The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly: Week 2

The Carolina Panthers are 2-0. That is great news for Panthers fans. Honestly we have not payed our best game yet and still managed to win. That is the sign of a good team. In the wins we have had some players that were good, some that were bad and some just plain ugly. This will be what this post covers from week: 2 vs the Houston Texans. 

The Good- 

Cam ooooohhhhh Cam!!! When you have the God given talent Cam possesses at certain points in the season you just have to put the team on your back and carry them to a win. That was the case Sunday. We saw it all from him. Rushing, throwing, diving, all his abilities were on full display today in Charlotte. Sure there were some really bad throws but he was able to do enough for this team to pull out the win. In this league winning is what matters. 

Cam completed just under 50% of his passes for 195 yards and managed to toss a 25 yard strike to Ted Ginn (he actually caught it) and a 36 yard strike to Philly Brown ( he made a nice catch too). He carried the ball 10 times for 76 yards and a score. This is when Cam is at his best. He can hurt you with the ball in the air or by carrying the ball from the pocket. This is what Cam is capable of week to week. 

Many, many kudos go out to the offensive line and how well they played today. Cam should take them all out to a nice steak dinner. 

 

The Bad-  

The bad can certainly be made better. We are stuck with receivers who occasionally lose focus and will drop an easily catchable ball. We saw what can happen when receivers do their job and catch the ball. If we can become more consistent with catching the throws Cam gets on target the better this offense will flow. This is something I believe will improve as the season progresses.       

 

The Ugly- 

I thought the ugly today was all the penalties committed by Carolina. 10 penalties for 92 yards. That was just awful. Some committed at the worst possible time. Kony Ealy had consecutive penalties called on him that were flat out bone headed. 

He hit Texans QB Ryan Mallett way after he had released the ball for a roughing the passer call that led to a first down. Of course he did it on a crucial third down play. Then right afterward he lined up offsides. These little things can make such a big difference. We have not played our best football yet and we don’t need to hurt ourselves with stupid penalties. Our saving grace was the Texans were charged with 10 of their own penalties for 70 yards. We must clean this up, because if we do this against better disciplined teams it will cost us the game.

The Panthers have won 2 games with several starters and 1st round draft picks missing. When these guys get back out onto the field, lookout because we will be trouble. Both the defense and the offense have yet to find a rhythm. It is coming and when it does NFL fans will finally give us the credit we deserve…. Nah who am I kidding, we never get any respect.
All we can do is KEEP POUNDING!