Happy Half Hour Episode 82: Glows & Grows

what I always call them. TEXTA, it's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends Kristen Balboni, Augusta Stone, and Darren Gann. That's right, it's that time of the week. It's the Happy half Hour podcast with your friends Darren, Augusta and Kristen. As we said here today it is Wednesday morning. And have we recovered from the game in Atlanta? I I don't even it was such a roller coaster.

It contained multitude. That game had a lot going on, as often happens in Atlanta, and I've talked about in the mail bag. You know, there's a pretty deep catalog of all the weird stuff that happens, whether it's the Georgia Dome or Mercedes Being Stadium and the Panther has been on the wrong side of a lot of it over the years. Uh, it's hard to imagine that they're eight and twenty in Atlanta all time, but so much weird stuff keeps happening. But that game was amazing and

thrilling and heart stopping and heartbreaking all at once. But there was so much stuff going on. I mean, it was just it's one of those things as a writer, it's like, all right, what do I leave out because I'm going to have to leave out a lot. YEP. That's what I appreciated so much about what Darren posted the next morning, because it was you know, you focus on the end and like the result of what happened, and that's kind of where we went with the content.

Was talking about the d J. Moore catch and the

penalty and then also about Eddie by Um. Then the next morning he was like, oh, here's five other things, and they're all like things like you said in the story, whereas like these are things that would have been the main story Forman had three to Stown's see in that game for the first time, I believe it and Niche my broadcast partner said this on the on the broadcast, first time the Panthers running back has done that since Jonathan Stewart in It's kind of like down here in

the hundred word of whatever we've written. Oh. Also, Deonta Foreman turned into Earl Campbell today. Yeah, Dante Jackson had an early interceptance c J. Henderson had an interception. I mean just there were two sacks in the first what six minutes of play in the game. I mean, there's so so many things happened and kind of like Deonte. Oh, by the way, also, p J Walker might turn out to be okay at football. PJS on a role. Patrick

Mahomes liked that sixty two yard or that was cool. It's, uh, yeah, that's pretty good when you get name checked by Patrick Mahomes. That's pretty good feeling. I imagined for p J to uh kind of wake up this morning be like I'm getting recognized by Patrick Mahomes. That ain't so bad. So and again, part of what made Sunday so wild is that game just had so many layers and layers and layers. I mean, PJ is on this hot streak right now. He throws one of the most incredible balls you're ever

going to see any quarterback throw period. And I think it's worth pointing out every time you write about him. If two guys don't get hurt in training camp, he's not even on this roster. He I mean, now, as things developed, was there chance p J was going to be on the practice squad after all that? Sure, of course, especially after Matt Krow got hurt. But p J was a barely considered fourth option during the entire training camp until guys started going down with injuries and without just

some dumb luck for other people. He's not standing in this spot right now, and and all of a sudden, you know, it's so funny. I mean, PJ just keeps falling into these weird spots in his career, and they keep working out in a weird way. I mean, he's, uh, he's re in two as a starter now, but looking at what he's done, I mean, it wasn't just that one play on Sunday, you know, four other passes of

twenty yards or more in the second half. I mean that's kind of where p J was able to He was converting like like third and seventeen and there and again. I don't have the stats in front of me. I'm just going off of my memory of being on the sideline for that game for the radio broadcast, right, And it wasn't just DJ. I mean, it's oh, by the way, there goes Steven Sullivan down the field, there goes and you know they it was. It was one of those games.

I mean, that would have been the reason so many of those guys after that game were crushed. And you know, Brian Burns always talks after games. You know, he's one of those guys who's willing to stand up, be kind of face of the franchise type when things are good, when things are bad. Burns didn't even talk after that game, and he admitted on Monday was like it was too much. I didn't you know, he felt responsible for it, for his own role in this deal. But um, guys just

didn't know how to react. Cause if you win that game, then you're tied for first basically in first place in the division. Halfway through the season, you you're three and oh in the division, you're two and one under Steve Wilkes. You're feeling some sort of way about what's going to go to the second half of the year, and then to have all the air sucked out of the building all at once was tough. It was. It was one

question I want to ask you both. So you know, I think everyone who's listened to this podcast, No, we we my broadcast partners and I do the radio broadcast. Um. And then you know, we we got done with the game. I went up into the booth and we all kind of talked about it, right, because you're just kind of still a little stunned about about the game. And I would say this, I think I started this podcast out saying have we recovered yet? I would say that win

or loose? Right, It was just because it was just a crazy game. I mean, just there were so many different elements to it. As we said, UM, before I can get up into the broadcast booth, which maybe takes me about ten minutes, Darren has put out the rapid Reactions which comes out immediately after every game, UM, from the incredible staff of YouTube. Uh. But how did you both start to immediately Like I could find the words maybe a couple of hours to kind of encapsulate what

this game was. But how do you behind the scenes say, Okay, we didn't know which way this game was going to go until thirty seconds ago. We've got to immediately put it into words and you know, represent the team and the fan base. Well, the real literature is the thousand words that you didn't get to read. Um, that was

the stuff I was really proud of. Um. Yeah, you end up writing a bunch of stuff that never sees the light of day because one of the challenges of writing live news is you've got to be ready for anything. So you've got to have and those rapid reacts are basically five word recaps immediately after a game, and you've got to be prepared in a couple of different directions.

So there was a top of that based on a heroic Panthers come back when, and there was a top based on You've got to be kidding me, And there was so much stuff going on and you just kind of have to be a little agile on your feet every now and then and and be ready to react. And also you need to be able to type very fast.

And thankfully, thanks to my high school typing teacher, I am able to type without looking at keys, and thank god for check and all those fun thing hundred words per minute, and you know, it's It's so cool because our executive producer, David Linton, Darren you you have, over the course of covering, um, the Jim Zoki, over the course of covering this team for many, many years, have seen games like this and know what it's like too. Okay,

this is gonna go either way. I have to a certain extent, Augusta, this has got to be one of the most memorable games that you have seen. This is, you know, your first season with the Panthers. So how do you as a writer wrap your head around everything that's going on and then immediately start you know, um, you go into the locker room and then you start

writing articles. Exactly exactly what I was excited about this question because I get to nerd out about reporting for a minute, because I was thinking about the way I kind of view reporting in general and just everything. It's like, you're capturing moments, and my function as the team reporter is to take fans where they can't be there, not in the locker rooms. Right, So I was really kind of looking for and it was so lucky that it kind of fell into my lapper that I noticed it.

But I was keeping my head on a swivel because a lot of the guys, you know, they're obviously very um, just emotional all around, you know, like they're not really wanting to answer a lot of questions on wanting to talk right now. And that's part of the story, right It's like, you know, they're talking in these whispers and

it's like just a really rough atmosphere. But I was kind of trying to focus on these moments, and I realized when Eddie Panero was giving his uh three minutes to the media, I saw Baker Mayfield, Derek Brown, j D Jansen, and Johnny Hecker all kind of make a row behind the media and just watch. That was a great That was a great tweet. It was it was just it was so awesome. And then at that moment, I was like, Okay, this is the leadoff to this

postgame story. I'm going to write about Eddie because this this I hadn't seen anything like Granted, again, I'm very young. This is like my first year, but I hadn't seen anything like that before. And so and then immediately after where Baker goes and talks to Eddie, I find Johnny, I find uh Derek, and I talked to j J before and I was like, just why why did you do that? Like what is it about, you know, wanting to show that support? What were you trying to like

the message you were trying to convey to him? And that was super compelling. And that's one of those things I think that you know, being a reporter, you're just your heads on a swivel constantly. You're always looking at darn and I talked about this all the time, but we're always just kind of looking out for those little nuggets and those little things, and um, it's all about kind of as as cliche as it is, like staying

in the moment. You know, I'm not thinking about what had happened then, because I can think about that when I'm writing, but I'm trying to like take in the atmosphere, take in what's going on, and then you notice things like that and then you ask about that, and I

don't know, I found that really really compelling. Um, kind of just everyone on that team kind of felt the honest on them because it's like you can say, you know, Eddie missed the two kicks, but there are situations that required that to be Why the outcome was there, if that makes sense. So and it was it was interesting, like like the story you read about Brian Burns, you know he saw it on him, Darry Brown saw it

on him. Also, you know we talked about that incredible throw by p J. Walker, no doubt that propelled them into overtime, but he also had to pick six earlier in the game. Right. So I think it's such a great point, and we've heard Steve Looks say it, but you guys putting these stories out really illustrates the point that there are so many factors that and sometimes the luck of ball bounces a certain way. I'm not saying

in this game. There's just so many things that go into this um And it's hard because those guys played

so hard. I was down their feet from them for the entire game, and so did the Falcons, right, And of course, if you're a fan, you wanted for your team because neither team didn't give the full effort, you know, and not only playing the whole game, but they they go into overtime on it, right, and you just feel like, if you're a fan, you're like, this team deserves to win this game, right, Both teams do because of everything that happened. Um, but it didn't happen. It doesn't diminish

that they're playing. It really doesn't. And I always kind of I feel like they're preambles to a lot of the answers I'm giving. Whether it's the mail bag or on this podcast, you feel like every now and then, just for the sake of honesty, you've got to raise your hand and begin by saying, this is nothing against anybody who's not here right now, This is nothing against anything that happened before. But the thing I can tell you for sure is I've seen the Carolina Panthers lose

that game by twenty in the past. That team stood up. I mean they got up off the mat and punched back on Sunday and they haven't always done that, and again and again and again, and anyone who watched that game you would see you go. The game could have been over at so many different points. And the reason I say all that stuff before, I don't want to turn this into under Steve Wilkes they did under rule they didn't, because it's not just those guys. It's Dante Jackson.

I mean, Dante is a guy people being given him a hard time for getting hurt a lot, but he keeps getting back up and coming back and playing and making big plays. And C. J. Henderson has been on the wrong side of a lot of plays and is coming back and making more of the good ones now. So I mean, you see that in a lot of areas. I know, people there's a reductive tendency in modern media

to make it about one big, obvious thing. But there's a lot of layers to this thing, and there were a lot of dudes who kind of represented that spirit of this is not over. This team is continuing to fight, and it's kind of interesting to watch it all in fold. And I do want to say about you mentioned both Dante Jackson and c. J. Henderson some things that I've seen from them on the sideline. I've covered Dante now for three years, and he dealt with my my first year.

He dealt a lot with turf to that year and some thing that I noticed from him from the beginning, and I told him that that year, and I think that's why you see him as a captain now and you watch his progression, is that he wants to be in the game so bad he will no matter what he's dealing with. As you said, Darren, he will, he will start a game, he will try to go. No one is more upset than him when he can't be

out on the field. And then he also takes it upon himself to really support and mentor and cheer on the other guys out there, and that's hard. He's been doing that for since I've been here. I've watched him every single game, UM, and so it's great to see him have success, UM when he's able to be out there. And then C J Henderson to your point, Darren, I watched him put his body on the line in the Rams game, UM, a Rams game that was starting to get out of hand, and he went into the concussion

protocol after that, UM, and he's back. He had that huge interception UM in in this game here, And you're right, there's so many individuals store Ree. Like I said, we haven't talked about Deanta Form, and we haven't talked about Terrice Marshall, we haven't talked about DJ. I mean, there's there's a thousand different stories that you could tell. But what I want to know from from both of you is this, this has got to feel deflating, right, So how how does this team You know, of course we

hear we're gonna flush it. We gotta move on. You know, you win, you can't take it with you. If you lose, you can't take it with you. So Augusta, how do they move forward after this one? Because the effort was there, and like you said, one thing goes differently, they would have been tied for the division leads. So what are you hearing from the guys exactly? I think it's kind of it's almost like it ties into what we've been

talking about, but there's so much to talk about. I think they're focusing on the fact that there were so many good things. Like Darren said, you've seen the Panthers lose that game by twenty when there's so much fight and there's so many good things. I want to talk specifically about c J. Henderson just because I spoke with UM defensive backs coach Evan Cooper yesterday about c J and UM. He called it the aha moment for him

almost like you know, especially UM. I feel like a lot of fans and a lot of people when they see c J. Henderson they think about the d p I S. I mean, it felt like there was a string of like three games where it was almost he could it just kept happening, just kept happening, and he made a play on the ball, which was something that I had talked with uh, you know, a lot of the players about I had talked with with Coop about and he was like, he finally made the play on

the ball and was right before. It was a few plays before that interception. It was one of those things where, um, it was just he kind of turned the turned a corner. It's not like he's like, you know, arrived or anything, but he's he's turned a corner. And I think a lot of the team feels that way. Deante Foreman, you know, I talked with him after the first game where he posted over hundred rushing yards and he was like, oh, yeah, I'm finally you know, like getting my opportunity. And then

he does the same thing again. So there's there's building blocks. And I think even though there was a loss and it was super deflating in that moment, I I didn't feel like the vibe in the locker room Monday was rough at all. I felt very optimistic. And when you have things that you can build upon that are good,

it's not just oh my goodness, you know. Execution was really poor and you know, we know we can put it together in practice, but you put it together at least enough in a game to make it that kind of thriller, competitive sort of thing. I think that's what they're focusing on. And and now when you lose a game like that, you have places to grow too, So it's you have your glows and your growths. That's what I always call them. So I think there's a lot there.

I really do. It's a nice like coaching term. You should tell coach Wilkes that Darren put that, put that slogan on a piece of paper, Let's tap that on the wall. I need more of those, especially the gloves, I like the clothes. What are you hearing from from Steve Wilkes, from these players? And how do you if you're in that locker room, how do you not lose that fire that you would have had if one thing went your way in that game and you win? I

think one of the things. And I don't want to say it's unique to Steve Wilks, because I think a lot of coaches try to approach this thing. But Steve as always said, I mean when he becomes interim head coach, I mean it's it would have been easy to make that story about Steve Wilkes getting another chance, Steve Wilkes being a hometown kid, uh and all that kind of stuff. Steve has resisted making this about him, and he's kept the focus very short, you know, on We're gonna win today,

is the thing Steve always says. I think players pick up on the fact that Steve knows nothing is promised to him. He knows nothing that's happening, right. I mean, there's a very real chance that nothing that happens on the field this week ultimately impacts his future job wherever it happens to be, whether it's here anywhere else. So, I mean Steve's taking a very narrow focus on everything because that's the way you've got to beat During an

NFL season, there's so much stuff happening. I mean, you know, again, look at what's going on in Cincinnati. Your go there in the Super Bowl. Now they're kind of up against it. They're running out of dudes. Um, key players are hurt. They struggled in front of a national audience on Monday night. Um. Stuff changes in a hurry in the NFL, and the only real way to approach this job and maintain any degree of sanity is to do today as well as you can. I mean, and I think back to my

background in newspapers. You know, we always laughed and called it the daily miracle. How did we put this thing out in twenty four hours when we started with nothing? And that's kind of the way you've got to be

with football. I mean, you can't the Carolina Panthers cannot beat the Bengals on Wednesday, but they can certainly lose to them if they're not buttoned up in preparation for X y Z. So I just think that's been Steve's thing, and it's kind of it's easy to say, and it's harder to pull off, uh, to keep guys focused on Wednesday. And and I think from his standpoint the fact that he generally put them in pads. Now, we haven't been

out on the practice field today. Don't know if they're gonna adjust plans with short week coming up in the future or anything like that. But I think the way Steve put them in pads on Wednesday to kind of get everybody's attention and keep the focus back on the immediate is is kind of his strategy to pushing through this thing. And I think that gave me a lot of insight between what you said Augusta of just seeing

some individual performances really, um, really turned that corner. And then also, like you said, Darren just going day by day, and you know, I have to say, how about that offense too, Like I said, we've touched on it a little bit with the Deontay format of it all, the PJ of it all, but um, you know, talking to our producer David Linton in in the game, I think they got to twenty eight points and I said, this

is by far the most points that they've scored this season. Right, So you have those, um, those things that you look at you this offense has been improving, um, putting up my at least points wise, Um, p J is showing off what he can do and it you know, and then you roll with that, right And then Steve looks said, it's we're rolling with p J. We've seen, we've seen

what this offense can do. And do you hope that just they typen up a few more things or they hope they taken up a few more things in time for the Bengals. And you're right, you say, oh yeah, well we get this done. Yeah, And in honor of Panthers stats guy, since Will is not here to provide stat of the week, he's on special assignment today. It's not really a stat, but I think it's a number that kind of points to that the Panthers have been

last in the league in offense all year long. The Carolina Panthers are no longer last in the league in total offense. I mean they're now twenty nine in the league. Again, not great, Bob, but considering where they've been, Considering where they were earlier this year, when they just couldn't convert a third down, couldn't move the ball, couldn't put anything on the board. I mean, that's the that's the thing

that's so different about what's going on right now. And and again, is there a certain freedom that you can play with when you're on a fourth quarterback or a second coach and all this stuff is happening around you? Yeah? Sure, I mean when the stakes are down, there is a certain liberty each of those individuals has. But um, at the same time, it's beginning to work. Yeah, I mean PJ is dealing right now. And I never imagined saying that in August. So it's just it's kind of bizarre,

and it's I laughed about it all the time. You you go see the show because you never know what you're gonna get. And right now that's the spot the Carolina Panthers are in. I did not expect to be talking about p J. Walker and the high flying Panthers offense right now, but they just scored thirty four points. Absolutely absolutely, Yet here we are. Uh and before we go, I do want to touch on the trade deadline as well. So it has come and gone. Um, Darren, what's what's

the insight on the building from from that? Speaking of all those words written that never see the light of day, I wasn't gonna say it, because you know, we we were prepared for a lot of stuff around here, and you have to be. But no, I just don't think and they were pretty clear. I think Scott Fitter has has made it clear from the start. Even after Christian, you know, people wanted to apply the fire sales stuff to Christian McCaffrey, and that's kind of a different deal.

I mean, Christian was at a different stage of career and he's basically a premium contract to a non premium position, and what they wanted to keep were the guys at premium positions, you know, the pass rusher like Brian Burns, the receiver like d J. Moore, the corner of the tackle um and they didn't want to trade those guys. So I think they sat around yesterday afternoon waiting for the phone to ring. The phone never rang with the

offers um that they considered sufficient. I mean, there were reports out there that the Rams offered two number one where the Rams didn't have one next year. So was it worth it to trade Brian Burns for a first round pick in two? Obvious? Obviously it's not because much like us, Brian still here in the building. Um So, I just think it was a lot of waiting around to see if anybody was going to overwhelm them with offers. Nobody ever did, and they kind of like the piece

they've got in place. I mean, one of the things I'm working on right now that we'll have up on Panthers dot Com at a certain point this week is is they like what they've got coming back? And if you look at what's coming back, most of a starting lineup, now granted it's the starting lineup of a two and six team where there's no bones about that. They're going

to be in the quarterback market. Everybody knows that. But when you start looking at the idea of going into next year with a secondary in place, with an offensive line almost completely in place, with Brian Burns, a premier pass rusher in place, with d J Moore, one receiver Derek Brown who's playing his tail, I guess he just gave a couple of snaps and the microphone that glow or grow. That's definitely that's glow. It's a glow from

a glow. Yes, But there's a lot of stuff going them that they like having, and now they've got more draft picks. They don't have all that many free agents to re sign, really only two starters when you look at when you look at it, I mean Bradley Boseman and matt Ionidas are the two guys who are quote unquote starters right now who aren't under contract for next year other than the quarterbacks. So they don't have all

that much stuff to do this offseason. So it gives you an opportunity to add to what they feel like is a pretty decent young bass and I have to say during It's kind of like what you just said. I did not did not think at this point you'd be saying p J Walker in this high flying offense despite the record, the two and six record, I think it's fair to say that, you know, before starting this job,

I came to this as a Panthers fan. So I feel like if you're a Panthers fan, I you know, it's not common to say, well, at two and six, I think you've got to feel pretty good about where things are right now. Despite the record. This this team that did not I think fans were worried about the fire sale, like you said, that did not happen. It feels like there's some really solid, solid pieces and a lot of different spots on this team, and and they're not out of it. We'll see what happens. So it's

a completely different vibe. But if you go back to the forty Niners game here, what was that less than a month ago to think that after that you were then going to see p J. Walker in the Carolina Panthers give Tom Brady a good thrashing and then go out and lose a shootout in overtime. Any atlant I mean, it's just none of those things makes it. But yeah, they are playing they are playing a different brand of football right now, there's no doubt about that. Well, this

was a blast. I'm glad we got to do it a day early. Thanks everyone for listening to the Happy Half Hour podcast and we'll see you next week.