The final warmup: Panthers v. Steelers, and first round of cuts

Let’s get through the cuts first:

- WR Wallace Wright was placed on season ending IR.

- DE Hilee Taylor was placed on season ending IR.

- WR Oliver Young was cut.

- WR Dexter Jackson was cut.

Most of these were expected, and placing Taylor and Wright on IR made the decisions easier. With three wide receivers already off the roster it means a greater chance that some of the WRs on the bubble have a greater chance of making the final 53.

Carolina now prepares to head to Pittsburgh for the final preseason game where the backups will try and assert themselves as valuable members of the team. It’s unlikely we’ll see any of the starters for more than a quarter, but it will give the Panthers more time to look at Jimmy Clausen, Brandon LaFell and the rest of the backups.

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Tags: Ben Roethlisberger, Carolina Panthers, Greg Hardy, Jonathan Stewart, Steve Smith

Stifling defense is the Panthers’ MO

The Carolina Panthers have the best defense in the NFL at the time of this writing. I know it’s still preseason, but Carolina are dominating opposing offenses rendering them unable to move the ball against them. Saturday’s 15-7 win against teh Tennessee Titans was no different as the Panthers sacked the QB seven times, intercepted two passes and forced two fumbles. It was a sight to behold.

The other side of the ball was a little different as the offense without Steve Smith and Jonathan Stewart had a rough time moving the ball until the 3rd quarter where Matt Moore found his groove and started moving the chains.

It was special teams though where the Panthers got their only TD of the night as Mike Goodson took a 91 yard KR the distance.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Dwayne Jarrett, Everette Brown, Greg Hardy, Matt Moore, Ron Meeks

Preseason game 3: Carolina Panthers vs. Tennessee Titans

If there truly important preseason game, game three is it. Typically game three is where the rubber meets the road for how an NFL team will perform. This is especially true of the Carolina Panthers who typically start their 1st team for three quarters. In the John Fox era 66% of the time the Panthers win game three of the preseason they go on to have a better than .500 season, regardless of preseason opponent.

John Fox has stated that we will see the Panthers’ first team for at least three quarters on Saturday night. He also didn’t rule out the possibility of Steve Smith and Jonathan Stewart making an appearance, though I find it highly unlikely they will risk either player.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Jimmy Clausen, Jonathan Stewart, Matt Moore, Steve Smith, Tennessee Titans

Worried about the preseason results? Don’t be

What does preseason mean to you? Worthless competition? Simple warm-ups? A precursor of things to come? Regardless of what your opinion is of the usefulness of preseason competition, there’s no denying that the Carolina Panthers have looked less than impressive in several areas across the first two games. I’m here to tell you what I think preseason means to the Carolina Panthers and why those who are worried should back away from the ledge.

It is my firm belief that there are two ways NFL teams approach the preseason:

Team A: This team is usually starting their 1st team a little longer than most and are opening up their playbook more. These teams are trying to win the preseason matchups to give their respective fan bases hope that the upcoming season will be a good one.

Team B: This team does not care about the W/L of the preseason games. They are using the preseason as a tool to evaluate their talent and polish the areas they are weak in.

So, which team are the Carolina Panthers in 2010?

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Steve Smith

Panthers lose to Jets in ugly game. Defense is the bright spot

Moving into the 2010 preseason everyone was wondering how a remodeled and retooled defense would be able to cope with the strong rushing attacks both the Baltimore Ravens and New York Jets presented in the first two weeks of the NFL preseason.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Carolina Panthers officially have the best defense in the NFL at the time of this writing. Yes, I know it’s only preseason but one must imagine that these performances aren’t flukes. As it stands Carolina are only allowing 168.5 yards per game, leading the NFL in passing yards allowed and 6th in run defense while being tied second in sacks.

The offense is a whole other story as messy blocking led to a non-existent passing attack which should be helped by the return of Steve Smith.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Jimmy Clausen, Matt Moore, New York Jets

Linebacker musical chairs

What a difference a couple of months can make. Going into the 2010 season the last area of concern for the Panthers was linebacker. After all, with Jon Beason in the middle, Thomas Davis on the weak side and James Anderson at the SAM it seemed like the Panthers’ starters were set. Couple this with Dan Connor and Jamar Williams on the bench and it seemed the Panthers were both strong as starters and they had depth; then Thomas Davis tore his ACL again.

This created a vacuum on the Panthers’ talent at the position. Ron Meeks runs a system where he needs an athletic linebacker to be his ‘do everything’ player, and when Davis went down last year Meeks transitioned into having Chris Harris fill this role.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Dan Connor, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis

Panthers making some roster adjustments after first game.

Last Thursday’s game against the Baltimore Ravens was not a complete failure by any stretch of the imagination, but neither was it a resounding success. Much of the blame needs to be leveled on a rather ineffective offensive line who struggled with the Baltimore pass rush for much of the game.

The Panthers started by cutting backup center Steve Justice, leaving the Panthers without any true depth at the position after Ryan Kalil. It was widely known that the Panthers had been working Mackenzey Bernadeau at center and working on his snapping ability, but it was rather unexpected that they would cut Justice outright.

To fill the vacated roster spot the Panthers signed LB Nic Harris who was cut last week by the Buffalo Bills.  The former 5th round pick out of Oklahoma has had a rather inefficient career thus far being placed on IR in January, and being waived by the Bills after he failed a physical.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Everette Brown, Greg Hardy, Nic Harris, Steve Justice, Steve Smith

Clausen, Hardy impressive in preseason debut- ultimately lose to Ravens

There were numerous questions answered during last night’s preseason game, but perhaps bigger questions created by it. It’s inevitable, there is now cause for a QB discussion to take place. Jimmy Clausen was supremely impressive in his NFL debut in a way the box score doesn’t do justice.

Similarly rookie DE Greg Hardy looked every bit the player who was once hailed as ‘the next Julius Peppers’ as he finished the game with 5 tackles, 4 TFL, 2 sacks and 2 QB hits. It he can remain healthy he can be a difference maker.

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Tags: Armanti Edwards, Captain Munnerlyn, Carolina Panthers, Greg Hardy, Jimmy Clausen, Matt Moore

Preview: Carolina Panthers at Baltimore Ravens

The first preseason game is upon us, and with it the end of the drought which is the NFL offseason. Tomorrow night the Panthers travel to Maryland to face the Baltimore Ravens for the first out of two contests between the two teams (the second of which coming in the regular season). Having two games will greatly shape tomorrow’s contest as neither the Panthers, nor the Ravens will be eager to bring or show their ‘A game’.

Ultimately, this means we should see a lot more Jimmy Clausen, Armanti Edwards, Greg Hardy and Eric Norwood… which in my books is a good thing. Along with Brandon LaFell these are the players I’m most excited to see in pads in a game situation.

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Tags: Armanti Edwards, Baltimore Ravens, Brandon LaFell, Carolina Panthers, Dan Connor, Jimmy Clausen, Preseason

72hrs till game one, and the possible return of a familiar face.

With the Dallas Cowboys and Cincinnati Bengals playing a wholly underwhelming ‘Hall of Fame game’ last night, the payoff for Panthers fans is the reminder that Panther football is right around the corner. Thursday night the Panthers play the Baltimore Ravens in the first preseason game of the 2010 season.

I’ll have a breakdown of the game on Wednesday, but here is some more information flowing out of training camp.

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Tags: Carolina Panthers, Jon Beason, Thomas Davis