November 22, 2025 • 11 mins
Mike Kaye (Charlotte Observer) talks Carolina Panthers
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
And all of a sudden, for the first time in
a while, your Carolina Panthers, if you're so inclined to
cheer for that team here in the Upstate, have a
fighting chance at a playoff spot and to help us
break down those prospects and more recently their win against
the Atlanta Falcons are good, Buddy, Mike K Charlotte Observer, Mike,
how you doing, Bud?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm well, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Good Man? Good to catch up with you and can
follow them at Mike underscore e underscore k on Twitter
and for Charlotte Observer dot com. Just Yeoman's work as always,
And Mike, I want to get your instant reaction here.
We've had some time to sort of trade some thoughts
on social over the past few days, and you've written
up some great pieces on Bryce S. Young in terms
of what he was able to do and the entire
(00:38):
passing game for that matter, to come back into Atlanta
put up a career high and a franchise record in
passing yards. Your early impressions are your, I guess, your
lasting impressions of what was a remarkable game for Young
and the offense.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, it seemed like up until this game, the offense
had regrets. A lot of the skill position players that regrets,
including Bright show, because the offensive play calling seemed to
be fighting the quarterback and fighting some of the weapons.
It was a Peto McMillan show and nothing else. And
when you become one dimensional, especially in the passing game,
(01:15):
that can really bite you. And so we saw a
lot of low scoring wins where the defense had to
kind of prop up fense. That was not the case
in Atlanta. Reishaw was decisive, He was accurate, He made
really good plays, keeping plays alive with his legs. I
thought he was brilliant. I mean, it was a signature
performance the top last year's finale in Atlanta, and he
(01:40):
just felt very in control of the offense once they
opened it up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
He did. He looked comfortable and you know, you hope
for more of the same. And one of the reasons, Mike,
I think you'd agree and most of America would right now,
is teleor Row McMillan has been an exceptional acquisition for
this team through the draft. And you know, there was
a lot of conversation about this draft pick, as there
always is in leading up to the rafted, and some
of it was as my dad would say, pure malarkey, Mike,
(02:04):
but some of it was legitimate in terms of maybe
the concerns about straight line speed if you're into that. Ultimately,
when I saw him on the field at training camp,
and I'm sure you share some of this too, he
just looked different. It felt different with this guy, and
thus far, although he's not a complete product, he is
a rookie, he's been pretty refined in how he plays
the game.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, totally agree. I have eaten Crow both in the
exclusive Access Panthers newsletter, which you can set up for
on charlidbserver dot com, which is free, by the way. Yeah,
I've eaten Crow because I liked the pick. I didn't
love it, But he has really just been a pros
(02:43):
pro since he got here. All of the concerns about
his speed and his vertical ability and his love for
football have all been squashed. In my opinion, he has
been locked in. He looks the part, he's making plays.
I think you have to feel really good about not
only McMillan, but the entire draft class as well as
(03:05):
undrafted rookies like Ryan Fitzgerald, Corey Thornton and Vam Martin
Scott like there is a return on these rookies that
we have not seen in a lot of you know,
for a lot of teams, a lot of really good franchises,
and the Panthers have done really well for themselves to safseason.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You could critique a lot of things, Mike when when
you look at any franchise, and certainly Carolina is not
immune to that. But one thing I tipped my head
to is the patient and I would say reserved approach
from Dan Morgan and company in terms of draft allocation,
draft assets, trade, deadline potential moves. I felt that that
was fool's gold this time around. You've got a good
(03:47):
young core and I think im I'm a Panthers fan.
You might have wanted another weapon opposite of McMillan, or
maybe a safety, maybe a backer, but these are not
easy things to come by. And the grand scale of it,
over the past two years, Dan Morgan has known what
he wants and he's gone out and done it in
the trenches, both through the draft and through free agency.
(04:08):
I think that's one area where you can give him
a plush over the last couple of years in terms
of their patient approached.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think and I've been pretty consistent on this.
I think twenty twenty six the year they view themselves
as being set up to contend and contend long term.
They do not want to be with the Giants were
with Brian Dabele and Joe Shane, where they won right away.
You like touches saw from Daniel Jones, You like touches
saw from Saquon Barkley. You started signing extensions, you started
(04:37):
training for Brian Burns, you started doing all this stuff,
and they weren't ready for that, and they were not
good and they regressed. The Panthers want to sustain winning,
and if David Tepper is going to hold the fort
down from the standpoint of being patient, which he has
the last two years, he's given these guys a lot
(04:58):
of runway and a lot of trust. I feel like
this is the right move for them, is to be
patient and set yourself up so you can knock the
pins down and consistently been a.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Fun season so far. Obviously no shortage of drama at
the end of these games, and Carolina is finding themselves
on the flip side of that coin versus last year.
Turning to the defense, you know, we've been seeing a
lot of people in the national landscape talk about the
run defense for Carolina. I saw Mina Chimes earlier had
a very nice podcast discussion about this. You and I
(05:28):
have talked about it as well, and of course everybody
who covers this team has taken notice, and I think
it is fairly remarkable. Mike and I don't want to
be too hyperbolic here, but just this time last year,
we were talking about how they couldn't get anybody off
the field in the run game at a historic clip
for this franchise, and you know, through some parts that
are young and through some parts that are growing into
(05:50):
their roles there. Of course, Derek Brown does help a
lot in Travon Merrick as well. They've turned it into
a manageable run defense and at times they've dominated.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, and if you look at everybody who talks about
the final nine games right where Bryce had his stretch, well,
if you look at that, they the defense during that
time was giving up twenty nine point two points per game.
Heading into this last matchup against Atlanta, they were allowing
twenty two point two points per game, So they shaved
an entire touchdown off their average heading into Week eleven.
(06:24):
So like the sample side of ten versus nine, like
they were a touchdown lest given up, and that's pretty impressive.
I mean, I think overall the defense's played well, but yeah,
the run defense, everybody's attacking. I think Bobby Brown's made
an impact. I think Nick Gordon's been huge. I think obviously,
(06:45):
as you mentioned, Derek Brown's a pro bowler. I don't
think there are five interior defensive linemen who are better
than him. And look, I think for the most part,
Trevin Wallace and Christian Rose booms and switching their responsibilities up.
I believe it was we three or week five, whichever,
I'm sorry. Off the top of my head, they've been
(07:07):
terrific too against the run, So I think it's the
collective thing and run Deevens, as you know, is a
collective situation. It's not one on one passing situations. It's
not down coverage of two guys in his own It
is everybody to the ball and it's work.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, it does take a village to make it right.
I credited Zyrevro and his staff for you know, staying
the course with it, because there's a coach right there
that you and I both know knows ball and he'll
be potentially a head coach one of these days. But uh,
he's turned it around quite a bit. Let's talk again.
It's not a sexy topic, but special teams does matter.
It matters a lot for Carolina this year. When you
look at Ryan Fitzgerald, what he's done in winning time,
(07:49):
not just in terms of the field goals, but man,
the dirty kicks that the ability to win field position.
The coverage unit's been great, and I think Tracy Smith,
you know, Darren Bates, the entire group there and the
personnel as well. He's done a great job of winning
some games in the margins mic. That's a big difference
now in terms of not only knocking the field goals home.
Sam Martin has been solid. The coverage units have been
(08:09):
good since that. I guess we could say the Jacksonville
and Buffalo games. New England comes to mind, but overall,
I think that's something that goes untold. They've done a
really steady job this year.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, I think especially seems to do. It is kind
of a crabshoot because there's always kind of constant guys
moving in and out. But when you look at bryceon Tremaine,
how he's become like this, like folk Hero Special Team.
Thomas Incombe. I've heard from multiple people in the building
that he is the rest Special Teams player and that
(08:39):
he is an unequivocal favorite of the staff. And so
I think like they feel good about those two guys.
Nick Scott's playing more as a personal protector. Now. They're
doing the right things by this team, and I think
they're shining in a way that is productive as opposed
(09:01):
to detrimental for the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The game, of course Monday Night, and then there's a
grander theme to this game in terms of what it
means to the franchise, what it means to this regime.
But let's get in the weeds a little bit and
talk about the matchups. Obviously, San Francisco on the defensive
side of the ball, they're down some personnel right now
and it's showing up in their past defense. And on
the flip side on their offensive attack, it's McCaffrey. It's
(09:26):
McCaffrey through air, it's McCaffrey on the ground. The EPA
in the ground game is not great, But overall, just
size up the matchup on either side and how you
see it going on Monday night.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well, I think it's going to be. It's going to
be a matchup of over the middle right between McCaffrey
and Kittle, and then on the opposite side. This forty
nine Ers defense, since losing Fred Warner, has been horrific
against tight end. They've given up four touchdowns in the
last three games to the position. They've given up over
(09:56):
three hundred yards to the position over the last five games.
There's an opportunity here, especially because the Panthers used three
tight ends and don't just focus on one. If you
look at what the Rams did to the forty nine
Ers a few weeks ago, they attacked them with all
of their onslought of rotational tight ends. I think they've
got a shot there. But look right, it's gonna have
(10:19):
to avoid turnovers as Rockbern he typically does, and Rico's
gonna have to run the rock like. They're gonna have
to match them beat by beat.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Certainly, there was one little piece I wanted to bring
up here to you, Mike, Mike Key Charlotte observers our guests,
and it's of no. Two fans here in the upstate
of a certain school down there in Clinton, and it
has to do with Hunter Renfro, who obviously has been
inactive for several weeks in a row now made an
impact earlier in the season. Give us some general themes
of this story that I just shared on social here
is as Hunter Renfro again, what a great comeback story
(10:53):
no matter how many games he plays this year.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, I think he's kind of stuck between two door frames, right,
veteran who's making a comeback, but he's also a guy
who probably is doesn't have the upside of a guy
like Jalen Cocher or Xavier Leaguett or even Jimmy Horn.
And when you're leaning into a youth movement, the older
guys who are really a lot specific are going to
(11:18):
take a step back. Like even before Jalen Cocher was back,
you saw Hunter Renfro's role diminished. It was pretty easy
to see where they were going with this. Even with
David Moore out with an elbow injury. It just seems
like they want to develop their young guys, and for
the most part it's worked because since he's been benched,
I believe there's three and two and you know they
(11:41):
want to get more out of Jalen Coker, which is
obviously a thing that they've wanted to do since training camp,
when they trade away at a feeling and dropped on
a rentro initially
And all of a sudden, for the first time in
a while, your Carolina Panthers, if you're so inclined to
cheer for that team here in the Upstate, have a
fighting chance at a playoff spot and to help us
break down those prospects and more recently their win against
the Atlanta Falcons are good, Buddy, Mike K Charlotte Observer, Mike,
how you doing, Bud?
Speaker 2 (00:16):
I'm well, how are you doing?
Speaker 1 (00:17):
Good Man? Good to catch up with you and can
follow them at Mike underscore e underscore k on Twitter
and for Charlotte Observer dot com. Just Yeoman's work as always,
And Mike, I want to get your instant reaction here.
We've had some time to sort of trade some thoughts
on social over the past few days, and you've written
up some great pieces on Bryce S. Young in terms
of what he was able to do and the entire
(00:38):
passing game for that matter, to come back into Atlanta
put up a career high and a franchise record in
passing yards. Your early impressions are your, I guess, your
lasting impressions of what was a remarkable game for Young
and the offense.
Speaker 2 (00:51):
Yeah, it seemed like up until this game, the offense
had regrets. A lot of the skill position players that regrets,
including Bright show, because the offensive play calling seemed to
be fighting the quarterback and fighting some of the weapons.
It was a Peto McMillan show and nothing else. And
when you become one dimensional, especially in the passing game,
(01:15):
that can really bite you. And so we saw a
lot of low scoring wins where the defense had to
kind of prop up fense. That was not the case
in Atlanta. Reishaw was decisive, He was accurate, He made
really good plays, keeping plays alive with his legs. I
thought he was brilliant. I mean, it was a signature
performance the top last year's finale in Atlanta, and he
(01:40):
just felt very in control of the offense once they
opened it up.
Speaker 1 (01:43):
He did. He looked comfortable and you know, you hope
for more of the same. And one of the reasons, Mike,
I think you'd agree and most of America would right now,
is teleor Row McMillan has been an exceptional acquisition for
this team through the draft. And you know, there was
a lot of conversation about this draft pick, as there
always is in leading up to the rafted, and some
of it was as my dad would say, pure malarkey, Mike,
(02:04):
but some of it was legitimate in terms of maybe
the concerns about straight line speed if you're into that. Ultimately,
when I saw him on the field at training camp,
and I'm sure you share some of this too, he
just looked different. It felt different with this guy, and
thus far, although he's not a complete product, he is
a rookie, he's been pretty refined in how he plays
the game.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Yeah, totally agree. I have eaten Crow both in the
exclusive Access Panthers newsletter, which you can set up for
on charlidbserver dot com, which is free, by the way. Yeah,
I've eaten Crow because I liked the pick. I didn't
love it, But he has really just been a pros
(02:43):
pro since he got here. All of the concerns about
his speed and his vertical ability and his love for
football have all been squashed. In my opinion, he has
been locked in. He looks the part, he's making plays.
I think you have to feel really good about not
only McMillan, but the entire draft class as well as
(03:05):
undrafted rookies like Ryan Fitzgerald, Corey Thornton and Vam Martin
Scott like there is a return on these rookies that
we have not seen in a lot of you know,
for a lot of teams, a lot of really good franchises,
and the Panthers have done really well for themselves to safseason.
Speaker 1 (03:25):
You could critique a lot of things, Mike when when
you look at any franchise, and certainly Carolina is not
immune to that. But one thing I tipped my head
to is the patient and I would say reserved approach
from Dan Morgan and company in terms of draft allocation,
draft assets, trade, deadline potential moves. I felt that that
was fool's gold this time around. You've got a good
(03:47):
young core and I think im I'm a Panthers fan.
You might have wanted another weapon opposite of McMillan, or
maybe a safety, maybe a backer, but these are not
easy things to come by. And the grand scale of it,
over the past two years, Dan Morgan has known what
he wants and he's gone out and done it in
the trenches, both through the draft and through free agency.
(04:08):
I think that's one area where you can give him
a plush over the last couple of years in terms
of their patient approached.
Speaker 2 (04:14):
Yeah, I think and I've been pretty consistent on this.
I think twenty twenty six the year they view themselves
as being set up to contend and contend long term.
They do not want to be with the Giants were
with Brian Dabele and Joe Shane, where they won right away.
You like touches saw from Daniel Jones, You like touches
saw from Saquon Barkley. You started signing extensions, you started
(04:37):
training for Brian Burns, you started doing all this stuff,
and they weren't ready for that, and they were not
good and they regressed. The Panthers want to sustain winning,
and if David Tepper is going to hold the fort
down from the standpoint of being patient, which he has
the last two years, he's given these guys a lot
(04:58):
of runway and a lot of trust. I feel like
this is the right move for them, is to be
patient and set yourself up so you can knock the
pins down and consistently been a.
Speaker 1 (05:08):
Fun season so far. Obviously no shortage of drama at
the end of these games, and Carolina is finding themselves
on the flip side of that coin versus last year.
Turning to the defense, you know, we've been seeing a
lot of people in the national landscape talk about the
run defense for Carolina. I saw Mina Chimes earlier had
a very nice podcast discussion about this. You and I
(05:28):
have talked about it as well, and of course everybody
who covers this team has taken notice, and I think
it is fairly remarkable. Mike and I don't want to
be too hyperbolic here, but just this time last year,
we were talking about how they couldn't get anybody off
the field in the run game at a historic clip
for this franchise, and you know, through some parts that
are young and through some parts that are growing into
(05:50):
their roles there. Of course, Derek Brown does help a
lot in Travon Merrick as well. They've turned it into
a manageable run defense and at times they've dominated.
Speaker 2 (05:59):
Yeah, and if you look at everybody who talks about
the final nine games right where Bryce had his stretch, well,
if you look at that, they the defense during that
time was giving up twenty nine point two points per game.
Heading into this last matchup against Atlanta, they were allowing
twenty two point two points per game, So they shaved
an entire touchdown off their average heading into Week eleven.
(06:24):
So like the sample side of ten versus nine, like
they were a touchdown lest given up, and that's pretty impressive.
I mean, I think overall the defense's played well, but yeah,
the run defense, everybody's attacking. I think Bobby Brown's made
an impact. I think Nick Gordon's been huge. I think obviously,
(06:45):
as you mentioned, Derek Brown's a pro bowler. I don't
think there are five interior defensive linemen who are better
than him. And look, I think for the most part,
Trevin Wallace and Christian Rose booms and switching their responsibilities up.
I believe it was we three or week five, whichever,
I'm sorry. Off the top of my head, they've been
(07:07):
terrific too against the run, So I think it's the
collective thing and run Deevens, as you know, is a
collective situation. It's not one on one passing situations. It's
not down coverage of two guys in his own It
is everybody to the ball and it's work.
Speaker 1 (07:27):
Yeah, it does take a village to make it right.
I credited Zyrevro and his staff for you know, staying
the course with it, because there's a coach right there
that you and I both know knows ball and he'll
be potentially a head coach one of these days. But uh,
he's turned it around quite a bit. Let's talk again.
It's not a sexy topic, but special teams does matter.
It matters a lot for Carolina this year. When you
look at Ryan Fitzgerald, what he's done in winning time,
(07:49):
not just in terms of the field goals, but man,
the dirty kicks that the ability to win field position.
The coverage unit's been great, and I think Tracy Smith,
you know, Darren Bates, the entire group there and the
personnel as well. He's done a great job of winning
some games in the margins mic. That's a big difference
now in terms of not only knocking the field goals home.
Sam Martin has been solid. The coverage units have been
(08:09):
good since that. I guess we could say the Jacksonville
and Buffalo games. New England comes to mind, but overall,
I think that's something that goes untold. They've done a
really steady job this year.
Speaker 2 (08:19):
Yeah, I think especially seems to do. It is kind
of a crabshoot because there's always kind of constant guys
moving in and out. But when you look at bryceon Tremaine,
how he's become like this, like folk Hero Special Team.
Thomas Incombe. I've heard from multiple people in the building
that he is the rest Special Teams player and that
(08:39):
he is an unequivocal favorite of the staff. And so
I think like they feel good about those two guys.
Nick Scott's playing more as a personal protector. Now. They're
doing the right things by this team, and I think
they're shining in a way that is productive as opposed
(09:01):
to detrimental for the Panthers.
Speaker 1 (09:03):
The game, of course Monday Night, and then there's a
grander theme to this game in terms of what it
means to the franchise, what it means to this regime.
But let's get in the weeds a little bit and
talk about the matchups. Obviously, San Francisco on the defensive
side of the ball, they're down some personnel right now
and it's showing up in their past defense. And on
the flip side on their offensive attack, it's McCaffrey. It's
(09:26):
McCaffrey through air, it's McCaffrey on the ground. The EPA
in the ground game is not great, But overall, just
size up the matchup on either side and how you
see it going on Monday night.
Speaker 2 (09:35):
Well, I think it's going to be. It's going to
be a matchup of over the middle right between McCaffrey
and Kittle, and then on the opposite side. This forty
nine Ers defense, since losing Fred Warner, has been horrific
against tight end. They've given up four touchdowns in the
last three games to the position. They've given up over
(09:56):
three hundred yards to the position over the last five games.
There's an opportunity here, especially because the Panthers used three
tight ends and don't just focus on one. If you
look at what the Rams did to the forty nine
Ers a few weeks ago, they attacked them with all
of their onslought of rotational tight ends. I think they've
got a shot there. But look right, it's gonna have
(10:19):
to avoid turnovers as Rockbern he typically does, and Rico's
gonna have to run the rock like. They're gonna have
to match them beat by beat.
Speaker 1 (10:29):
Certainly, there was one little piece I wanted to bring
up here to you, Mike, Mike Key Charlotte observers our guests,
and it's of no. Two fans here in the upstate
of a certain school down there in Clinton, and it
has to do with Hunter Renfro, who obviously has been
inactive for several weeks in a row now made an
impact earlier in the season. Give us some general themes
of this story that I just shared on social here
is as Hunter Renfro again, what a great comeback story
(10:53):
no matter how many games he plays this year.
Speaker 2 (10:56):
Yeah, I think he's kind of stuck between two door frames, right,
veteran who's making a comeback, but he's also a guy
who probably is doesn't have the upside of a guy
like Jalen Cocher or Xavier Leaguett or even Jimmy Horn.
And when you're leaning into a youth movement, the older
guys who are really a lot specific are going to
(11:18):
take a step back. Like even before Jalen Cocher was back,
you saw Hunter Renfro's role diminished. It was pretty easy
to see where they were going with this. Even with
David Moore out with an elbow injury. It just seems
like they want to develop their young guys, and for
the most part it's worked because since he's been benched,
I believe there's three and two and you know they
(11:41):
want to get more out of Jalen Coker, which is
obviously a thing that they've wanted to do since training camp,
when they trade away at a feeling and dropped on
a rentro initially
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