Tag: Carolina Panthers

Former Bears RB Mike Davis claimed off waivers by Panthers

The Panthers claimed former Bears RB Mike Davis off waivers on Monday.

It didn’t take former Chicago Bears running back Mike Davis long to find a new home.

After the Bears waived Davis on Saturday, in order to better secure Chicago a chance at a fourth-round compensatory pick in 2020, he was claimed by the Carolina Panthers, according to NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport.

The Bears signed Davis to a two-year deal worth $6 million this offseason and had high hopes for what he could bring to their offense. Instead, he was placed on the back-burner in favor of rookie running back David Montgomery, who has gotten a bulk of the carries this season.

Davis’ season high of five carries for 19 yards and six receptions for 17 yards came in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers. He had zero offensive snaps in two of his last three games.

In seven games, Davis had just 11 carries for 25 yards and seven catches for 22 yards.

Davis joins a Panthers team led by MVP candidate running back Christian McCaffrey. Rapoport said, “as the season goes on, Carolina may want to make sure Christian McCaffrey is fresh. The addition of Mike Davis helps with that.”

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Panthers submitting Gerald McCoy penalty to the league for clarification

Coach Ron Rivera says he plans to submit the call to the league for clarification, per David Newton at ESPN.

Panthers defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was called for one of the worst roughing the passer penalties in league history on Sunday. His tackle of Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in his own end zone should have resulted in a grounding penalty. Instead, Green Bay got to continue a drive that lasted for the rest of the second quarter, robbing the Panthers of a crucial chance to score before the half.

Coach Ron Rivera says he plans to submit the call to the league for clarification, per David Newton at ESPN.

“Panthers coach Ron Rivera plans to send the controversial third-down roughing the passer penalty called on Gerald McCoy in the end zone with less than 5 minutes left in the first half to the league for clarification.”

McCoy says the officials told him that the flag was thrown because he landed with his full weight on Rodgers. Except that’s the exact opposite of what McCoy did.

If you watch the play, you’ll see he did everything in his power to shift his weight and slide off to the right instead of driving Rodgers into the ground.

Ridiculous.

Hopefully the league admits Jerome Boger’s crew made a mistake, but it won’t help now.

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Ron Rivera says there’s ‘no magic fix’ for Panthers’ run defense problems

Speaking with the media today, head coach Ron Rivera said there’s no magic fix, according to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic.

For a team that prides itself on stopping the run, the Panthers have done an awful job of it this season. Only three NFL teams have allowed more rushing yards per game and the problem seems to be getting worse with each passing week.

On Sunday, the Packers ran all over Carolina, averaging six yards per carry and scoring three touchdowns on the ground. There were other factors in the loss, but that was by far the biggest one.

Speaking with the media today, head coach Ron Rivera said there’s no magic fix, according to Jourdan Rodrigue at the Athletic.

Losing Kawann Short to injured reserve was always going to be a big deal for this defense, even if it didn’t show early on.

You can’t blame Rivera for Short’s absence, but he hasn’t done enough to make adjustments in the two months since he’s been out. One thing he should consider is abandoning his 3-4 looks, which aren’t working when it comes to stopping the run. The front seven (especially inside linebacker Luke Kuechly) seem to constantly be out of position.

Switching back to a 4-3 may or may not fix things, but Rivera has to consider that and anything else that might help.

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NFC South Week 10 review: Falcons flip the script, stun Saints

Here’s our review of what happened around the division this week.

The Saints have been the team to beat in the NFC South for the last two and a half seasons. On Sunday though they suffered a huge collapse at home against the Falcons. So, maybe they aren’t quite as indestructible as everyone had thought.

Here’s our review of what happened around the division this week.

Saints (7-2) lost to Falcons (2-7), 26-9

Nobody saw this one coming. New Orleans had a six-game win streak going coming into Week 10 and Atlanta appeared to be dead in the water. The Falcons defense flipped the script, holding the Saints to just nine points in a stunning upset. They were dominated in the trenches – a normally flawless offensive line allowed Drew Brees to get sacked six times and Latavius Murray and Alvin Kamara combined for just 36 yards on the ground. The division leaders also saw Marshon Lattimore suffer a hamstring injury. The Saints will try to rebound at Tampa Bay next week.

Panthers (5-4) lost to Packers (8-2), 24-16

The Saints’ surprise loss gave Carolina a golden opportunity to close ground in the NFC South race. The Panthers squandered it, though. Two turnovers by Kyle Allen certainly didn’t help, but it was more excruciating run defense that truly lost this matchup. With defensive tackle Kawann Short on IR and unavailable, Ron Rivera needs to consider taking drastic measures to turn things around, including abandoning his new 3-4 scheme.

Buccaneers (3-6) beat Cardinals (3-6-1), 30, 27

Kyler Murray and Jameis Winston put on a show Sunday, combining for 682 total passing yards. Winston’s threw two more interceptions, though and wasn’t nearly as efficient as the No. 1 overall pick. Nevertheless, the Bucs came out on top, boosted by a second consecutive big game from Ronald Jones II. He totaled 106 yards from scrimmage and a touchdown. Beating Arizona and their awful defense at home is nothing special, though. Call us when they get a secondary.

Falcons (2-7) find a spark vs. Saints (7-2), 26-9

Dan Quinn finally made a real change this week: he switched up his coaching staff and abandoned defensive play-calling duties in favor of linebackers coach Jeff Ulbrich. The impact was immediate. Atlanta’s defense played better than it has in a long time, especially their front seven. Grady Jarrett remains the centerpiece, but Vic Beasley finally stepped up and produced. Together, they totaled four sacks and seven quarterback hits. The Falcons’ victory came at a cost, though. Devonta Freeman and Austin Hooper both suffered injuries and could be out a while. They’ll visit the Panthers next.

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Panthers coach Ron Rivera’s inconsistent use of analytics is confusing

Rivera needs to make a choice.

Ron Rivera decided to go for two.

If it had been successful, the Packers’ lead would have been cut to just six points, bringing Carolina that much closer to a thrilling comeback win. Panthers fans would be sharing Riverboat Ron memes and praising the genius and daring of their coach, who understands how the modern game works and isn’t afraid to use analytics to his advantage.

The two-point conversion attempt didn’t work out. So instead, Panthers fans are calling him foolish and worse. The thing is Rivera made the right call – at least if you believe in numbers. That time, anyway.

The result isn’t always going to be there. The process is what matters. The more times you make the correct decision, the more often you will reap the benefits.

That’s what makes Rivera’s inconsistent use of analytics so frustrating.

Rivera set the wrong tone for the game on the very first drive, when he decided to punt on 4th and 3 inside Packers territory. Given the way last week’s win over the Titans went, it was a baffling decision, made all the more confusing by Rivera’s post-game comments when he talked about the decision to go for two, per the Athletic.

“Yes, that was purely analytics, 100 percent. . . If you don’t get it there, you get an opportunity to go for two again. We feel pretty good about the play we had called the first time, and we felt good about having the second one up. It’s most certainly something where we went ahead and followed the analytics of it.”

“Following the analytics of it” is what winning teams do, but in the next breath Rivera changed course and talked about his gut feelings and game flow.

Last week, Rivera’s instincts told him to go for it on two separate fourth downs against the Titans. Or maybe it was the analytics. It’s hard to tell when there’s no clear method of operating. In any case, after that win, several players remarked on how much confidence Rivera’s aggressive decisions gave them.

What were they to think when Rivera punted away inside Green Bay’s territory to begin the game?

For all the talk about Kyle Allen’s poise and grit and leadership ability, not trusting him to get three yards there when the analytics say otherwise and Allen’s opening drive looked strong doesn’t inspire confidence and raises questions about Rivera’s own leadership.

The Panthers have an analytics department, which they announced without much fanfare in June. We must assume that Taylor Rajack and whoever else works in that department get paid real money to do their jobs. David Tepper can afford it, in any case. Since the franchise is paying for it, they might as well put it to use on the field.

Rivera needs to make a choice.

Either the analytics trump his gut feelings and the “situation” or they don’t. This mix and mash he’s got going on is only going to lead to confusion and more of those infamous missed opportunities.

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