Happy Half Hour Episode 53: Proof Of Concept

there's actual happiness. And you know, and then, of course, like other things going on in our personal lives or whatnot, our whole our whole demeanor is not fully um, you know, just influenced by whether or not we win. But this building kind of is I mean, you know, I was kidding Minus when you walk around this building, I mean, it's tangible. I mean, even though as much as they talk about want to know every week, want to know every week, that weight was starting to bear down on

them four in a row. And and now it's like okay, now it's back to normal. Now it's back to work and it's regular a game. So yeah, I mean that's stuff. I mean, that's human nature. I mean, it's it's easier to deal with some of these guys coming off of win than it is a loss, and you know they're four and four, so let's see what happens. Absolutely, and I will say from from my perspective, people ask me that,

you know, how how is it after loss? And everyone's a professional, you know, no one's um, no one's a jerk or anything like that. But everyone's a lot happier when they're winning, no doubt about that. Well, how are you feeling? Well, it's it's we're all very comfortable right now. I feel like we're all like wearing our very comfy sweaters and sweatshirts and yeah, yeah, that's a fun thing. It's forty degrees outside. I know, it's it's flannel and

paints season. By the way, Oh really that's different. What do you yeah? Wait, what are we looking at? Sorry, they're great for podcasting. What did you more? Theater has flannel inside of his pants. Oh yeah, what does that mean? I've got like four or five pairs of flannel line pants that have so fuzzy warm flanns. So their jeans on the outside, flannel on the insects. Right, and just in case anyone was wondering, Yeah, that's pretty cool. I

didn't know that you could do that. And you know, basically, anytime it gets below fifty degrees, I'm like, yeah, flannel pants do you have around in pajama? Do you ever misjudged? Because the weather in North Carolina could start out forty in the morning and then seventy and then you're just sweating your flannel pants. I'd prefer that to the alternative

that there's nothing worse than being cold. I turned the heat on in the house the other day and wife, it's like, it's way too hot in here, and no such thing. Oh no, I disagree. I disagree. Yeah, where do you keep the thermostat in your house? Well, we were doing the thing where you know, you hold off as long as you possibly can before you finally turn it on. I finally turned it on. It was down to sixty two this morning. Yeah, what are you hanging

meat there your breath? At Will's house? Well, I mean just it was kind of a game more than anything. You just kind of hold out and then this morning was okay, you win now, Oh my goodness. Um, just in case you were wondering, we keep our our therm stat somewhere between sixty eight and seventy. Yeah, that's the right answer. Will it's now there? Well, yeah, it was your girlfriend out. You know, this is a fun game. She's like, I'm freezing. All right, let's talk about this.

Let's talk about this game at Atlanta. They did a lot of this team did a lot of things right. Um in that game, I thought, you know, they did the things that they said they wanted to do. The old line protected. They ran the ball forty six times for over two hundred yards. I thought, I thought everyone who ran the ball looks good running it, and that includes Sam. We got to see him, the old quarterback sneak came back quite a few times. Yeah, and he's

always been a mobile guy. And early in the year we were having some fun kind about Sam leading the league in touchdown runs. And you know that's a part of it. I mean, it's like Daniel Jones you saw against the Giants of the week, that's part of his game. He can get out and do that. Now again, obviously he gets out and he takes a big hit and gets a concussion, isn't able to finish. That's not great.

But from the standpoint of diversifying the offense, last week was almost like, Okay, we're gonna strip it down to the bare bones. We're gonna do four things and we're gonna try to do them as right as possible. And that included Sam running the ball, and they were able

to check those boxes. So you know again, I I sent Will an old story I wrote back from my newspaper days of kind of the history of the Wildcat and when the Panthers ran it for the first time in OH six before Miami turned it into a craze there. But it was similar to that game, whereas they were in a situation where, okay, things aren't going right in OH six that we're running out of quarterbacks who could

throw the ball, and it's like, we're gonna run. We're gonna run a lot, and we're gonna run it in a lot of different ways that you haven't necessarily seen. And and that's what it felt like to me last week is they were intent on running. They said they were going to do it the week before and they didn't, and it was by God, we're gonna run and we're gonna keep doing it and it kept working. That was

the impressive part about it. It wasn't just you, but it was a mere Abdullah popping off some big runts and Royce Freeman contributed a little bit in addition to Sam and that was absolutely what they needed. I mean, it was kind of a gave the defense a chance to catch its breath. You know, you're out there with an eleven minute advantage in time of possession and everybody

on the Carolina Panthers kind of goes well. And that was something that we talked a lot about on the radio broadcast that you could see and watching the sidelines, you know, that's my job to see how things are going down there, and you notice the defense. The defense is always great at communicating, talking amongst you know, the d linemen are talking to the linebackers like, actually we're

talking to the secondary, but they were. I mean, there was so much communication and kind of clicked for me for a second, was like, oh, they have time to communicate, they have time to talk through things, to go get

the surface, tablet show each other something. You know, Derk Brown and Frankie Lulu were having multiple conversations at Dick one Drin's was teaching everybody something on the sidelines and it was nice to see them because we hadn't seen them have the time to do that over the last couple of games before that, you know, it was really there were a lot of three and ounce, especially in that Giant's game where they're just running back on the field. So it was it was great to see them get

to take advantage. And then I think we saw the fruits of that, you know, out on the field when they got back out there. They made some some really great plays. And then of of course also you get checked back. Stefin Gilmore comes in for a while and

makes a big impression and limited play. But but you're right, being able to run the ball served so many different purposes, and well, you're st out of the week had something to do with just how successful they were running the ball right the times if it's instead of the week. So not only did running help the offensive line, you know, it helped guys. You know, they're what the six different

starting offensive line group. You know, transcott a right guard, you know, you can you can block downhill a little bit. It helps them, It helps you not give up sex. But I think the thing that was interesting they talked about needing to convert first downs because they were getting into these third In eleven's third nines, third and twelves, where it's really hard to do when everyone's pinning their

ears back, they're coming at you, it's passing down. They had thirteen first downs by running, so that it meant that they were in position to convert first downs, you know, with the ball, third and one, you know, a couple of sneaks from Um, from Donald, you know, different ways that they were able to convert it by running. They had seventeen first downs by rushing over the last three games, and they had thirteen in this one. So I think that just showed um their ability to get in manageable

third downs, their ability to convert. They had in first ten third down conversions, which was like the most two thousand, seventeen in a game. So I mean, yeah, they were able to really keep drives going. Obviously they had three drives over fifteen. I'm just throwing all the stats up love, Yeah, but the point being they're able to get into third downs that they can convert by running the ball rather than being in you have to throw and you just

everyone knows what's coming. Will's doing to us with stats, what the Panthers offense did to the Falcons defensive line, he's just leaning on us because for the defense. So you know, it's I got time to rest. I can take ya can just sit down here on the side this and it really is. I mean that game had the feeling of one team leaning on the other throughout the afternoon. And and again I can't say it enough.

They needed that. I mean they just needed a break from all the not not just the plays that weren't working and the two of fifth teen on third down conversions the week before. I mean just mentally, spiritually, emotionally, whatever. I don't want to get too deep in the weeds here, but they needed that in so many ways. Defense, offense, everybody. Yeah, I just love spiritually and emotionally. Yeah, but you're right there.

I think they're week I think there are wins that you go, okay, all right, we we we came out of that one week that went out or that was ugly, um, but you're right, this one was also kind of a proof of concept. We're doing the things that we said we were going to do, and we want to look how much, as you said, we leaned on them. Look how much we controlled the game by doing the things we said we were going to do and you do it on the road at Atlanta. Yeah, that's a place

up until last year their best. They don't win there, you know, so I think that. And it doesn't matter how good or bad Atlanta is, that place is always just so hard to win. Yeah, so I give them credit for that. Well, anytime you're playing the Falcons will but you educated me on last year. Even being a fan, it's like you almost always split with Atlanta just historically, no matter who's the you know, the better to the season what where they had one loss, the one loss

was against Atlanta. Yeah, so it's just you know, division games are are no joke. And it was great to go down there and and for them to get to win too. It's the sound. It's always weird there. I mean there's so many it is weird there, whether it's the Georgia Dome or Mercedes Being Stadium. I mean from the very first game the Panthers, very first game they go into the Georgia Dome have a chance to win except for a false start penalty and overtime lunch and

stains Derek Graham. But never mind that. Uh, And it's almost like it's set the stage because there were so much oddball stuff is happening Falcons Panthers games down. Well, it wasn't that where your story was the Wildcat? Yeah, yeah, we were all trying to get out of there. It's Christmas Eve. You want to get act your families and stuff. And you know, the Panthers decided revolutionized offense and start running.

How much it was you know what, honestly on a holiday when they kept running the ball and the clock kept moving. I think that game ended in about two and a half hours. It's perfect, but yeah, it was quite a wrinkle, and it's it's what I'll never forget

and and I did. I wish I could share that story somehow with Will or with a lot of people, because I wrote a thing for the paper just talking about how that whole thing came together with you know, John Fox and and Dan Henning and the entire offense and how they decided, oh god, let's do this this week.

So it was cool. Well, let's talk about going forward in terms of who we think is is healthy or what we know And Darreny and I were just chatting about it a little bit right before we came on the air, And the truth is, as you so eloquently, but it we don't know. We don't know yet, but there are a lot of guys, whether it's you know, a Christian McCaffrey was doesn't did to return from i R which starts that twenty one day clock. Um, Sam

Donald is in the concussion protocol right now. There are guys that were designated to return from i R a week or two ago. Whether it's your pad Elf lines, you're justin BURRSS, your mild hearts Fields, UM, Joe Charlton could also be back. So there's a lot of guys

and we started to see that first wave. I just talked to to Matt Rule about it yesterday of just UM and and then David um Lincoln, our executive producer on the sidelines, UM you know, and I'm like, usually I'm giving injury reports and and they have not been good the last three or four weeks, and so it was nice to say to him on Sunday, looks like Stefan Gilmore is going to be going in student. So now we're kind of getting to the end of this

UM injury rash. I should probably knock on wood somewhere, Yes, thank you, UM and UM. At some point we assume that that all of these guys that we just mentioned, and I'm sure there are a few more I forgot, will be healthy. But of course, if you're a Panthers fan, you want them all to be healthy as soon as possible. So Darren, what are you hearing? What's the late? Well, I can't. I just had a little flashback to week one.

The Panthers went into the first week of the season with like nobody on the jury report, and it was the first two weeks and I asked Matt about it in a press conference and he looked at me like I had nine heads, like what are you doing? Why are you making me address this? Are saying all this stuff? But you and I have just put ourselves in a situation in front of a microphone. But it was, it was it was the first two weeks because then the Thursday Night game was Week three, sure, and that's when

it all went haywire. So obviously it was our fault, Kristen Um, But I didn't, I truly, you know, don't think Matt Rules just trying to mess with Bill Belichick. I don't think Matt Rule knows. Right now, as we tape this podcast on Thursday, morning, whether Christian McCaffrey is going to be available, whether Sam Donald's can be available. I mean, the Sam stuffs absolutely out of his hands because he's got to pass through an independent neurologist. The

concussion protocol is beyond the scope of coaches. They don't get to there's no art in that. It's all science. So as soon as Sam's clear, he'll be back out there, and we don't know when that'll be. I mean, it can look good and guys cannot pass the test, so we'll see. But with Christian, I mean we've been through it before. We've watched him go out and practice, and the way they've treated him coming back is okay, you do a little bit on Wednesday, a little bit more

on Thursday, a little bit more on Friday. And on the first one they pushed him into the second week and he was almost ready and then he wasn't. So you know, I think because of that, they're a little hesitant to go too far into it. But from what we saw in practice, from what we know about situation, Christians moving around, well, we'll see. And when Matt was asked specifically because they did go into it, easy was to find Gilmore they did give Shaq Thompson a lot

of time, an extra week basically to come back. And somebody asked Matt if he was probably going that way with Christian and he was like, I don't know that yet. And I think the it felt this way last year. I remember, you know, when the Panthers were starting to get some wins, you know, with Mike Davis back there,

Mike's having to do these big things. You know, there was very much that sense of hey, it's next man up, where the where the Carolina Panthers were not the Carolina McCaffrey's you know, like everyone, uh, we're we're a team. You know, everyone's just gonna keep pitching in and and and keep doing their best. Next man up. But I think you look at the way everything changed when Shack

Thompson was back on that field. Like as much as no one's gonna say that it helps to have the best players that you have on your team playing for your team, you know, I mean I don't know that no one would say that that's a pretty breaking news having good players, right, But I felt like there was this whole last year there's this like these mental hula hoops, do we really need Christian. You know, we've got Mike. I think there is a I totally understand what you're saying.

I think that when some of your best players, your biggest contributors, go down with injury, you have to as a staff and as a team not get dispirited about it. And I think that that's where it comes from, which is, well, might as well not even walk out there and play the game now. I mean that you can't have that attitude and so, but I don't know that it translates to if you have a if you have the opportunity

to have that player back. But that's what that's what everyone has had to believe for the last four weeks, is that hey, we're still a great well you know, there's there's a number of other guys that can make contributions. We just saw three of the three different running backs make huge contributions in the Atlanta game, and Sam of course include him. We're talking about running the ball um. So I think it's that right. But yeah, I mean, there's no doubt that that everyone wants to see Christian

just it just changes it changes everything. And obviously you want to keep continuing to let a guy like a mirab Duello. That can obviously, you know, be a spark, can can produce, can be out there. You know, Cuba is getting better each week. You want to let those guys continue to improve and help the team. But at the same time, like Christian just changes the way that everything happens on that field when he's on there, whether or not he's touching the ball, yeah he's not. He's

not like the other kids. So and I think one thing that will be helpful too. There was a lot of talk early on in the season about Christian touched it fifty nine times in the first two games, and people wonder, oh my god, is that too many? Is that why this is happening? You know, it's a hamstring like last year was it was an ankle, it was a shoulder, it was different stuff. Um dumb luck. Nobody ever gives enough credit to dumb Luck for some of

this stuff. But the one thing that said was when Christians back, you want to keep using too, but you want to keep using a met or you know, whether there's still touches for Roy's freeman in a situate, I don't know, but yeah, the point was you want to have a more broad based running attack and rather than just beating one guy into the ground, Hey, all of a sudden, there's multiple guys who can contribute, So let's do that absolutely, and then just at a different position group.

But someone I failed to mention, and I feel bad. We were talking about injuries coming back because he tears Marshall, you know again in the concussion protocol. So as as

Darren said, that's out of the coach's hands. But you talk about just the potential to have a team that looks more healthy than not for the first time since really about week three is really exciting because, as you guys pointed out, just seeing Shack out there and and Stefan Gilmore, two contributors to a defense that was already you know, playing well, was was just a huge shift. But you know those first couple of weeks, like after three weeks, they kind of wake up and realize, oh

my god, this defense is pretty good. And I mean especially after the first two and you're starting to figure out, oh god, J. C. Horns actually really good at this footballing would have thought, yeah, and you missed that in his absence, and then Shack goes out and you miss that, and all of a sudden, when you put Shack and Stefind Gilmore back on the field, that that same sense

was back there. I think as Stefan plays more and more and more, it's I mean, this is nothing against Dante Jackson, who's really good and it's gonna get paid a lot of money, Nothing against a J boy A or Keith Taylor, any of those other guys out there playing fine. Gilmore is different, y'all. He really really good at football. And you walk out there and you see it, and we've got a story coming today just about the ways to find sees things and he kind of sees

things before other people see them. And that's the kind of player he is, and that's what he should bringing. You know. It's you hear him talk all the time about alpha's in that room. He's one of them. He didn't say a lot. He's very soft spoken, he's very quiet. It's all about the business and I'm just trying to get better. But then he makes this gigantic play and it's like, oh man, that's what they just added to

this defense that was already okay. Well, and and you know, we saw the fans certainly saw that that interception, that gigantic play which really felt exceealed game. How about what I mean, what he did to Kyle Pitts, that was a huge you know, we didn't talk about it when we're talking about the Atlanta game so much, but that

was a huge mismatch concern coming into the game. You know, if you looked at all the outside analysts talking about like what's gonna what, you know, there's not an answer, not just not just on the Panthers, but for a lot of teams or Kyle Pits. And it wasn't just him the entire time, but I mean that was those things are not necessarily as flashy, but you didn't hear

a lot of Kyle Pits in that game. Yeah, and he had had what like a hundred and seventy five catches for a thousand yards something like that just in the last game. Yeah. Yeah, but he had got when he touched downs um and just wasn't a factor and they kind of erased him, and they did a lot of different ways. I mean, you know, Gilmore had him late and they I like the way you know, they kind of game planned out those snaps where early on there wasn't a lot of Stefan first quarter, second quarter.

They wanted him out there for two minutes, and he wanted him out there in the fourth quarder and in the fourth quarter it was Hi, Kyle, this is Stefan Stefen, Kyle. You get to know you still get to know each other. He'll be with you a lot for the next The best part about him it just like even from like the way he talks, he just feels so casual, especially

with like his kind of loose long sleeves. You know, he's just kind of like out here and you know, like before the snap, he's just kind of like casually just kind of walking up and then just like boom. You know, there's this weird switch that happens with him within him as soon as like things you're working but you don't look you don't look at him and kind of where he is and what he's doing and think, oh my god, that's the best defensive player in football.

I will say though, and again I said this on our broadcast, it was before we had seen him in the game because as you said that he held him it was gonna be a limited package. We didn't see a lot of them, um in the in the first couple of quarters and I told our executive producer, I said, Okay, he's got to look in his eye, and like I wasn't. I was like, he's got to look in his eye.

I think he's going to go in soon, because you're right, there is that switch that flips where he's like you said, very um, you just he's kind of just hanging out, having a good time, focused on he who's on the bike, stretching out, getting ready, and then you kind of see it if you're up close enough to him and you're like, oh, he's about looks like he's about to go in and play the game here and uh, and it's cool to see. It's cool to get to see that that switch flip

a little bit. Let's talk about the Patriots just really quickly before we before we wrap up. What's your confidence level Darren in this one? Can I ask you that? Am I loud to ask? I think that's fine? And the only honest answer is I don't know. I mean, I was the idiot for a long time. I was the guy who kept saying, man, they can't keep winning super Bowls. It's going to run out of steam. And I was wrong over and over and over. And this is the year that this isn't this isn't happening. I

just decided to stop being an idiot. I'm going to trust that Bill Belichick is better at his job than anybody in the NFL. And that's no select him out rule or anybody. That guy's just got more trophies on the shelf than anybody. He's great at his job, and he's great at figuring out a new way to do it. I mean, he's one playing man. He's one playing z own. He's one throwing the ball a hundred times a day, he's one running the ball. He's one. It's just he's

a great coach and he's out there. You know, they're the same form for the Panthers are right now. Um they're doing it with a rookie quarterback. Mac Jones is not the typical rookie quarterback. He's playing extremely clean football. This is not like you know, Zach Wilson um in the first one week one Yeah, I mean it's it's a different sort of bearing he's got and he's not making a lot of mistakes, completing what sevent his passes um. So it's kind of typical Patriots football. But they're doing

it a typically and we'll see. I mean, this is going to be um, you know, as they think about it again because it's Bill Belichick, whether it's Sam Donald, P. J. Walker, I don't know that it matters all that much to Bill. Uh. He is great at adjusting, so we'll see. But it's also not they don't have the same kind of dominant personnel that they've had in the past on either side of the ball. So while he's always great at adjusting, it's almost like he's patching leaks and things at different times,

but he's great at slapping tape on them. So you know, it's um. They've entered kind of that jury of their peers phase of the schedule where you're playing a team that's a lot like you, and they did it in Atlanta. They got Washington coming up very similar profile, you know, trying to do does some things very well, has some real issues, and I think that's kind of the way it is in the NFL right now. It's as this

season's gone on. That's part of the reason when people wanted to panic at three and four, that one win kind of change things because if you look at where it fell in the course of the season, not just are they for and for and at the season end of the day, they'd be a playoff team there. And also people would say, why is this season ending on Thursday week? Um god, I love that joke and I'll never stop telling it self awareness there four and four

they would be a playoff team right now. And you see all these other teams around the league kind of falling apart. I mean, Jameis Winston's out for the season in New Orleans. You wonder what that's gonna leave him with. You see Derrick Henry go down in Tennessee, Daniel Hunter from Minnesota's out for the season, and it's just bing, bing bing, all this stuff happening around him. And all of a sudden, you think, for and four with a bunch of dudes coming back ain't the worst place to

be in life. I completely agree. How much does I always wonder about these things with the fan narrative or media narrative? So the Panthers had Mac Jones at the Senior Bowl, obviously spent a lot of time looking at him, Um have tape on him, Noah's spent a week with him, Noah's his mannerisms, had a chance to really get a good look at him and coach him um and then also Stefan Gilmore played for the Patriots for a very long time fresh off of that experience. How much are

those really advantages? Are things that you can use to your advantage and how much is it Well, every team has some info on another team, and it's you know, it's not really anything that gives us a huge lego. There's an awful lot of cross pollination in the NFL, It's true. And and I don't know that the mac Jones stuff having him a week in January and mobile makes that big of a difference. I think with Gilmore,

you know, he knows what Bill wants to do. Bill knows that he knows yet what he wants to do, So there's going to be adjustments. I mean, and it's you know, part of the chess match in this one, but it's different. And like I said, it's a lot more with the Gilmore stuff than than mac Jones. But I do think there are things that you know, you you probably got to know personality and tendencies more so

than play calls and tells. Where Gilmore, I mean, that's the thing he offers is okay, this route means this a stance means this route, you know, and all these galaxy brain things that Stefan Gilmour understands that other players don't. I think that can be a benefit, even though Bill knows that he's dealing with that and they'll have to try to cover some of that up. There is some great analysis of that before Brady played the Patriots is here, you know, with that both of them were, you know,

so many waves deep in. Brady knows this, so Bill is gonna do this. When Brady knows that Bill is gonna do that, so the Bradsen will do this, and it just kind of keeps going down until they really go back to the start because then you know, well then he won't know that I will just do exactly what I was gonna do anyway, you know, like all

that stuff. I mean, it really will take you know, you know, I think that that you hit on that point, Darren, it's not so much what the play call or whether they're going to switch to a completely different type of deference affront in the second series, because that's gonna throw off the way that you were a game planning. Obviously, that can happen because that's what Bill does but it is very much this player who's a second or third

year guy. Maybe he can be coached by Bill all he wants, but he may still pasically have a tell. He may still physically not be able to hide something that he likes to do that you can pick up on film, or that Gilmore knows because he was right next to him or whatever, that kind of stuff that you know, Bill can tell them all you want, don't look like that, change it to this way, but he may still do it. And that's kind of kind of

beyond the Bill Belichick ability. It's a great point. All right, Well, we're gonna leave it right here as the happy if our podcast guys. I'm excited for the game on Sunday, excited to be back home, um, excited to be in our cozy clothes if you want, like football season, and we will talk to you next week.