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we're here for you too, whenever you need us. It's time for a Happy Half Hour with your friends Kristin Balboni, Miles Simmons and Will Bryan. It's that time of the week, the Happy Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins with your friends Kristen, Will and Miles and Kristin. Mr Jenkins told me his plumbers in a c text see really where Panthers jerseys under their uniforms. When you're plumbing or air conditioning is acting up? Call Morris Jenkins or visit
Morris Jenkins dot com. It was a great read. Miles, thank you say that. You just turned on the extra, the extra charm, the extra almost like an announcer voice, and I really liked it. Well, you know what, Mr Jenkins tells me something I gotta tell the people, you absolutely do. Um, I think we should tell the people the latest as we know it. I'm sure fans want to know, um, what's going on here at the facilities. They were shut down, UM to football operations the team
Monday and Tuesday. It is now Wednesday morning. Miles, you're probably the best person to to give us the latest. Yeah, what was interesting is that everything was sort of done out of an abundance of caution. And when you think about Monday in Tuesday as football days, really what they are are big days for game planning and for review for coaches. So players come in usually on Monday and they will go over the film in different things like that.
But instead everybody was home on Monday. Ah. The Panthers did place a player on the COVID nineteen list. It's Michael Scofield as the second player in the last week. Tyler Larson, backup center, also went on last week. But it does not appear that there is some sort of outbreak right. There are only two players that have gone on it in the last week, and that means that the protocols are working. Um so the Panthers were in intensive protocol after a player on the Falcons tested positive
and went on the COVID nineteen list. We all know that. So as long as you keep the cases isolated, which is what the Panthers are trying to do by implementing all of the things that they've done, then we can continue to see football on Sundays, Mondays and Thursdays. So so far, that's what's happened. As Christ and as you said, Panthers are back in the building as of Wednesday. They're going to practice Wednesday afternoon and we will go from there.
But as of right now, everything seems to be running as it should, and of course it will keep you updated on social media if if anything changes this week. Also, you forgot, well you forgot Tuesday's football. We're seeing Tuesdays now. I'm ready for Wednesday night football. Well that but I said to I mean, I missed Tuesday because that we're
not supposed to have football on Tuesday. Like as much as I loved having Tuesday night football last week, it was weird because it was because the you know, we had virus everywhere, So I don't know, not to not to undermine the situation, but can you just say Tuesday one more time? Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. Can we can we have a quick referendum on a double header Monday night football. I kind of like it. I enjoyed it. We just replaced Thursday night football with a double header on Monday.
I think that everybody, I think players probably would be in favor of everyone would be for their bodies. Yeah, or what about well, this is not better, It is not better for players. Um schedule wise, I wasn't say, what about one less Sunday game, you know, like one less Sunday one o'clock game, But then that's not good
for the players. So now I've long been a proponent of changing the schedule to make it a little bit more balanced, so that, you know, we don't have all these one o'clock Sunday games and then it becomes four o'clock and it's the witching hour, and it's great, but then you only have two games in the four o'clock window. What's that about that was bad? Was that last week or it was last week there were only two games.
There was the to a game where he got in for and now he's a starting quarterback because he played the Jets. Uh No, I think there's more to it. And then there was also Aaron Rodgers getting clawbered by Tampa Bay, which is an interesting result. There two memorable games though, for sure. Well yeah, I mean I think so, you know, to starting Aaron Rodgers, we haven't mentioned the game that we covered guys at all. You let us down this well, come on, now, you let us down
this road. Yeah, and now you're like, guys, get back into shape over here, Like, what are we doing in the fact that the Panthers lost six team, I didn't think we needed to address it. This is on the Panthers podcast network or anything. I frankly don't even remember what you're talking about. Yes, the Panthers looked like they were in position to make a comeback in the fourth quarter against the Bears at home on Sunday, but ultimately
fell short. Um some mistake, some missed opportunities, some self inflicted wounds. Um, And uh, I mean, and that's that. So I thought instead of doing our typical recap, which which we can do, Miles, if you're gonna get I don't want to short train. I don't want I don't want to mess up anything else. I just you know,
I just thought we could never mess it up. But instead of doing our our typical recap, I want to play a game with you guys, because you know, I think as three people for people including podcast Matt, that are plugged into, um, everything going on with the Panthers every day. I mean, and this is something that always happens. But you see a shift in the tone of people and what they have to say about the team after a loss versus after the third straight win. Right, mistakes
come to the forefront. People are concerned about things, um and uh, you know, still the same team that just won three straight games. So I have a list of things. We're gonna play an over under game over or under. That was an overreaction. So I'm gonna give you, um a common reaction or narrative after last week's game, and you're gonna tell me if you think it's an overreaction, an underreaction, or an appropriate reaction, like yeah, like how worried are you really about some of these things? Or
how high are you on some of these things? Okay, let's go alright. First one, red zone woes are a big issue for this team. Oh An appropriate reaction. Yes, look, I mean if you if you can't score in the red zone, and let's be honest that that Bears defense
is really really good. Um, And I think one of the things that was the most interesting about the red zone offensive woes, if you will, was that Teddy Bridgewater constantly had to scramble once the Panthers got down there into the red zone, and that was because the coverage was so good by the Bears. He really did not have many options. And when you're talking about the Bears pass rush too, they always can get pressure with four so that means you got to kind of step up
in the pocket and see what you can do. And once he starts running, they close really really quickly. I thought that the most interesting play was that zone read that they tried to run and Kyle Fuller, you know, instead of going off to the running back like pretty much everybody else on the defense, that he stayed with his assignment on the zone read, which was the quarterback, and he ends up flipping Teddy Bridgewater over and instead of a walk in touchdown, that thing is stopped for
a one yard game. So look, part of your offensive woes in the red zone are your opponent like that is probably the best red zone defense that there is a league right now, exactly, So at the same time, you still have to get better exactly. I think there are things on this list, and this is why I
wanted to do it. I think I think it's fun to kind of say, Okay, these are the things that are actually, um, worrying going into the rest of the season, or things that need to be addressed, and then these are just reactions to this game and a very good Bears defense. I think in this case, it is something that we've seen, um before, you know it, it's been an issue before this game, before facing this very good
Bears red zone defense. So I think it's an appropriate reaction to say, oh, yeah, that's a that's something that's got to be cleaned up immediately. I also think it's weird, not weird, but after each game it feels like the guys like, Yep, we're gonna focus on this in practice,
We're gonna work on this in practice. And out of all the things we've kind of heard them say that about, over the course of the season, a lot of these things kind of get better, and this is kind of one that necessarily hasn't really turned the corner yet, despite you know, we're really going to focus on this in practice, which makes me wonder, you know, how much of this is, you know, execution and play calling versus just these guys in these very particular situations maybe just aren't up to
the level of the number one defense just in terms of who they are. You know, maybe this quarterback, this running back, this group of receivers and tight ends are just not good enough to execute against the number one red zone defense, even with a perfect play call. I'm glad you brought up tight ends, because tight ends in the red zone, that's where they're supposed to make their money,
right you know, you see it with Jimmy Graham. That's basically his entire role right there with the Chicago Bears. You look at the Panthers tight ends, they've only received sixteen targets. Sixteen targets I'm talking about receptions. They've been thrown to sixteen times this year and they have one touchdown between them, and that was Ian Thomas on that little I don't know, flat route out there to the right that Teddy Bridgewater through him a couple of weeks ago.
So look, they have ten receptions between them. Okay, they it's not like, um, I don't know, I I'm trying to put this diplomatically at the same time, but it's like, you need to get some production out of that area, and if there's a way to get it, one would think it would be in the red zone. And uh, they've somehow got to figure out how to make that work. But I think also what Matt Rule says about you have to be able to run the ball down in
the red zone. Yes, that's absolutely true, because if you can run the ball, then you know, like that old saying goes, there are three things that can happen when you passing. Two of them are bad. When you run the ball, it's a lot easier for you. So they have to be able to start doing that a little
bit better in the red zone. Well, and maybe if that is the approach, you find out right before the game that you don't have Curtis Samuel who that's not you know all he does or even primarily what he does, but he has been an option with Christi McAffrey out. Uh, you know, of course Christian McAffrey is not there. And then even Reggie Bonifan isn't there. So those are if you want to run the ball in the red zone, you got you got Trent Cannon and you have Mike Davis.
And Mike Davis I think does an incredible job. But but he was I mean, he doesn't ever go down. He's always fighting for those extra yards and unfortunately that Bears defense just really shut him down as they did, they did everyone. You know, they made it incredibly, incredibly tough for a hardness player like Mike Davis. So next question, Kristen, Wow, just telling me to move on. I thought we're having
a nice discussion there, all right. Next one in the over under reaction game, Um, there is an issue with the connection between d J. Moore and Teddy Bridgewater. That's something we've heard a lot over the last few days over reaction. And again I'm just putting this out there. I am not saying that. I'm saying that as a statement of something we have heard a lot over reaction.
Under reaction, appropriate reaction will I think over reaction because I think that I think that the there's a regression to the mean to an extent, and you're playing a really good defense. There's less tard there's less other weapons out there, and I just felt like, I don't know, Like those questions came really hard at the end of that game, and I was like, where is this coming from? Like I don't know, like and maybe because it didn't feel like Robbie had a ton of catches on his
targets either. Um, but all of a sudden it was like whoa D J. Moore can't catch? And I think sure there was, as coach Roll said, he there is a miscommunication on that fourth and two play, and he probably it was tough, but he probably should have made a better play on that ball in the end zone in the first half, you know, and you think about that, but everything else. I mean, he has eight targets over to the yards. It's harder to to bring down balls
when you're in double or single coverage. You know, people right on you and you're throwing it up down the sideline, and he's calmed down with a lot of them, just made a lot of one of the plays of a lot of tough catches. Um. So I think it's an overreaction. I think it's less about the particular game, right. I think that the game was more of a microcosm of what the connection or lack thereof, has been between DJ Moore and Teddy Bridgewater all seasons, so I would it's
not an overreaction. It's between like an an overaction and inappropriate reaction. You know, like you ever have a grade when your teacher on a paper would be like a minus slash B plus. That's kind of no id, it's just you score it out. It's I know, I know, and I'm like really hedging right now. But here's here's why I say this. Okay, So if you look at d J. Moore's career catch percentage, and when we're talking about catch percentage, that is the amount of receptions he
has over the amount of targets he has. Right So in his rookie year that was sixty seven percent, Okay, his second year, last year that was this year, it's fifty al right, So that's a significant decrease. And then you look at other players on the Panthers. You've got Robby Anderson, He's at seventy eight percent. Mike Davis is a running back, that's all that's usually gonna be hired
because he's gonna get more checked downs. Things that are closer to the line of scrimmage percent really nine percent. Curtis Samuel is at three percent. McCaffrey before he went out, he's at seventy eight percent. So the outlier there is is d J. Moore. And so that's why I think it's not necessarily an overreaction. It's maybe an appropriate reaction, but I don't think it's something that's too alarming. I don't know if I made a lot of sense there, but that's sort of the way I see it. I
think it's an overreaction. I hear what you're saying, Miles, but I think it really just came to the forefront with that fourth and two and the facts that you know, they were just a few inches off from each other, and it was a miscommunication. I get it. I just think I do not think Teddy's got targets. You know, he's He's got a lot of different options, um. And I just think that that is the reason that we're talking about it, because nobody was talking about it in
the Atlanta game. Well at least at least I didn't hear it. I mean, you know, Okay, So I'll put it this way. I wrote this on Panthers dot Com and you can go check that out, thank you very much. Uh So, I think part of the problem there was
that they haven't run that route enough. And this is where not having an off season program, not having a full training camp comes in, because as as Matt Rules talking about, they hadn't necessarily run that play, you know, and I don't know, a big, big, big amount of times.
So if you have an off season program where guys are working together, they're working through different scenarios in the playbook, you might run that a few more times than what they had they had to that point, and then you will not have those miscommunications where Teddy thinks that the receiver's going to be in one place, the receiver thinks he should be in another place, um. And so if you can correct those things, then you might see that
catch percentage go up as you would like. I also just don't think that Teddy Bridgewater and Joe Brady are two people and n d J. Moore for that fact, but as as the two guys that the offense runs through, and Joe Brady and Teddy Bridgewater, they're not people that I have seen that just let things go like, oh, we're just gonna not worry about um, you know. Some
miscommunications to our one of our best receivers. You know, I just think that that's and so I also think it's an over reaction in that sense of all right, if if other people have clocked it, they have clocked it, and it's going to be a focus. Um, that's definitely the impression I get from them. All right, Next up, over under reaction game. This defense is really impressive. I heard a lot of that after this game, So over reaction,
appropriate reaction, under reaction. Do you want me to go first, I'll go first. You see them a little. I think it's I think it's appropriate. I think they they have been what they have done, uh, I mean, I thought what they did in the Bears game was especially in that first half. I thought it looked really good, you know. Um. And I've just been so impressed personally by the way that guys have continued to step up when there have
been injuries. And I I know that's part of of being an NFL player, but I've just been really really impressed by that. This is the only caveat I want to make about this, taking nothing away from the defense, is that it just was. This is part of the reason I want to do this game. It's just funny to me that it was like, oh, this this defense, you know, really really holding things together, but I'm worried about this offense, when at the beginning of the season
it was exactly the opposite, you know. Uh, it was a big focus on the fact that the defense didn't have a sack for the first two games, and it was like, well, this offense is except for that first half against Tampa Bay. But it was like that's this is the thing, and then we're all really worried about the defense. And I just think, I mean, I think it's great that the defense is getting some recognition and playing the way that they are playing for the most part.
But I just I just think it's so funny how from week to week the strength of your team is just viewed differently. Um, I think it's a bit of an overreaction to say that defense plan really is really good. I didn't say really good, I said really impressive. They have impressed me, Well, what's the difference between good. Now we're really playing semantics say they've impressed me with the way that they've continued to step up. I've been impressed,
all right, that I have. I been impressed. Yes, okay, you're the same because it's because I don't think I think the sacks are still a problem, right, And you know some of that is quarterbacks are gonna get rid of the ball really quick. We're going to see that this week against Drew Brees. Absolutely for sure. I'm I have no doubt about that. That's the way their offense runs. Um. But when you only have five sacks, you're not necessarily um getting to the quarterback as much as you like.
They're close on so many of these things too, and I think you've got to start turning close into actual takedowns. Um. So that to me is one thing. I'll tell you somebody I have been really impressed with, and that's Jeremy Chin. I mean, there's a sequence in that game where he's blitzing the quarterback, he then makes up a pass to Jimmy Graham to force a punt, and then on the next play after the sudden change, he makes an interception.
So I'm impressed with I'm impressed with him, um. But I also think that the caliber of quarterback and offense that this team has faced over the last few weeks has not necessarily been all that great. So I think this will be a really big test in the New Orleans Saints to see exactly how much progress this defensive
made has made. I think it's an overreaction. I you look at their fourth to last in the NFL and third down, and you've you've got to be able, You've got to be able to stop people on third down. And you know, they've been able to do it with really really big plays at big moments, and I give them credit for that. You know, the the interception in Atlanta, I mean that that thing was going the wrong way real fast and then all of a sudden, boom, one big play turns it around. But you look at the
whole the course of it. They're not stopping people well enough on third down. They're not getting off the field. It took them until the fourth quarter to really be able to come up and make one big play on third down to get the ball back to this offense. You know, we needed they needed a couple more of those earlier on um and you know, and and I like the fact that they're in the top ten in
takeaways right now. But if you're not getting sacks, if you're not stopping people on third down, if your middle of the pack and run defense. You know, if you're middle of the pack in past defense, they don't make excuses. You know. They're saying, you know, when the reporters asked them, you know, like you guys, you know, for being so young, they're like, we're not making excuses or we are who we are, you know. So if they're not making excuses,
I'm not going to make an excuse either. I'm not gonna say they're really impressive for the fact that they're really really young, or that they have three starters that are out injured reserve. They are, but that's not really an excuse. So I think in on the whole, I think it's an overreaction. All right. Another big storyline coming out of this game is that, uh, you know, worries about the offensive line. Um, that's something that that I've
heard after this game. Um, they definitely had some issues against the Bears, but they had also gone the previous two games without giving up a sax. So offensive line is worrying, over reaction, under reaction, appropriate reaction. I see that one. I think actually is an overaction. And I say that because the Bears do that to everybody. Um, and so I mean, and they've been doing that to
everybody for years. It's not it's nothing new, it's it's very, very difficult to get out of a Bears game unscathed, you know. And you know, the last few years, I've covered teams that have played the Bears. So, I mean, I can go back to when the Rams went to the Super Bowl and they went to the Bears, and they went to Chicago to play the Bears on Sunday Night football in early December, and it was cold, it was frigid, so that might have had something to do
with it. But those guys, I mean, they hold they held the Rams of six points and nobody held the Rams of six points that year except for the New England Patriots in the Super Bowl. So like, that was one thing that was very impressive. Um and then the next year, uh, the Raiders last year played at the Bears and they did that in London, and the Raiders actually were able to have some success. But part of the thing that was happening there was the Chase Daniel
had to come in and play. So when you have your backup, that gives the other defense a little bit of an advantage. The Raiders were able to force a couple of turnovers in that game, and they they were able to do what they needed to do to win. But like I said, you don't get out of a Bears game unscathed, and so that is really what happened, and honestly, the self inflicted with it was a nightmare
start for the Panthers on Sunday. When you get a penalty on the kickoff, you know, then you get Mike Davis, he's stuffed on the first run, you get Teddy Bridgewater sacked on second down, and then third down he throws an interception. It was a nightmare start. So when something like that happens and you put yourself in a seven nothing hole, then yeah, things can start to snowball. But I thought that the Panthers did a nice job of trying to come back. But then I think that then
goes to the red zone office. So you've gotta be able to finish those drives with scores. Yeah, I think it's an overreaction to worry about the offensive line. I don't think you uh perform as solidly as they have up until this point, um without you know, and then one game I don't think makes a performance or you know, some uh judgment on the way that they play, and I think moving forward, you know, you you the reaction is okay, So now what you know, what's next against
New Orleans, against Atlanta, against Kansas City. And for the most part, that group has pretty good depth and they're healthy right now, knock on wood. So you know, I I think that that's where you're You're still optimistic, you're still feeling good about you know, they're okay. There's no reason to think that next week, you know, they're gonna be doing the exact same thing or you know, give
up the same issues. Um, you know, and I think I think you see a lot from a guy like Russell o'coum in terms of his leadership on that group. I mean, I think there's there's a lot of leadership on that offensive line despite the fact that everyone wants offensive lines to play together with the exact same spots for five years in a row, you know, or whatever it is. But I think that they've come together really really well. All right, two more next up, Robbie Anderson
having a great season thus far. Near the top of this I think he's second in receiving yards. Um. DeAndre Hopkins has passed him. He was, he was top and now Deander Hopkins has passed him. So the statement is Robbie's season so far is a surprise. Over reaction, appropriate reaction, under reaction. I think it's an appropriate reaction. Um, And I say this because we just had never seen Robbie Anderson do something like this before, so it might not.
You know, this is one of those things where if you would ask somebody on the team, are you surprised at Robby anderson season, they'd say no, we knew he was capable of this, La la la. But from the outside perspective, we've never seen Robby Anderson do something like this before. He is, He's on pace to have something like fifteen hundred, sixteen hundred yards this season. He's never
had over a thousand in his career before. So from that perspective, yes, it is a surprise, but it's a pleasant one and I think he's he's really doing a good job out there. Absolutely well, surprise, I think that's an underreaction. I think it's more than a surprise. I'm taking de bait on this one. I mean, this is this is for a Panthers wide receiver like this is
at Christian McCaffrey all time franchise level record breaking. I mean, he hasn't been around long enough and he hasn't done the things that Steve Smith did, but on paper, for one season, for the first half of the season, he is in that conversation, which is crazy, like that's more than a surprise, that's all time level crazy. Um. So yeah, under reaction, yeah, I I think I will go appropriate because I see both of both sides of what you're saying.
On the one hand, you know, I know Robbie would say and and Miles he told you that last week. He was like, anyone, what do you say, Like anyone who knows football knows that if I can run a deep round, I can run acrossing round. It's it's way easier. And so it just took Matt Rule and Joe Brady to say, all right, like let's let's give you those chances,
let's put you in position to succeed. Um. But then on the other hand, you're right Will where it's like it's it's great for anyone to do what he is doing, and um, he hasn't been able to to showcase that so far in his career. So you know, I think it's an appropriate reaction, and I think it's awesome. Sometimes people just need to be in the right situation. Absolutely. I mean, that's that's what professional football is, isn't it philosophical? I like it all right. Last one, this one is
courtesy of Will. I like this one a lot. Here's the statement, Panthers need Christian McCaffrey back immediately. We saw a lot of that after this game. Overreaction, under reaction, appropriate reaction, under reaction. Excuse me, over reaction if he's not healthy, right, if he's not healthy, you don't want him out there. High ankle sprain is tough for anybody to recover from, especially if you're running back. That's not
that's not something you want, so over reaction. You want Christian McCaffrey back when he's overaction Because before Sunday, everyone was writing their blogs and do people still blog, I
don't know. They're writing their things on the internet about how you should never pay a running back any money, because Mike Davis just proved for the last four weeks about you know, how you should never give a running back a huge contract, and then now all of a sudden, the top paid running back in the league, is the most misplayer ever and you need him back now because
you can't live without him. You know, come on, let's let's let's get back to somewhere some sort of rational thinking here, which is that, yes, Christian McCaffrey is worth the money. Yes the Panthers need him to be successful, and yes he needs to be healthy. Do people still blog that's really a thing you just said over there? Yeah? I like it. I completely agree. It's it's an overreaction first and foremost. His health is of Tanta Mount importance, and he is going to be back out there as
soon as he is fully healthy. There's no doubt in my mind about that. And also Steams three and three, you know, I think they're doing I know they just lost this week, but I feel pretty good about about where they are and what they've been able to do in his absence at this point is not a bad thing, absolutely all right. I'm glad that we could, uh, you know, set the record straight, calm everyone down a little bit, hopefully on the over under reaction game. Here on the
Happy Half Hour podcast presented by Morris Jenkins. Well, Mr Jenkins told me that the Panthers make him proud and he is honored to support the team. When you're plumbing or conditioning is acting up, you call Morris Jenkins or visit Morris Jenkins dot com. All Right, is it time for Will's stat of the week? The week stat of the week? I've already given a lot of stats today. Yeah,
I feel like, uh, this one better measure up. Okay. So, at the end of the Chicago game, coach Rules said in his postgame pressure that he was looking out in the field and seeing a Derrek Brown, seeing Jeremy Chin, seeing uh Sam Franklin back there at safety and talking about, you know these guys are They're all rookies and they're out there doing this stuff. So I looked it up and through six weeks, the Panthers have three hundred eighty
nine combined snaps by rookies on defense. Nine. That's the most enfranchise history for rookies through the first six weeks of a season. Is it is it the most by far? Or did we were you able to see second? Yes? Second is just one snap behind it. And that was two thousand sixteen when Dave Gettleman drafted Vernon Butler, James Bradberry, Darryl Worley and Zack Sanchez in the first four rounds
or first five rounds. So but in, but for this Panthers organization franchise for years, the defense was always veterans that you sign and bring in. In the offense was the young draft picks like and then this year, obviously it's switched. So I I think that speaks to that a little bit. And I think it also speaks a
little bit too, a more league y you know. I was thinking, oh my god, you know, franchise record, you know, like and obviously it's going to keep going up with with Justin Burrs currently on r right now, but it's only fifth in the NFL this year. Yeah, so who has more? Do you know? I'm sorry, let me let me pull it real quick. All right, Well, I'll vamp
for you for a second here. No, I think that it's a good statu It shows that the Panthers drafted people that they can trust to put on the field at this point, right because if you're gonna draft people, you want to be able to develop them and sometimes that does take some time. But right now, what they've done, and some of this has been by necessity, I think Troy pride Jr. Being out there as much as he's been has been a little bit by necessity and not
necessarily by design. But if you can still trust those guys to go on the field and do what they're doing, then that speaks to the way that they able to identify talent that can help. Yeah, one might even call it impressive, the way that these young workies on defense have stepped up, which is what I said earlier, So I have it if you want it, which is which is funny because as I've often heard, you know what stats lie a liar's figure. I don't know what the phrases.
I'm not going to say that great quote Falcons at four, Vikings at three with four hundred, Cowboys at two with four ten, which all mean that, hey, the Panthers are young, but they're doing better than those guys. But guests, who's first with four hundred and seventeen defensive snapstar rookies? Please tell us the Bears? Bears? The Bears, Yeah, well they've got I mean, when you have veteran anchors, I guess
that's what you can do. You plug and play. All right, Well, let everyone marinate on that for a second while we take a quick break. We'll be back in just a second. Hi, this is Dewey Jenkins. Most people think my first name is Morris, but it's not. It's Newie. Mr Morris was the name of the man I bought the company from back when I was young. I'd like to take a few moments to say how proud we are to be
Panthers sponsors. When I told the team at Morris Jenkins, you would have thought I was sending them on a free trip to Hawaii. We're here for the Panthers, and we're here for you too, whenever you need us. All right, welcome back. Let's take a look at Week seven. Panthers are going down to New Orleans to take on the Saints for the first time this season. I have a question for you guys, and I asked Matt Rule this as well, because I'm I genuinely I'm curious about this.
Of course, all the articles written this week, all the focus this week is, you know, Teddy Bridgewater going back to New Orleans, Joe Brady going back to New Orleans. There's a laundry list of of guys that have played for New Orleans fairly recently. How much does it actually help. If you're the Panthers and you have guys who have been there recently in terms of your game plan, well as I think, which is would probably say, they know
you too. That's exactly what Matt. I've been I've been covering this league long enough to know the coach break right. So but that's the thing, right, So if um, if Teddy Bridgewater knows Sean Payton and he knows their defensive coordinator, well, their defensive coordinator knows him. If Joe Brady learned a lot under Sean Payton, will Sean Payton knows what Joe
Brady knows. So those guys can sort of and especially because they have tape, they can extrapolate what they've seen on tape and then say, all right, how would we try to attack this? Well, that's probably how they're going to try to attack it. So it's this it's a very interesting chess match that you have to figure out because yeah, like if you know them, they also know you,
So Miles my question. And they would never admit this obviously, but you know, sometimes in the college world you hear about these coordinators or coaches that would you know, work on the game plan for like a Clemson or for an Alabama in July, you know, to prepare for like a November game. Does knowing the fact that you maybe you need to to do something completely different and knowing that this team has won three straight NFC South titles. Do you have a New Orleans game plan that you've
been working on since before yesterday? Interesting? I think you always there's a difference between a game plan and a file, right, so you have a file probably on all your divisional opponents that that you know you're gonna have to face twice because the easiest way to win your division is
win all your division games. Yeah, so there are things that you know about your divisional opponents that help you start to game plan, But then you also have to go by what have they shown on tape from this year. And the other thing is this is a new team in Carolina. It's not a new team there, so there's still probably some things that Joe Brady has not shown from an offensive perspective. Defensively, the Panthers are still having to adapt because to keep having guys getting hurt, which
is really unfortunate. So I don't really remember exactly what the question was. Do you start game planning in August. I don't know that you're game planning, but you know you've been studying these teams because you know you have to defeat them. So I don't know if it's a game plan, but yeah, you have an idea of the type of stuff that you you start to want to
implement long before you actually play your division games. And I think a big binder that just says Drew brees on it, and you just dust it off and pull it off the shelf on Monday. I haven't been in the building long enough for it together. Dust all right? And then, uh, my second big question not to skip over the Saints game, because it is, of course incredibly important. But you know, right on the back end of the Saints game, you turn around and you have Thursday night
football with the Falcons here at home. Um, when does that start to factor into the way you approach this week or does it at all? I have to imagine
it does. And then I know, you know, this season is just so different because last week the Panthers were in intensive protocol that certainly changed the way that they practice and and deviated from their normal practice schedule or how they normally like to practice, But when do you start to think, Okay, as soon as that game is over, we gotta turn around and play another game on a short week, so we have to rest our guys more or alternate our schedule a little bit this week. Does
that come into play this week? I don't necessarily know how this staff will approach it, so I will give this caveat. But in previous staff that I have covered, a lot of that stuff starts from certain assistant coaches this week. So maybe on a Friday where like fast Friday is a thing that people say, and it's true because it's usually the day that you get to leave the office a little bit earlier than you normally would.
You go home, you have dinner with your family, right, And that's something that gets a little bit um tacked back in a Thursday night in a week where you have Thursday at football next because some of the assistants are going to start working a little bit further ahead. Now, the other thing that happens is immediately after the game, and I've seen this in a lot of different places. UH, teams will start the recovery process a lot earlier than
they normally would, So um in the locker room. A lot of times you will start seeing guys get massages immediately after the game as opposed to going home spending time with their family after the game. Whatnot. I mean it's different too when you're traveling. Um, So that that's something that they have to tackle. And then obviously there are a lot of protocols and things like that, but the recovery process for players has to start early so that you can feel like you're ready to play by
a Thursday. It is very, very tough for players who are creatures of habit to go from playing a game on a Sunday to playing a game on a Thursday. So it's the recovery process. You know. The coaches a lot of times they will spend most of the night on Sunday in the building so that they review the film and then they are on top of the game plan and a lot of times you pair the game plan down a little bit too. So yeah, that process starts real, real quick. That's fascinating. That's exactly what I
wanted to know. You know, when does that have to become a factor? Um? Now, it's not a home game this week against the Saints. It is a road game, but we do want to let you know that if the Panthers get a third down stop in the third quarter during a home game, one lucky fan will win a smart home smoke and carbon monoxide detector through the
Morse Jenkins Protect and Check sweepstakes. If the Panthers get a fourth down stop in the fourth quarter, that same fan will also be going home with a fift gift car fifteen dollar gift card. Excuse me, that's important to have the dollar amount in there. Be sure to check out contest dot Panthers dot com for more details on how you can enter and close this out with our weird Question of the weekend Weird Question of the Week.
You're weird. You're weird, guy, it's not weird. You guys are definitely better at coming up with like weird questions versus me. This is not a weird question, but it's not something that would maybe come up naturally on the podcast's call us weird man. No, I'm calling you creative. Alright. Alright, So Robbie and and tweeted, you know, another gym, as he always does. Um yesterday he said, uh, he's fixing to grab some McDonald's today because it's been a while.
So that got me thinking, what's the best fast food restaurant? Not like what's your face? Like, what are you gonna definitively go to the map for and say this is the best fast food restaurant. I do want to say. I think in fairness to the other fast food restaurants, we gotta take bo j Angles off the table. We love boj Angles here the panthers, which wouldn't be fair at everybody else, So we're going to take them out
so we can have a real competition. Sides. What is the best, yes, fast food place, in and out, in and out, it's it's it's it's in and out. Um, give me that double double with onion and chopped chilis. Animals not animal style fries. Excuse me, just regular fries and uh in the lemonade? Wait? Why did you just take off animals? And because it's not that good? Yeah, yes, what she said. I don't I don't even know why I said that. I think it's just because it's something
that people usually say, but I don't. I don't like the animals. It's just it's a little too much, a little too much Thousand Island for me. It really is it really. Yeah, I lived out west to just I just want to catch up, all right, Miles Um, wrong answer, but thank you for playing well. Chick fil A. It's not even it's it's a rhetorical question. It's not even a real question. I mean because I mean, you know what rhetorical questions. It doesn't it does have an answer.
It doesn't need to be answered when when it's said, it's just it's understood apparently not by everyone. Yeah, you know, we'll go with it. I mean, when you can have a fast food restaurant where the lines are literally out on the street every time you go by it, but yet you still get through so fast because they're literally they already have your order by the time you get to the sidewalk. It's their pleasure. It's their pleasure. It's incredible.
And I tell you this, The top two groups of people in the world that are the most pleasant people you will ever interact with are people that work for Chick fil A and people that work as pole volunteers. When you go vote top two most pleas groups of people that I have ever been around. What about public's employees, Yeah, they're nice too, They're up there with I gotta go
to a public man, I haven't. I haven't been since I lived here, but I would also just like deposit here that you also basically just described the line in and out, so I don't. I mean, you know they also take your order on so I mean, I'm just saying, I mean, this is a this is a beef versus chicken conversation. Really um that that this has turned to podcast? Matt, what is your favorite best food? I can already feel the judgment, but it's probably RBS? Is it the curly
fries for you? Believe it or not? The Mozzarellistics are so good they cannot tell you I've never had a mozzarella stick from Arby's. That sounds uh. I'm not gonna say. Yeah, christ in the show how they assistently my favorite? No? But are they my favorite? We got to get out of here. This has been I have not said anything for a minute. I don't even know how to react to that. You know what, Matt, I appreciate you standing strong in your opinion no matter what. And yeah, I
think I think you're absolutely right. We gotta leave it here, right. Yeah? This has been The Happy Half Shower presented by Morris Jenkins. I'm just going to close the show because I don't I don't want anybody else to say anything else. So for podcast, Matt for Will for Christ, and I'm Miles Simmons. We'll see you guys next week.