December 15, 2025 • 42 mins
Dave Canales joins Anish Shroff, Jim Szoke and Eugene Robinson on "Panther Talk" to recap the tough loss to the New Orleans Saints, preview this week's significant game vs the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, praise Jalen Coker for his recent performances, and so much more!
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
The following is an exclusive presentation of the Carolina Panthers
and the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Panther Tell and they'tell, and They're tell. This is Panther
Talk on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
We can do better. That's not our football. And that
was the message to the group is we got to
move on quickly. We got the Bucks coming back to
Charlotte next week, and so we're going to take the
lessons of this game, make sure we look at it,
be studs about it, and grow from it so we
can find our best football.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And now, along with Jim Zochi and Eugene Robinson, here's
a Niche Shroff with Panther Talk live from the Panthers
broadcast facility at Bank of America Stereo.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Welcome to Panther Talk and he Shrop, Jim Zochie, Eugene Robinson,
and the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Dave Canalis.
Three games remain in the regular season. Everything is still
on the table. But let's start by revisiting yesterday. I
know that was a tough loss. When you go back
you watch the film. Let's start with that second quarter.
(01:05):
It felt that that eleven minute drive kind of changed
the temperature of the game, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Absolutely and great execution by the Saints. But also in
the game, you know, six penalties led to first downs
and we have to do better there. We have to
make sure that we get off the field and the
downs when we can. And certainly on the flip side
of that, you know, from an offensive standpoint, you know,
we had two penalties and we weren't really able to
(01:32):
overcome those. But it was a day that really kind
of ended up that way, and all of a sudden,
we're looking at, you know, a minute and change and
trying to get points before the half. So we have
to make sure that we do a great job of
just getting off the field.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Let's talk about mister Ransom of what did you tell
mister Ransom? I know he had to feel extremely hurt
about the situation.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yeah, you know, with derek'san with Leathan's those are really
challenging situations. As you know, Gene as a defender and
you have a quarterback who's very mobile and especially in
Laythan's you know, circumstance, every yard matters. They're trying to
get into field goal range right there, and you know
they had that play call right there to get down
and h and kill it and laythan's you know, showing
(02:14):
up for the tackle to make sure the guy doesn't
get an extra five. It was it was a late slide,
which is fine technique by the quarterback, and it's a
split decision that you have to make to try to
avoid contact to that upper body area, you know, in
any any way, shape or form, and a really challenging
spot right there that made their field goal easier.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Game kind of changed late.
Speaker 7 (02:33):
As far as everyone knows, Crystal Lobby is one of
the most targeted receivers in the league. He kind of
caught fire on that touchdown drive that he capped off.
There were they doing different things to get him open
that situation, or what kind of they just kind of
featured him more, or what kind of change at.
Speaker 8 (02:45):
That point it was.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
It was honestly just simple execution and not being tied
into this not being on the same page really just
in a coverage from a coverage standpoint, and you know,
it was very similar concepts, you know, in those situations,
and we just have to make sure we play these
things deep to short and that's the that's the model,
and then you rally up to catch whatever, you tackle,
whatever short you know, and so just making sure that
we tie up some of those basic things so that
(03:08):
we can't allow their best player to affect the game
that way.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Dave the call to go for it on fourth down
instead of kicking the field goal, because we're watching it upstairs.
We kind of thought you'd go for it all along,
because that's kind of how you guys have played this season.
Was there any thought of taking the three or trying
the long field goal? Just what went into that?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I was all in. I mean, you know it was
you know, I think I think I needed you know,
one and a half or two yards to go. We
were in fourth and inches. It was a no brainer
thought that the spot was close enough to challenge it.
You know, so through the challenge flag out there on
Bryce's scramble, you know, on the play before, I'm excuse you,
on the on the run game, uh, the play before,
and we didn't get the challenge, but you know, in
(03:48):
that situation, it cost us time out, but we were
able to kind of talk about, you know, what we
wanted to go with right there, and we had our
best call in that one, and you know, they executed better.
Speaker 8 (03:56):
Than we did.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Is that one too where you also look at the
clock right hey, you pick up yeah, that extra inch,
even if you're kicking a field goal later in the drive,
you're now burning more clock.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Absolutely, it was a great opportunity for us to take
control of the game right there, and we missed that opportunity.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
And coach, let's talk about some of the missed opportunities.
There was some plays defensively, well, I thought that was fumble,
maybe an interception. And I've been a proponent of this
that you have to seize those moments because you don't
get a chance to go ahead and redo them. Were
there any other moments like that in the game where
you go like this, you got to be able to
make that play.
Speaker 8 (04:26):
If you don't make that play, it's not gonna come
back to you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
There were a lot of them, and a lot of
them were kind of micro moments too, And it's just
it doesn't always end up at the point of attack
of the ball, you know, but it's a it's a
block here, it's a read there. You know, it's a
catch here or not, you know, And there were moments
that showed up that way that we could have taken
advantage of you know, we certainly had the two minute drive.
You know, we had an opportunity to t Mac in
(04:49):
the end zone right there, and they made a nice
play on the ball and knocked it away from them.
You know, but it's like a near miss and maybe
I throw it a little higher, maybe you know, you
know t Mac is able to tip it to him
for something like that. But these are just moments that
that kind of got away from us in the game.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
Of course, when you lose, some of the good moments
get you get lost overall because you'll get the win.
But five quarterback sacks, no turk warton. Did Bobby Brown
maybe play some of his best football yesterday?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He did.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Bobby made a huge impact on what we were doing,
just you know, end up unblocked by the time the
ball gets there. And he did a great job of that,
just you know, staying with his leverage, you know, playing
with his knee bent and then he's a big, strong man,
you know, and just getting off those blocks to make
some plays was impressive.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Davis, you walk through this last home stretch, now, is
there anything different about the approach when you know you're
going to face a team twice in three weeks preparing
for them for the first time.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
You just take this one game and then we'll deal
with that next game when it comes, you know. But
right now, this is the bucks. Yeah, this this, this
is the only game that matters for us, and the
focus has to be right. But we certainly have to
take the lessons of this game against the Saints and
make sure that we look at that, make sure we
tie up some of the things that we've been doing well.
And my message to the team is we've proven to
(06:02):
ourselves and when we play good football, we can beat anybody.
And that's a true statement for our team. So let's
go play well. Let's go make sure we handle our
business and let's not give the opponent anything, and we'll
have a great chance to win this game if we
do that.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
And coach, if you could, if it's possible, I don't
want to get in all your team's business. Is there
any lessons that you can share of what you've told
the team.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Yeah, just the basics of it, you know, making sure
that we're executing you know, that's obviously all of us involved,
coaches and players, but you know, from a technical standpoint,
it's the fundamentals it's footwork, it's where your eyes are at.
It's making sure that you're blocking through the echo of
the whistle on the offensive side, you know, it's making
sure that you're in some of our most basic concepts.
(06:42):
Is making sure we're so detailed on it. Let's not
take anything for granted. And those are the things that
are being talked about right now. It's just the simplest
things and it'll never change. That will always be why.
And when you lose a game, you don't want to lose,
But when you lose a game, the it just allows
you to press into the details with more urgency, with
(07:04):
more accountability. And as long as you learn the lessons,
you don't miss the opportunity, as long as you take
the lessons and grow from it. And we have to
grow from this and make sure we keep pursuing our
best football.
Speaker 7 (07:15):
The outcomes of these three games will determine what happens
moving forward as far as postseason goes. But do you
like the way some of the veteran guys who have
postseason experience have taken some of the younger guys have
been openly talking about sharing with them what it's like
to be in these situations because some of these guys
haven't been in a playoff push before.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Absolutely, there's a lot of communication about how you take
care of your body at this point in the season.
And I've been around enough teams in the postseason as well,
but especially now, like it's not just then, but it's
this game right here, late in the season, and how
you have to be so conscious of your hydration and
your fueling and your rest and all those things and
anything that is distracting from this goal.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
This focus has to be gone.
Speaker 9 (07:54):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
We have to make sure we focus on these things
right now. And you know what, You're not going to
the mall for Chris shopping. You're gonna have to go
to Amazon's. We need those legs, and we ken you
have you walking around the mall for two or three hours.
So all the guy's got to.
Speaker 6 (08:06):
Be locked in.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
This is the most important thing right now.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
And coach to that point, like when we're talking about
guys staying healthy, how important is it for your team
to be healthy at all the different positions because when
they're not, it changes what.
Speaker 8 (08:18):
You have to call or what the defense has to call.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
It's huge and we are fortunate that We've been about
as healthy as we've been, you know, going into this
this last game against the Saints, and we came out
pretty clean, you know, for this game as well, so
you know, we're at full strength. And just because you're
healthy doesn't mean you win. You got to do right.
And guy's got to be connected and that's the challenge
for us to get back to great football, communicate together
(08:40):
and push this thing forward.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Is Robert Hunt somebody who could be an option here
over these next few games?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
He could be, you know, and he's gonna his body
is gonna tell us that. And we're going to make
sure that we do the right thing by Rob and
we're gonna make sure we expose him to the right
different situations to make sure he's safe to play football
way I know Rob Hunt les to play football, and
that's with a violent play style and he's a big
man and we got to make sure he's right.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
So we are open to that.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Rob is open to that, but all of us collectively
are being really patient with making sure he clears each
hurdle along the way so that we can cut him loose.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
Last one for me, a Jalen cocher dall that he
looks fully healthy. Just the chemistry he and Bryce seem
to have over the past couple of weeks that he's
really been a big part of the offense last couple
of games.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Yeah, how you know, when a receiver is good, when
you throw it to him, they catch it. And that's
what Jalen does. And that's something that he's shown consistently
for us in all different spots in the slot, one
on one outside again for a touchdown in this game.
That's back to back games where you can see him
playing and taking advantage of corners on the outside and
where t Mac is going to attract a lot of
(09:47):
times they're going to put their lead corner over there
on that side or lean the coverage that way. Jalen's
showing that he's going to be able to tilt the
coverage the.
Speaker 8 (09:54):
Other way a little bit.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Does the experience of coaching Baker Mayfield help him or
help you at all as you get ready for this game?
Speaker 4 (10:01):
And again, Tampa, you know, we're both competitive people and
we're going to try to use everything to our advantage,
every possible edge that we can get, you know, anything
that we can use. Andy tell all those things. There's
a lot of communication over the course of you know,
the year that we spent together. That can be shared
and disseminated. But he's had two different coordinators since I
was gone, you know, So the system, there's still some
(10:23):
things that Baker loves that they're running, but then there's
also some wrinkles that they've added and so and just
the variety of players that they have from a skilled
position standpoint allows them to be, you know, versatile on
how they try to attack.
Speaker 8 (10:35):
Dave.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Sunday becomes one of the most anticipated, one of the
biggest home games this franchise has had in years. You
have a PSA for the fans.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Show up, be loud. Love the energy that we had
at the Rams game. You know, it was cold and rainy.
We're expecting some beautiful weather. It's going to be in
the sixties. We're gonna come out and bring our best
and just a great division matchup exactly how we want it.
The environment's going to be beautiful, and we need you,
We need all the fans to come out. We need
that impact. I know it was an impact on that
third down against the Rams. We've got a sack fumble
(11:05):
right there to steal the game, and there was an
advantage there because of the noise, and we got to
jump on the rush and a nice stunt inside and
all that stuff matters. And even when we just make
great plays, the celebrations and when the officials make a
questionable call, let.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
Them have it.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Let them have it, because I'm typically not yelling at
the guy, so I need I need all the Panthers
fans to let him have it.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
I haven't seen very many of those this year. I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The fans are generally kind of the official. Let them
have it, Let them have it. Be loud, be present
on Sunday. Should be fun. Dave, thank you, all right,
Thanks guys, Thanks head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Here
on the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Radio Network, this is Panther Talk. Well do you buy
Bank of America? What would you like the power to do?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And Shrochimzoki Eugene Robinson. Yes, it is the day after
and there is that feeling of dissonance, and that's kind
of been the season in a lot of ways. Residents dissonance, Jeckyll,
hide up down. It's been a roller coaster ride. And
I think it's important that multiple things can be true
(12:11):
and Jim for one. The loss against the Saints that stung.
It was disappointing, it was frustrating, it was maddening because
the Panthers are a better team than the Saints, and
I think we all looked at the schedule at the
beginning of the season and said, those are two wins,
and you lost both those games to New Orleans. That
could ultimately hurt you down the road. When you zoom
(12:33):
out and you look at where this team is, there's
seven and seven. Yes, there's been inconsistency, but that's also
part of the growth trajectory of this franchise from where
they were. They were very consistent two years ago. Not
in a good way, but they were very consistent. Now
you're trying to kind of figure it out. I've used
this analogy with my daughter who started playing lacross a
(12:56):
few years ago, and in the beginning it was just
couldn't throw, counct didn't know the game, was trying to
figure it out right, And now we're at a point
where you can sometimes throw and sometimes catch and you're inconsistent,
and that gets frustrating for her, But that's part of
the growth to get to a point where you can
do those things consistently, and that might be where this
team is. Not to say that they can't get to
(13:18):
the playoffs or they can't beat Tampa twice, but this
is kind of part of the process. I think you
lose some of that in the week to week. Oh
my god, we beat the Rams, Oh my gosh, we
beat the Packers. Oh, how did we lose to the Saints.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Yeah, and you know what, welcome to the club because
the team we're playing this week is also seven and seven,
and they've lost five out of six and they started
five to one or whatever they were, and Baker Mayfield
was an MVP candidate. I'm sure now they've had injuries obviously,
as the Panthers have, they're probably looking at their season
like how do we get here?
Speaker 6 (13:46):
How'd we get this? Every week they're like, how did
we lose that game?
Speaker 7 (13:49):
I think they always feel like, we got Mike Evans back, now,
we got Bucky Irving back. It's a tough league, and
I'll be honest, I mean, there are essentially no easy
outs in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
As far as opponent.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
New Orleans is now three and three with Tyler Shuck
and I'm not saying he's Joe Montana or something like that.
But he's given them competency at that quarterback position they
didn't have before, and it's enough to make them a
tough punch you in the nose team that has also
beaten Tampa Bay in addition to beating us twice. So
I'm not saying that's a good loss, but it was
on the road against the team that's better than what
their overall record shows.
Speaker 8 (14:21):
I think I.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Remember when Kurt Warner came into the league at quarterback,
when I think get the Green and got hurt, and
nobody knew who Kurt Warner was. And when we played
them after coming off with bol with Atlanta, I was like, man,
I said with the Green, bell said, who is this
dude right here? This dude right here is good? I
mean he can throw the ball. I gave him no
(14:42):
respect when I when I started watching the film, I
was like, hold up, I underestimated him.
Speaker 8 (14:47):
I underestimated Tyler Shark. I did.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
I thought that, yeah, he just running quarterbacks. He's not
gonna do too much. Just put some pressure on him
and it'll be fine. Well, in that fourth period, he
was able to engine drive and end up just really
taking us apart because we were in zone, thrown behind
the zone all day long, moving down, hitting a lobby
for the testdown. As we were blessing, I was like, man,
(15:12):
I've underestimated him, and so I to your point. I
mean this, there's no easy games, and sometimes you could
get a new quarterback that comes in and you can
underestimate him. I don't think maybe the Panthers did that,
but I know for sure I did.
Speaker 8 (15:27):
And here it is.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
It just speaks to the up and down nature and
also the parody that we have in this league. There's
a lot of parody in this league right now.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
No, and again I get it because you're at seven
and seven. The progress that you've made from two years
ago and even from last year, it's tangible, it's there.
But I understand the sentiment too. I mean, I've lived
in this city for fifteen years, Jim, You've covered this
team since the beginning. It's been a long time since
we've had a playoff team here in Carolina. You gotta
(15:55):
go back to twenty seventeen. People smell it right, and
you've given them enough hope, you've given them enough belief.
You've gone to Lambeau, you've beaten the Rams. Those were,
up until this past weekend, the top two teams in
the NFC. So when you have all those factors in play, yeah,
you get greedy and you think you should beat the Saints.
(16:16):
And I think we all felt that way. I think
every possibility is on the table. I mean the way
this season has unfolded. They had a three game win
streak earlier, but basically since then, it's been win loss, win, loss,
win loss. If you go win loss, win, you're in
the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
Yes, it's very critical to get this first one.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Yeah, the three and nothing guarantees you anything, but your
odds go up dramatically if you win this first Tampa
Bay game, because if you don't, you got to win
the last two and get help by the Bucks losing
their middle game, which is Miami. So a win as
far as like, what is the weight of the three games?
This one coming up this and it's at home, at home,
(16:59):
it's big, but it's big mathematically, we just dropped from
near fifty percent to again from what odds are worth
to twenty four percent, don't.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You I get frustrated with the odds because, like, at
the end of the day, if you take care of business,
You've got to win the game.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
It is, and it's just right. It's just it's just
another indicator. It is not the indicator by any means.
It's one of the twenty things you could throw out there,
but just to like, even like I don't do all
the betting things and all that stuff out there, but
those do give you a barometer of expectation of who
you're playing and who's the better team and is it
an upset or was it expected?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
But I think you know this, of the three games
they got to bounce back, and the way we played
this year after the worst losses have been the best
comebacks the next week. So Eugene, this one's huge and
it would go a long way in determining if this
season continues into the postseason.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
I think all the games are winnable. When I look
at the Colts who signed the Philip Rivers, who haven't
played in five years, take the Seattle Seahawks to task.
Seattle has to come back to go ahead and beat them.
I mean, so, what what are we talking about? We
talking about there's so much parody in the league. You
mean to tell me you don't have a starting quarterback,
and you get a quarterback that's forty four years old,
(18:08):
he controls your team and he's able to beat one
of the best teams in the league. So what does
that mean are they have one of the best teams
in the league. It means that there's too much parody.
And so when we look at the Rams or we
look at the Packers that I think all the games
are winnable. I think they're just all winnable games because
we got a really good defense and we have a
(18:29):
very very good offense. And I tell you what I say,
if we plan our best ball, we can beat defeat
just about anybody you had the same shouldn't have been
in the game at all, in my opinion, but we
can go to task with anyone. And so if the
Coats are any indication of the parodies in the league,
then I'm not worried about Seattle. I'm worried about this
(18:51):
one game with Tampa.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, And the scenarios essentially play out like this for
the Panthers to win the division and get to the postseason.
There's two paths. One, you beat Tampa twice. The Seattle
result then does not matter at all.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
If you split with Tampa. Then you need to go
beat Seattle and you need the Bucks to lose against Miami.
Now Miami's playing a lot better. I do wonder how
much Tampa has left in the tank after they lost
on Thursday night to Atlanta. That's going to be telling.
We'll get into that later. But I do think if
the Panthers can jump on the Bucks early at home,
(19:29):
ride the crowd, ride the momentum, get off the mat,
you might have a chance to bury Tampa early in
that game. We'll talk more about that later. We have
Ron Rivera, who spoke with Jim Zochi. We also have
Jordan rod Rieg from The Athletic. She had an illuminating
conversation with Brent Tillis in the front office for the Panthers.
We'll talk to her about that as well. You're listening
(19:50):
to the Carolina Panthers radio network.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
This is Panther Talk Bronto. You buy atrem Health. I
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Speaker 7 (20:10):
Ron Rivera the winningest coach in the history of the
Carolina Panthers, an All American at CAL, the current GM
of the cal Bears. We're talking a little bit about that,
but mostly remembering the season that was that, the twenty
fifteen season, the Super Bowl fifty season with our coach Ron.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Rivera thirty seasons of Panther Football, a celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
Ron great to catch up with you.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
What's it like being the general manager in today's college
football though we'll get too deep in the weeds, but
obviously transferred portal and dealing with the contracts and all
those kinds of things, it's a very challenging time in
college football.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
It is, you know, it does challenge you, and it's
one of those things that you know, you have to
really understand how how you're doing it, and then you
got to go out and do it better. And that's
the hard part because you know, with revenue share quote
unquote the salary cap, you've got to make it fit
and then you also get guys that want more, and
(21:13):
so that's kind of a rough spot there as you're
trying to figure out, you know, what's going next.
Speaker 7 (21:18):
Do you see changes coming as far as something to
degree of making it more organized, maybe even making it
more like the NFL model as far as the calendar
and the way things are dealt with these guys getting
paid now.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Yes, and I think what has to happen is they
have to figure something out, put some parameters up, and
just kind of keep everybody, you know, in line, because
because I mean, you know, a coach whose team qualifies
for the CFP is not coaching it because he took
another job. I mean, in the NFL, that doesn't happen.
(21:51):
That just doesn't happen.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
It's a crazy time.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Well, let's talk about your time with the Carolina Panthers.
And you've had such a great football lifebviously playing at Cal,
being an assistant coach, after your career, a couple of
stops as a coach in the league, as you know,
coordinator and a head coach, but those nine years as
coach of the Carolina Panthers and then the pinpoint that
season twenty fifteen. We'll get into the super Bowl part
(22:16):
of it, the postseason all that a little bit. But
as you reflect on like that year of starting out
fourteen and oh and finishing seventeen and two, overall, what
are kind of some of the broad memories you take
from that great season.
Speaker 9 (22:29):
You know, I think the biggest thing was, you know,
that was the culmination. Twenty fifteen was a culmination and
everything we worked towards, and that was to get to
the Super Bowl. You know, the plan was to win it.
Obviously we didn't, but you know, it did culminate in
us getting there. It did culminate in a lot of
positive pluses things for us that was really really good,
(22:49):
and so that was kind of the plus. You know, Obviously,
everything we worked for, everything we talked about from the
day I started. For the first thing. You know, this
what's crazy a lot of people understand. The first time
I spoke to the entire team was the day we
opened up training camp my first year. Because remember there
was a lockout, right, We had no we had no spring,
(23:11):
we had we had no opportunity to OTA's mini camps.
There was nothing like that. And so really getting in
front of them that first day and setting the expectations
and then achieving it, that was what was even better.
And I think that's one of the things that you know,
was very gratifying for me personally, and I think it
was really very gratifying for a lot of our players
(23:33):
because you know, we had a lot of those guys
from the from the team that went to and fourteen
that was with us when we went to the super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
And that's amazing. It carried so many and then you
could go back.
Speaker 7 (23:44):
I talked with a number of those players, of course,
from this team that we're talking about, and everyone points
back to twenty fourteen and how you guys finished when
you were three eight and one, lose that game at Minnesota,
but then you win four in a row to win
the division, win a playoff.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
Game after that?
Speaker 7 (23:59):
Is that kind of where the roots of this all
began because you look back now it's hard to say
out loud, you want eighteen regular season games in a row.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
That's a crazy number.
Speaker 9 (24:09):
Well, you know the thing that lot of people don't
understand or realize or remember though, is you know, every year,
my first three years, we had strong decembers, and it
was putting everything together and taking off and going in
the right direction. That's what was really cool. But the
hard part about it or anything else is you know,
(24:30):
it's a tough sustain it really is. But the thing
I think about the twenty fourteen was when I think
our guys realized the model, the mantra that we were
going to carry going into twenty fifteen was hey, this
be the better team.
Speaker 8 (24:44):
You know.
Speaker 9 (24:45):
I talked to them about you know, hey, look when
we took that run in December twenty fourteen, I got
in front of him and said, you know, the team
the best team doesn't always win. The team that plays
the best that is a team that wins.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
And we kind of.
Speaker 9 (25:02):
Carried that from that point on in the playoffs in
twenty fourteen, and it spilled over in the twenty fifteen
and I think that was one of the things that got.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
Us rolling and an amazing number of games that you
guys won and carried that into starting fourteen and zero.
Obviously the next year, the only loss was late in
the season to Atlanta, but then he bounce back with
the late win to finish out the season and it's
into the playoffs. Seattle was an interesting game because you
had the big lead.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
Then they make it interesting.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
But that Arizona game in Charlotte for the NFC Conference
Championship game and your champions of the NFC with that win,
it was so lopsided.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
That was such a good Arizona team.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Was that maybe the most complete and dominating victory of
your tenure with the Panthers.
Speaker 9 (25:45):
Do you think, yes, I really do. I just you
know that there are just some things that really stood out,
and that whole game stands out still in my mind
out of the snow. You know, don't forget how Saturday was,
the Sunday morning was, but the way the guys played
(26:06):
that really was. And I'll be honest, I almost wonder
if we played our best game too soon. And and
that's one of the things that I still think about it.
I really do. I do even so much yet. I
don't know if you know the story, but you know
when when when when we got our NFC Championship rings,
(26:26):
when we were designing on myself and Dave Gettlman and
and and and and and Danny, we we all were
in there and we're talking and and Dan he said,
you know, we'll put this, We'll put this and then
we'll put the record seventeen and two. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. I said, no,
(26:47):
I'm not gonna I don't want seventeen and two on
this is What do you mean? I said, Well, the
truth is, guys, you know we we won the NFC
at seventeen and one. This is the NFC championship ring.
This is not the NFC loser ring. And Henny Morriston
looks at me like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 10 (27:09):
And for a.
Speaker 9 (27:11):
Second Dave Gelman Kyle looked at me funny too, and
I said, guys, I'm just telling you, this is the
NFC championship ring. That's what everybody's gonna know. It asked,
and if you put seventeen and two on it, it's
no long MC championship ring. It's a Super Bowl loser ring.
And so I said, Ron, we can't do this. Never
been done before. I looked at Joston. Guys that chuning
goo since. Never has been done, coach, and I said,
(27:32):
I'll tell you what, if you put seventeen to one
on my ring, I'll never win it. He looked at
me and I said, I want seventeen and one on one,
And so my ring says seventeen and one.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Subscribed to thirty seasons of Panther football on the iHeartRadio app,
Panthers dot com and team app, Apple podcast or Spotify.
This is Panther Tall talk to you. Buyd Coke game
Day Zero's the Great Taste of Goca Cola. Because fan
(28:06):
work is thirsty.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Work back here on Panther Talk a new shrop Jim
Zokie Eugene Robinson, Our next guest is an NFL writer, reporter, podcaster.
You gotta follow her content. She does some of the
best work out there. Jordan rod Riege, senior NFL reporter
for The Athletic. She hosts a podcast to NFL Daily
(28:30):
Power Players. You can find it on YouTube wherever you
get your podcasts, and once upon a time she used
to cover these very Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
Jordan did miss.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Charlotte at all.
Speaker 10 (28:41):
I really miss Charlotte. You know, I could walk everywhere.
I'm in my car all the day time here in
LA I could walk everywhere. I lived over in sort
of the Dilworth South End area. I hear it's just
completely changed with all the construction and everything. But yeah,
and I'm also kind of I have a little fomo
trying to catch some of this playoff, hopeful energy here
(29:03):
in Charlotte right now.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, it's been a it's been a Caro Win's type
of season here in Charlotte. But I want to I
want to start with what you had just posted on
your podcast, the NFL Daily Power Players. You can watch
this interview on YouTube. I encourage all Panther fans to
go find it. It's an interview with Brent Tillis in
the Panthers front office. He had been the assistant GM
(29:27):
now he's you know, the EVP of Player Personnel and Jordan.
There was a question that you asked him about team
building and specifically looking at the week to week results
with the long term vision of where you want to go,
and he gave you a very illuminating answer on where
where luck and flukiness is involved versus what's real.
Speaker 11 (29:49):
We want to keep on developing our players, developing our
culture and building this thing so that it's sustainable moving forward.
But at the same time, like right now we're seven
and six, we're right in the middle of a playoff race,
So how do we do both things at once? And
what we look for is what is stable about us winning?
(30:09):
And then what is let's call it fluky or lucky,
and it could be it could be what's stable about
us losing too? Like what is stable and what is
fluky and what's lucky? And how do we lean into
the stability and make the stable things better and minimize
our reliance on luck.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
When you kind of heard that, can you speak to
them and give us your takeaway in terms of what
you got the sense that the vision was from Brent
tillis of really building this franchise up.
Speaker 10 (30:37):
First of all, I don't think I've ever heard a
person in a front office answer a question like that
so honestly, because and I think that's a good thing
here with Carolina, because not only was Brandt very clear
about the Panthers being in a phase of their rebuilding
(30:59):
where foundation elements are extremely critical, but also looking at
everything very honestly and not getting swept up in like
like you. It was a great line the Carowin's nature,
the roller coaster of the season right to not get
swept up in some of these more chaotic moments good
(31:20):
and bad that this team has been through as they
have sort of this, you know, a little bit of
a fairy tale season. And I'm fascinated by his answer
because it was one of the first times I think
I've really felt listening to a person in a front office.
A relatively new collection of people working together in the Panthers'
(31:42):
front office between Brant and Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis
and you know, Dave Tepper assembling this cast, and Christy
Coleman and really people learning how to how to build
together for a relatively new relationship for this franchise. I
felt like, Okay, they've got something here, because you do
(32:02):
need that person in the room who's going to remind you,
especially when you're running things on the football side or
you're in it in the locker room with the players
and kind of feeling what they feel. You do need
somebody to look honestly and really quantified but also qualified
because there's there's feeling and instinct involved too, what it
(32:23):
actually is that is buildable out of what this team
is experiencing. And I was absolutely floored by that answer
because I thought it was the best way to describe
what a rebuild actually should be that I've heard, and
certainly that I've heard in many years. Really made me
excited about the direction of the franchise.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
So let me ask you this question here. When you
heard the response, and being in the Carolina Panthers and
being in that locker room being a report for that
what players did you immediately apply to the model that
he was talking.
Speaker 10 (32:58):
About what's a great question because you have to understand
what you.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
Have to balance.
Speaker 10 (33:08):
I think it's it's the difference and when you're like
building a scheme and you're you're sifting through what are
splash plays and what is foundational scheme? Right? So if
we're going to take what he said and apply it
specifically to just like x's and o's, okay, is it
a player who is capable of making incredible chaos plays,
(33:29):
whether offense or defense. And you see a lot of
this too with young quarterbacks who are high round picks
when they're developing. Is it a player who's, you know,
making magic happen. I think of JJ McCarthy the first
game he played where that so much of it was wow,
this is hard to watch, and then the last frame
was was pure magic and riding this wave. Okay, extrapolating
(33:51):
like what do you take? What variables do you actually
take out of that player's performance, and what do you
keep and what do you sort of throw out as
as fluke or adrenaline or chao, you know, this rising
to a chaotic moment, or making something that is a
very low probability throw or making a low probability catch
or a low probability interception.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
What can you.
Speaker 10 (34:14):
Glean from those moments? And I guess what can you
strip from a highlight reel and turn it into actual
team building? And that's obviously an example applying to scheme.
But what Brand's talking about is looking at to your point,
the locker room. And you know, I think so much
of rebuilding is not just learning what you keep, but
(34:36):
also what you don't keep. And I think we forget
a lot about the what you keep elements because we're
always thinking about, Okay, what page do they have to
turn to get to their next step versus what's already
here that might be really buildable. It's a fascinating balance.
I don't know that I could point to a specific
player or players, because it's everybody. It's every position, it's
(34:58):
how it's coached, it's how traits are identified, it's how
traits are developed, and it's how all of those things
fit together, part of the whole in the schematic vision.
And I do think that that's they're really looking at
it in an anthropological way, not just a mass way,
not just a scheme way. It's really fascinating for me.
Speaker 7 (35:19):
Yeah, you know, Dan Morgan famously said we became GM.
He wants players with that dog in them, which is
funny cause we're Cats. But anyways, I think it's uh.
But there's a balance between, like you said, looking at
highlight reels, analytics, and then that that guys that want,
which is you you've been around this league for a while.
It's like there are some players that are kind of
happy to be here and they could be guys with
(35:40):
you stat page fillers who are talented, but you know,
do they want it? Does it matter when they lose?
Does it hurt them when they lose? They love winning
things like that. So I in your conversations either for
that article but in general with folks around the league,
you know, how much is that in the equation with
trying to get players that stick around for a long
time they are part of the culture and help you win.
Speaker 10 (36:00):
Well, that's huge. I mean, two examples I think of
when I think of Carolina are Taylor Moten and Derek Brown.
I mean, because those guys are among the best in
the league at their respective positions. But they've been through
it at this point, right, But you see it, you
see it day in and day out. The consistency, right,
so when you're talking about building, I think that those
(36:23):
guys are formulaic. Now, I can use an example here
when I covered the Rams up to their you know,
when they won the Super Bowl. After that Super Bowl season,
they started really stripping down elements of like, for example,
some of the foundational guys, what what are some key
character traits in and like football, I traits in like
(36:44):
a Robert Woods for example, in a Cooper cup in
you know it, looking at like some of their linemen,
looking at Aaron Donald. Obviously you cannot replicate any of
those players, right, but they were looking at what sustained
in their personalities and in what they bring to an organization,
(37:05):
like what is identifiable in other people. And they really
did a deep dive in applying those types of traits
to what you see now with this roster. And frankly,
I think that the Panthers are on the cusp of
doing something similar because they have guys like that in
their building right now. I just I mentioned two of
(37:25):
them and so, and I don't think it's a secret
that you've seen them have success. I think Panthers offensive
line is one of the more underrated groups in the league,
and you see them have success because of the way
that they're building and the way that you can apply
not the same player. Everyone is unique and certainly you
can't find just like a Derek Brown walking around, right,
(37:49):
but to take pieces of what those people are and
apply them into your talent id process. That's part of
what Brand's talking about too, Like what qualities are not fluky?
I think is what he's talking about just as much
as an organizational element.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, and Jordan real quick to end on this. When
you asked him, Hey, if you could build a team
from scratch and you could start with anything, head coach,
play caller, quarterback, what's the one thing that you want
as you were starting element for a team? He told
(38:27):
you vibes And that blew me away because that speaks
to culture real quick. What was your reaction to that answer?
Speaker 10 (38:36):
Well, I like to think I did not show my
utter surprising answer to get an answer that I totally
did not expect, because you're right, he could have said
he could have said anything. He had he had, you know,
the ability to pick I think a tangible thing, but
he picked an intangible and I think for a math
(38:56):
die or you know, quote unquote a math die to
to pick something in tangible speaks to I think the
speciality of the group. It told me so much about
this group and how they have decided to operate together,
because even if he came in thinking he had to
approach his job analytically, at least at first, it's very
(39:21):
clear that the part to whole of the collective is
affecting him in a profound way where he sees it
and he says, that is again something that's not fluky,
that's something that you can build, and that really sets
a foundation. I also thought it was a smart a
smart answer. I would imagine over the next couple of years,
(39:41):
while they continue to build this thing up, they are
evaluating everybody. And so if you're doing that, like of course,
you're going to go back to a fundamental piece of
the equation, which is exactly what he said. And I
just found that really fascinating, and I was quite surprised
because I think anybody could say, in a dream scenario,
(40:02):
you firefly toward a position or a person, but he
did it towards something that was not able to be
technically qualified quantified. It was more qualified, and I just
felt that was really really cool.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
And at the same time. It is something that impacts
everybody in the building. Jordan Rodrigg does a fantastic job.
Follow her work on the Athletic Check out the Power
Players podcast, part of NFL Daily. Watch the full interview
with Bran tillis worth your time Panther fans. Jordan, thank
you so much for joining us here on Panther Talk.
You're listening to the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network and each.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Jim Eugene Tampa comes to town. Still everything is in
front of the Panthers. Beat the Bucks, beat them twice.
You control your destiny, even though destiny by definition is predetermined.
Speaker 6 (40:58):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
But I think this is a game where a fast
start means everything. Tampa is broken, they are beaten. You
saw what Todd Bull said at the end of the
Atlanta game. There was frustration coming out. If you can
jump on the Buccaneers, I think you have a chance
to end the game early.
Speaker 5 (41:15):
Yeah, he typically doesn't curse at all, and so he
was kind of going off and you can talk and
you can hear the frustration in his voice. And then
I saw the interview with Baker Mayfeld and I looked
at his face and he looked absolutely discouraged and just
totally like grief stricken. And so from that sand point,
I'm just going like this, this team right here is
(41:35):
hurting big time. That's when you take advantage of this team.
You got to go ahead and play some clean football,
and you got to jump on him early and often,
and you want to punch him in the mouth.
Speaker 8 (41:45):
And now one thing I would say this too.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
I thought that we that we didn't take advantage a
little bit of Tyler shuck.
Speaker 8 (41:50):
I would blitz a little bit more.
Speaker 5 (41:53):
I would get after just a little bit more, because
I'm not gonna let Baker sit back there in the
cut in his zone and let him eat me up
because he can do that. Don't forget. They got Mike Evans.
So I'm like, look, I'm putting pressure on you. I
want to blood your nose legally and put you in
the dirt, and I want to really destroy this offense.
So I'm looking for this defense Carolina Pethers w to
(42:14):
be extremely aggressive this game.
Speaker 6 (42:15):
I agree, And the things you said, I'll just really reiterate.
Speaker 7 (42:18):
I think the two things pressure I'm Baker he's a
different quarterback when he's got people in his face. And
Mike Evans is back, and even that loss in his
first game back, one hundred and thirty yards plus in
that game. So that's their Chris Olave plus more because
he's been doing it for a long time.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
I think this is a Derek Brown game. They're beat
up on the interior of their offensive line. Derek Brown
has a chance to eat on Sunday
The following is an exclusive presentation of the Carolina Panthers
and the National Football League.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
Panther Tell and they'tell, and They're tell. This is Panther
Talk on the Carolina Panthers Radio network.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
We can do better. That's not our football. And that
was the message to the group is we got to
move on quickly. We got the Bucks coming back to
Charlotte next week, and so we're going to take the
lessons of this game, make sure we look at it,
be studs about it, and grow from it so we
can find our best football.
Speaker 2 (00:30):
And now, along with Jim Zochi and Eugene Robinson, here's
a Niche Shroff with Panther Talk live from the Panthers
broadcast facility at Bank of America Stereo.
Speaker 1 (00:44):
Welcome to Panther Talk and he Shrop, Jim Zochie, Eugene Robinson,
and the head coach of the Carolina Panthers, Dave Canalis.
Three games remain in the regular season. Everything is still
on the table. But let's start by revisiting yesterday. I
know that was a tough loss. When you go back
you watch the film. Let's start with that second quarter.
(01:05):
It felt that that eleven minute drive kind of changed
the temperature of the game, didn't it.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
Absolutely and great execution by the Saints. But also in
the game, you know, six penalties led to first downs
and we have to do better there. We have to
make sure that we get off the field and the
downs when we can. And certainly on the flip side
of that, you know, from an offensive standpoint, you know,
we had two penalties and we weren't really able to
(01:32):
overcome those. But it was a day that really kind
of ended up that way, and all of a sudden,
we're looking at, you know, a minute and change and
trying to get points before the half. So we have
to make sure that we do a great job of
just getting off the field.
Speaker 5 (01:46):
Let's talk about mister Ransom of what did you tell
mister Ransom? I know he had to feel extremely hurt
about the situation.
Speaker 4 (01:53):
Yeah, you know, with derek'san with Leathan's those are really
challenging situations. As you know, Gene as a defender and
you have a quarterback who's very mobile and especially in
Laythan's you know, circumstance, every yard matters. They're trying to
get into field goal range right there, and you know
they had that play call right there to get down
and h and kill it and laythan's you know, showing
(02:14):
up for the tackle to make sure the guy doesn't
get an extra five. It was it was a late slide,
which is fine technique by the quarterback, and it's a
split decision that you have to make to try to
avoid contact to that upper body area, you know, in
any any way, shape or form, and a really challenging
spot right there that made their field goal easier.
Speaker 6 (02:32):
Game kind of changed late.
Speaker 7 (02:33):
As far as everyone knows, Crystal Lobby is one of
the most targeted receivers in the league. He kind of
caught fire on that touchdown drive that he capped off.
There were they doing different things to get him open
that situation, or what kind of they just kind of
featured him more, or what kind of change at.
Speaker 8 (02:45):
That point it was.
Speaker 4 (02:46):
It was honestly just simple execution and not being tied
into this not being on the same page really just
in a coverage from a coverage standpoint, and you know,
it was very similar concepts, you know, in those situations,
and we just have to make sure we play these
things deep to short and that's the that's the model,
and then you rally up to catch whatever, you tackle,
whatever short you know, and so just making sure that
we tie up some of those basic things so that
(03:08):
we can't allow their best player to affect the game
that way.
Speaker 1 (03:11):
Dave the call to go for it on fourth down
instead of kicking the field goal, because we're watching it upstairs.
We kind of thought you'd go for it all along,
because that's kind of how you guys have played this season.
Was there any thought of taking the three or trying
the long field goal? Just what went into that?
Speaker 4 (03:26):
I was all in. I mean, you know it was
you know, I think I think I needed you know,
one and a half or two yards to go. We
were in fourth and inches. It was a no brainer
thought that the spot was close enough to challenge it.
You know, so through the challenge flag out there on
Bryce's scramble, you know, on the play before, I'm excuse you,
on the on the run game, uh, the play before,
and we didn't get the challenge, but you know, in
(03:48):
that situation, it cost us time out, but we were
able to kind of talk about, you know, what we
wanted to go with right there, and we had our
best call in that one, and you know, they executed better.
Speaker 8 (03:56):
Than we did.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Is that one too where you also look at the
clock right hey, you pick up yeah, that extra inch,
even if you're kicking a field goal later in the drive,
you're now burning more clock.
Speaker 4 (04:05):
Absolutely, it was a great opportunity for us to take
control of the game right there, and we missed that opportunity.
Speaker 5 (04:09):
And coach, let's talk about some of the missed opportunities.
There was some plays defensively, well, I thought that was fumble,
maybe an interception. And I've been a proponent of this
that you have to seize those moments because you don't
get a chance to go ahead and redo them. Were
there any other moments like that in the game where
you go like this, you got to be able to
make that play.
Speaker 8 (04:26):
If you don't make that play, it's not gonna come
back to you.
Speaker 4 (04:28):
There were a lot of them, and a lot of
them were kind of micro moments too, And it's just
it doesn't always end up at the point of attack
of the ball, you know, but it's a it's a
block here, it's a read there. You know, it's a
catch here or not, you know, And there were moments
that showed up that way that we could have taken
advantage of you know, we certainly had the two minute drive.
You know, we had an opportunity to t Mac in
(04:49):
the end zone right there, and they made a nice
play on the ball and knocked it away from them.
You know, but it's like a near miss and maybe
I throw it a little higher, maybe you know, you
know t Mac is able to tip it to him
for something like that. But these are just moments that
that kind of got away from us in the game.
Speaker 7 (05:03):
Of course, when you lose, some of the good moments
get you get lost overall because you'll get the win.
But five quarterback sacks, no turk warton. Did Bobby Brown
maybe play some of his best football yesterday?
Speaker 2 (05:11):
He did.
Speaker 4 (05:12):
Bobby made a huge impact on what we were doing,
just you know, end up unblocked by the time the
ball gets there. And he did a great job of that,
just you know, staying with his leverage, you know, playing
with his knee bent and then he's a big, strong man,
you know, and just getting off those blocks to make
some plays was impressive.
Speaker 1 (05:28):
Davis, you walk through this last home stretch, now, is
there anything different about the approach when you know you're
going to face a team twice in three weeks preparing
for them for the first time.
Speaker 6 (05:39):
Absolutely not.
Speaker 4 (05:40):
You just take this one game and then we'll deal
with that next game when it comes, you know. But
right now, this is the bucks. Yeah, this this, this
is the only game that matters for us, and the
focus has to be right. But we certainly have to
take the lessons of this game against the Saints and
make sure that we look at that, make sure we
tie up some of the things that we've been doing well.
And my message to the team is we've proven to
(06:02):
ourselves and when we play good football, we can beat anybody.
And that's a true statement for our team. So let's
go play well. Let's go make sure we handle our
business and let's not give the opponent anything, and we'll
have a great chance to win this game if we
do that.
Speaker 5 (06:13):
And coach, if you could, if it's possible, I don't
want to get in all your team's business. Is there
any lessons that you can share of what you've told
the team.
Speaker 4 (06:21):
Yeah, just the basics of it, you know, making sure
that we're executing you know, that's obviously all of us involved,
coaches and players, but you know, from a technical standpoint,
it's the fundamentals it's footwork, it's where your eyes are at.
It's making sure that you're blocking through the echo of
the whistle on the offensive side, you know, it's making
sure that you're in some of our most basic concepts.
(06:42):
Is making sure we're so detailed on it. Let's not
take anything for granted. And those are the things that
are being talked about right now. It's just the simplest
things and it'll never change. That will always be why.
And when you lose a game, you don't want to lose,
But when you lose a game, the it just allows
you to press into the details with more urgency, with
(07:04):
more accountability. And as long as you learn the lessons,
you don't miss the opportunity, as long as you take
the lessons and grow from it. And we have to
grow from this and make sure we keep pursuing our
best football.
Speaker 7 (07:15):
The outcomes of these three games will determine what happens
moving forward as far as postseason goes. But do you
like the way some of the veteran guys who have
postseason experience have taken some of the younger guys have
been openly talking about sharing with them what it's like
to be in these situations because some of these guys
haven't been in a playoff push before.
Speaker 4 (07:30):
Absolutely, there's a lot of communication about how you take
care of your body at this point in the season.
And I've been around enough teams in the postseason as well,
but especially now, like it's not just then, but it's
this game right here, late in the season, and how
you have to be so conscious of your hydration and
your fueling and your rest and all those things and
anything that is distracting from this goal.
Speaker 6 (07:52):
This focus has to be gone.
Speaker 9 (07:54):
I'm sorry.
Speaker 4 (07:54):
We have to make sure we focus on these things
right now. And you know what, You're not going to
the mall for Chris shopping. You're gonna have to go
to Amazon's. We need those legs, and we ken you
have you walking around the mall for two or three hours.
So all the guy's got to.
Speaker 6 (08:06):
Be locked in.
Speaker 4 (08:07):
This is the most important thing right now.
Speaker 5 (08:08):
And coach to that point, like when we're talking about
guys staying healthy, how important is it for your team
to be healthy at all the different positions because when
they're not, it changes what.
Speaker 8 (08:18):
You have to call or what the defense has to call.
Speaker 4 (08:20):
It's huge and we are fortunate that We've been about
as healthy as we've been, you know, going into this
this last game against the Saints, and we came out
pretty clean, you know, for this game as well, so
you know, we're at full strength. And just because you're
healthy doesn't mean you win. You got to do right.
And guy's got to be connected and that's the challenge
for us to get back to great football, communicate together
(08:40):
and push this thing forward.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
Is Robert Hunt somebody who could be an option here
over these next few games?
Speaker 4 (08:47):
He could be, you know, and he's gonna his body
is gonna tell us that. And we're going to make
sure that we do the right thing by Rob and
we're gonna make sure we expose him to the right
different situations to make sure he's safe to play football
way I know Rob Hunt les to play football, and
that's with a violent play style and he's a big
man and we got to make sure he's right.
Speaker 6 (09:05):
So we are open to that.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
Rob is open to that, but all of us collectively
are being really patient with making sure he clears each
hurdle along the way so that we can cut him loose.
Speaker 7 (09:16):
Last one for me, a Jalen cocher dall that he
looks fully healthy. Just the chemistry he and Bryce seem
to have over the past couple of weeks that he's
really been a big part of the offense last couple
of games.
Speaker 4 (09:27):
Yeah, how you know, when a receiver is good, when
you throw it to him, they catch it. And that's
what Jalen does. And that's something that he's shown consistently
for us in all different spots in the slot, one
on one outside again for a touchdown in this game.
That's back to back games where you can see him
playing and taking advantage of corners on the outside and
where t Mac is going to attract a lot of
(09:47):
times they're going to put their lead corner over there
on that side or lean the coverage that way. Jalen's
showing that he's going to be able to tilt the
coverage the.
Speaker 8 (09:54):
Other way a little bit.
Speaker 5 (09:55):
Does the experience of coaching Baker Mayfield help him or
help you at all as you get ready for this game?
Speaker 4 (10:01):
And again, Tampa, you know, we're both competitive people and
we're going to try to use everything to our advantage,
every possible edge that we can get, you know, anything
that we can use. Andy tell all those things. There's
a lot of communication over the course of you know,
the year that we spent together. That can be shared
and disseminated. But he's had two different coordinators since I
was gone, you know, So the system, there's still some
(10:23):
things that Baker loves that they're running, but then there's
also some wrinkles that they've added and so and just
the variety of players that they have from a skilled
position standpoint allows them to be, you know, versatile on
how they try to attack.
Speaker 8 (10:35):
Dave.
Speaker 1 (10:36):
Sunday becomes one of the most anticipated, one of the
biggest home games this franchise has had in years. You
have a PSA for the fans.
Speaker 4 (10:44):
Show up, be loud. Love the energy that we had
at the Rams game. You know, it was cold and rainy.
We're expecting some beautiful weather. It's going to be in
the sixties. We're gonna come out and bring our best
and just a great division matchup exactly how we want it.
The environment's going to be beautiful, and we need you,
We need all the fans to come out. We need
that impact. I know it was an impact on that
third down against the Rams. We've got a sack fumble
(11:05):
right there to steal the game, and there was an
advantage there because of the noise, and we got to
jump on the rush and a nice stunt inside and
all that stuff matters. And even when we just make
great plays, the celebrations and when the officials make a
questionable call, let.
Speaker 6 (11:17):
Them have it.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
Let them have it, because I'm typically not yelling at
the guy, so I need I need all the Panthers
fans to let him have it.
Speaker 6 (11:24):
I haven't seen very many of those this year. I
don't know.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
The fans are generally kind of the official. Let them
have it, Let them have it. Be loud, be present
on Sunday. Should be fun. Dave, thank you, all right,
Thanks guys, Thanks head coach of the Carolina Panthers. Here
on the Panthers.
Speaker 2 (11:39):
Radio Network, this is Panther Talk. Well do you buy
Bank of America? What would you like the power to do?
Speaker 1 (11:50):
And Shrochimzoki Eugene Robinson. Yes, it is the day after
and there is that feeling of dissonance, and that's kind
of been the season in a lot of ways. Residents dissonance, Jeckyll,
hide up down. It's been a roller coaster ride. And
I think it's important that multiple things can be true
(12:11):
and Jim for one. The loss against the Saints that stung.
It was disappointing, it was frustrating, it was maddening because
the Panthers are a better team than the Saints, and
I think we all looked at the schedule at the
beginning of the season and said, those are two wins,
and you lost both those games to New Orleans. That
could ultimately hurt you down the road. When you zoom
(12:33):
out and you look at where this team is, there's
seven and seven. Yes, there's been inconsistency, but that's also
part of the growth trajectory of this franchise from where
they were. They were very consistent two years ago. Not
in a good way, but they were very consistent. Now
you're trying to kind of figure it out. I've used
this analogy with my daughter who started playing lacross a
(12:56):
few years ago, and in the beginning it was just
couldn't throw, counct didn't know the game, was trying to
figure it out right, And now we're at a point
where you can sometimes throw and sometimes catch and you're inconsistent,
and that gets frustrating for her, But that's part of
the growth to get to a point where you can
do those things consistently, and that might be where this
team is. Not to say that they can't get to
(13:18):
the playoffs or they can't beat Tampa twice, but this
is kind of part of the process. I think you
lose some of that in the week to week. Oh
my god, we beat the Rams, Oh my gosh, we
beat the Packers. Oh, how did we lose to the Saints.
Speaker 7 (13:32):
Yeah, and you know what, welcome to the club because
the team we're playing this week is also seven and seven,
and they've lost five out of six and they started
five to one or whatever they were, and Baker Mayfield
was an MVP candidate. I'm sure now they've had injuries obviously,
as the Panthers have, they're probably looking at their season
like how do we get here?
Speaker 6 (13:46):
How'd we get this? Every week they're like, how did
we lose that game?
Speaker 7 (13:49):
I think they always feel like, we got Mike Evans back, now,
we got Bucky Irving back. It's a tough league, and
I'll be honest, I mean, there are essentially no easy
outs in the NFL.
Speaker 6 (13:59):
As far as opponent.
Speaker 7 (14:00):
New Orleans is now three and three with Tyler Shuck
and I'm not saying he's Joe Montana or something like that.
But he's given them competency at that quarterback position they
didn't have before, and it's enough to make them a
tough punch you in the nose team that has also
beaten Tampa Bay in addition to beating us twice. So
I'm not saying that's a good loss, but it was
on the road against the team that's better than what
their overall record shows.
Speaker 8 (14:21):
I think I.
Speaker 5 (14:22):
Remember when Kurt Warner came into the league at quarterback,
when I think get the Green and got hurt, and
nobody knew who Kurt Warner was. And when we played
them after coming off with bol with Atlanta, I was like, man,
I said with the Green, bell said, who is this
dude right here? This dude right here is good? I
mean he can throw the ball. I gave him no
(14:42):
respect when I when I started watching the film, I
was like, hold up, I underestimated him.
Speaker 8 (14:47):
I underestimated Tyler Shark. I did.
Speaker 5 (14:49):
I thought that, yeah, he just running quarterbacks. He's not
gonna do too much. Just put some pressure on him
and it'll be fine. Well, in that fourth period, he
was able to engine drive and end up just really
taking us apart because we were in zone, thrown behind
the zone all day long, moving down, hitting a lobby
for the testdown. As we were blessing, I was like, man,
(15:12):
I've underestimated him, and so I to your point. I
mean this, there's no easy games, and sometimes you could
get a new quarterback that comes in and you can
underestimate him. I don't think maybe the Panthers did that,
but I know for sure I did.
Speaker 8 (15:27):
And here it is.
Speaker 5 (15:28):
It just speaks to the up and down nature and
also the parody that we have in this league. There's
a lot of parody in this league right now.
Speaker 1 (15:34):
No, and again I get it because you're at seven
and seven. The progress that you've made from two years
ago and even from last year, it's tangible, it's there.
But I understand the sentiment too. I mean, I've lived
in this city for fifteen years, Jim, You've covered this
team since the beginning. It's been a long time since
we've had a playoff team here in Carolina. You gotta
(15:55):
go back to twenty seventeen. People smell it right, and
you've given them enough hope, you've given them enough belief.
You've gone to Lambeau, you've beaten the Rams. Those were,
up until this past weekend, the top two teams in
the NFC. So when you have all those factors in play, yeah,
you get greedy and you think you should beat the Saints.
(16:16):
And I think we all felt that way. I think
every possibility is on the table. I mean the way
this season has unfolded. They had a three game win
streak earlier, but basically since then, it's been win loss, win, loss,
win loss. If you go win loss, win, you're in
the playoffs.
Speaker 6 (16:34):
Yes, it's very critical to get this first one.
Speaker 7 (16:37):
Yeah, the three and nothing guarantees you anything, but your
odds go up dramatically if you win this first Tampa
Bay game, because if you don't, you got to win
the last two and get help by the Bucks losing
their middle game, which is Miami. So a win as
far as like, what is the weight of the three games?
This one coming up this and it's at home, at home,
(16:59):
it's big, but it's big mathematically, we just dropped from
near fifty percent to again from what odds are worth
to twenty four percent, don't.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
You I get frustrated with the odds because, like, at
the end of the day, if you take care of business,
You've got to win the game.
Speaker 7 (17:12):
It is, and it's just right. It's just it's just
another indicator. It is not the indicator by any means.
It's one of the twenty things you could throw out there,
but just to like, even like I don't do all
the betting things and all that stuff out there, but
those do give you a barometer of expectation of who
you're playing and who's the better team and is it
an upset or was it expected?
Speaker 6 (17:30):
That kind of stuff.
Speaker 7 (17:31):
But I think you know this, of the three games
they got to bounce back, and the way we played
this year after the worst losses have been the best
comebacks the next week. So Eugene, this one's huge and
it would go a long way in determining if this
season continues into the postseason.
Speaker 5 (17:46):
I think all the games are winnable. When I look
at the Colts who signed the Philip Rivers, who haven't
played in five years, take the Seattle Seahawks to task.
Seattle has to come back to go ahead and beat them.
I mean, so, what what are we talking about? We
talking about there's so much parody in the league. You
mean to tell me you don't have a starting quarterback,
and you get a quarterback that's forty four years old,
(18:08):
he controls your team and he's able to beat one
of the best teams in the league. So what does
that mean are they have one of the best teams
in the league. It means that there's too much parody.
And so when we look at the Rams or we
look at the Packers that I think all the games
are winnable. I think they're just all winnable games because
we got a really good defense and we have a
(18:29):
very very good offense. And I tell you what I say,
if we plan our best ball, we can beat defeat
just about anybody you had the same shouldn't have been
in the game at all, in my opinion, but we
can go to task with anyone. And so if the
Coats are any indication of the parodies in the league,
then I'm not worried about Seattle. I'm worried about this
(18:51):
one game with Tampa.
Speaker 1 (18:52):
Yeah, And the scenarios essentially play out like this for
the Panthers to win the division and get to the postseason.
There's two paths. One, you beat Tampa twice. The Seattle
result then does not matter at all.
Speaker 8 (19:06):
Nothing.
Speaker 1 (19:07):
If you split with Tampa. Then you need to go
beat Seattle and you need the Bucks to lose against Miami.
Now Miami's playing a lot better. I do wonder how
much Tampa has left in the tank after they lost
on Thursday night to Atlanta. That's going to be telling.
We'll get into that later. But I do think if
the Panthers can jump on the Bucks early at home,
(19:29):
ride the crowd, ride the momentum, get off the mat,
you might have a chance to bury Tampa early in
that game. We'll talk more about that later. We have
Ron Rivera, who spoke with Jim Zochi. We also have
Jordan rod Rieg from The Athletic. She had an illuminating
conversation with Brent Tillis in the front office for the Panthers.
We'll talk to her about that as well. You're listening
(19:50):
to the Carolina Panthers radio network.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
This is Panther Talk Bronto. You buy atrem Health. I
Atrium Health we do more to keep you moving, achieving,
striving at every age and stage so you can live fully.
Speaker 7 (20:10):
Ron Rivera the winningest coach in the history of the
Carolina Panthers, an All American at CAL, the current GM
of the cal Bears. We're talking a little bit about that,
but mostly remembering the season that was that, the twenty
fifteen season, the Super Bowl fifty season with our coach Ron.
Speaker 2 (20:25):
Rivera thirty seasons of Panther Football, a celebration of the players, coaches,
and other key figures who've contributed to the organizational success.
Speaker 6 (20:38):
Ron great to catch up with you.
Speaker 7 (20:40):
What's it like being the general manager in today's college
football though we'll get too deep in the weeds, but
obviously transferred portal and dealing with the contracts and all
those kinds of things, it's a very challenging time in
college football.
Speaker 9 (20:53):
It is, you know, it does challenge you, and it's
one of those things that you know, you have to
really understand how how you're doing it, and then you
got to go out and do it better. And that's
the hard part because you know, with revenue share quote
unquote the salary cap, you've got to make it fit
and then you also get guys that want more, and
(21:13):
so that's kind of a rough spot there as you're
trying to figure out, you know, what's going next.
Speaker 7 (21:18):
Do you see changes coming as far as something to
degree of making it more organized, maybe even making it
more like the NFL model as far as the calendar
and the way things are dealt with these guys getting
paid now.
Speaker 9 (21:29):
Yes, and I think what has to happen is they
have to figure something out, put some parameters up, and
just kind of keep everybody, you know, in line, because
because I mean, you know, a coach whose team qualifies
for the CFP is not coaching it because he took
another job. I mean, in the NFL, that doesn't happen.
(21:51):
That just doesn't happen.
Speaker 6 (21:53):
It's a crazy time.
Speaker 7 (21:54):
Well, let's talk about your time with the Carolina Panthers.
And you've had such a great football lifebviously playing at Cal,
being an assistant coach, after your career, a couple of
stops as a coach in the league, as you know,
coordinator and a head coach, but those nine years as
coach of the Carolina Panthers and then the pinpoint that
season twenty fifteen. We'll get into the super Bowl part
(22:16):
of it, the postseason all that a little bit. But
as you reflect on like that year of starting out
fourteen and oh and finishing seventeen and two, overall, what
are kind of some of the broad memories you take
from that great season.
Speaker 9 (22:29):
You know, I think the biggest thing was, you know,
that was the culmination. Twenty fifteen was a culmination and
everything we worked towards, and that was to get to
the Super Bowl. You know, the plan was to win it.
Obviously we didn't, but you know, it did culminate in
us getting there. It did culminate in a lot of
positive pluses things for us that was really really good,
(22:49):
and so that was kind of the plus. You know, Obviously,
everything we worked for, everything we talked about from the
day I started. For the first thing. You know, this
what's crazy a lot of people understand. The first time
I spoke to the entire team was the day we
opened up training camp my first year. Because remember there
was a lockout, right, We had no we had no spring,
(23:11):
we had we had no opportunity to OTA's mini camps.
There was nothing like that. And so really getting in
front of them that first day and setting the expectations
and then achieving it, that was what was even better.
And I think that's one of the things that you know,
was very gratifying for me personally, and I think it
was really very gratifying for a lot of our players
(23:33):
because you know, we had a lot of those guys
from the from the team that went to and fourteen
that was with us when we went to the super Bowl.
Speaker 6 (23:40):
And that's amazing. It carried so many and then you
could go back.
Speaker 7 (23:44):
I talked with a number of those players, of course,
from this team that we're talking about, and everyone points
back to twenty fourteen and how you guys finished when
you were three eight and one, lose that game at Minnesota,
but then you win four in a row to win
the division, win a playoff.
Speaker 6 (23:58):
Game after that?
Speaker 7 (23:59):
Is that kind of where the roots of this all
began because you look back now it's hard to say
out loud, you want eighteen regular season games in a row.
Speaker 6 (24:07):
That's a crazy number.
Speaker 9 (24:09):
Well, you know the thing that lot of people don't
understand or realize or remember though, is you know, every year,
my first three years, we had strong decembers, and it
was putting everything together and taking off and going in
the right direction. That's what was really cool. But the
hard part about it or anything else is you know,
(24:30):
it's a tough sustain it really is. But the thing
I think about the twenty fourteen was when I think
our guys realized the model, the mantra that we were
going to carry going into twenty fifteen was hey, this
be the better team.
Speaker 8 (24:44):
You know.
Speaker 9 (24:45):
I talked to them about you know, hey, look when
we took that run in December twenty fourteen, I got
in front of him and said, you know, the team
the best team doesn't always win. The team that plays
the best that is a team that wins.
Speaker 8 (25:01):
And we kind of.
Speaker 9 (25:02):
Carried that from that point on in the playoffs in
twenty fourteen, and it spilled over in the twenty fifteen
and I think that was one of the things that got.
Speaker 7 (25:08):
Us rolling and an amazing number of games that you
guys won and carried that into starting fourteen and zero.
Obviously the next year, the only loss was late in
the season to Atlanta, but then he bounce back with
the late win to finish out the season and it's
into the playoffs. Seattle was an interesting game because you
had the big lead.
Speaker 6 (25:28):
Then they make it interesting.
Speaker 7 (25:29):
But that Arizona game in Charlotte for the NFC Conference
Championship game and your champions of the NFC with that win,
it was so lopsided.
Speaker 6 (25:38):
That was such a good Arizona team.
Speaker 7 (25:40):
Was that maybe the most complete and dominating victory of
your tenure with the Panthers.
Speaker 9 (25:45):
Do you think, yes, I really do. I just you
know that there are just some things that really stood out,
and that whole game stands out still in my mind
out of the snow. You know, don't forget how Saturday was,
the Sunday morning was, but the way the guys played
(26:06):
that really was. And I'll be honest, I almost wonder
if we played our best game too soon. And and
that's one of the things that I still think about it.
I really do. I do even so much yet. I
don't know if you know the story, but you know
when when when when we got our NFC Championship rings,
(26:26):
when we were designing on myself and Dave Gettlman and
and and and and and Danny, we we all were
in there and we're talking and and Dan he said,
you know, we'll put this, We'll put this and then
we'll put the record seventeen and two. And I said, whoa, whoa, whoa.
I said, wait a minute, wait a minute. I said, no,
(26:47):
I'm not gonna I don't want seventeen and two on
this is What do you mean? I said, Well, the
truth is, guys, you know we we won the NFC
at seventeen and one. This is the NFC championship ring.
This is not the NFC loser ring. And Henny Morriston
looks at me like, what are you talking about?
Speaker 10 (27:09):
And for a.
Speaker 9 (27:11):
Second Dave Gelman Kyle looked at me funny too, and
I said, guys, I'm just telling you, this is the
NFC championship ring. That's what everybody's gonna know. It asked,
and if you put seventeen and two on it, it's
no long MC championship ring. It's a Super Bowl loser ring.
And so I said, Ron, we can't do this. Never
been done before. I looked at Joston. Guys that chuning
goo since. Never has been done, coach, and I said,
(27:32):
I'll tell you what, if you put seventeen to one
on my ring, I'll never win it. He looked at
me and I said, I want seventeen and one on one,
And so my ring says seventeen and one.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Subscribed to thirty seasons of Panther football on the iHeartRadio app,
Panthers dot com and team app, Apple podcast or Spotify.
This is Panther Tall talk to you. Buyd Coke game
Day Zero's the Great Taste of Goca Cola. Because fan
(28:06):
work is thirsty.
Speaker 1 (28:07):
Work back here on Panther Talk a new shrop Jim
Zokie Eugene Robinson, Our next guest is an NFL writer, reporter, podcaster.
You gotta follow her content. She does some of the
best work out there. Jordan rod Riege, senior NFL reporter
for The Athletic. She hosts a podcast to NFL Daily
(28:30):
Power Players. You can find it on YouTube wherever you
get your podcasts, and once upon a time she used
to cover these very Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 6 (28:39):
Jordan did miss.
Speaker 2 (28:40):
Charlotte at all.
Speaker 10 (28:41):
I really miss Charlotte. You know, I could walk everywhere.
I'm in my car all the day time here in
LA I could walk everywhere. I lived over in sort
of the Dilworth South End area. I hear it's just
completely changed with all the construction and everything. But yeah,
and I'm also kind of I have a little fomo
trying to catch some of this playoff, hopeful energy here
(29:03):
in Charlotte right now.
Speaker 1 (29:04):
Yeah, it's been a it's been a Caro Win's type
of season here in Charlotte. But I want to I
want to start with what you had just posted on
your podcast, the NFL Daily Power Players. You can watch
this interview on YouTube. I encourage all Panther fans to
go find it. It's an interview with Brent Tillis in
the Panthers front office. He had been the assistant GM
(29:27):
now he's you know, the EVP of Player Personnel and Jordan.
There was a question that you asked him about team
building and specifically looking at the week to week results
with the long term vision of where you want to go,
and he gave you a very illuminating answer on where
where luck and flukiness is involved versus what's real.
Speaker 11 (29:49):
We want to keep on developing our players, developing our
culture and building this thing so that it's sustainable moving forward.
But at the same time, like right now we're seven
and six, we're right in the middle of a playoff race,
So how do we do both things at once? And
what we look for is what is stable about us winning?
(30:09):
And then what is let's call it fluky or lucky,
and it could be it could be what's stable about
us losing too? Like what is stable and what is
fluky and what's lucky? And how do we lean into
the stability and make the stable things better and minimize
our reliance on luck.
Speaker 1 (30:26):
When you kind of heard that, can you speak to
them and give us your takeaway in terms of what
you got the sense that the vision was from Brent
tillis of really building this franchise up.
Speaker 10 (30:37):
First of all, I don't think I've ever heard a
person in a front office answer a question like that
so honestly, because and I think that's a good thing
here with Carolina, because not only was Brandt very clear
about the Panthers being in a phase of their rebuilding
(30:59):
where foundation elements are extremely critical, but also looking at
everything very honestly and not getting swept up in like
like you. It was a great line the Carowin's nature,
the roller coaster of the season right to not get
swept up in some of these more chaotic moments good
(31:20):
and bad that this team has been through as they
have sort of this, you know, a little bit of
a fairy tale season. And I'm fascinated by his answer
because it was one of the first times I think
I've really felt listening to a person in a front office.
A relatively new collection of people working together in the Panthers'
(31:42):
front office between Brant and Dan Morgan and Dave Canalis
and you know, Dave Tepper assembling this cast, and Christy
Coleman and really people learning how to how to build
together for a relatively new relationship for this franchise. I
felt like, Okay, they've got something here, because you do
(32:02):
need that person in the room who's going to remind you,
especially when you're running things on the football side or
you're in it in the locker room with the players
and kind of feeling what they feel. You do need
somebody to look honestly and really quantified but also qualified
because there's there's feeling and instinct involved too, what it
(32:23):
actually is that is buildable out of what this team
is experiencing. And I was absolutely floored by that answer
because I thought it was the best way to describe
what a rebuild actually should be that I've heard, and
certainly that I've heard in many years. Really made me
excited about the direction of the franchise.
Speaker 5 (32:43):
So let me ask you this question here. When you
heard the response, and being in the Carolina Panthers and
being in that locker room being a report for that
what players did you immediately apply to the model that
he was talking.
Speaker 10 (32:58):
About what's a great question because you have to understand
what you.
Speaker 7 (33:05):
Have to balance.
Speaker 10 (33:08):
I think it's it's the difference and when you're like
building a scheme and you're you're sifting through what are
splash plays and what is foundational scheme? Right? So if
we're going to take what he said and apply it
specifically to just like x's and o's, okay, is it
a player who is capable of making incredible chaos plays,
(33:29):
whether offense or defense. And you see a lot of
this too with young quarterbacks who are high round picks
when they're developing. Is it a player who's, you know,
making magic happen. I think of JJ McCarthy the first
game he played where that so much of it was wow,
this is hard to watch, and then the last frame
was was pure magic and riding this wave. Okay, extrapolating
(33:51):
like what do you take? What variables do you actually
take out of that player's performance, and what do you
keep and what do you sort of throw out as
as fluke or adrenaline or chao, you know, this rising
to a chaotic moment, or making something that is a
very low probability throw or making a low probability catch
or a low probability interception.
Speaker 6 (34:13):
What can you.
Speaker 10 (34:14):
Glean from those moments? And I guess what can you
strip from a highlight reel and turn it into actual
team building? And that's obviously an example applying to scheme.
But what Brand's talking about is looking at to your point,
the locker room. And you know, I think so much
of rebuilding is not just learning what you keep, but
(34:36):
also what you don't keep. And I think we forget
a lot about the what you keep elements because we're
always thinking about, Okay, what page do they have to
turn to get to their next step versus what's already
here that might be really buildable. It's a fascinating balance.
I don't know that I could point to a specific
player or players, because it's everybody. It's every position, it's
(34:58):
how it's coached, it's how traits are identified, it's how
traits are developed, and it's how all of those things
fit together, part of the whole in the schematic vision.
And I do think that that's they're really looking at
it in an anthropological way, not just a mass way,
not just a scheme way. It's really fascinating for me.
Speaker 7 (35:19):
Yeah, you know, Dan Morgan famously said we became GM.
He wants players with that dog in them, which is
funny cause we're Cats. But anyways, I think it's uh.
But there's a balance between, like you said, looking at
highlight reels, analytics, and then that that guys that want,
which is you you've been around this league for a while.
It's like there are some players that are kind of
happy to be here and they could be guys with
(35:40):
you stat page fillers who are talented, but you know,
do they want it? Does it matter when they lose?
Does it hurt them when they lose? They love winning
things like that. So I in your conversations either for
that article but in general with folks around the league,
you know, how much is that in the equation with
trying to get players that stick around for a long
time they are part of the culture and help you win.
Speaker 10 (36:00):
Well, that's huge. I mean, two examples I think of
when I think of Carolina are Taylor Moten and Derek Brown.
I mean, because those guys are among the best in
the league at their respective positions. But they've been through
it at this point, right, But you see it, you
see it day in and day out. The consistency, right,
so when you're talking about building, I think that those
(36:23):
guys are formulaic. Now, I can use an example here
when I covered the Rams up to their you know,
when they won the Super Bowl. After that Super Bowl season,
they started really stripping down elements of like, for example,
some of the foundational guys, what what are some key
character traits in and like football, I traits in like
(36:44):
a Robert Woods for example, in a Cooper cup in
you know it, looking at like some of their linemen,
looking at Aaron Donald. Obviously you cannot replicate any of
those players, right, but they were looking at what sustained
in their personalities and in what they bring to an organization,
(37:05):
like what is identifiable in other people. And they really
did a deep dive in applying those types of traits
to what you see now with this roster. And frankly,
I think that the Panthers are on the cusp of
doing something similar because they have guys like that in
their building right now. I just I mentioned two of
(37:25):
them and so, and I don't think it's a secret
that you've seen them have success. I think Panthers offensive
line is one of the more underrated groups in the league,
and you see them have success because of the way
that they're building and the way that you can apply
not the same player. Everyone is unique and certainly you
can't find just like a Derek Brown walking around, right,
(37:49):
but to take pieces of what those people are and
apply them into your talent id process. That's part of
what Brand's talking about too, Like what qualities are not fluky?
I think is what he's talking about just as much
as an organizational element.
Speaker 1 (38:06):
Yeah, and Jordan real quick to end on this. When
you asked him, Hey, if you could build a team
from scratch and you could start with anything, head coach,
play caller, quarterback, what's the one thing that you want
as you were starting element for a team? He told
(38:27):
you vibes And that blew me away because that speaks
to culture real quick. What was your reaction to that answer?
Speaker 10 (38:36):
Well, I like to think I did not show my
utter surprising answer to get an answer that I totally
did not expect, because you're right, he could have said
he could have said anything. He had he had, you know,
the ability to pick I think a tangible thing, but
he picked an intangible and I think for a math
(38:56):
die or you know, quote unquote a math die to
to pick something in tangible speaks to I think the
speciality of the group. It told me so much about
this group and how they have decided to operate together,
because even if he came in thinking he had to
approach his job analytically, at least at first, it's very
(39:21):
clear that the part to whole of the collective is
affecting him in a profound way where he sees it
and he says, that is again something that's not fluky,
that's something that you can build, and that really sets
a foundation. I also thought it was a smart a
smart answer. I would imagine over the next couple of years,
(39:41):
while they continue to build this thing up, they are
evaluating everybody. And so if you're doing that, like of course,
you're going to go back to a fundamental piece of
the equation, which is exactly what he said. And I
just found that really fascinating, and I was quite surprised
because I think anybody could say, in a dream scenario,
(40:02):
you firefly toward a position or a person, but he
did it towards something that was not able to be
technically qualified quantified. It was more qualified, and I just
felt that was really really cool.
Speaker 1 (40:17):
And at the same time. It is something that impacts
everybody in the building. Jordan Rodrigg does a fantastic job.
Follow her work on the Athletic Check out the Power
Players podcast, part of NFL Daily. Watch the full interview
with Bran tillis worth your time Panther fans. Jordan, thank
you so much for joining us here on Panther Talk.
You're listening to the Carolina Panthers Radio Network.
Speaker 2 (40:41):
Panther Talk continues on the Carolina Panthers Radio Network and each.
Speaker 1 (40:46):
Jim Eugene Tampa comes to town. Still everything is in
front of the Panthers. Beat the Bucks, beat them twice.
You control your destiny, even though destiny by definition is predetermined.
Speaker 6 (40:58):
You know what I mean.
Speaker 1 (40:59):
But I think this is a game where a fast
start means everything. Tampa is broken, they are beaten. You
saw what Todd Bull said at the end of the
Atlanta game. There was frustration coming out. If you can
jump on the Buccaneers, I think you have a chance
to end the game early.
Speaker 5 (41:15):
Yeah, he typically doesn't curse at all, and so he
was kind of going off and you can talk and
you can hear the frustration in his voice. And then
I saw the interview with Baker Mayfeld and I looked
at his face and he looked absolutely discouraged and just
totally like grief stricken. And so from that sand point,
I'm just going like this, this team right here is
(41:35):
hurting big time. That's when you take advantage of this team.
You got to go ahead and play some clean football,
and you got to jump on him early and often,
and you want to punch him in the mouth.
Speaker 8 (41:45):
And now one thing I would say this too.
Speaker 5 (41:46):
I thought that we that we didn't take advantage a
little bit of Tyler shuck.
Speaker 8 (41:50):
I would blitz a little bit more.
Speaker 5 (41:53):
I would get after just a little bit more, because
I'm not gonna let Baker sit back there in the
cut in his zone and let him eat me up
because he can do that. Don't forget. They got Mike Evans.
So I'm like, look, I'm putting pressure on you. I
want to blood your nose legally and put you in
the dirt, and I want to really destroy this offense.
So I'm looking for this defense Carolina Pethers w to
(42:14):
be extremely aggressive this game.
Speaker 6 (42:15):
I agree, And the things you said, I'll just really reiterate.
Speaker 7 (42:18):
I think the two things pressure I'm Baker he's a
different quarterback when he's got people in his face. And
Mike Evans is back, and even that loss in his
first game back, one hundred and thirty yards plus in
that game. So that's their Chris Olave plus more because
he's been doing it for a long time.
Speaker 1 (42:30):
I think this is a Derek Brown game. They're beat
up on the interior of their offensive line. Derek Brown
has a chance to eat on Sunday
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