Episode Transcript
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Hello and welcome to the Carolina Panthers football in my mind podcast.
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I'm your host Luke Farber and what is in my mind today?
Well we got a look back at last week's game at home versus the Cincinnati Bengals.
Joe Burrow, Jamar Chase, T Higgins, Trey Henderson, Zach Taylor.
They're a tough group.
They've been in the playoffs when healthy, when Burrow has been healthy ever since he
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came into the league.
They are a top flight team.
They were in the Super Bowl a couple years ago, did lose, but it was going to be a challenge
regardless, especially coming off our first win of the year, maybe an emotional high,
maybe a bit of a let down coming home, especially against a good opponent.
The nice thing is that the Panthers came out and did not look flat.
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They did not look like they did the first couple of weeks where they couldn't get any
traction on offense and the run defense was porous.
The run defense wasn't fantastic and the offense, you know, wasn't top notch mid season form
or whatnot, but it's showing improvement and it did not show a great regression, which
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I know us as Panther fans were a little scared of.
And so that was good to see.
Ended up being a final score of Bengals 34, Panthers 24.
And really it came down to missed opportunities, I think for the Panthers, but let's go through
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the whole game, the whole team, see how everybody did.
Anyway, we're going to start where we want to start every week on offense and that's
the offensive line.
And honestly, they're doing a great job.
They had another great game, no sacks for the second game in a row.
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There was one tipped pass on a pass rush that led to an interception.
So we got it.
We definitely got to clean that up, but at least the one interception of the game wasn't
Dalton throwing it straight into the hands of the defender.
We also had an excellent run game over five yards of carry again.
Tuba Hubbard got over a hundred yards again.
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We only had 29 carries, which I, you know, me, I would love to see that number in the
thirties over 35 if possible, but we got another opportunity to get the run game going again
this week and I'm sure we will.
Also one thing to note, we were 50% on third down conversions this game and that's excellent
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and we just need to keep it going and keep improving that number.
So next to how did our wide receivers look without Adam Thielen?
Well, there were some struggles.
I still, you know, Mingo and Ligette had a couple of drops.
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Deontay had a couple of passes that were broken up from him.
So they might have looked like drops, but they weren't.
They were, the defender got his hand in and split them up.
However, Dalton did miss Johnson on a couple of deep balls and those were another missed
opportunity that I was talking about before.
So we had some drops, a couple by Ligette, especially one key one Mingo and then the
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missed deep balls to Deontay as well as the tip pass interceptions.
So these were some hiccups within our passing game that we need to straighten out.
Obviously, missing Thielen and his reliable route running and hands is difficult, especially
since we haven't necessarily had a tight end step up and really assert themselves in
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the passing game yet this year.
We're looking for Trembl or Sanders or some combination of the two to really get in there
and start really making some plays, but we'll see.
I think right now we're in a really good place with Deontay.
It really looks like nobody can cover the guy.
And I think the trade rumors are funny, especially because this isn't baseball where you can
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trade your best player for all these star prospects that in three, four years could
be some of the best players in the game.
You would maybe be able to trade him for a third round pick, maybe a second round pick.
And whether or not those guys ever materialize into starters, more or less pro-Bowl caliber
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players like Johnson is in question, seriously in question.
So I see no reason to trade him, especially with the offense finally functioning well.
And I believe that the coaching staff and the players and the people in that building
have the belief that with this offense functioning better with Andy Dalton, there's no reason
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why we can't compete every week and compete for the division.
Now our division is not as bad as it has been the last couple of years, but it is still
a very competitive division.
And if we're able to make progressions and grow as a team and get better and who knows
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by the end of the season, we might find ourselves just outside the mix, you know, maybe in the
who knows it's a long season.
There's only been four games so far.
Anyway, moving on to the defense run game run defense was a little bit better.
We gave up under five yards to carry, which is great, still over four, not great.
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And we really did a good job with their number one back Zach Moss.
But when Chase Brown got in there, their kind of change of pace back, he gashed us.
And I'm not really sure if that was something schematically where the coaches had seen something
in the bangles where they weren't likely to run and so we weren't maybe in the best play
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calls or in the best positions.
Or it could have been I discipline when you get a bunch of defenders with a secondary
running back in there not expecting it and also not expecting him maybe to have the shifty
ness or the speed that he does.
And you can over pursue or under pursue.
My guess is probably a little bit of both a little bit out scheming and a little bit
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of I discipline that that caused those errors.
Obviously our tackling is getting better.
But everybody saw the 63 yard touchdown to Jamar Chase where he pinballed off about four
guys that really especially I think it was X that had the first chance to take him down
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and just gave him a shoulder.
You really got to wrap up especially with a guy as explosive and as strong and as agile
as Jamar Chase.
I believe he's the best after the catch wide receiver in the NFL.
So we were lackadaisical on one play and it cost us a touchdown.
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Also missed opportunity missed opportunity to get him on the ground quickly and efficiently.
And that's what happened.
Anyway, we still don't have much of a pass rush to speak of it did less even this week
than the couple of weeks before which was disappointing to see because we're really
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going to need to ramp that up if if we're going to be a more solid defensive team be
able to get off the field on third down and be able to get the ball back to Dalton in
the offense so that we can win some games.
So obviously we need somebody in the pass rush to step up.
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Burrow had way too much time and a lot of times in zone coverage was able to find T Higgins
very easily.
And yeah, it's just the conversions are too easy.
They keep the ball for too long and with a team that's as offensively talented as the
Bengals they're going to score.
They just are.
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Anyway overall takeaways from the game.
It came down to mistakes.
First of all, our first drive we went down the field and we got stopped on a goal line
stand no points no touchdown.
That obviously came back to bite us with a 10 point loss.
Hopefully we jump out to a seven nothing lead.
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Who knows?
It may change the course of the game.
So not being able to take advantage of that opportunity to score first and score a touchdown
on our opening drive.
Coming back to the end of the first half, the Bengals were able to do what we couldn't
do and score on a goal line drive with one second to go in the half.
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So they went up 21 to 14 at halftime, got the ball on the second half, scored again
and all of a sudden we were down two touchdowns in the second half.
I was very proud and happy to see the resilience of the team and everybody fight back and that
is a great sign moving forward, especially being able to make halftime adjustments and
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to make it a game after being down 14 to a really talented opponent when you've been
a kick around in the NFL for a while.
So all of that was good to see.
Adding on top of those mistakes, the drop passes and the missed long balls really would
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have allowed us to convert at least a couple more first downs to keep some possible scoring
drives going if not outright score on a long pass play.
Still we need to clean up those mistakes and we'll be good to go.
All right, moving on to Chicago.
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We're playing in Chicago, 1 p.m. Eastern.
So we're taking on obviously Caleb Williams and the number one pick, the guy that we gave
up DJ Moore, Christian McCaffrey and Bryce Young to not pick, but I digress anyway.
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First thing to start with, let's start with their offensive line.
It's bad.
It has not performed well and Caleb Williams has taken 16 sacks in four games.
We want to keep that going obviously.
Our pass rush has not been good, but we have an opportunity to take on a rookie quarterback
who likes to hold on to the ball too long and likes to make, try to make hero plays
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and is really agile and can run around and avoid our pass rushers for quite a while.
However, I think the longer he does that and the longer he tries to make hero throw, ball
throws down the field, we're going to have a better chance to intercept him.
And in fact, I think our lack of a pass rush might even help.
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Will just be running around back there forever thinking that he can throw the ball down field
and fit it in some window and JC or Mike Jack or X is going to come up with a pick.
He's thrown four interceptions in four games.
Let's make it five in five games.
How about that?
Okay.
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Moving on to their running back.
I think that's obviously where this game is going to turn for us offensively.
Our running game has, our run defense has been the poor part of our defense so far this
year.
Now, Deandre Swift hasn't quite got his running attack going this year.
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He did have a good game last year or last week, but he is a very dangerous threat receiving
out of the backfield.
And obviously we lost Shaq for the season with an Achilles last week.
Shaq, man, my heart goes out to you, brother.
I'm so upset for you, but I'm so happy to hear that you'll be coming back and playing
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again and we miss you.
We love you.
We want you a speedy return.
It's going to, it's going to be tough without you.
You're our leader.
You're our main dog and I guess it's time for somebody else to step up.
But we also lost Josie Jewell, our second inside linebacker starter for at least a few
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weeks with a hamstring.
And one thing I was saying in the season preview and I've said a few times probably before
on the pod is that I believed that our top line guys, both on offense and defense were
solid.
Were veterans, were talented, had seen play and, and could produce.
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But our depth is really unproven and really young.
So we're going to have at least one rookie stepping into starting middle linebacker position
and our second guy is just a second or third year player.
So how they are going to match up and be able to defend Swift will be one of the keys for
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our defense, I believe, especially in the passing game.
It's going to be difficult to stick with him, but it's going to have to be an emphasis
emphasis.
And hopefully, and I'm sure the coaches have been tuning them up in practice all week.
Anyway, moving on, their wide receiver group is obviously very talented.
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DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, Roma Dunse, all first round talents.
The two veteran guys have been to multiple Pro Bowls.
And the thing I do feel good about is our corner play and our secondary play has been
really solid.
JC's having a good start to the year again.
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Mike Jackson has been impressive in parts.
And honestly, with the lack of passion we've gotten, especially even in the last two weeks
and against Justin Herbert and Los Angeles, that we have blanketed the receivers.
I have seen the few sacks we've had been coverage sacks.
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And how many times I've seen the QB have to throw the ball into the sidelines because
we've got everybody covered.
So the corners, the secondary, they're going to have to be on the same page.
They're going to have to be on top of their game with this excellent wide receiver core.
But like I was saying before, hopefully the poor offensive line and Caleb Williams' propensity
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to throw the ball to the other team, I believe will give us some help with that.
Moving on to our offense against their defense, their run defense has not been particularly
good but their pass defense and their scoring defense are close to the top of the league.
They've been harassing quarterbacks as far as pass rush and they've been turning quarterbacks
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over as far as interceptions.
So our O-line, which has performed really well so far this year and is continuing to
improve has not given up sacks for the last two games.
Let's see if we can keep that going.
Andy Dalton threw the one interception last week, but it was a tip.
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So we can hopefully eliminate that and have no turnovers again.
So what is our key to victory?
What is our key to offense?
It's obviously running the ball.
It's chuba, chuba, chuba, chuba, chuba.
Keep pounding that rock, get those carries up over 30, get them up over 35.
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Let's have that five yards to carry.
Let's dominate on the ground and set up play action because nobody can cover Deontay one
on one.
And if they want to bracket him, then Ligette, I mean, you saw what happened.
We can get the ball into his hands.
The guy is just so big and so fast and I expect him to clean up the couple drops that he had
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from last week.
That was one of his top attributes coming out of South Carolina is that he just didn't
drop balls.
So I'm not worried about that personally.
Anyway, let's see if we can have a tight end step up perhaps.
You know, with Adam Thielen still being out, we want to see who's going to step up into
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that second, third wide receiver role.
I'm still waiting for Mingo.
I still believe he's got some potential, but at this point, he just hasn't had a whole
lot of production with his opportunities.
So we'll see how many opportunities he gets.
We'll see what his production is like.
But I think Jalen Coker and David Moore may have a little bit more play in this game.
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We'll see.
Anyway, what do I expect to happen?
I'll tell you what I expect to happen.
I expect the running game and the offensive line, our offensive line, our running game
to dominate against the Bears.
I expect us to go in there and impose our will on their defense and hit with complimentary
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play action over the top.
I believe that Caleb Williams will do exactly what I thought he would and try to play hero
ball.
And I believe our secondary is good enough to blanket those receivers and come up with
two.
That's right.
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Two interceptions of Caleb Williams, no interceptions for Andy Dalton.
Chuba with over 130 yards on the ground.
We dominate and win 30 to 17 in Chicago for our second win of the year.
And let's just keep the ball rolling.
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Let's keep marching.
Let's keep stacking up wins.
Let's keep pounding.
All right, everybody have an excellent weekend.
Enjoy the game.
I'll talk to you next week.