Happy Half Hour Episode 78: Always Be Closing

Kristen Darren. Happy victory Thursday. I mean, we know victory Monday is a thing, but I just think we take it all week long, right, carry on the victory constant, victory, victory Saturday, victory Friday. Why not so much winning? Winning every day? You're always winning when you're in this building with these people. Let's put that on a T shirt. I love it. I love it. But it is a different field than the last two weeks in which we've

done this podcast after losses. It's undeniable. Yeah, there's no question. When you walk through these buildings, you can tell the temperature of the place is different. I mean, and it's cooler for one. Okay, we've gotta stop on building on Augusta. Now they're getting all getting our jokes input, but try to deal. Um. But yeah, you can tell a difference

in the room. I mean, I think at O and to everybody, you know, they were trying to push against the seven from last year and whether that carried over and do you call it a streak or whatever. But at O and two it was kind of hard to deny that everybody was starting to get a little worried about the direction things were going. And you know, when they were talking oh and two and talking about things

are close, it didn't sound normal. But when you win a game and then you see, okay, the things they weren't doing all of a sudden they're doing better at and you see a tangible result, it does. It makes a difference in the building. And these human beings that do this stuff, um, kind of they try to stay as normal as they can, but it's expected to kind

of go up and down with results. Well. And also to see that the the work you've been doing is paying off, right, that that is a big thing, whether or not you want to say, oh, it's the same no matter what. But I think, especially like for this defense, they created three turnovers. The game was one, right, they had not had any turnovers in those first two games as much as of a step that they took from

week one to week two. You've got to think that just for the simple fact that, hey, our hard work is paying off the things that we have been trying to do an execute on we did and then we see the result has got to feel great well. And the other, you know, piece of simple fact is that they want to know in the NFC South and that's like a good, you know, breath of fresh air kind of I mean, everything is still in front of us sort of mentality that I think I've heard. I've heard

it buzz in the locker room. I've heard that, and I think that's that's extremely valid, and you know that's that's a reason to be an important And the Box have the Chiefs this weekend. So two and two for the Box is reasonable. I Mean, you never know what's going to happen in these games, but I I do think that having something within reach that you can kind of see makes a big difference for these guys in terms of the attitude they walked through the building with. Absolutely.

So let's uh, let's play a little game. Um, we're gonna we've done it before. What do we know about this team. What don't we know about this team? As we um, you know, we're into um, it's almost time for Week four against the Cardinals, So let's talk about what we've learned and some things that we are still trying to figure out. So what, Gust, I'll start with you.

What do we know about the Panthers right now? Sort of already mentioned it a little bit, but I will say they can create turnovers and I think under the pressure undressed. I mean, after the postgame locker room, you know, one of the big questions was did you feel the pressure coming in the week? Every single question was, oh my gosh, you're the only team that hasn't gotten a takeaway yet. What's going on in the defense? Was like, I mean, yeah, I know we're solid, but we still

haven't got a takeaway. We still haven't got a takeaway. And something so just divine and nice about the fact that it was Frankie Lubu that force that first fumble after he had dropped the interception the potential pick six up in New York. I mean, it's storylines in front

of your face, right, Um. But it's one of those things when you have an offense, you know, just kind of that, especially early on sort of struggles to get downfield, struggles to stay on the field, um, to get your first touchdown on defense on a takeaway, and then to have it like they said all week we heard, you know, they were like, takeaways are one of those things that when they happen, they keep happening. You know, they happen

in jolts, and they happen in bolts. We saw three, We saw the game taking or sealed away by J. C. Horren with one, and so I just feel like we we learned that and also like they showed us, you know, it's not frustration in the weeks before, I wouldn't say, but you know, I mean, oh, the defense is good. The defense is the strength of the team. And they'll say that, but then you're like, well where the takeaways?

Whereas the numbers? And so they were able to kind of get there with that, and um, you know, I think I think that's that's a good thing to build off of. Like they said, it will happen in in in in uh you know, bunches, bunches. Yeah, so yeah, And I you know, it's funny you said that about Frankie Luvu and and after the one that um, he did not make against the Giants, but each turnover had

its own little story. As I was down there on the sideline, Augusta, you put it perfectly with the Luvu getting that ball out, Marquis scoop and score like just I mean, just bolting down there to the end zone, showing off that speed. And then you see Derek Brown with the one handed interception. In the play before that, he had a legitimate chance to make an interception. We're like, oh my gosh, she's this close. And then he goes

out and does it. I mean he I mean looks some tbs would like to have made the interception that Derek made with that one hander. And then J. C. Horne with that third one right as the game was ending. I saw him and there's a great photo of this to Chanelle and Kenny are photographers got it. But he was on Crystal Lave towards the end of the game and he almost he almost picked him off, and he went up to him and he put his fingers up together, you know, like this close. And then a couple of

days later he gets his interception. So, um, it was just a fun one, wasn't it. Guys. Yeah, they they and and they needed it. They needed to not just win, but they needed to be able to close. And because I think anybody who's been watching this team for the last little bit, when it's thirteen nothing and the Saints score touchdown to get it a little closer, and everybody, I think everybody in the building thought, oh, is this

something coming? And to answer that immediately with a score of your own, I think, you know, with Lavisca making the big play, I think that just made such a difference for these guys, and it created a little breathing room. But then you still had to close. And so getting the late j C pick was that was that was the thing they absolutely needed to have happened. Yes, all right, Darren, that was what we do know what don't we know right now? We don't know how this team is going

to offense this year. Uh, they are still trying to figure it out themselves, you know. Oddly enough for a team that can't convert third downs, pretty good at running the ball. I mean, Christian McCaffrey's got back to back hundred yard rushing games for the first time. So two thousand nineteen, now, Christian popped up on the injury report on Wednesday. We don't know what his status is gonna be for the rest of the week, what's going on there. As we should just say this is Thursday morning as

we are recording this. We will have to practices between now and the game. So but we just can't We just can't tell the future and we don't know what's going to happen. But you are loyal listeners can read Panthers dot com for all the latest injury reports and updates from the practice field. Um, but yeah, I mean Christian has played well. I think the running game is set up and it's kind of build on the fact that all those offensive line investments we talked about all

offseason are starting to pay off. I think the way Ikey is playing, Uh, he gets a lot of attention for sacks he gives up. But when you open up your career against Myles Garrett, Mark's Davenport and you know some of the players he's seen, you're gonna give up some sacks. But Ikey has kind of stabilized a little bit and there's a little bit fewer of that oh my god play each week. And that's the big question mark.

When the first picking you know your first pick in the first round is your question mark going into the year. You feel pretty good about things because he's very, very talented. You can see him make a difference in the run game. But it's how stable they've been in the middle. It's

Brady Christians and it's Pat Elfline, it's Austin Corbett. That's been a huge difference for them, and they need to be able to do that because they're not very good at passing right now and Baker is struggling a little bit. But everybody's being careful to say it's not all Baker. It's receivers running routes at the correct depth, it's designed, it's play calling, and and when you part of this is one of those things that the more reps you get it something, the better at it you're gonna get.

And of course everybody's gonna point to Baker didn't show up until just before training camp. But also not having third downs when you're not out there on the play. They're averaging like fifty five snaps a game of offense, and that's not enough snaps a game of offense. So until they can or until they can convert some third down, stay out there a little bit. It's going to be reasonable to expect all these new pieces that are fitting together to take some time to get to know each other.

I mean, we've seen signs from Baker in training camp in the preseason that he can make some plays, but right now everything is just a little bit off. I

know that. Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question that you probably can't answer, but for some contexts, yes, yes, aren't they um, But but for some context here as you talk about just things getting sorted out then playing together a little bit more, and and I know that you said that we've talked a lot about the fact that Baker was not here until a couple of weeks before training camp. Uh So my question is at what

point do you want to see that consistency? If you're Scott Fitterer Matt Rule, I feel like usually what you kind of know what a team is by week four, week five. But with this offense having not gotten a chance to play together for um for as long as other offensive offenses have, when would you say, Okay, well we'll know more about what this offense is. Yeah. The correct answer, and this is easy to answer when they want to see it is yesterday when they want to

see it is a week ago. Of course, Um, they're still We're going and and I asked Baker after the game, I said, what is a reasonable time frame for when we can expect this to look like fill in the blank, whatever it's going to be. And Baker kind of said after the game, He's like, you know, there really is no acclimation period. We've got to do it right now.

That's the that's the time constraint. But I think it's fair that And the longer I've done this, the more I think about it, the things we see in September very seldom hold up to the scrutiny of a sixteen game season when we look back on it in December and you individualize those first three games. I mean, certainly last year, the first three games of the year, we're not indicative of the way season was going to go. Uh So, I think it's fair to say it's gonna

take a little bit of time. I think by the time we've seen five six weeks of this thing, you know, certainly you don't want to just give away three weeks or anything like that. But I think it's fair that it's gonna take a minute for Baker to set on in. It's gonna take a minute for him to learn what this protection is like. It's gonna take a minute for DJ and Robbie and the tight ends and the backs and everybody to kind of get on the same page. So I think if we're still asking these questions in

week eight or week nine, and that's a problem. But I think in week three, it's or week four, it's probably two soon start pushing panic buttons and saying, oh my god, they're never gonna figure this out. All right, Well, Darren, our intrepid reporter, has gone and tracked down our very own Panthers stats guy. What does will have for us this week Ficks of the Week? Okay, as promised, here's our very own from his undisclosed location here in Bank

of America Stadium. It's Panther stat Guy with his data the week. We already know Frankiluvu does everything right, Darren, everything everything. I have numbers of the last two seasons, which is last season. In three games of this season, he has fifty five tackles, twelve tackles for lost, three fumble recoveries. The force fumble heard around the world last week all in four hundred and thirty snaps. Now, as Darren wrote on the website, those snap numbers are going up.

But that is a zero point one four e p A per snap that stands for expected points at it. It's one of those new fangled fancy moneyball stats, which I really like. I don't know what an e p A is, but I'm assuming more of them is better. It's it's it's pretty good. It just means that he does a lot of things in very few snaps. His e p A per snap is eleventh among all defenders and third among linebackers of two years. Frankie Luvu, the Panthers stat guy of football players. Yeah, we talked about

him a lot of. Frankie Luvu. My goodness, man, what a player. Yeah, and uh, if you want to read more about Frankie Luvu, there's a story this morning on Panthers dot com where de teases over to the website already I like it. Derek Brown calls it oos behavior when Frankie Luvu does a thing. He said, it's oos behavior. Us IS is short for the Samoan Usso, which means brother, and that's what they call him in the locker room.

So Derek and the guys down there just have started calling it oust behavior when Frankie Luvu does Frankie Luvu thing. So he I mean he is, He's a tangible shot of energy for those guys, and he's always been an energy guy. The differences. Now he's put in plays with it, and that's what they need more than the jumping around the yelling. I have to say, there's nothing um more fitting.

I was doing an interview with Frankie um and we were talking to the crowd right it was on the big board in the State Dum because after the preseason, and he said, you know, I just my job is to bring the energy and he pointed to the side of his neck and August, I don't know if you've seen this, he has the full battery tattoo right there. And I just thought, oh my god, Oh, that's the perfect encapsulation of who you are as a player and as a person, someone that is always bringing the energy

and you just you feed off of it. Super cool, super cool. No, I totally have noticed the battery charge and I cannot remember who it was. Someone in the locker room this past week was talking about, you know, oh, how is he such a high energy guy? And they were like, have you seen on this? I was, I don't know if it was Brian Burns or J. C. Horns someone in that same corner. I'm like visualizing the

locker room and they're all in the back there. But someone back there was like, have you not seen the tattoo of the battery? Like that's just that's that's the guy, that's the juice you're gonna get from from us. And he's probably one of those people to you ever noticed the most high energy people like don't drink coffee or whatever, you know, and they just wake up like that and you're like, oh my gosh, Evan Cooper cornerbacks coaches just

like that too, you know. And you're like, I just would take a little bit, like if I had a battery tattoo on my neck, it would be like twenty five percent. You've got a reason for that, and I think that's fair. Um. But yeah, And and the other funny thing to me about Frankie is when you talk to Frankie, Frankie's kind of so spoken. Yeah, Frankie sort

of eases into it when you're talking to him. You don't pick up the fact that he's hair on fire, constant intensity and all that kind of stuff, because the voice when you're talking to him doesn't match the product you see out there on the field. It's true. It's right under the surface though at any given time. Which is so fun. All right, Let's talk about Week four Cardinals coming to town. And there's a lot going on in this game, around the game, in the game. Um

so let's talk about it. Let's go through something that each of you are looking for in this game. Darren, We'll start with you, I think first and foremost. I mean, they they've done a decent job in the past on Kyler Murray and the Cardinals in general. But Kyler Murray's a problem, and Matt talked about it yesterday. I mean, going back to the game he played against him at Bay Or when Kyler was at Oklahoma and put six touchdown passes and a and another rushing touchdown on the

board against him. He just does so many things, and he's a he's a hard problem to solve because he is little, he does run around, he's hard to lay eyes on him, he's hard to find, and he's hard to catch out in the open field. But Kyler is just that kind of um guy. You almost have to umbrella out your defense and keep everything in front of you. I think back to the old days with Michael Vick. Um. I was just Thomas Davison were just talking about this.

It's on the on the huddle and h TD was like, hey, I think you need a spy situation like I used to do with Michael Vick. And Thomas was drafted to be the Michael Vick stopper back in the day and it worked out pretty well once he got here, So I think they do. It's a different challenge when you're last week was all about attack and chase and blitz and put pressure on. And if you put too much pressure on and it's not discipline pressure, that guy can

get out on the edges and make things happen. So you've got to be I don't want to say passive. You never want to be passive on defense. No coach has ever said we will have passive on game plan this week is to be passive on defense. Yeah, but you do have to make sure your eyes are right and you you're in the place you're supposed to be so because he can burn you, he can do it in a hurry, and he can heat up fast. I mean we saw in the overtime of that Raiders game

and getting them to that point. I mean, the Cardinals have been slow starting on offense themselves at points this year, but they've been able to heat up in a hurry a couple of times. So you gotta you gotta keep an eye on it. Augusta. What's one thing that you're looking for? Okay, I'm going to give a shout out to the special teams units because they're so fun to watch, and I think in the last game we kind of saw saw like all of it kind of come together.

First of all, the blocked field goal from Henry Anderson, who he was so fun to talk to him about that after the game, because um, you know, I asked him. I was like, you know, what's that like? And he goes, you go for it every single place, So when it actually happens, it feels almost surreal. It's like, wait, I actually, He's like, at first, didn't even process that I blocked it.

It was like, like, you know, and no one made contact exactly, and he was like, no one was coming towards me because no one knew I did it, and so he was like it didn't feel real. It was like all this happened, but like no one was celebrating. Everyone was like, what's going on? You're like, did that actually happen? Can I tell you? I can tell you who was celebrating. We talked about this on the radio broadcast. Was my favorite report of the day, and I talked

to him out Rule about it as well. Chris chamber let me tell you what. His headset fell off because he was so excited. And he's one of those people too, this very soft spoken when you talked to him in the office, and and then it has a different intensity when he's on the field, especially in a game. And then he went over to Rule and they had the most aggressive high five I've ever seen. Um. I'm sure it was on the TV broadcast. It was amazing, you know,

and it's just the sideline it was. It was just such a great moment. It was akin to that that Marquis Haynes touched out with the momentum that it created um for this entire team. I actually saw it was right in front of where I'm positioned in the press box. That was where Tabor was, so I saw him and I wish I had like a video right now because the way he was just jolting his hand back and forth. Oh my gosh, it was so fun. I totally saw

that too. Um. But then you have Johnny Hecker, who is just very clutch punter, I think, and I would want to write a story about this at some point too. But just like knowing that you have a punter that's going to be able to pin the opposing offense as well as he can, I mean, that's a defense. It's going to be great. And then Eddie Pannero has it missed a field goal yet not trying to drink some

knock on wood seven of seven. But I mean, I think we all kind of tightened up a little bit when Zannzalez got hurt, and Eddie Pannero has totally stepped up. He had some tough kicks in last game two, like forty two. I mean, it wasn't wasn't great. So I think I think wind was blowing too. Yeah you go, oh can he do? We had not seen him go um longer than in the thirties, So you're you're absolutely right, agust I think I think that is just you know,

you don't talk about him until they mess up. It feels like sometimes when they're good, they're good, and then they're kind of in the background. It's one of those things, you know, you only notice it whenever it's bad, when you miss a kick or you know. But um, I think I think it's one of those things. I think. I I always appreciate watching it, and I love a good special teams. You know. I came from cover in South Carolina where you know beamer ball ha ha ha.

So I love it. But you know what I mean, I love it, and you mentioned wind. I I feel like Kristen, you've probably kept an eye on the forecast this weekend. I I tell you what, I have been checking the forecast. That is the thing that I'm looking for. And I would just like to say, of course, the disclaimer is if we get rained on if if there is a delay, that is nothing compared to what is going on in Florida with you know where where Hurricane

Ian is. Absolutely However, I have been checking the forecast, which which like the coaching staff is as well. That is, that is something that is going to affect this game if it is a day loose, you know, and so Um, you know, I've got my trash bags ready, That's what I keep in my book bag. I put the trash bag over my book bag so that I have a place for my equipment. Um, Darren, don't look at me like that. You know you can't see it. I'll tell you what it's worked before. How else do you put

your equipment away? I mean, I guess you'd get a fancy case, but I just go good old trash bag right there down on the sidelines. There are a few things I love better in the world than being prepared and improvising on the spot. So you nailed at Kristen. Yeah, well, thank you very much. But it will be a factor in this game for both of these teams if the weather comes into play, right, and I mean and look at the Cardinals. Weather doesn't come into play at least

when when they're at home, So we'll see what happens. Yeah, it's going to be interesting. And again watching this thing, I mean, you hope and again, as you said, well, Kristen, obviously, the thing we hope not is that our football game has impacted, but that everybody's gonna be okay, and that yes, you know, we're able to push through and get the people to help they need when they need it. And

you think about all the people in Florida. Stanley Thomas Oliver's got family in Puna Gorda who were there and had to ride it out yesterday, And as soon as he comes practice field, he's calling to say, Okay, how is everybody wrote a very beautiful article about the players that have family down there or Florida ties and I write it yesterday and it puts it all into perspective,

doesn't it. Yeah, stand, you know he's worried about being a gunner on special teams and getting down and you know, doing his Stanley things on the field, while also wondering

how the folks are back home. So these are human beings also, and you hope all the human beings are okay, because that's the most important part, absolutely um And the last thing that of course we are all looking forward to and and watching out for in this game has nothing to do with the actual game, but also has everything to do with the actual game and the franchise. And of course there's nobody better to talk about it than Darren Gant keep pounding weekend. Yes, I love it.

It's gonna be great. There are a lot of things going on this weekend, throughout the whole weekend to kind of celebrate the legacy of Sam Mills. And and you're right, I can set push the Darren button on his shoulder and make him talk about Sam Mills for fifteen minutes. Yeah, I can do that. Um, you can't say enough about the legacy the man left on this organization, on everybody who's ever walked through this building, uh in twenty seven years. And it's just gonna be neat to celebrate that. The

folks from the Hall of Fame are coming. They're bringing his bust, which we saw when we were up in Kenton in August. And there are gonna be a lot of folks here. Family is gonna be here, a lot of former teammates, a lot of friends are coming into town for this celebration. It's gonna be a neat moment. I mean you can see. It's been interesting to me having known Sam documented the story for so long, seeing new guys react to it, seeing the keep pounding shirts

in the locker room. This week, j J. Jansen did a neat thing down at training camp, and j J didn't personally meet Sam because he didn't get here until after Sam was gone. But JJ is kind of like the keeper of the flame of all things Panthers history in that locker room, and he can talk to people about what it was like and what I heard from and what carries on. So I think it's going to

be a neat uh weekend at a lot of levels. Again, you hope all the conditions are perfect and everybody gets to enjoy it, but there's a lot of cool stuff going on this weekend to honor the guy who Steve Smith flatout says is the greatest Panther of all time. And of course, Darren, you were in Canton as you were just saying, Um, we were down at training camp and you're talking about the way in which it has

affected the current players on this team. I don't know if we've ever told this story, and just this it always has stuck out to me. When they were doing the inductions and it was being broadcast, we were all down there. I guess I don't know if you were in there, but in this little you know, where the cafeteria is, and there's TVs um and kind of like a lounge area and everyone all the players who were walking through, stopped, sat down and watched the induction together.

And you know, if if JJ is the longest tenured Panther and he didn't meet Sam Mills, these these guys that are currently on the team, of course, um have even less of a personal connection or probably don't know, you know, the family or anything personally. And they all sat down and watched and you know, glued to the TV and really taking it in. And I just thought it was incredibly beautiful. And I We'll get to see more of those great moments from from everyone in the

Panthers community this weekend. Yeah, I've used this line a lot. I feel like I've probably used it too much. But you know, twenty seven year old NFL rookies who were teaching shop at a New Jersey high school aren't supposed to get to the Hall of Fame. Nothing about this story is normal. Sam Mills was undersized, he was overlooked. Uh. He got to three different places Philadelphia, New Orleans, and Carolina where nothing had ever been done or could be

expected to be done, and they all succeeded. And it was in a large part because of him. Sam Mills isn't one of the best reason the history of football. Samuel is one of the best stories in the history of stories. I mean, just none of this was supposed

to happen, and yet it all did. And I think because the way um he faced the adversity late in life, because the way he impacted people, because the way he treated people, That's why it resonates, and that's why at the beginnings of games, that's why it started four quarters. You still hear people in this building yell keep town because it means a lot to a lot of people at a lot of level. Beautifully said, I think that's where we should leave it. Yeah, um, Karen, thank you

for that. That was That was beautiful and thank you all for listening. We'll see you next week. I'm the Happy Half Hour Podcast.