An autopsy on the Panthers
Posted: Thursday October 29, 1998 12:59 PM
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I saw the Carolina
Panthers for the first time last week. Delinquent of me, I know, since
I like to get as many reads on as many teams as I can, but that's just the
way it's worked out so far. I'll be watching more of them in the second
half of the season, I promise.
Viewing this 0-7 team against Buffalo made me realize what a great player
Sam Mills was. I'll lobby for him heavily when his name comes up
before my fellow Hall of Fame selectors in a few years. What Sam did, even
in his last year when his radar-like instinct for the ball had slipped a
bit, was control the defense. Things were orderly and crisp when little
Sam ran things. Holes were filled, coverages were locked onto, linemen and
linebackers got off their blocks quickly. Sam simply would not permit
sloppiness.
You ask, What about the coaches? Isn't that their job? Ah yes, but
take it from one who has screwed up and been bawled out on the field
itself, there's a difference between a coach's rebuke on the sideline after
the series is over and the curses of a whipper between plays.
Sam was a leader and now there is none. But he was also a big-play
performer, and that, too, is lacking, unless you count Kevin Greene, whose 11
sacks lead the league. Sacks are rare birds. They occur infrequently.
Eleven sacks out of 454 plays run against the Panthers this season means
one for every 41 snaps, and that's not enough to make a difference.
The offensive miseries of the Panthers have been well-documented: banged-up
line, Kerry Collins'
demise, etc. But it's still about middle-of-the-road as NFL offenses go,
whereas the defense, which in the good years set the tone for the whole
operation, has gone south.
Sean Gilbert cost them two No. 1s and $46.9 million for seven years. I
don't know about you, but I just can't handle these numbers. I mean, has
the dollar been devalued, like the ruble? Everyone takes rips at this guy,
just as they do with the Washington firm of Stubblefield &
Wilkinson , but it's not entirely Gilbert's fault. He's playing out of
position. He's a tackle playing a 3-4 end, a very specialized job
requiring different instincts, but most important, technical correctness.
The great 3-4 ends I've seen, such as Lee Roy Selmon and Elvin
Bethea , had one thing in common: Their fundamentals were impeccable.
They have to hold the point, fight the double team, stack up the run.
Penetrating and taking yourself out of position just won't cut it. Many
3-4 teams had anonymous D-linemen. Quick now—who were the Steelers'
front three on their most recent Super Bowl team? Or the Panthers' line
when they faced Green Bay for the NFC title?
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One element missing from the Panthers this year the leadership of Sam Mills Doug Pensinger/Allsport |
Gilbert was a force, a pocket-pusher, when he worked for the Rams and
Redskins, but now he's just a guy who occasionally makes plays but is out
of position a lot. Well, how about when they're in the pass-rush mode and
he's one of four guys up front? Uh-uh. Too tired from all that 3-4
run-stopping.
The Panthers defenders are simply too passive in accepting blocks. I ran
the tape back on Thurman
Thomas' 17-yard TD run outside left tackle in the fourth quarter of the
Buffalo game, because it had looked so easy. Greg Lloyd, the outside
'backer, took an upfield rush and Jay Riemersma, the second
tight end, gave him a little nudge and sent him into space. Gilbert was
playing the outside shoulder of the tackle, John Fina, who still
managed to turn him and hook him to the inside. Micheal Barrow, the inside
'backer who should have been filling, got tied up by the pulling off-side
guard and made no effort to fight through the block. Lloyd, Gilbert,
Barrow, that's three players who have been either All-Pro or very close to
it in their careers—and they were patsies. O.K., Lloyd is not the
player he was before his knee injury, but he's still Carolina's starting
right linebacker.
Doug Evans, a terrific cornerback for Green Bay, is everybody's pigeon
these days. Doug
Flutie went after him Sunday and burned him for two TDs. Yes, Evans is
gutting it out with a big cast on his left hand, but people were picking on
him even before he tore ligaments in his thumb a few weeks ago. At Green
Bay his forte was covering the inside slot receiver when the enemy went two
wideouts to one side, but now he's playing the outside and struggling. Oh
yes, he cost the Panthers $22.5 million this year. Hey, give me some of
that and I'll hire a few of my friends from the Bronx to come in and stop
anything with a heartbeat.
Is it very simplistic of me to suggest that Rocket Ismail should take a
turn or two at returning kicks? Granted, Michael Bates is a Pro
Bowler, but this year he ranks 16th in the league and you could make a case
for the Rocket as the greatest collegiate kick-return man of all time. He
almost won a Heisman returning kicks. He's certainly the best I've ever
seen.
And what's with their draft? At one time the organizational expertise that
put this team together was hailed as the greatest the league had ever seen.
Carolina has had six No. 1s in their history. Only two of them were on the
field last Sunday against the Bills. A professional team is supposed to be
a healthy blend of draft choices and imports, but the Panthers are way out
of whack, loaded with mercenaries. Thirty-nine collegians have been
drafted by this franchise since it opened up shop in '95. Do you know how
many of them were in Sunday's starting 22? Five, only one of whom (rookie
DE Jason Peter) was on
defense.
O.K., that's enough hammering at the poor Panthers, but let's face it, they
are 0-7. My mother used to say, if you can't say something nice
about somebody, etc. (which is why I remained silent for most of my life),
so here comes something nice: Left tackle Blake Brockermeyer,
playing on a badly sprained knee that kept him iffy right up to kickoff,
had the best game at offensive tackle that I've seen this year. He was on
Bruce Smith, naturally,
and it's fashionable to salute tackles who can reasonably survive a day
against this sack machine, but most of the time they're getting lots of
help, and they're doing it with typical NFL O-line slob technique,
engulfing, running him into other people, grabbing on, etc. Brockermeyer,
with minimal assistance, matched quickness with quickness, move with move.
I'm always hard-pressed to find tackles when I'm picking my All-Pro team,
but this guy will be examined carefully. As will the Jets' rookie on
the right side, Jason
Fabini. Jacksonville's Tony Boselli? I liked him
best in his rookie year, before he got so heavy that his drive-block
technique turned into belly-bumping. Yeah, I guess he's effective and all
that, but I wish he'd just use a little technique and really fire out once
in a while.
Again, I'm drifting away from the subject. Which is what happens when
you're old and confused.
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