know,
the solitary fan out there in a sea of Packers
fans just enjoying it. Because this is such a cool
moment and I think people are picking up on it.
That's why I'm looking forward to getting back here in
the Bank of America Stadium this weekend.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And this kicks off at a nice little run too,
because let's see, this is a home game, but then
next weekend is an away.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Game yep at Atlanta, then at San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
On Monday, but then come home for post Thanksgiving game
against a red hot Rams team. And so this is
a fun little stretch coming up right here. We knew
this is. We knew that starting with the Bills up
to you know, Rams, and I'm trying to think of
who comes right after the Rams bye week that that
(16:08):
was gonna be Oh, thank goodness.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
True story. When I was in college, a young friend
of mine, a woman who was friends of a friend
of a friend. She was looking at the college football
scores one week and she said, where's b ye And
I said, Connecticut, that's Brigham Young East, that's yeah. And
she had no idea, she's the idea. The idea of
bye week stumped her. I was on the score to
(16:33):
her and she and it stumped you just there too,
didn't it. I'm not proud. Oh boy, that's true.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
It was such confidence.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Well, and that's what threw her for a little bit.
Jenny was confused by that and so were you.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Now so well, I have to just own that one.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, you just kind of you're gonna wear that one
from that you sure are. But we'll just put up
a sign fooled Cassidy, you know shows since Cassidy was stunt.
We'll just put the chart up there zero once again.
But no, bye week's coming up. I mean, it's weird
because the way this season has progressed, you've kind of
(17:11):
got to this point and everybody's like, all right, cool,
this is neat. Now there's four and a bye week
and then four more. It's gonna be kind of a
race to the finish. But it takes on its own
momentum at this point in the season, especially when you
can feel like it's pointing in a certain direction and
everybody's engaged in it. Everybody's feeling good about what's going
on here. So good times.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Still got to get through Sunday, though, no doubt. New
quarterback for the Saints. This will be the second start
for Tyler. His name is pronounced his last name is pronounced,
not how it's spelled. Correct. I want to say Shug.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I think it's show show.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It's not necessarily how it's spelled.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
All I know about him, is he's old enough to
be off his parents' insurance.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So young enough to be a rookie.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yeah, young enough to be a rookie.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Course the new college football landscape. Now, yeah, I think
since Darren was right, or day, since Darren was wrong,
I lost.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I'm in the tunnel.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But yeah, he's a guy. You know Nick Scott said yesterday,
like you watch him and he's like, you know, he's
still he's still young, but he's got a lot of
of intangibles. He's like, I think he'll play in this
league for a long time. And so do they What
does it look like now that they'll have had two
weeks to kind of develop this offense under him? Does
(18:38):
that change things at all? Obviously where she he not
being there's going to change things. Does that mean Chris
Olave gets more balls? Do they bring somebody else up?
They don't use a lot of wide receivers, so it's
gonna be interesting. But Alvin Kamara has not really done
much this year either, and so but he is still
Alvin Kamara. I mean he's got the resume, he's got
(18:59):
the reputation, so you can't take him lightly.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Cam Jordan on the other side, that's not somebody who's
ever going to give up in a game.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
And so and he's given them fits. I mean, the
Panthers are fifteen and fifteen against the Saints all time
here in Bank of America Stadium, but they've won three
of their last four against the hated Saints right here
in the friendly confines. So it's a big week. I
think a lot of people are excited. Big week all
the way around. Our friends at Charlotte FC are about
to go Game three Friday night. Be here for that
(19:30):
one against the hated NYCFCS. We hate NYCFC.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
That is a mouthful.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It is. You should see. You should see what it
looks like when they play in their home games in
Yankee Stadium. Their fields about this big, it's very little.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
They call themselves the pigeons the pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Forgive me, I'm not super into MLS, but our broadcasters
were calling them the pigeons. I don't know if that's
a term of endearment or something that they have. I
might just be winging it, but I've heard it from
other like Apple TV people too, so I don't know.
But yeah, so the pigeons, that is probably the least
fearsome mascot I've ever though.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You ever been in Central Park trying to eat like
some peanuts or something with them pigeons come by. The
things are pretty fierce.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
They won't those they want everything you got attack pigeons. Yeah,
but we'll get the pigeons out of here. We'll show
them what it's like here in Charlotte, North Carolina. But
I'm excited. Friday Night Charlotte Depse playoff game game three.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Winter Go Home.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Right, Winter go Home. We're already home, so it's a
good thing. So Charlotte Epsea Friday Night Carolina Panthers, New
Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Hey, our winners of the Deep Eddy contest will be
at the Sunday game, right.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
That's right. We'll have to check them out pre game.
We'll slide over to that Deep Eddie Sweet and see
what's going on over there. I'm sure they'll have some
swag for us to go with that, which they have
already sent us. Maybe you can wear that Christmas sweater
that looks so good.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
On I've started listening to Christmas music.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It's a little too soon for no, Darren.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Don't try to take my joy.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
No, I want everybody to be happy, but it's too
soon for Christmas meeting. We gotta go. We gotta embrace Thanksgiving.
We've gotta embrace the gratitude of the season. That's what
we're all here for. We're thankful for you guys tuning
into the Happy half Hour. We're thankful for our friends
at Peep Betty Chuck the duck sitting up there on
top of the bottle. He's got the best seat in
the house. Speaking of the best seat in the house,
(21:24):
we'll see you right here Friday night for Charlotte f C.
Sunday afternoon for Panthers Saints. Until next time, this has
been the Happy Half Hour.
Happy half Howard, Hello, friends, and welcome to a very
special edition of The Happy Half Hour.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Wake Up Cash, I'm awake, I'm here, I'm ready to go.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
You're out partying last night getting crazy with the Jonas Brothers.
Is that who that was?
Speaker 2 (00:17):
We joked on the way in it was a contingent
of girls here from the Panthers, And we joked that
there was I can say girls because I am one.
That's fair, that there was a certain age demographic that
was there for that concert, and it was actually two
vastly different age demographics. It was little girls in probably
(00:39):
I would say, you know, maybe like eight to thirteen,
and then it was all women that were twenty five
to forty, and it was those were the two distinct
age demographics. But had a blast, had a ton of
fun with the Jonas Brothers. In Charlotte, they bring out
usually a special guest each show because this whole tourist
(01:00):
called like greetings from your hometown, and they try to
bring out somebody from that town to do a special with.
So we were all tossing around ideas on who it
could be, Like, who were the Charlotte singers you would
bring out?
Speaker 1 (01:11):
George Clinton?
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah, that one was on the list we were going
through like Luke Comb's, Renee Brothers, Fantasia Avid Brothers. It
ended up being none of them, but it was sweet.
They did a finale with their parents and their dad
played the piano and sing a song. Their dad is
from here, and so that was the hometown guest.
Speaker 1 (01:33):
We knew the Jonas brothers had their origins.
Speaker 2 (01:36):
Right, Actually a lot of people because their grandmother owns
a restaurant here that's really popular.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Which one, Oh, what's the name of it? I thought
it was not the top of your head at any rate.
Whether you've eaten with the Jonas brothers, They've never been
in my kitchen, but many people have. Welcome to the
Happy half Hour now that I've found it. Now that
what is.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
It, Nellie's Nellie's Southern Kitchen.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Oh yeah, oh yeah, yeah, I've heard of it. It's yeah.
It's a big week here other than the Jonas Brothers
being in town because the New Orleans Saints are coming
to town. It's gonna be good to be back in
Bank of America Stadium. I mean, I tell people all
the time. Charlotte, North Carolina, in the center of the universe.
The weather is perfect out there right now. It's a
(02:19):
beautiful fall day. The foliage is kicking, and the Carolina
Panthers are kicking too. After a big win in Green
Bay the other day, everybody's excited to get back home.
But it's also kind of a weird week because the
New Orleans Saints got one win under their built. They
just traded away a couple of players, and they're not
feeling great about what's going on in their lives. But
(02:39):
at the same time, your Carolina Panthers are not quite
at the point in the development where they can overlook anybody.
And as gerro Vero said it today during his press conference,
he said, there this league is built so that anybody
in the league can ruin your week if you're not prepared.
So that's kind of the mindset your Carolina Panthers have
gone into this week with.
Speaker 2 (02:59):
It's also a game. This will be only the second
division game Panthers will have played so far this season.
The back half of the season is really heavy with them,
and you know, if you're gonna make a push in
the division where you're currently a game and a half
behind Tampa, then you can't overlook any division game and
we've seen. I mean you're seeing it right now in
(03:19):
the AFC North. Like those are teams that you know
are the difference in talent right now would be considered
on paper vastly different. But they're getting into these dog
fights with each other, and that's because that's what happens
in divisions, and you can't they are also two I
would say, I want to say three or four of
(03:42):
the Saints' losses all came in like one possession games,
like one score games, right, and so it's not like
they've gotten blown out in every single game. Some of
them have been much bigger score differentials, but they haven't
gotten blown out in every single game. They've been in
a lot of these games, and then there were some
that just kind of snowballed away from them. I think
(04:03):
what's interesting is what is the Saints' mindset gonna be.
And you can obviously never know. Every team is gonna
want to win every game, no team's ever gonna just
lay down. But they did trade away two of their
offensive starters this week. Does that have an impact on
a locker room?
Speaker 1 (04:20):
I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:20):
I guess we'll find out on Sunday, But yeah, still
division game you can't overlook anybody. And to your point, Packers,
I'm not sorry. I knew I was gonna do this.
Panthers playing really really well obviously with that Packers win.
But like I think they would all tell you ever
kind of alluded to it today I can I can
just hear Derek Brown's voice in my head saying this, like,
(04:42):
we're not at a point yet where we can afford
to overlook anybody, Like there's still a lot to do.
Speaker 1 (04:48):
Yeah, And Derek has taken on that role of the
adult in the room. You know. People are used to
me being the wet blanket a lot of times in
our meetings. I have to be that guy sometimes, but
Derek has taken that on. And it's good for the
Carolina Panthers when your best players are also the guys
who are preaching that message. And that's kind of thing
we've talked about it over the course of the year.
(05:09):
More than anything else, I think what's important for the
Panthers right now is they've kind of established their how,
They've figured out an identity, They are learning how they win,
and they're kind of wrapping their mind around it right now.
And a lot of it comes with cats like Derek
Brown being willing to say to everybody else, you know,
(05:30):
to kind of wag his finger and say, you're not
there yet. So you know they know that, and Derek
said it after the game on Sunday. You know, the
Panthers have been that team. They've been that team that
other people look at as the one you go get
an easy win against. And they definitely don't want to
go back to that point. And they're showing signs of
emerging from that now and becoming one of those good
(05:53):
normal football teams in the middle of the pack in
the NFL. So Derek wants to He's seen that, he's
that he wants to make sure not to go back
to that, and that's why he's he's willing to kind
of be the wet blanket, be the dad of the
room and tell everybody to get back to work on.
Speaker 2 (06:11):
That point too, like you were saying, they figured it
out how to win. I'm gonna jump topics a little
hair on you, but whatever. I've got the mic right now,
so I'm making the rules.
Speaker 1 (06:18):
At least until I turn it off.
Speaker 2 (06:20):
Matt, don't let him do that. Don't give him that
kind of power.
Speaker 1 (06:23):
If I tell you to land the plane.
Speaker 2 (06:24):
That means right, we're done.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (06:27):
So anyways, talking about figuring out how to win, I
know there's been a lot of like kind of debate.
There's not necessarily a narrative, but there's been a debate
on you know, like looking at Bryce's numbers from Sunday,
it was like eleven of twenty for one hundred and
two yards. Obviously there was the wind that was a factor.
(06:47):
But you know, he hasn't necessarily had any games that
are like blown out numbers. There have been a couple
of though, a couple though, And I think it's interesting
and I need to actually go back and pull up
his page because I'm kind of just doing this off
the cuff, off the top of my head. What could
go wrong?
Speaker 1 (07:01):
Yeah, exactly. You're not gonna start mathing spontaneously, are you.
Speaker 2 (07:05):
I'm just trying to remember off the top of my head.
But yes, yes, yes, okay, I was right in twenty
twenty four. Let's look I'm sorry in twenty twenty five.
Let's look at twenty twenty.
Speaker 1 (07:16):
This is fascinating. I'm glad the people who are only
listening to the Happy half Hour presented by our friends
at Deep Eddy are enjoying this interlude, and I'll use
this interlude and cover for you by talking about our
fine sponsor. Look at these graphics in the back. I mean,
even with us wearing black, those logos pop. We enjoy
a Deep Eddy. It's good for all seasons.
Speaker 2 (07:37):
The only win from the past two seasons are the
only time that Bryce Shonk has thrown for over two
hundred yards, and one was that Atlanta game in overtime
that went overtime. All the other times, including a three
hundred plus yard game this season, we're in losses against
the Cardinals when they had to throw to kind of
get back into it. So to that point, I think
(08:00):
Bryce even said this yesterday, like numbers, who cares like
there's really only one number that matters in it's win
or loss. And that is kind of to their point
of wanting to be a running team and wanting to
control the clock. And they have figured out how to
do that. Yeah, and if that means lower passing numbers,
(08:20):
so be it.
Speaker 1 (08:21):
So what they're winning, yeah, And he's perfectly comfortable in
that mode. I mean, Bryce is not a guy who
feels like he has to have the ball in his hands.
At the end of every game. Bryce embraces all that
stuff coaches love to talk about, which is a whole
team win. And when I talk about the Panthers finding
that identity, that's kind of that place where they're at.
I mean, you know, if you've got a Patrick Mahomes
(08:44):
or a Josh Allen and you're willing to say, all right,
big boy, go get it. You know, cool. Good. If
you're not there, if you're not quarterback, if your quarterback's
not necessarily one of those guys who's in an MVP
conversation all year, what do you do? You build an
entire football team. And as they put this together over
the last two years, you can kind of see that.
I mean, last year was about stabilizing offensive line around them,
(09:07):
and you bring back a bunch of the same dudes,
and now, all of a sudden, when you get in
a situation where you're playing seven different groups of starters
in nine weeks and you know, maybe looking at at
another one coming up this week depending on some injury stuff,
you never know how that's going to go. But if
you build that stable base around it, it allows your
quarterback to grow into this. I was fascinated by Bryce
(09:29):
yesterday because Bryce was very he was very open. He's
always talked about with his foundation, he talks about the
importance of mental health and checking in with yourself, and
he talked about doing that going into that game Sundays,
like I try to be cognizant of what I need,
Where I am am I tense, am I to loose
(09:50):
am I? You know which way is it going? And
Bryce has that ability. And listen when quarterbacks start talking
about when football people, anybody in this starts talking about
what's going on in their head, the way they're feeling,
I think a lot of people kind of recoil them
a bit, like we're not used to hearing our football
people talk like that. But Bryce is in tune with
what he is and what he needs, and he's got
(10:13):
a real mature approach about the whole operation. And I
think that plays into that broad based You know, if
you can have a whole team win where it's because
the offensive line is playing well and can erase Michael
Parsons on a given week, it's because you've got two
backs in Chewba Hubbard and Rico Dwdle who can go
get it done. It's because you're throwing it to different
(10:34):
receivers every week, and one week it's XL and one
week it's Temac. And oh, by the way, it's because
Derrick Brown had defense is playing better than they did
at in point last year.
Speaker 2 (10:43):
Yeah, on that note too. This is just a little
aside because you mentioned in there like running the ball
to come in the gate. Michael Parsons. Michael Parsons said
that made a comment on Sunday like that was a
boring football game, Like that was shut your mouth, like
that was a you know, it was a boring game
plan from the Panthers. Brad egit laugh today and he's like, okay,
(11:04):
like cool, he said, I got a text from my
dad after the game that said that was a beautiful
football game. And his dad was with the Tampa Bay
Bucks kind of during their heyday, and he said, you know,
they won a lot of games with boring football.
Speaker 1 (11:17):
That's right. You'll take it, and you know what, you
can call it boring if you want, but it's what
you've got to do to win a game. Right now.
I mean, I think everybody is kind of wired. They
remember what they were around when they were a kid,
and whatever football you kind of grew up on it
is the way you think about football. And I think
a lot of people around here, even before they were
(11:39):
Carolina Panthers, kind of remember the old Washington teams of
the eighties that were built on offensive lines and running
the ball and playing good defense. And because of that,
there's something I think inherent about the DNA of Panthers
fans because they've seen the ninety six team get to
the championship game based on running the ball, taking care
(12:00):
of it, not turning it over on offense, and playing
great defense. They remember it based on the three team
being based on a defense that went from thirty first
to second in one year and had Stephen Davis into
Sean Foster. And they remember a fifteen team going fifteen
to one without a number one wide receiver, you know,
other than Greg Olsen running across the middle of the
(12:21):
field because you could run it with Cam and Mike
Tolbert and Jonathan Stewart and Fozzy Whittaker and all those
guys Cameron Artist Paint and continue to do it that
way because those guys on the other side, including Luke
Keigley and Thomas Davis, had it locked down.
Speaker 2 (12:36):
I was watching Monday night countdown before the game this
past week, and they were, you know, kind of talking
about what went wrong with the Packers, like, you know,
this explosive offense shut down, this, that and the other.
And Mina comes kind of made the comment, She's like,
I think what we don't want to get lost in
all of this is like, sure, the Packers explosiveness might
(12:57):
have gotten shut down, but like she said, the Panthers
have figured out what works. They're running the football, they're
stopping the run. That still wins football games most of
the time.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
Having a formula is a good thing, and that.
Speaker 2 (13:07):
Being your formula, Like, no matter what football becomes or changes,
and you knows it goes in cycles like if you
can run it and if you can stop the run,
that's still going to win you a lot of football games.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
That stuff's portable too. You can take it on the
road and that's travelsition. You can put yourself in good
positions to be like they were last week in Green Bay.
And I mean it's gonna be different. I mean obviously
back here at home, you know. And I do think
it's fascinating how much those guys have talked about don't
get comfortable with it. Don't settle in. I mean, because
(13:42):
you know, we we see the discussion every week in
the NFL. Somebody gets declared a trap game, and you
know this could be it. I mean, but they've talked
so much about process, they've talked so much about the
way they want to work, the way they want to play,
it's harder to imagine them falling into that kind of
try right now.
Speaker 2 (14:00):
And the fact that you're coming off such a huge
emotional win like Sundays, which is when a trap game
can happen. You could almost argue that that could be
what happened with Green Bay. They're coming off that huge
emotional win versus Aaron Rodgers, and then this was their
next game that's neither here nor there. But coming off
of a win like you did Sunday and your next
(14:21):
two games both being divisional games, that I think is
what can keep you from kind of falling into that
quote unquote trap game scenario as well, because this is
a this could be a race to the finish. Yeah,
with the way this team's playing well, the fact that
your two Tampa Bay games are two of the last.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Three weeks, no doubt. I mean, if they continue to
play the kind of football they're playing right now. If
you can envision and without getting ahead of yourself and
projecting wins and losses, if you can stay in this
competitive five hundred ish neighborhood going into the last three
weeks of the season, guess what you got Tampa here,
Seattle here, and at Tampa Bay to close it out.
(14:59):
I mean a lot of people are going to want
to watch those games because a it could be for
the NFC South, it could be for wild card positions,
and you know who wouldn't enjoy a good Sam Darnold
revenge game. I mean, we love Sam around here. Sam's
a Panthers legend and always will be made a great
T shirt for us. But that's kind of the place
(15:19):
they're at right now, and this is new territory for
a lot of fans, and you could see it. I mean,
you could see the Panthers fans up in Green Bay
the other day. We had some great shots of you know,
the solitary fan out there in a sea of Packers
fans just enjoying it. Because this is such a cool
moment and I think people are picking up on it.
That's why I'm looking forward to getting back here in
the Bank of America Stadium this weekend.
Speaker 2 (15:40):
And this kicks off at a nice little run too,
because let's see, this is a home game, but then
next weekend is an away.
Speaker 1 (15:45):
Game yep at Atlanta, then at San Francisco.
Speaker 2 (15:48):
On Monday, but then come home for post Thanksgiving game
against a red hot Rams team. And so this is
a fun little stretch coming up right here. We knew
this is. We knew that starting with the Bills up
to you know, Rams, and I'm trying to think of
who comes right after the Rams bye week that that
(16:08):
was gonna be Oh, thank goodness.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
True story. When I was in college, a young friend
of mine, a woman who was friends of a friend
of a friend. She was looking at the college football
scores one week and she said, where's b ye And
I said, Connecticut, that's Brigham Young East, that's yeah. And
she had no idea, she's the idea. The idea of
bye week stumped her. I was on the score to
(16:33):
her and she and it stumped you just there too,
didn't it. I'm not proud. Oh boy, that's true.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
It was such confidence.
Speaker 1 (16:42):
Well, and that's what threw her for a little bit.
Jenny was confused by that and so were you.
Speaker 2 (16:47):
Now so well, I have to just own that one.
Speaker 1 (16:49):
Yeah, you just kind of you're gonna wear that one
from that you sure are. But we'll just put up
a sign fooled Cassidy, you know shows since Cassidy was stunt.
We'll just put the chart up there zero once again.
But no, bye week's coming up. I mean, it's weird
because the way this season has progressed, you've kind of
(17:11):
got to this point and everybody's like, all right, cool,
this is neat. Now there's four and a bye week
and then four more. It's gonna be kind of a
race to the finish. But it takes on its own
momentum at this point in the season, especially when you
can feel like it's pointing in a certain direction and
everybody's engaged in it. Everybody's feeling good about what's going
on here. So good times.
Speaker 2 (17:33):
Still got to get through Sunday, though, no doubt. New
quarterback for the Saints. This will be the second start
for Tyler. His name is pronounced his last name is pronounced,
not how it's spelled. Correct. I want to say Shug.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
I think it's show show.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
It's not necessarily how it's spelled.
Speaker 1 (17:50):
All I know about him, is he's old enough to
be off his parents' insurance.
Speaker 2 (17:54):
So young enough to be a rookie.
Speaker 1 (17:56):
Yeah, young enough to be a rookie.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Course the new college football landscape. Now, yeah, I think
since Darren was right, or day, since Darren was wrong,
I lost.
Speaker 1 (18:15):
I'm in the tunnel.
Speaker 2 (18:17):
But yeah, he's a guy. You know Nick Scott said yesterday,
like you watch him and he's like, you know, he's
still he's still young, but he's got a lot of
of intangibles. He's like, I think he'll play in this
league for a long time. And so do they What
does it look like now that they'll have had two
weeks to kind of develop this offense under him? Does
(18:38):
that change things at all? Obviously where she he not
being there's going to change things. Does that mean Chris
Olave gets more balls? Do they bring somebody else up?
They don't use a lot of wide receivers, so it's
gonna be interesting. But Alvin Kamara has not really done
much this year either, and so but he is still
Alvin Kamara. I mean he's got the resume, he's got
(18:59):
the reputation, so you can't take him lightly.
Speaker 1 (19:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
Cam Jordan on the other side, that's not somebody who's
ever going to give up in a game.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
And so and he's given them fits. I mean, the
Panthers are fifteen and fifteen against the Saints all time
here in Bank of America Stadium, but they've won three
of their last four against the hated Saints right here
in the friendly confines. So it's a big week. I
think a lot of people are excited. Big week all
the way around. Our friends at Charlotte FC are about
to go Game three Friday night. Be here for that
(19:30):
one against the hated NYCFCS. We hate NYCFC.
Speaker 2 (19:34):
That is a mouthful.
Speaker 1 (19:35):
It is. You should see. You should see what it
looks like when they play in their home games in
Yankee Stadium. Their fields about this big, it's very little.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
They call themselves the pigeons the pitch.
Speaker 1 (19:45):
I don't know.
Speaker 3 (19:47):
Forgive me, I'm not super into MLS, but our broadcasters
were calling them the pigeons. I don't know if that's
a term of endearment or something that they have. I
might just be winging it, but I've heard it from
other like Apple TV people too, so I don't know.
But yeah, so the pigeons, that is probably the least
fearsome mascot I've ever though.
Speaker 2 (20:07):
You ever been in Central Park trying to eat like
some peanuts or something with them pigeons come by. The
things are pretty fierce.
Speaker 1 (20:14):
They won't those they want everything you got attack pigeons. Yeah,
but we'll get the pigeons out of here. We'll show
them what it's like here in Charlotte, North Carolina. But
I'm excited. Friday Night Charlotte Depse playoff game game three.
Speaker 2 (20:29):
Winter Go Home.
Speaker 1 (20:30):
Right, Winter go Home. We're already home, so it's a
good thing. So Charlotte Epsea Friday Night Carolina Panthers, New
Orleans Saints on Sunday afternoon.
Speaker 2 (20:40):
Hey, our winners of the Deep Eddy contest will be
at the Sunday game, right.
Speaker 1 (20:43):
That's right. We'll have to check them out pre game.
We'll slide over to that Deep Eddie Sweet and see
what's going on over there. I'm sure they'll have some
swag for us to go with that, which they have
already sent us. Maybe you can wear that Christmas sweater
that looks so good.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
On I've started listening to Christmas music.
Speaker 1 (20:58):
It's a little too soon for no, Darren.
Speaker 2 (21:01):
Don't try to take my joy.
Speaker 1 (21:02):
No, I want everybody to be happy, but it's too
soon for Christmas meeting. We gotta go. We gotta embrace Thanksgiving.
We've gotta embrace the gratitude of the season. That's what
we're all here for. We're thankful for you guys tuning
into the Happy half Hour. We're thankful for our friends
at Peep Betty Chuck the duck sitting up there on
top of the bottle. He's got the best seat in
the house. Speaking of the best seat in the house,
(21:24):
we'll see you right here Friday night for Charlotte f C.
Sunday afternoon for Panthers Saints. Until next time, this has
been the Happy Half Hour.
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