The Only Positive of the Panther’s Preseason Game Against the Patriots

Carolina’s first two preseason games reminded me of that inevitable moment in any guy’s life where the  hot girl in class is nice, and he gets courage to ask her for her number.  She is naturally nice, and even entertains his phone call. The third game, however, was the call where she told him she just wanted to be friends.  It stings. The euphoria so quickly dashed by a swift kick to the manhood.  That’s pretty much what happened last night at Gillette Stadium, where lady Brady said to Carolina, “kitty cats, aren’t they cute?”

The offensive line played terrible, the run game was non-existent, Cam looked indecisive at times and failed to connect on some easy open looks, the secondary blew coverages and missed tackles, and New England running backs ran through gaping holes left by a gassed defensive line.  On top of that, Greg Hardy re-aggravated his shoulder, Robert Lester sprained his ankle, Cam took a knee to the back, and everyone else who didn’t get hurt played gimpy anyway.  It was a long game, one that the Panthers never looked the least bit in control.

Five Takeaways from Panthers Preseason Victory Over the Chiefs

1) Cam was rusty.

Super Cam’s return didn’t start off so super, completing only 1 of his first 5 passes.  Newton stared down his receivers, had trouble getting through his progressions, threw a ball into triple coverage that miraculously wasn’t intercepted, and missed Kelvin Benjamin deep.  It wasn’t until the second quarter that Newton rebounded after piecing together a drive sparked by Jonathan Stewart’s impressive debut and a sharp pass to new tight end, Ed Dickson. Cam looked unwilling to run, whether by coaches’ orders or personal hesitancy. He evaded a few pass rushes, but to be expected, he never pushed on the gas fully. Cam was clearly a little rusty. The worrisome part, however, is that his ankle looked squeaky also.  Hopefully a few of drops of 3-1 oil will do the trick.  I’m sure Jonathan Stewart has some borrow.

Dawgs Eat in Carolina: Tavarres King's Impressive Debut

I guess it’s destiny for me to like Tavarres King.  He’s a Georgia Bulldog (my wife’s entire family are Georgia alum) and, most importantly, King finds some sort of cosmic significance in  the time 11:11 (this time has an important significance to me as well).  King regularly tweets:

11:11
— Tavarres King (@TKUnoDos) August 8, 2014

5 Quick Observations on 1st Half of Panthers vs Bills

#Panthers #TheresNoTime pic.twitter.com/LUKAsu1otT
— Cat Chronicles (@Cat_Chronicles) August 9, 2014

1) Panthers' front seven is still boss: Carolina's front four ate em up all night.  Kawann Short played particularly well.  Hardy grabbed a sack after Dwan Edwards tied up Buffalo's interior line.  Ealy looked motivated to prove he belongs.  All of this, and Charles Johnson didn't play.  Watch out opposing QB's, Jack Bauer is right--there's no time!!

2) Barner got all the reps at halfback: It looks like the Panthers coaching staff is high on Kenjon Barner again.  He got nearly every carry in the first half and was back there returning kicks.  He did have a dropped pass, which came in a little hot but was a catchable ball.  Even with the added weight, you can tell he is still going to get muscled around out there if he can't use his speed to get it done.