For The Carolina Panthers, The Ghost Of Arizona Lingers

The Panthers should consider themselves lucky. If Panthers fans were half as passionate as the twenty thousand Bills fans who filled Bank of American stadium on Sunday, John Fox would be sifting through the smoldering rubble, trying to find the remains of what had happened to his once promising season.

To say that the loss to the Bills on Sunday is just one of the worst losses in franchise history might be generous. The Panthers dominated the game in every single way a team can. The Bills didn’t break 100 yards of offense until midway through the fourth quarter. The Panthers defense played their best game since they shut out Denver in 2008 in front of many of the same fans who watched in horror yesterday as the worst QB in the NFL passed 44 times against the league’s worst rush defense. It was a failure in every sense of the word. It was a backbreaking unlike anything the Panthers had endured since 2001, when a week six loss to woeful Washington left them at 1-5 and in a tail spin that didn’t end until they lost 15 straight games.

One thing is for certain, however: the season is over. A quick glance of the schedule reveals maybe two more wins, and that’s only if the Buccaneers don’t regain their swagger and the Saints sit their starters in week 17. The house of cards has completely collapsed, and it is necessary to fully examine what all has happened before we begin to diagnose how to fix it.

It Starts with The Front Office

The front office, beginning with the $53M Chris Gamble contract in November, embarked on a series of misadventures that would eventually doom the team and severely hinder its options in the future. I’ll begin with the obvious one.

When the Panthers resigned Jake Delhomme to a 5 year, $42.5M contract extension following the implosion against the Cardinals, they claimed they were seeking cap relief. However, after that performance, the only competition the Panthers would have had for his services were teams in Canada. The deal was not only a thanks for all the years of hard work he had put into the team, but a guarantee that the Panthers still viewed him as their guy.

The deal has blown up in their faces spectacularly. For Marty Hurney, it is difficult to imagine a real world situation where a failure of this magnitude would not immediately cost him his job, with the exception of working on Wall Street. It’s not fair to say that Jake Delhomme single-handedly lost the Philadelphia game with his five turnovers because it’s doubtful that the defense the Panthers fielded against Atlanta and Dallas would have been able to slow down the Eagles. However, bad coaching decisions aside, the lion’s share of blame for the Bills debacle should rest squarely on Jake’s shoulders.

It is now clear that Jake can no longer make twenty yard throws. As a Panther fan, the only thing more terrifying than the thought of Jake throwing a ten yard out over a corner’s head is throwing a twenty yard dig into the middle of a zone defense he does not understand. He isn’t stepping up in the pocket, he is not making reads, and what little accuracy he ever had has left him faster than the Panthers playoff chances.

He topped it all off yesterday with a painful press conference in which he fought back tears while admitting he is the problem. It reminds Panther fans of Kerry Collins quitting the team in 1998 and trudging to New Orleans with his tail between his legs. It’s impossible to play quarterback in the NFL without what is quite possibly a ridiculous amount of self confidence, and it is clear that Jake does not have it.

Jake Delhomme was not even the first player to be overpaid for middling performance. Chris Gamble’s previously mentioned contract was a complete head-scratcher for anyone familiar with the team. Gamble is a very athletically talented corner, and that is where the praise ends. He is consistently out of position and was beat deep by Lee Evans on Sunday on the Bills only play longer than 20 yards. The joke that corners are receivers with bad hands is no more appropriate than with Chris Gamble. The man is incapable of making a big play, and famously did not get his flu shot this year because he knew he would not catch anything.

Yesterday, against a team that managed to control field position due to the excellent punting of Brian Moorman and terrible special teams of the Panthers, a single turn over would have flipped the game on its head. With two prime opportunities, Gamble whiffed, most embarrassingly tripping over a tall blade of grass after watching an underthrown ball pass through his hands.

It is telling that amidst all the complaints about the Panthers contract decisions, the Gamble extension has been almost forgotten. While not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, no one in their right mind would think he was worth as much as Champ Bailey. 53 million for a corner is reserved for someone that can remove a wide receiver from the game, not someone who constantly gets beat and finds new, hilarious ways to whiff on tackles every week. As bad as the previous two contracts were, however, they pail in comparison to making a player who stated he wanted to leave a team that team’s highest paid.

The Panthers hamstrung their cap space and severely limited their maneuverability when they franchised disgruntled defensive end Julius Peppers. Hurney and Fox decided Peppers, who publicly stated he was tired of the coaching staff and wanted to leave the city, was worth just north of a million dollars a game. Peppers’ contract made it almost impossible for the Panthers to replace defensive end Maake Kemoeatu who went down with a torn achilles during the first warm up jog of training camp. It was made to look even worse during the first three games. Peppers moon walked through twelve quarters of football, prompting All-Pro Middle Linebacker Jon Beason to call him out on a Charlotte radio station.

In Peppers defense, the last three games have been night and day. Fox’s Jay Glazer reported during Fox pregame Sunday that Peppers publicly addressed his team mates and admitted that he was not holding himself to a high standard. Whatever revelation he had while watching film, it is difficult to be unhappy with the results. It also seriously calls into question the coaching staff who day after day defended a player who by his own admission was dogging it.

The ugly Peppers situation and stand off directly led to the Panthers trading their 2010 first round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to trade into the top of the second to grab Everette Brown. With a talented defensive end, the Panthers were able to negotiate from a stronger position with Julius Peppers. Of course those contract negotiations never took place. If they had not thrown away a top ten pick in 2010, they would still have their defensive end. They’d just be short a back up.

To be fair, Everette Brown has played very well in a backup role. He has recorded seven tackles and a sack, and has shown a knack for big plays with two forced fumbles. He’ll likely team up with Charles Johnson next year as the Panthers starting defensive end, assuming they do not franchise Peppers again.

However, the theme of trading away future picks to win this year is getting tiresome. Because of the Peppers contract, they had no room to bring in established defensive tackle help. The Panthers traded a 6th round 2010 draft pick for emergency fill in DT Louis Leonard. After he went down with an injury, the Panthers brought in DT Hollis Thomas, then buttressed that addition by trading their 5th round 2010 draft pick for Kansas City’s Tank Tyler.

John Fox and Marty Hurney clearly realize at this point their jobs are on the line. However, these desperation moves for middling players are the thrashings of a man drowning in quick sand. Not only are the Panthers not addressing their primary problem (quarterback), they are hamstringing either their or the next coaching staff’s ability to bring in new talent. Due to the specter of a rookie salary cap in 2011, experts expect the 2010 draft to be the most talented in NFL history. As it stands right now, the Panthers will go in with a pick in the second, third, and fifth rounds. To put it into perspective, the New England Patriots will have three of the top fifty picks.

That first rounder the Panthers sent away in order to better position themselves for contract talks with Peppers that never happened looks like it will be at the very least a top ten pick. Instead of wondering if the Panthers will draft Okalhoma’s Bradford, Washington’s Jake Locker, or Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, Carolina fans get to wonder if Dan LeFevour will still be there in the second, or if they can get to Tim Tebow before Jacksonville.

These kinds of moves can haunt a franchise. In 1997, then Panthers head coach traded the Carolina’s 1998 and 1999 first rounders for massive bust DT Sean Gilbert. Thanks to Mike Ditka trading an entire Saints draft to get to Longhorns RB Ricky Williams, the Redskins eventually acquired Future Hall of Famer CB Champ Bailey, All-Pro LT Chris Samuels, and All-Pro LB Lavarr Arrington. Panthers fans shudder to think who the 49ers will draft with their top ten pick, and how many times that player will make the Panthers rue the day they made the trade.

All this said, Marty Hurney does not call the plays. The Carolina Panthers returned 21 of 22 starters from a team that won twelve games last year. John Fox has permitted a culture of mediocrity to permeate every level of the coaching staff and players, and it has finally reared its ugly head. In part two of this article I will break down the people that call the plays, the players that do it, and where all of them have failed the fans who pay them.

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For The Carolina Panthers, The Ghost Of Arizona Lingers

The Panthers should consider themselves lucky. If Panthers fans were half as passionate as the twenty thousand Bills fans who filled Bank of American stadium on Sunday, John Fox would be sifting through the smoldering rubble, trying to find the remains of what had happened to his once promising season.

To say that the loss to the Bills on Sunday is just one of the worst losses in franchise history might be generous. The Panthers dominated the game in every single way a team can. The Bills didn’t break 100 yards of offense until midway through the fourth quarter. The Panthers defense played their best game since they shut out Denver in 2008 in front of many of the same fans who watched in horror yesterday as the worst QB in the NFL passed 44 times against the league’s worst rush defense. It was a failure in every sense of the word. It was a backbreaking unlike anything the Panthers had endured since 2001, when a week six loss to woeful Washington left them at 1-5 and in a tail spin that didn’t end until they lost 15 straight games.

One thing is for certain, however: the season is over. A quick glance of the schedule reveals maybe two more wins, and that’s only if the Buccaneers don’t regain their swagger and the Saints sit their starters in week 17. The house of cards has completely collapsed, and it is necessary to fully examine what all has happened before we begin to diagnose how to fix it.

It Starts with The Front Office

The front office, beginning with the $53M Chris Gamble contract in November, embarked on a series of misadventures that would eventually doom the team and severely hinder its options in the future. I’ll begin with the obvious one.

When the Panthers resigned Jake Delhomme to a 5 year, $42.5M contract extension following the implosion against the Cardinals, they claimed they were seeking cap relief. However, after that performance, the only competition the Panthers would have had for his services were teams in Canada. The deal was not only a thanks for all the years of hard work he had put into the team, but a guarantee that the Panthers still viewed him as their guy.

The deal has blown up in their faces spectacularly. For Marty Hurney, it is difficult to imagine a real world situation where a failure of this magnitude would not immediately cost him his job, with the exception of working on Wall Street. It’s not fair to say that Jake Delhomme single-handedly lost the Philadelphia game with his five turnovers because it’s doubtful that the defense the Panthers fielded against Atlanta and Dallas would have been able to slow down the Eagles. However, bad coaching decisions aside, the lion’s share of blame for the Bills debacle should rest squarely on Jake’s shoulders.

It is now clear that Jake can no longer make twenty yard throws. As a Panther fan, the only thing more terrifying than the thought of Jake throwing a ten yard out over a corner’s head is throwing a twenty yard dig into the middle of a zone defense he does not understand. He isn’t stepping up in the pocket, he is not making reads, and what little accuracy he ever had has left him faster than the Panthers playoff chances.

He topped it all off yesterday with a painful press conference in which he fought back tears while admitting he is the problem. It reminds Panther fans of Kerry Collins quitting the team in 1998 and trudging to New Orleans with his tail between his legs. It’s impossible to play quarterback in the NFL without what is quite possibly a ridiculous amount of self confidence, and it is clear that Jake does not have it.

Jake Delhomme was not even the first player to be overpaid for middling performance. Chris Gamble’s previously mentioned contract was a complete head-scratcher for anyone familiar with the team. Gamble is a very athletically talented corner, and that is where the praise ends. He is consistently out of position and was beat deep by Lee Evans on Sunday on the Bills only play longer than 20 yards. The joke that corners are receivers with bad hands is no more appropriate than with Chris Gamble. The man is incapable of making a big play, and famously did not get his flu shot this year because he knew he would not catch anything.

Yesterday, against a team that managed to control field position due to the excellent punting of Brian Moorman and terrible special teams of the Panthers, a single turn over would have flipped the game on its head. With two prime opportunities, Gamble whiffed, most embarrassingly tripping over a tall blade of grass after watching an underthrown ball pass through his hands.

It is telling that amidst all the complaints about the Panthers contract decisions, the Gamble extension has been almost forgotten. While not a bad player by any stretch of the imagination, no one in their right mind would think he was worth as much as Champ Bailey. 53 million for a corner is reserved for someone that can remove a wide receiver from the game, not someone who constantly gets beat and finds new, hilarious ways to whiff on tackles every week. As bad as the previous two contracts were, however, they pail in comparison to making a player who stated he wanted to leave a team that team’s highest paid.

The Panthers hamstrung their cap space and severely limited their maneuverability when they franchised disgruntled defensive end Julius Peppers. Hurney and Fox decided Peppers, who publicly stated he was tired of the coaching staff and wanted to leave the city, was worth just north of a million dollars a game. Peppers’ contract made it almost impossible for the Panthers to replace defensive end Maake Kemoeatu who went down with a torn achilles during the first warm up jog of training camp. It was made to look even worse during the first three games. Peppers moon walked through twelve quarters of football, prompting All-Pro Middle Linebacker Jon Beason to call him out on a Charlotte radio station.

In Peppers defense, the last three games have been night and day. Fox’s Jay Glazer reported during Fox pregame Sunday that Peppers publicly addressed his team mates and admitted that he was not holding himself to a high standard. Whatever revelation he had while watching film, it is difficult to be unhappy with the results. It also seriously calls into question the coaching staff who day after day defended a player who by his own admission was dogging it.

The ugly Peppers situation and stand off directly led to the Panthers trading their 2010 first round pick to the San Francisco 49ers to trade into the top of the second to grab Everette Brown. With a talented defensive end, the Panthers were able to negotiate from a stronger position with Julius Peppers. Of course those contract negotiations never took place. If they had not thrown away a top ten pick in 2010, they would still have their defensive end. They’d just be short a back up.

To be fair, Everette Brown has played very well in a backup role. He has recorded seven tackles and a sack, and has shown a knack for big plays with two forced fumbles. He’ll likely team up with Charles Johnson next year as the Panthers starting defensive end, assuming they do not franchise Peppers again.

However, the theme of trading away future picks to win this year is getting tiresome. Because of the Peppers contract, they had no room to bring in established defensive tackle help. The Panthers traded a 6th round 2010 draft pick for emergency fill in DT Louis Leonard. After he went down with an injury, the Panthers brought in DT Hollis Thomas, then buttressed that addition by trading their 5th round 2010 draft pick for Kansas City’s Tank Tyler.

John Fox and Marty Hurney clearly realize at this point their jobs are on the line. However, these desperation moves for middling players are the thrashings of a man drowning in quick sand. Not only are the Panthers not addressing their primary problem (quarterback), they are hamstringing either their or the next coaching staff’s ability to bring in new talent. Due to the specter of a rookie salary cap in 2011, experts expect the 2010 draft to be the most talented in NFL history. As it stands right now, the Panthers will go in with a pick in the second, third, and fifth rounds. To put it into perspective, the New England Patriots will have three of the top fifty picks.

That first rounder the Panthers sent away in order to better position themselves for contract talks with Peppers that never happened looks like it will be at the very least a top ten pick. Instead of wondering if the Panthers will draft Okalhoma’s Bradford, Washington’s Jake Locker, or Notre Dame’s Jimmy Clausen, Carolina fans get to wonder if Dan LeFevour will still be there in the second, or if they can get to Tim Tebow before Jacksonville.

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20/20 Hindsight: When Would You Have Moved On From Jake Delhomme?

Following quarterback Jake Delhomme’s meltdown Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles, he reached David Carr levels of unpopularity in Panther nation. Fans and pundits alike are screaming for Delhomme’s head.

Following a controversial contract extension in the offseason, it seems that Head Coach John Fox and General Manager Marty Hurney might be going down with the ship with this one. While it’s possible that the Panthers could cut him in a capless 2010 and not take a penalty, it’s looking more and more like Delhomme’s contract is an albatross.

Looking back, however, it is unclear to me when the Panthers would have upgraded the position, and with whom. In this midrash I am trying to remain realistic. Therefore I don’t see a reason for the Panthers to actually draft Matt Cassel (never played in college) or Matt Schaub (played in a spread zone blocking scheme all through high school, college, and now the pros).

Furthermore, I am going to assume that no one would have realistically wanted Delhomme gone until after 2006. He took the team to the 2003 Super Bowl, led an amazing late season comeback after falling to 1-7 in 2004 amidst a cascade of injuries, and took the team to the NFC Championship game in 2005.

Lastly, I am going to avoid unrealistic moon trades just because we can dream about Peppers + Third Rounder + Dan Conner + John Fox to Indianapolis for Peyton Manning + Dwight Freeney all day.

AFTER 2006

2006 was an interesting year for the Panthers. Jake Delhomme certainly had a drop off from 2005, but he wasn’t terrible by any stretch. That season seemed like a death by a thousand cuts.

The Keyshawn Johnson experiment was a disaster. He was a cancer in the locker room and didn’t perform on the field. His miscue in the final moments against Philadelphia cost them the game in the end zone. A bizarre lateral play by Chris Gamble in the Minnesota game cost them that contest. A busted play against Cincinnati in the final moments led to a Delhomme interception. The team was never able to find their stride and finished a game out of the playoffs.

I don’t believe the quarterback position was a more pressing need following that season than linebacker. Furthermore, I doubt any Panther fans would do anything (draft, trade) that would take Jon Beason out of a Carolina uniform. In the 2007 draft, the best drafted quarterback was Tyler Thigpen.

As far as free agents go, the best quarterback of the class was Kerry Collins. Collins was originally drafted by the Panthers with their first ever pick in 1995. However, he fell out of favor stemming from his alcoholism, rampant racism, and basically quitting on the team. While he’s obviously matured, it would be a hard pill to swallow.

AFTER 2007

Through two-and-a-half games, against weaker competition granted, Jake looked better than he ever had. He was throwing the ball away, making better reads, spreading his passes around, etc. His technique looked better. Maybe he had been pressed in training camp by David Carr.

Now let us analyze the 2008 draft. Most Panther fans would be happy with Matt Ryan at quarterback, but that is unrealistic.

Atlanta General Manager Thomas Dimitroff has said numerous times they were dead set on Ryan with the third overall. Bill Parcells has said numerous times that they were dead set on Jake Long with the first overall pick.

Maybe you can fleece St. Louis for the second overall pick and beat Atlanta to the punch, but that would have been incredibly costly, and would have prevented the Panthers from drafting tackle Jeff Otah and running back Jonathan Stewart. That leaves us with Joe Flacco.

Flacco was considered a massive project coming out of Delaware. The Panthers passed on Flacco to draft Jonathan Stewart who was crucial to their 2008 NFC South crown. Flacco performed admirably in his rookie year, and has seemingly developed under the tutelage of Head Coach John Harbaugh (brother of quarterback Jim Harbaugh) and offensive coordinator Cam Cameron (a former quarterbacks coach), two things the Panthers certainly wouldn’t have been able to offer him.

On top of that, Flacco almost certainly doesn’t start in 2008. He would have had a year to sit on the bench and develop, though it is difficult to say how he would do without Cameron and Harbaugh.

I think this is the only defensible move. However, if the Panthers do this, do they still send their 2009 first rounder to San Francisco to draft Jeff Otah? I doubt the Panthers make the playoffs last year without him anchoring the right side of the line. In retrospect though, I would be much happier with Flacco and Otah than I am with Stewart and Otah.

AFTER 2008

There was not a viable upgrade to Jake Delhomme. The Panthers did not have the firepower to acquire Cutler or Cassel or realistically move up to draft Stafford or Sanchez.

To this writer, it appears that Jake was the best option every single year. Even with the drafting of Flacco, they would not have started him over Delhomme in 2008, and it’s debatable whether he would have been starting yesterday.

The Panthers are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Yesterday, during a post game radio interview, Hurney described it as “…the worst case scenario.”

Maybe it is.

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Thoughts on Panthers’ Defense

The Carolina Panthers will kick off their regular season Sunday against the Philadelphia Eagles with a defense that has been kicked around all preseason. 

The Panthers’ defensive woes have been well-documented. They collapsed down the stretch in 2008, allowing 45, 31, 28, 28, and 31 points. While much has been said about Jake Delhomme throwing five interceptions in the playoffs against the Arizona Cardinals, little attention has been paid to the fact that the defense gave up 27 points in the first half. 

After spending the offseason working on installing a new defensive scheme, the thinnest position on the team took a gut shot after the only true nose tackle on the roster, Maake Kemoeatu, tore his achilles during warmups on the first day of training camp. 

Once the games actually started, the team didn’t fare much better. Starting outside linebacker Thomas Davis missed almost all of the preseason with a nagging injury. All-world middle linebacker Jon Beason missed two games and weeks of practice after injuring his knee against the Dolphins. Starting free safety Charles Godfrey, who needed all the practice he could get, missed two games with a broken hand. 

Through it all, the Panthers basically pulled people off the street to try to replace Kemoeatu.

Nick Hayden, who had spent the offseason preparing to spell under tackle Damion Lewis, was woefully undersized and completely ineffective. Third-round pick Corey Irvin, widely considered to be a project, was placed on IR, and Marlon Favorite was cut.

The result was an embarrassing display. Opposing teams could put in just about anyone at running back and they would turn into Walter Payton. Ray Rice, Ronnie Brown, Isaac Redman, and in the case of the Giants, the entire state of New Jersey made mincemeat of the defense.

Compounding the problem was the Panthers’ absolute refusal to wrap up and tackle. Ron Meeks has said repeatedly his new defense emphasizes swarming to the ball and going for the strip. Apparently he hasn’t stressed tackling. 

The icing on the cake is the return of the Panthers’ pillow-soft coverages in the secondary. Fox and co. are still more than willing to give up an automatic 10 yards in the hopes that the defensive line could get to the quarterback—which they couldn’t—or in the worst case scenario, stiffen at the goal line—which they were consistently unable to do. 

Now the Eagles loom on the horizon. This Philadelphia team is an offensive juggernaut with a host of speedy wide receivers, a Pro Bowl quarterback, a rebuilt offensive line, and a stable of dangerous running backs.

At least Panthers fans won’t have to watch Mike Vick tear the team apart again, as he’s suspended for the first three weeks.

It doesn’t get any easier after that. The Panthers have to play the AFC and NFC East this year, along with the division winners from the NFC North and West.

They have two games against hard-running Atlanta and two against last year’s most prolific offense, the New Orleans Saints. It’s a far cry from their schedule in 2008, which would have been more difficult if they’d had to play the SEC West. 

If any Panther fans believe in miraculous turnarounds, there is reason to not commit ritual seppuku. The defense the Panthers put on the field on Sunday will not resemble the one shown in the preseason.

Beason, Davis, and the entire secondary will be healthy. Second-round pick Everette Brown, the defensive end who led the ACC in sacks last year, has almost looked like he deserved the Panthers trading their 2010 first-round pick for the rights to select him.

A couple of late season additions look promising: Louis Leonard, acquired from the Browns for an undisclosed draft pick, certainly has the size to plug the defensive line at 6’4″, 325 pounds.

They also managed to steal Ra’Shon “Sonny” Harris off waivers from the Steelers, who had hoped to stash him on their practice squad. They got a good look at the 6’5″, 321 pound defensive tackle; he tore them to pieces in the fourth game of the preseason.

The Panthers’ offense will start the season at full strength. Running back Jonathan Stewart, after not practicing since the first week of August, will reportedly be available on Sunday.

Fourth-round running back Mike Goodson, rookie from Texas A&M, has looked like a world beater spelling fellow world beater DeAngelo Williams. Lions’ cast-off Kenny Moore, wide receiver from Wake Forest, played himself into the slot position. Jake Delhomme quietly completed over 60 percent of his passes. 

What is certain is that while the defense goes through their growing pains, the offense has to pick up the slack. Nothing helps a defense like a sterling offense, and if the Panthers can score like they did in the second half of 2008, the defense won’t have to worry about getting run over.

If they can’t, then Philadelphia, Atlanta, and Dallas might make the Panthers go into their week four bye down 0-3. 

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Carolina Panthers: Attention All Rats, the Boat Isn’t Sinking

The plague of Achilles tendon injuries that has been sweeping through the NFL like a Spartan army during the Peloponnesian War finally found its way to Spartanburg, South Carolina.

Defensive tackle Ma’ake Kemoeatu went down during his warm up jog. The news was quick and sudden. Somehow he managed to snap his Achilles doing something less physical than making a sandwich and is out for the season.

The reaction from the Panthers fan community was about as rational and reasoned as you’d expect. Panthers message boards quickly resembled something from a Pietro da Cortona painting. Predictions of league worse rushing attacks defenses and sub .500 seasons flowed forth quickly thereafter.

Anyone familiar with Murphy’s Law should have seen this coming a mile away. We should consider Kemoeatu lucky he wasn’t struck by lightning getting out of his car and at least made it to actual physical activity.

The Panthers are notorious at the defensive tackle position, boasting a collection of people named Dave behind last years’ starters. If you ranked the Panthers’ ability to plug in for an injured player by position, defensive tackle would be somewhere near the top.

Luckily for the Panthers, Kemoeatu is not irreplaceable. Frankly he’s not even as dominant as the reactions would lead you to believe. In fact, dominant and Kemoeatu shouldn’t be included in the same sentence. His performance as a Panther could be better described as serviceable, adequate, or alright.

He certainly was never what the Panthers thought they were getting when they signed him to a five year, 23 million dollar contract seven seconds into free agency in 2006.

He was advertised as a massive defensive tackle who could collapse the pocket and team with Kris Jenkins to create one of the most fearsome defensive tackle combinations in the league. Well, he was certainly massive.

In fact, terrified cries of how “big” a loss this is could only be referring to his weight. The Panthers haven’t had a dominant rush defense since he’s been here. In fact, with Kemoeatu, the Panthers have never had a top 10 rush defense. They were ranked 20th in 2008, 18th in 2007, and 11th in 2006.

Fans who have watched the team since John Fox took over in 2002 will unanimously say that the key to a Fox defense is pressure up front. When Julius Peppers, Jenkins, and Mike Rucker were wreaking havoc from 2002-2005, they were able to make people off the street like Reggie Howard, Greg Favors, and Chris Draft look like Pro Bowlers.

After it was up to Kemo to collapse the pocket, far more talented players like Jon Beason, Chris Gamble, Thomas Davis, and Chris Harris were made to look like they played for South Mecklenburg High School.

It is true that this hurts the Panthers depth. Many seem to believe that he was the best option simply by virtue of his status as a starter. Even a cursory knowledge of John Fox’s perplexing personnel choices in the past makes this argument hardly convincing.

A one legged Mike Rucker was clearly not the better option in 2007. DeAngelo Williams and his five yards per carry averaged rotted on the bench in 2007 while Deshaun Foster fumbled his way into a 49ers uniform. Matt Moore was clearly the best choice between Vinny Testaverde and David Carr. Who’s to say Corvey Irvin won’t be a better choice?

It’s true that the Panthers don’t have a pure two gap DT on the roster anymore. Barring the signing of a free agent or a trade, they’ll go into the season with a relatively small defensive tackle collection. This doesn’t necessarily mean they won’t be effective.

A new defensive coordinator had success with relatively smaller defensive tackles in Indianapolis. The Panthers do boast an enviable collection of defense ends. The Giants made waves in 2007 and 2008 by lining up defensive ends over guards. Perhaps this will force John Fox into more creativity?

Now that I’ve hopefully staunched the flow of hysteria, we should turn our attention to whom to blame for this mess. The Panthers don’t have a proven back up while players like Dwayne Robertson await an offer.

Peppers is grinning all the way to the bank and devouring the last of the Panthers cap space. GM Marty Hurney is hiding from reporters and avoiding any questions about his management of the cap.  

The correct answer is no one is to blame. Every team has weaknesses. Overall, the Panthers are one of the more talented teams in the league. Hurney and Fox have assembled a team that should be a favorite to play deep into January.

The mark of a true winner is the team that can rebound from injuries.

Carolina Panthers Versus the South Part Two: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Panthers split their season series with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008. They followed an embarrassing performance at Raymond James Stadium with a thrilling Monday Night Football game in which the Panthers running game totaled over three hundred yards.

There will be some notable changes to the Bucs offense in 2009.

Jeff Garcia is gone, much to the joy of Panthers fans the world over. Garcia had won five of his last six meetings with the Panthers and could usually count on his best games of the season being against Carolina.

Jeff Jagodzinski will be calling the plays in his first year as offensive coordinator.

The Bucs traded their second round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, as well as a fifth round pick in next year’s draft, to acquire tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. from the Browns.

Winslow has not been the same since he crashed his motorcycle into a shrub in a parking lot in 2005, but along with Jerramy Stevens, the Bucs will boast one of the most talented and disgruntled tight end pairs in the league.

Panthers fans should immediately feel a shudder up their spine reading the Bucs have not one but two good tight ends.

Talented guard Aaron Sears might not play due to personal problems.

The Bucs also signed Derrick Ward, who put up 215 yards rushing against the Panthers in 2008 in The Meadowlands. Before the head scratch-inducing drafting of Josh Freeman, it seemed Bryon Leftwich had been brought in to run the show after his promising 2008 campaign in Pittsburgh, or at least compete with Luke McCown.

The most notable change to the Bucs defense will be the guy who’s not there. Future Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks was given his walking papers after a pitiful performance in 2008.

The secondary is still the strength of the team. Future Hall of Famer Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib play in front of Tanard Jackson, arguably the hardest hitting safety in the league.

The Panthers lost a fluky Week Six game in Tampa Bay, and it’s almost an exercise in futility to break it down.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme threw three interceptions, but one was on a desperation heave to Steve Smith, and another bounced off Dante Rosario’s hands before finding a defender.

Jason Baker had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown, and Jonathan Stewart fumbled heading into the end zone. The Bucs offense did a good job of playing keep away and the Panthers could never recover.

The second game offers much more useful information as well as providing some reasons to caution. The Panthers did what they always did well against the Buccaneers under Jon Gruden and ran the ball.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart averaged 12.5 yards a carry and gave ESPN a highlight reel performance, including one of the most humiliating stiff arms in the history of organized football.

The Buccaneers didn’t go out of their way to address their defensive line. They drafted Defensive Tackle Roy Miller in the third round and Defensive End Brandon Williams in the fourth—both will compete for starting time. However, outside of Gaines Adams and Barrett Ruud, no one really stands out as a threat along the Buccaneers front seven.

The Buccaneers were set up on offense to have a very good year, and I personally believe they would have competed for the division if they’d used the Josh Freeman pick on more of an impact defender. However, they took the least NFL ready QB in the draft after promising Byron Leftwich they wouldn’t.

The key to the Panthers beating the Bucs in 2009 will be avoiding defensive meltdowns like those that occurred on Monday Night Football.

I doubt Luke McCown will be able to put 300 yards on anyone, but before that game, I wouldn’t have said Jeff Garcia could have either.

That breakdown was caused in part by injuries to the defensive line, and with the depth of the Panthers at defensive tackle this year, if they lose any starters prior to a game with Tampa, Derrick Ward will make whomever is playing quarterback obsolete.

As long as they can avoid turnovers, I don’t foresee the Panthers offense having much trouble with the Tampa Bay defense in 2009. The question is whether or not the Panthers defense will be able to hold a lead, and whether it can avoid colossal meltdowns.

I feel that as the Bucs quarterback situation goes this year, so will the team. Panther fans should pay extra special attention to their QB competition for this very reason.

Carolina Panthers Versus the South Part Two: The Tampa Bay Buccaneers

The Panthers split their season series with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2008. They followed an embarrassing performance at Raymond James Stadium with a thrilling Monday Night Football game in which the Panthers running game totaled over three hundred yards.

There will be some notable changes to the Bucs offense in 2009.

Jeff Garcia is gone, much to the joy of Panthers fans the world over. Garcia had won five of his last six meetings with the Panthers and could usually count on his best games of the season being against Carolina.

Jeff Jagodzinski will be calling the plays in his first year as offensive coordinator.

The Bucs traded their second round pick in the 2009 NFL Draft, as well as a fifth round pick in next year’s draft, to acquire tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. from the Browns.

Winslow has not been the same since he crashed his motorcycle into a shrub in a parking lot in 2005, but along with Jerramy Stevens, the Bucs will boast one of the most talented and disgruntled tight end pairs in the league.

Panthers fans should immediately feel a shudder up their spine reading the Bucs have not one but two good tight ends.

Talented guard Aaron Sears might not play due to personal problems.

The Bucs also signed Derrick Ward, who put up 215 yards rushing against the Panthers in 2008 in The Meadowlands. Before the head scratch-inducing drafting of Josh Freeman, it seemed Bryon Leftwich had been brought in to run the show after his promising 2008 campaign in Pittsburgh, or at least compete with Luke McCown.

The most notable change to the Bucs defense will be the guy who’s not there. Future Hall of Famer Derrick Brooks was given his walking papers after a pitiful performance in 2008.

The secondary is still the strength of the team. Future Hall of Famer Ronde Barber and Aqib Talib play in front of Tanard Jackson, arguably the hardest hitting safety in the league.

The Panthers lost a fluky Week Six game in Tampa Bay, and it’s almost an exercise in futility to break it down.

Quarterback Jake Delhomme threw three interceptions, but one was on a desperation heave to Steve Smith, and another bounced off Dante Rosario’s hands before finding a defender.

Jason Baker had a punt blocked and returned for a touchdown, and Jonathan Stewart fumbled heading into the end zone. The Bucs offense did a good job of playing keep away and the Panthers could never recover.

The second game offers much more useful information as well as providing some reasons to caution. The Panthers did what they always did well against the Buccaneers under Jon Gruden and ran the ball.

DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart averaged 12.5 yards a carry and gave ESPN a highlight reel performance, including one of the most humiliating stiff arms in the history of organized football.

The Buccaneers didn’t go out of their way to address their defensive line. They drafted Defensive Tackle Roy Miller in the third round and Defensive End Brandon Williams in the fourth—both will compete for starting time. However, outside of Gaines Adams and Barrett Ruud, no one really stands out as a threat along the Buccaneers front seven.

The Buccaneers were set up on offense to have a very good year, and I personally believe they would have competed for the division if they’d used the Josh Freeman pick on more of an impact defender. However, they took the least NFL ready QB in the draft after promising Byron Leftwich they wouldn’t.

The key to the Panthers beating the Bucs in 2009 will be avoiding defensive meltdowns like those that occurred on Monday Night Football.

I doubt Luke McCown will be able to put 300 yards on anyone, but before that game, I wouldn’t have said Jeff Garcia could have either.

That breakdown was caused in part by injuries to the defensive line, and with the depth of the Panthers at defensive tackle this year, if they lose any starters prior to a game with Tampa, Derrick Ward will make whomever is playing quarterback obsolete.

As long as they can avoid turnovers, I don’t foresee the Panthers offense having much trouble with the Tampa Bay defense in 2009. The question is whether or not the Panthers defense will be able to hold a lead, and whether it can avoid colossal meltdowns.

I feel that as the Bucs quarterback situation goes this year, so will the team. Panther fans should pay extra special attention to their QB competition for this very reason.

Vick Will Not Be a Panther

The NFL is buzzing with news of Mike Vick’s reinstatement.

Once arguably the most hyped quarterback of all time, the disgraced former Falcon is free to sign with any team that will have him. According to the league’s Vice President of Football Operations Ray Anderson, Vick could play “from week one forward,” if “all goes well.”

The natural reaction for a fan is to wonder how a player like Vick could help their team. The appropriate reaction for a Panther fan is to roll their eyes. 

The most obvious and glaring reason Vick isn’t a fit in Carolina is the quarterback they already have. The Panthers organization smartly saw past Jake Delhomme’s January meltdown and rewarded him for the NFC South crown, playoff birth, and four fourth-quarter comebacks with a new five-year, $42.5 million contract extension.

If it wasn’t obvious that Delhomme was the team’s quarterback before, it should be now. 

A quick glance at statistics will show that, even though last year was Jake’s worst year statistically, it was still better than Vick’s best. Vick has never been known for his accuracy, and in 2006 he completed a mere 52.6 percent of his passes.

Roddy White’s 2007 explosion catching passes from Joey Harrington and Chris Redmon quieted any apologists who would point to Mike’s supporting cast, and I haven’t heard a convincing reason Vick’s accuracy and decision-making would have improved in Leavenworth.

Many point to his ability as a runner and gush about the extra dimension his abilities would add to the offense. I would counter that the Panthers already have a devastating running dimension, and one of them has only fumbled once his entire career (Vick fumbled nine times in 2006.) 

Every time Vick tucked the ball and ran, or was brought in for a speciality package, that’s one fewer carry for DeAngelo Williams or Jonathan Stewart, and one fewer opportunity for Steve Smith to make a play. 

The most important reason the Panthers won’t pursue Vick is he doesn’t fit into the image the team and management want to present. The Panthers pride themselves on being a family-friendly team and providing the same kind of environment (PSAs before home games urge patrons not to use profanity).  A convicted felon doesn’t fit into what owner Jerry Richardson wants. 

Furthermore, the signing of Vick would be followed by open revolt. Panther fans spent years watching Vick dash their dreams and break their thoughts. No one has forgotten the 2004 Week 15 game, for example. Fans were trained to loathe the man. 

Jerry Richardson knows this. 

Julius Peppers: How Not to Hold Out for a New Contract

The smoke has cleared on the Julius Peppers saga.

What started as an impassioned plea for a new team, contract, and position has ended with the disgruntled defensive end folding like a lawn chair and signing his franchise tender.

Further cementing Peppers’ Maginot Line is the news from the Charlotte Observer that Peppers is now open to signing an extension with the same team he so publicly condemned only months ago.

Just to recap the soap opera, Peppers first refused a contract extension after the 2007 season that would have reportedly made him the highest paid player in the NFL.

Following an embarrassing loss at home in the playoffs to the upstart Arizona Cardinals, a game where Peppers was completely ineffective, he came out through his agent and stated strongly his desire to play elsewhere.

It is now clear the Panthers never had any intention of letting him walk, and slapped the franchise tender on him soon after inking left tackle Jordan Gross to a long-term contract.

Instead of signing his tender and working the problem out behind the scenes, Peppers instead decided on taking the most rash courses of action possible.

If you’re trying to maximize your chances of being traded out of a city, first you make it legally possible for your team to do so. By not signing his tender until yesterday, Peppers made it impossible for general manger Marty Hurney to field offers from other teams. Anything else would be tampering. 

If you’re trying to maximize your chances of being traded out of a city, you don’t limit your choices to four teams, all of which your current team plays in 2009. While it was most likely an attempt to have the tag moved off of him, all it did was harden Hurney’s resolve and alienate fans.

If you’re trying to maximize your chances of being traded out of a city, you don’t declare your preference to play a position in the 3-4 you’ve never played before, especially when everyone in the NFL knows you’re not built for it. 

All of these perplexing decisions have led Peppers, with his head bowed, back to the team he tried to hard to scorn.

Perhaps the players on the team understand this better than the fans, but he’ll have to work hard to regain the trust and confidence of those that will make his $17 million salary possible.

Looking back on other holdouts makes this even more embarrassing.

Sean Gilbert was traded from the Redskins after sitting out a year and claiming God wanted him to sign a bigger contract. Corey Dillon stated he’d rather work at McDonald’s than suit up with the Bengals again.

Outside the NFL, NBA guard Latrell Sprewell famously claimed he “had a family to feed.”

Hopefully, Peppers will be able to console himself knowing he could feed quite a few players families with the contract he had to settle on. 

Julius Peppers, Carolina Panthers Agree on Franchise Tender

According to the Charlotte Observer, Carolina Panthers franchise player Julius Peppers has signed his tender. He will earn $16.683 million in 2009, and will be eligible for free agency at the end of the season.

This ends a dramatic holdout in which Peppers refused to play again for the Panthers, requested a switch to another position, and released a list of teams to whom he would allow himself to be traded.

“Julius is more than satisfied with the outcome of this…He is ready to play football,” said Peppers’ agent Carl Carey.

This statement is hardly convincing.

A matter of months ago, Carey released a mystery list of teams Peppers wanted to play for. Peppers has been less than mum on the issue, refusing to speak to the Charlotte press on the subject.

Head coach John Fox has been just as silent, but even more confident, saying he fully anticipated that Peppers would report for training camp.

Panthers linebacker Jon Beason had also been in contract negotiations with the disgruntled defensive end, and hinted that he might return for training camp.

I’ve written at length about the inconsistencies with Peppers’ trade demands. It’s been impossible to write about the Panthers this summer without mentioning them.

Now it’s time to speculate on what might come of this latest action.

The first note of interest is that Panthers general manager Marty Hurney is now allowed to field trade offers for Peppers from other teams. Until today, Peppers was not officially part of the team, but not a free agent.

Only Carey was allowed to talk with other teams and act as an arbitrator.

If the Panthers feel confident with their defensive end rotation after organized team activities, they might trade Peppers and try to rebuild in the 2010 draft.

They recently traded their 2010 first-rounder to take defensive end Everette Brown.

Assuming Peppers isn’t traded, it will be interesting to see how it mixes up the defensive end rotation in practice. During OTAs, Brown was playing in Peppers’ spot, with Charles Johnson on the opposite end. It would appear that Tyler Brayton is the odd man out in that mix.

The battle to line up opposite Peppers should be fierce.

If Coach Fox really plans on having Peppers on the field this year in a Panthers uniform, it’s imperative they rebuild bridges that might have been burned with the fanbase.

Many felt betrayed by Peppers’ trade demands, and it might take more than a quick start and an impressive year to win them back.

Stay tuned to my channel as the situation develops.

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