This week, I'm a Happy half Hour.
This is not all Bryce Shunk's fault.
Bryshung was thrown into a ridiculous situation a year ago. I think it's reasonable to consider that that did some damage to him. And when this year got off to as bad a start as you could imagine on that first pass play in New Orleans, it just kept spiraling.
Touch the cow ro.
It's time for the Happy Half Hour, presented by Southern Star, an official bourbon of the Carolina Panthers. Here are your hosts, Darren Gant and Cassidy Hill.
Hello friends, and welcome back to another episode of the Happy Half Hour. Happy half Hour, of course, brought to you by our friends at Southern Star and official bourbon partner the Carolina Panthers. Celebrate the spirit with Southern Star responsibly. What are we going to talk about this week, CASTI I don't know.
There's nothing to talk about. I will say that was one of the most docile Hello friends you've given in a while. Like do you need a cup of coffee?
Yeah?
I need many cups of coffee.
There's a lot happening around here, so I need to keep my blood pressure up to the pace of life right now. So, yeah, there's there's some stuff going on. I'm trying one or two things.
Yeah, I'm trying on my gym nance golf.
Boys.
See if I like it, someday become a golf announcer.
That's going to make me taken out.
I think, after fifty some odd years of trying to ignore golf and remove it from my life, that might be a curious career change.
But here we are.
You know, I had a teacher in college, one of my sports journalism teachers, tell me that from a broadcasting and journalistic point of view, golf was the toughest sport to cover because everything was happening simultaneously on eighteen holes at one time.
Yeah, I guess.
I mean, if you want to watch all the niblicks and every thing, and people hitting nine irons into the sandtrack, you know, I don't know. I'm more of a storyteller when it comes to this kind of thing rather than describing the action of a golf shot. But anyway, we didn't come here to talk about golf, though, did we. I wish we could what we're talking about instead. Perhaps you've heard the Carolina Panthers have a new quarterback, this week.
Andy Dalton will start this week against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Andy eras beginning. It does not have an expiration date. No deadlines have been put on this thing, no proclamations have been made. They just needed to make a change, and they needed to make one right at that moment. You could tell from listening to Dave Canalis on Monday that this was not something they did lightly.
You don't move on from.
A guy you drafted first overall eighteen games ago without a reason to do so. And I mean, Matt, just queue up the first bit of tape. I mean Dave's initial response to making this change, more so than the words itself. Listen to the tone of Dave Canalis's voice.
After yesterday, just went home, watched the film, had some conversations with coaches, with Dan Brandt, so had to gather a lot of information through this morning and made that decision after looking at it, that this is the best decision for our group, for our team going forward.
That was not a man who necessarily wanted to do this thing right.
And I think too, if you watch him, if you were sitting in the room, if you go back and you watch the video, you could just see from his face, especially considering what Dave canalis, you know, his personality and attitude, what it's usually like. I don't think he slept Sunday night when he said he went home and watched the tape. I think that's all he did from the moment he got home until the moment he walked back into the
building on Monday morning. And you know, tape doesn't lie, and I think he saw enough there to think this is a change that we need to make, at least for the time being, for the best of everyone, for the best of Bryce, for the best of the rest of the team, for the best of the coaches, for the best of the game plan. Like you said, there's no for sure date on when this might end, if Bryce might come back, but for the time being, it was a change that had to be made, according to Dave Panellis.
Yeah, and listen, I mean the results were not good. They're making this change, and Dave kept saying over and over, this is about the Raiders. This is about having the best chance to beat the Raiders. And it's hard to accept, you know, the logical mind kind of rebels that the idea of a thirty six year old backup quarterback giving you a better chance to win a game than a guy you invested so heavily in acquiring not all that
long ago. But when you watch the way Bryce has played in the last couple of weeks, and again, I want to be careful to say, because there's a lot of piling on in a lot of different directions this week, this is not all Bryce Young's fault. Bryce Young was thrown into a ridiculous situation year ago. I think it's reasonable to consider that that did some damage to him.
And when this year got off to as bad a start as you could imagine on that first pass play in New Orleans, it just kept spiraling and it kept getting worse and worse, and sometimes you just need to
take a guy out of that situation. I was having a conversation with Jake Delom the other day and we were talking about the time period when his elbow was starting to let go before he needed Tommy John surgery, and Jake had some rough outings in a row, and I remember remarking at the time, does somebody need to get Jake in out of the rain? And I think, to me, that's what this looks like. This is a chance for Bryce Young to reset. It's a chance for
Bryce Young to get his feet back underneath him. Take a breath. You know, they did some things this offseason to make his life easier. The protection has been better,
there are more targets, but he hasn't been himself. I mean, if you go back to the game he played on Christmas Eve, your very first game covering the Carolina Anthers, he goes for about three bills against the Packers, thirty some odd points, and he's thrown for furner and fifty one yards and scored thirteen points since then, So something was obviously wrong.
I think something might have even changed even between training camp and that first season. I'm that first week because you go back and you watch that joint practice with the Jets, and I know you can't hang your hat on just one day, but that was a really good day for Bryce Young, and it seemed to be he seemed to have it to move the ball to kind of nowhere to go to not be afraid to make
those throws. That's what they wanted when they drafted him, and that's what they're looking for on the field, and right now, maybe not.
We haven't seen it.
I mean I'm saying from that from the just that joint.
Practice, oh yeah, yeah yeah. I mean it's you can't.
You can't hang your entire future on one joint.
Practice, right, and you you've got to do it in live action.
I mean, and that's why all the people who were a poplectic about preseason snaps, thank you. I word for a living. People who were all up in arms about preseason snaps or this, that or the other. I mean, there's no I was talking to Theling about it the other night out after the game, and I basically asked, Adam, how do you how can you explain him looking so polished in that joint practice, setting him looking so polished in Buffalo, and then what he's done out on the
field the last couple of weeks. And Adam just said, man, it's different, he said, And until you're in the NFL, until you get those snaps, you're not going to recognize those differences. And you know, it's not that Bryce Shun can't keep up with speed of the game. He obviously can. Look at what he did in Alabama. He was, you know, to the comeback when at Auburn, I mean or against Auburn, you don't do those kind of things if you're not
seeing it. You don't do those kind of things if you can't process, if you can't understand, if you can't apply. And he did all that, but it's just for whatever reason, hasn't worked out for the last four games he's been on on the field. And I just think it's a possible benefit for him in the long term because it's taking him out of a situation where he's not getting any positive feedback.
Right And to quote Josh Lyman from one of our favorite shows we play with Live Ammo around here, And if that's the case, then maybe he just needs to have a little bit of time to learn how to protect himself better.
I think so, and I mean, listen again, I would be stunned if this is the last we ever see of Bryce Shong as starting quarterback in the NFL. Too many other guys who've done a whole lot less get more chances. We've seen redemption arcs from guys like Matt Stafford, from guys like Jared Goff, from guys like Baker Mayfield.
You know, Sam.
Darnold's playing pretty well from Minnesota right now. Call me again in Week eight and let's see if it's still holding up. I mean, I like Sam as well as any football player who's ever walked through the door. But Sam's had sustainability problems throughout his career. But it looks good right now. So I mean, Bryce is inevitably going to get another chance, But for the moment, Dave Canal has kept saying the best chance they've got is Andy Dalton.
And I mean, just listening to Andy this week, if there is a if there is a way to project calm and to project normal, Andy's doing it. I mean, he is obviously excited to get another chance. But if you just listen to him talk about getting this opportunity, even though he's excited about his chance to play, hearing him describe it sounds just about as anadyne as possible.
You know, I'm really excited for this opportunity. You know, when I came here, I wasn't sure if I was going to get another opportunity to start again, and so I'm I'm really looking forward to it. I'm excited about what's what's ahead. And you know, it's a it's a tough situation. I've been on both sides of it and it's not hard. I mean, it's hard on everybody, so but for me, I'm I mean, I'm looking.
Forward to it. And you know, sometimes that's just what you need when you need to settle down your whole team. You need, for lack of a better word, and adult in the room. And that's what Andy Dalton brings. At thirty six years old, he's seen a lot of football. Walking into that Raider stadium and facing Max Crosby is
not going to make him blink one bit. I mean, this is a guy that's three to oh and his starts against the Raiders and his last time facing Max Crosby, Crosby had twenty nine pass rush snaps got and registered zero pressures on one Andy Dalton. A lot of that probably has to do his offensive line too, but he went I think like twenty for twenty seven against him in those pass rush snaps. So somebody who's not going to be faced by someone like Crosby, someone who who
can project confidence in the huddle. And not to say that Bryce hasn't done that, but like we said, Andy thirty six years old, he's been playing in the NFL since twenty eleven. That carries with it an intrists in trust and respect.
Yeah, and he does. He has a calming effect. And one of the things as I look over the scope of this franchise's history, Andy Dalton's got a lot in common with cats like Jake Delom and cats like Steve Berlin who came in here in their thirties and played some pretty good football at times, and especially Steve back in the early years. Steve walked into some weird situations
in ninety six. You know, he had to step in when Carrie was hurt for a little bit, He had to step in when Carrie stepped away from the team. At a different point, he had to play for a coach and George Seaffert who did not want him and played pretty well at times. I mean, there are a lot of Steve Berline highlights that people remember very fondly, and Andy's got that same kind of quality that regular.
That normal, let's do normal football things.
And if you think about what Dave Canalis has been talking about since he walked in the door, it's it's always amused me that when you get pigeonholed as oh he's an offensive guy, people expect sixty passes game. Mike Martz Greatest Show on turf kind of stuff. What Dave Canalis has been promising is a very traditional, hey, let's run the ball, let's be physical upfront, let's dictate the pace that way, and when we take our shots, take them downfield. I mean, if you didn't know better, you
would think that was Dan Henning talking. And Dan Henning is eighty three years old, not Dave Canalis. So I just think that because of what Dave wants to do offensively, Andy might be the antidote for the entire team right now, just because he can settle things down, he can lower the temperature on this thing and get them back.
On a more normal footing.
I think getting under center, turn around handed to Cuba and Miles Sanders twenty five thirty times, and hitting some play action shots downfield might be the difference this team needs right now.
Speaking of the play action shots, Dountfield something that Andy has done well his time. I mean, this is also a guy that played with Aj Green. You know, he's he knows how to take advantage of a downfield receiver. It almost makes me wonder if we'll see I don't want to use the word exotic, but maybe just a little bit more swirliness to the offense. But it's actually a real word from one of my favorite podcasts. But I say it's a real word. Shakespeare made up wards
all the time. Don't lay off anyways.
Effectively, all words are made up.
All words are made up. They're all just a collection
of twenty six letters. Anyways, it makes me wonder if you'll see a little more swirliness, just because Andy's experience allows him to maybe diagnose some of these defenses a little quicker, and you know, and maybe instead of spread out, we'll see a little more stacked formations, a little more bunch formations, just something to kind of throw the Raiders off a little bit, because you know, you've got somebody that's been back there for fourteen seasons now and can
kind of recognize us some disguises in the defense.
And the recognition is another piece of this. And I want Matt to play another Andy Dalton clip. I mean, he talked about very specifically the benefit of being fourteen years in the league because it's going to.
Be hard to surprise him.
I mean, there are things that the Raiders can do, obviously to create problems, but I doubt they're going to show him anything he's never seen before.
Yeah, I mean, I just think I've seen a ton of defensive schemes. I've seen a ton of different ways that teams have played, and so there's times where you see something you're like, oh, I remember that from my time in since here. I remember that, Oh Baltimore did this, and it may be is something similar to what another team does. So I mean I think there's things like
that just on pulled from my experience. But I think just the way you process things now versus being early on in my career, and he can process things a lot faster and focus on other things because you're not worried about some of the small details of it all.
So yeah, when you refer, oh, yeah I did that in since he Yeah, Baltimore did that one time. I mean that's just the benefit he brings that recognition, and again, I think it opens some things up. The other thing and you missed this delightful game but out in Seattle last year. And he's also got some yellow to him. He has he has been willing to go up over the top. He's still i mean, for his career, he's still got a more than a hu hundred more touchdowns
than he does interception. So he's been pretty careful with the ball, but he'll take shots now. Last year in Seattle, he also threw it fifty eight times, which is probably more than you want to throw in any particular game. But he also hit eight passes of fifteen yards or more downfield, so including some big ones. I mean he hit the bomb to DJ Chark goes about forty seven. I think think Uh for a touchdown. I mean he's
got that in him. He's always had a good deep arm, and I think that's going to be music to the ears of cats like Mingo Le you get Uh and Deonta and Adam. I mean they're not straight downfield runners, but leg It is a go get it kind of receiver, and so having somebody like that to offer it up to.
Him downfield can only help this offense.
So you were almost you were almost down to the number. He has one hundred and two more touchdowns than interceptions. Yeah, it's impressive.
Yeah, when big numbers it's like two forty something something.
Yeah, wow, that's one hundred.
I don't know, do you know where my keys are? Did I lock my home when I live this morning?
But you know how many more touchdowns Andy Delta.
Yeah, my brain is a weird and scary place, so.
Anyway, it is going to be fascinating to see how that comes together.
That Seattle game too, a game that I do regret having not been at. I've never been to Seattle. I want to go. I feel like I need to go to the original Starbucks to complete my white girl pilgrimage, and so that needs to happen one day. I've always wanted to see a game there too, just to see that.
As you'll be surprised by this, I walked into Starbucks one yeah, one trip to Seattle, and I ordered a medium coffee black. I refuse to say the silly Starbucks words.
When tall means small.
I am not playing your reindeer games. Okay, give me coffee in a medium sized cup. No, I do not want space for other stuff in it. I want more caffeine. That's why I drink the coffee.
Have you ever seen You've Got Mail? Ah? Yes, it has a whole die tribe about people that are trying to order too much at Starbucks when really it should just be tall DCAF cappuccino. But even that's the word. That's one of the starbucksers point being in that Seattle game as well. One of the storylines that I think came out of it was Dalton's connection with Adam Thelen. I want to say they connected eleven times for about one hundred and thirty five yards in a touchdown something
like that. That's something that I think is a lot to do with the fact that these are two veteran guys that no defenses, that know what they're facing, and that let me go back to the Monday Night football game this week when Kirk Cousins ran that flawless two
minute drill. Something that Peyton Manning said on the Manning Cast was when you're someone that has seen enough football like Kirk Cousins, sometimes moments like these are the easiest because you're not trying to necessarily get back into the playbook. You just you're doing what you know to do as a football player. And part of me wonders if that's what came out of the Dalton to feeling connection and if that's something that could show itself again on Saturday.
You know, when you're trying to settle things down like Dave Canalis and you're trying to just okay, let's just take what they give us, and let's run the ball, and let's see what we've got and move down the field. You've now got two guys in Dalton and Thiland who just who know what it means to play football, If that makes sense, yep, and with aren't trying to overthink it, and so I can't help but imagine that's a connection we're going to see get taken advantage of again on Sunday.
Yep, we will see. It's going to be fascinating. We've spent all this time talking about offense, which is what happens when teams change quarterbacks in Week three. And I am going to tell you one thing for sure, it's too soon to start talking about the long term, what this means for Bryce, what it means for the team, what it means for the anything. And I will tell you if you try to send me draft questions to
the mail bag, you will be ignored. I am issuing right now, a draft moratorium until Halloween, no draft questions until November. I will not participate. So if what you're dying to know about is what I think of Shadar Sanders and Carson, is that his name?
The one at Georgia.
Yeah, okay, and then there's Quinn somebody at Texas. Yeah yeah, there you go. I know the college football names apparently, and there are many more. But I ain't talking about him in the mail bagg It's too soon for that. There is another side of the ball to worry about this week. I don't think run defense is going to
be the same concern it was last week against the Chargers. Obviously, the Raiders don't have Jim Harbaugh and they don't have the same kind of backfield, and that's a good thing because the Carolina Panthers are running out of guys up front. Shy Tuttle did not practice yesterday. Ashaan Robinson didn't practice on Wednesday, but he was at least on the property out there on the practice field, so we'll see if
he gets back out there. But if you go into a game without obviously Derek Brown, who was lost for the year in Week one, if Shy is not able to bounce back and play this week, you would not want to play the Chargers without those two cats.
They've got some guys who can fill in well.
Lebrian Ray, Nick Thurman jumped in and played a lot of snaps last year after being training camp tryouts. Jaden Peebee was not on the roster at the beginning of training camp, showed up in middle August and has impressed some people as a guy who can help them out in a lot of ways. And they go out and bring back Deshaun Williams, who was here a year ago, and we saw him Buffalo a couple of weeks ago and he was very happy to see us when he walked back in the door. So they're still sorting things
out defensively. The run defense is hopefully not going to be as big of a concern this week, but Gardner Minshew and DeVante Adams have made some plays.
Yeah, they have. And you know, to the point about the run defense, we talked to a Jerre Evro today and he said, you know, I know that they haven't necessarily had the success the first two weeks that they would want to on the ground, but I fully expect Piers to continue to run it. Pierce being the head coach,
Piers to continue to want to run the ball. And so that's something that we're expecting and you have you have to expect it in some way because you know, if you devote too much attention down field to Davonte Adams, to Brock Bauers, You're gonna leave the middle of the field wide open. And so you do have to still be stout there because Zamir White is not a second rate back. He can be a really good back if
given the chance and given the grass. But that being said, you are going in there and you're facing one of, if not the best wide receiver of our generation and something that you know, even Evro called him today, he said he's he's one of the best wide I think he's his exact words were, arguably the best receiver of his generation. You know, one of the best get off guys in the NFL. And it's gonna be interesting to see if they, you know, do they pair JC with
him the whole time? Do they kind of move guys around, because now you've also got to deal with brock Bauers, you know, one of the better rookie tight ends in the league, and somebody that has found a groove with Gardner Minshew as well. I think if you look at the first two weeks, Gardner Minshew's around sixty percent of his passes have been to those two guys. So you know that's where they're going. You know that's who they're
going to depend on. And I covered Gardner Minshew long enough to know that he's always got a little bit of Minshew magic to him. He's such a wild card, Darren. You never know week to week which you're gonna get from this guy on the field or off the field.
I was gonna say, is this where me Ma and Ninja's swords come into play?
Here?
He's gonna go full Samurai on us at something point.
Yeah, you never know. And you talk about a yolo mentality, that is someone who lives his life by yolo mentality.
And I thought it was perfect when he was in Jacksonville because if there was ever a Duval.
Spirit, it was Gardner Minshew.
But him as a raider, I mean, I don't think he's he's certainly not as accomplished, but he's got some Ken Stabler energy about him.
That young man.
Yeah, that didn't fit to be with the cults, like his vibe didn't fit with the Colts vibe.
No, he is not Midwestern wholesome family values. I would not say so anyway. Hey, speaking of things that are not Midwestern wholesome family values, you had me listen to another one m Taylor Swift songs this week. That girl's got some problems, all right, She's been through a lot, She's seen some things.
Although I think the song I had you listen to was not one of her autobiographical songs, that one.
Of her narratives, I would hope not, because that song IVY is about some messed up stuff.
Actually inspired by Emily Dickinson.
I was gonna say.
I mean, I did not know that, but I remember writing down in my notes somewhere Taylor Swift is Emily Dickinson in Red Lipstick.
You know what's so funny that you said that and made that connection. That song is inspired by Emily Dickinson and they are related. That is one of her ancestors.
I did not know that.
Yeah, really, yeah.
That makes sense.
It tracks because she's you know, I my only and I'll admit I'm not as fifty benny stretch of the imagination.
As you are aware.
But I thought she was kind of a poppy singing songs about feeling good and things and love and happiness and all that kind of stuff.
And now she got it and she got a dark side to her.
That one That's why I started with these two songs for you, because you are a storyteller at heart, and those are actually, She's got some other girlies, great storyteller ones. These are not even her storyteller songs.
I think much in the way last week when I had you listen to Ponto and Lefty the towns Van's ant classic, and you came back and said.
Did Lefty sell him out?
I'm starting to think Taylor might have had something going on with another fella there in that Ivy song.
I like Ivy because it is it is layered metaphors. From the opening line, it's nothing but metaphors, and you can kind of get something. Everybody who listens to it
gets something different from it. But the first line of the chorus says, my pain fits in the palm of your freezing hand, and like the day, the day that I figured out that means the pain represents the wedding ring that the other one's wearing, because it's about somebody who is married to a guy but in love with someone else, and it's told from the perspective of the wife who's in love with someone else, and so the pain is the wedding ring, and it fits into the
palm of her lover's hand. Yeah, Yeah, that one's a good one.
And I gave you such a happy song.
I told you to go with shovels and wrote Mary Anne and One Eyed Dan an upbeat number.
I am a fan of any song that starts with a paunchy banjo like that and as it did, and that takes me along on a journey and tells a story as that one did as well. Yeah, that's one of those that I can imagine sitting around a fire and somebody plucking that out and everybody kind of singing along. I'm a fan of any storytelling songs such as that. Yeah, I really really enjoyed that one.
Will make you a shovels and rope fan. I reserve the right to withhold judgment on Taylor Swift until I hear something that's actually happy. But anyway, speaking of music, and we're gonna take this, we'll we'll work on recommendations for next week. In a second, the big news today coming out of Bank of America Stadium.
Oh my gosh, Metallica is coming.
You sound like a commercial for it.
Saturday May thirty.
First, my friends, come see Metallica and me at Bank of America Stadium because I'm gonna be right down there in the middle of it all. I've been waiting for this show for so long, and so the ability to see Metallica and Pantera right here in this very building, that's gonna be a sight. We're gonna We're gonna be on one that night. You a big Metallica fan.
I could not gun to my head name you a Metallica.
That is extremely disappointing. I'm not I may assign you double listening this week just to go through the entire Kill Them All album. I told podcast Matt before we got started here today, when I become a Major League Baseball relief pitcher, my walk up music is going to be the Four Horsemen.
Uh, there's still time, right Matt.
Matt's giving me the thumbs up. He thinks I could come in bring it Rob Dibble style. I don't know, but I'm going to give.
You required listening. You do have to go listen to the entire Metallica Kill Them All album?
Your album? Yeah, what kind of time you think I got? You know, I got a demanding boss.
I've heard I've heard you talk about what you watch on TV. You got time to listen to some Metallica.
Hey, Secret Loves of Mormon Wives was required viewing.
Yeah, I think the secret.
I think the Mormon wives could stand to listen to a little Pantera in Metallica too. It ain't like it's gonna rattle them and cause them to do something ill advice.
You said, Pantera pan Tara.
I mean think about it. The Caroll and Tara. They're from Texas though, so it's just count Yeah.
The people that wrote Sweet Home, Alabama were from Jacksonville.
Rip Down Back, Darryl Pantero is still getting it done. It is going to be quite a show. May thirty, first Saturday night. Come see James and Lars and Kirk and the boys and me because I am going to be out in there, probably sitting on top of the speakers. When I saw him at Charlotte Coliseum a couple of years back, before the pandemic, I was.
Like four rows off the rail. Did some permanent hearing damage.
Then, guys, Daron, please wear head please her aphone.
Yeah, my wife, who's smart and responsible in a doctor, made me take earplugs and that lasted for about half a song.
And I know you can hear them sing better when you wear the earplugs.
Nope, I'm gonna take the full sonic assault right here in my ear holes.
And it was amazing.
So looking forward to Metallica. If you only have to enjoy one song, the Four Horsemen is what you is what you you have to enjoy. But I could give you, I could give you recommendation after recommendation on this one.
Is that my homework for the week.
Yeah?
No, that'll be your homework for the week. So what do you got from me?
You asked for a happy song. By God, I'm gonna give you a happy Taylor Swift song.
It is called paper Rings, Paper Rings.
It is from the Lover album.
All right, I'll listen to Paper Rings, you'll listen to Metallica. We'll watch the Panthers and the Raiders, see what Andy Dalton does, and we'll come back and talk to you you about it all next week on the Happy Half Hour.