The Group Chat Episode 9: Measuring Stick

the group chat. You've been added to the group chat with your friends Caroline Can, Max Sensen, and Will Brian. Sometimes I don't know how to start these things, So that's how we should start this one. Can we just roll with that? Guys? I struggle every single time coming out of like the open of like, oh, how do you follow that? I don't know? This is how we're

doing it right now. Sometimes well, it would have been good if we started with your opening of the sprite can though, that would have been it was very loud, everyone like the subtle can that you heard a couple of weeks ago from that opening it no, mine was right in the mic, just don't wake everyone up. I literally jumped, Yeah, you did almost fall out before we get started here with what we originally planned to do on this podcast. We would like to introduce whoever is

running our fan club. We would like to introduce a new name. Um, we'll probably the name because we don't have a president of a fan club, nor do we have a fan club. But if we want, if someone out there wants to start one the Groupies, if you're looking for a name the group piece, wouldn't our graphic designer Kelly be the president of our fan club? She hopefully because she called this the group Talk? Oh was

it time to go? Do the group talk? Kelly? We love Keen though we love Kelly, So Kelly, thank you for listening every single week and giving us the name the Groupies. Yes, yes, all right, now we'll jump into the real segment. So this this last week, did you guys know the Panthers? They played the Ramps in Week one? Were you guys there? I was there? Max? Were you there? I was also there? Yeah? I was there. Did you see most president and accounted for? I did? Did you

did you get it? I didn't get to watch most of ye So Will is not gonna be able to offer much in this segment. I guess he could tell us about how some of the mobile app things went. Yeah, the I wasn't serious. Okay, that wasn't actually asking Will is always reading? Was fantastic. I was also the game. But I did not see either of you. Yeah we saw you. Yeah I heard you. I was all the way from the press box. You could hear hoping that Mike will pick me up at some point, like if

I'm loud enough, someone will listen. But then playing in this game. Something that came out of this game, a little catchphrase that we caught onto was this game was a measuring stick for this Carolina Panthers team. And so that made me think of you know when you walk into like old homes, or maybe it's just family homes not old ones. I'm sure anyone's have this as well, like a doorframe that has like, oh, at seven years old, little Johnny was this tall and at eight and nine.

That's what it made me think of. So, if this is a measuring stick for this team, what do we want to see grow? What do we find like, Oh, I'm fine with that staying the same. I thought that was pretty good. So we're putting the Panthers up on the door frame and we're going to project maybe something that we think will change this week with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers coming to town for Thursday night football. Um, or just something that we're like, you know, I liked

that that doesn't need to grow. We that that can stay right there. So anyone want to go first, because the only real rule of this podcast is that Caroline never goes first. Yeah, well, I think that if if Christian McCaffrey's production grows any anymore than like his legs are going to fall off. I don't think we have a doorframe that big. I don't. I don't think we can do that anymore, and that can stay right where. Yeah, that's that's pretty much there. I would like to see, uh,

you know, someone some other rushing numbers up there. I don't know there were necessarily going to see a ton of Jordan's Scarlett, a ton of Reggie Bonifon in the backfield, but last year the Panthers led the league in rushing yards by wide receivers. I'd like to see a little bit more of that. Curtis Samuel D. J. Moore. I was surprised we didn't see any end arounds the Curtis

or DJ in that game. I don't know if that had something more to do with the Rams scheme and North didn't feel comfortable with it, but yeah, neither of them involved in the running game, and obviously Cam wasn't either, which is a big story, right, So yeah, I'd like to see a little more rushing production from others and not necessarily. It doesn't mean that Christians coming off the field for fifteen snaps, but it means that others running

the ball. Doesn't mean that he's coming off the field for one snaper because that would be more than all right, Max, I would like to see the offense grow in the area of creating explosive plays. We had the longest completion of the game really for either team. What was Goffs Before I get into a cams with seventeen yards? What was goffs long is completion wasn't four. So neither team

was particularly explosive through the air. But this is a thing that's always going to be following Cam and the Panthers after what we saw last year too, is where the big play is going to come from. Um, it's so hard to play in a box like this and to count on ten eleven, twelve play drives to get yourself down the field, and look, Christian can roll for five or six yards to carry and put up the numbers he did, but defenses are going to be willing

to give that up. What they don't want to give up is big plays over the top or big chunks, and Caroline has got to figure out a way to

do that. Whether it's d J. Moore and Curtis Samuel being the guys who are on the outside are doing it, whether it's Camm and his legs, I don't I don't know when we're gonna be able to see that from him again, but it can all be on Christian, to Will's point, and they've got to They've just got to have more than plays that are seventeen yards longest through the air and I think Christian's longest rush was twenty three yards. And they need big plays, bottom line. They

need to have that. So just one game, I'm not going to make too much of it from just you're making a huge deal out of this. But the thing about it is this was last year too. I Mean, we're talking about some track record here of honestly, what we saw from the offense Sunday, what felt a lot like two thousand and eighteen it was. It was Christian and Christian and Christian again, So that this offense needs

to grow in that way for sure. Going forward to to play Devil's advocate to that, That's where I'm going because I'm okay with I don't think I want to feel like I literally put seventeen yards was the longest pass froom Cam Newton, and I'm okay if that stays the same. I thought you put twenty seven points up on the board with the turnovers that you had. I mean there's a missed field goal two and that too, So I mean we're talking over thirty points and you

never had a big chunk play. I'm okay with it. I think it's fine because I think too, you have to let those plays develop. I don't think that's something that you know, maybe you get a handful of them throughout the year. But I also said, well, if Kurt Ko is going to go out there and have the year I think he's having, we need a couple of big plays. So, um, either I'm gonna be terribly terribly wrong about my prediction at the terribly wrong, or um, you know, they get a couple of big plays. But

I'm okay with it. I mean, twenty seven points and when you look back at I mean they had actually came out of a time out, had to call another time out. You're you're having a lot of miscommunication there. You turn the ball over, you miss a field goal, You're not you know, a couple three and ounce. I get the big play. We all want them, like come on, like I would love to have a highlight, but yeah, I'm not asking for a time We just need at least one. I mean, you got to stretch the field

of defense. Otherwise, like I said, they're going to be crowned the line of scrimmage, and over a sixteen game schedule, that's going to make it hard. And and again, if you're gonna have to rely on those long drives, all it takes is one holding penalty. All it takes is one sack, and all of a sudden, now you're behind the change. So that's what I'm kind of projecting forward and being like, you can't one game is fine. They almost got away with it, right, I mean they lost

by three points. But I think over the course of the season, an offense that lacks big play potential is much easier to defend. Absolutely, And going off of that too, I think this back to back on a short week, that's a lot of time that your offense is out on the field. If you're doing you know, like you're saying, ten play drives, and that's a lot of time that your offense is out there, so your defense. I mean, I I do agree if you get a couple of big plays. Now we're saying a couple, give me a

couple in the game, not just one. But if you get you know, a big play out there, then that allows your offense to come off and you get more rest. It's going to be hot spoiler alert. It won't be sunny and I won't get a sun burned down there like I did on Sunday. But it's still going to be warm. It's going to be humid. These guys have had a short week. I think this, why not dial it up and see if you can get one. But didn't.

I mean they did call one. They called there was It's not that they're not calling it, it's but Cam's gotta prove that you can hit it. I mean that huge third down, you know, we're talking about the block punt and then they get the ball back with it after Bradbury's interception with a chance to go down and take the lead in the fourth quarter, they had that third down, the Curtis wheel route was there and just

missed it. And so yeah, I'm not saying it's not because they're not calling them, but the execution has just got to be there. That was you talk about quote unquote missed opportunities. That was That was the biggest one to get it. That was the biggest one right there. I mean, because I know Caroline, we talked about it before,

you know, the other day of practice. It was like, you know, throughout the course that game, it sort of felt like, man, the ball is just not bouncing their way today, and it was on the ground a couple of times they couldn't recover for it, and I had that feeling as well. But then between the Black punt and and Bradberry's interception, they had everything they wanted, They had the ball. It was up to them to go down and take the game by the throat, and they

didn't do it. Speaking of James Bradberry, I feel like he's about to have a growth spurt, Like he has the interception that he had all last season. He's there like he's already he's already clocked in, like, oh, little little James here, he's gonna he's gonna grow this year. Chad. That's my favorite nickname that he has. You haven't read the article on Panthers dot com about his alter egos, You need to go Chad. I think I just want to call him Chad. Chad. I don't know if I'm there,

I can't do Chad is the best. When they when they told me some what somage was, I was like, somage and then down it was like, yeah, James spelled backwards, like that's all it is. But I think I think James Bradberry is in for a growth spurt. I think if we keep the like growth track going, he's this

is gonna be a big year for him. And it needs to be a big year for him because in that contract here, I like, I like when these stories kind of come together, of these not as big of names kind of flown under the radar a little bit, and all of a sudden they start peaking at the right time. Another guy in that same boat, Jack Thompson,

was great against the Ranch. Also in a contract here, I mean, those two are off to great starts, and you know, if they get the kind of production they got from those two going forward, the defense I think will be fine. They got some stuff to figure out. Obviously, the defensive line was frustrated. They didn't get the pressure they wanted to against Goff. They used that kind of

three man rush and six DV package. I'm curious to see what Ron does in Week two, but overall, I think the defense is going to be in pretty good shape. Let's do a measuring stick on them so that there wasn't the stat line wasn't as crazy as we wanted it to be. For that defensive line. We've kind of said this entire offseason as they were putting together that line and in the preseason they look great coming off

the bus. On paper, they're amazing. We've seen some good things from them on the field, but as far as stat lines go, like what do we think happens in this Tampa Bay game? They need they need to create more turnovers. Jameis Winston came in through two pick six

is last week. I mean, he's known for making decisions sometime of giving the ball away, and you know, this is a team that you know, we've seen them at their best is when they're creating short fields, when they're they're being ball hawkers and they're they're they're making plays, they're being aggressive, and you know, you get one play in special teams, you get something like that punt block, it gets a big return and then you're able to get something that can set you up with a short

field and all of a sudden, you know these ten play twelve play drives that need precision, that need three or four third down conversions, you don't have to do that.

I mean, that was the recipe in fifteen, and you know, if you can get that, they talked about in seventeen when the team went to the playoffs and I think they went maybe six seven weeks with like one interception or one turnover to start the year, and they said, you know, turnovers coming, bunches, so this could be a good start to really kind of playing James Winston generally is a good time to get some turnovers and bunches. Yeah, he's been careless with the football, so I think I

think you're absolutely right. And you know, I don't know how many people in their pools had James Bradberry as the guy who was gonna get the first stack of the year. He's still the only guy in this defense with a sack. They've got to get some production from the guys up front. I mean, you're you're you're paying some pretty big money, um for guys to look they're

gonna be disruptive even if they're not recording sacks. And that's that's all well and good, um, but I think we we want to see Brian Burns innishoff of play that he was maybe inches away from making. You are several of those Geryl McCoy get back there, kk short Um, I think those guys get in the face of Winston. Getting the sack total up a little bit will be something definitely to keep an eye on Thursday night. How many times did it feel like Golf literally got the

ball out as he was getting hit. I mean there are a number of not as much as you saw with DeShawn Watson on Monday night. Pray for that guy. Good gracious, he got rocked. I just changed the subject. But when you said that, all that came into my mind was Sean Watson, how is he feeling this week? Yikes? Back to the Panthers. Is there anything else. You guys want to see them like grow in this this week, I couldn't went with targets. I'll answer my own question.

I set myself just said that you never go first we first started. I'm only the targets because we heard you know, they want to spread the ball around. They want to be able to get it to a lot of different guys and not just rely on these like same big playmakers. It's one thing that Ron has kind of said, there were five guys that got the ball from Cam and yes, okay, that's fine, but I want to see more. I mean, get get you know, the other tight ends involved, and get some of these other

running backs involved. And um, I mean the five that got the targets, they were you know, ce mc, were Olson, Curtis, Samuel and right. So it's I want more. I want to see more. CMC had ten um of those and then d J. Moore had seven for three and one for the rest of you know, the three of those. So I want to see more guys get the balls, spread it around a little bit. And I think in the red zone two we saw CMC getting there twice. Fantasy owners are super pumped about that. UM, but then

Alex Armand getting in there running the ball. I'm just interested to see. I know it was one game. We're talking about one game here, people, but I just I want to see it. What who are the other targets? Who are who are they relying on in these other big moments, because you are going to have to spread the ball around a little bit to be able to throw off some of these defenses. Yeah, yeah, I think that's a good one. I just think overall, just playing

cleaner football. I think the and again this was from both teams here Sunday, the Rams included. It was it was pretty sloppy, um, and the Rams were just a little bit better when they had to be. But you know, like yoution of Caroline, like the you know, the miscommunication, the headset stuff, the penalties whatever it is, like even the timing, I think the timing of Cam Newton to his receivers. Ever, and then I think that's one thing I noticed with the Rams offense versus the Panther. The

Rams offense was much more precise in that way. Um. And I mean you saw it on the you know backward pass that set up gifted the Rams with a touchdown. I mean the Rams are running a lot of those sideways plays around the course of the game. Obviously didn't have any issues. Panthers tried to run one deflected fumble touchdown Rams a couple of days later. I mean, so just cleaner football from the Panther's no excuses. I mean, you've got the week one rusty excuse out of the way, Like, Okay,

now it's time. You're in a you can't lose this game. You can't go into your first division game at home on a short week against the Buccaneers. You gotta play clean football and do what it takes to make sure that you don't beat yourself in this one. First and foremost. I will say this though, in the second half, it felt like it felt like it was about to explode. You know, you am are kind of going into halftime, you feel like all these things are going wrong. There's

there's a bad way. It's in a bad way, like like you know, like there's frustration everywhere. You know, like there was there were booze at times in the stadium. And then to come out to put the drive together, uh, you know that that Christians scored on you know, to even to even come back and have that last drive

to pull within three. Obviously it's a little too little, too late, but there were signs that you look across the NFL as these games were all unfolding, and there was just so much there were there were teams that were not being competitive, that we're that we're just rolling over. It felt like in least in terms of the scoreboard. In terms of the scoreboard, that's actually and it's an interesting point. I want too literally that voice positive I head and I looked at the two guys of like,

who is this. Wow? I had a question for you guys. Max brought up a good point, and I was wondering, thank you, thank you that I was wondering what you guys thought of this this thing that I'm seeing on social media and everything about how there's like a movement of people that think that the reason why Week one was so bad was the lack of people playing in the preseason. I was one of what you guys thought

about them. I mean, yeah, like, I think that's a valid point, but I would rather Week one be a little messy than have your you know, a star guy get hurt Week three. The preseason, the way the way it's set up, you just can't be teams just the way it is now. It's just the new normal that you you just you can't. You can't have guys out there in week three. The preseason are teen weeks to this season. If this was an eight week season, absolutely

not like playing in the preseason. Get them ready because you have this like run of eight games. There are seventeen weeks, you get sixteen games and then you go into the playoffs. No, I don't. I'm fine with it as long as like both teams are doing it and it's just your team. It Yeah, like I it's just your team doing it. That's a bit fresh rain. But i'st also a pretty good test because both the Rams.

The Rams like started this trend of not playing anyone, so they didn't do it, you know, the Panthers didn't really do it, so you're starting to see. I thought it was like it was a great measuring stick. There was just a lot of bad football across the league on Sunday, and I was just want to that which is not on common and like, look, I don't I don't care how much preseason football you play, Like the regular season is such a different animal anyway that I

still think that's always good anymore? Is it? It's different? What's the preseason animal question? What's the regular season animal? What do you think? I think you can't answer? First, she answers her own questions. I don't know, that's not what it is. We had already talked about what we wanted to see change in the game. I was just jumping out on that. Is kind of answered it with a question. So he did answer her question. Matt. Matt's the producer and he runs this thing, and he's the

rule keepers rules, but we'll keep track of stats. And I wasn't paying attention that it sounds like the refused animals. I just shouldn't talk anymore. I confuse every animals the preseason um kind of like a it would be like a gentle animal, right, Like it's not something everyone's like, really still a predator, but like a nice one, like a house cat versus like a panther. Hip can be really mean. Yeah, I know, but like you don't you

don't expect the hippo. Okay, I don't know. I think a house cat the house cat because the house cat will like staying cut a little bit. But also very split on if people like the house cat or if they're not cat people. So this could be a really good Some people really like the preseason, some people don't. Producer Matt maybe one on this one. The preseason is a house cat, and I like it because cats are the worst in the preseason is the worst. Panthers are great,

house cats aren't good. Thank you for proving my point. So then we would say that we regular season is then like the rat Wilder, like you know, everyone's coming out of Barkain the Teeth or show and it's going to get vishes Caroline, do you know the do you know the viral? What is happening that Matt? Is that Matt? No, that's Caroline? You know like that don't don't don't be like a cat world be like a dog, like a dog.

What are you gonna say? You know the video from the Coastal Carolina Coach on like ten years go ahead? Are you gonna saying that? Was it great? We're really organized here group. I do have something for us. We have updated reviews. Is it reviewed? I was going to bring this up, well, I haven't looked at this because I didn't tell people who ate the steak, But it's actually already out there? Who ate a steak? So I it was Christian McCaffrey. For those of you, does it

all a couple of weeks ago? He was. I was, we were talking about snacks on the sideline, and I said that particular player may have brought an entire steak and was eating it with his hands. That player was Christian McAffrey. How did he get out there? Kevin Donnelly on the radio in the review. Yeah, that's very that's very Kevin like Kevin. Yeah, like, that's great job, Kevin of doing that, because that's on brand for you to just like and you're like a former player, he can

do that. I was playing it safe, and I apologize. I let you guys down. I let the group. He's down a little bit. Sorry, It's okay about that. Can I ask you guys a question about what I like the Panther fan reaction to Week one. I think it's been a little all over the place. I can't get

a read on it. So yeah, I mean, like, I think this is what happens with every fan base week one to a certain extent, right, it's like whatever happens, good or bad, people are going to take way too much out of it, but I see, I'm curious where you guys fall on it is was weak one's performance concerning was it uplifting because hey, that was the NFC

champions and nearly beat him, or uh something else? Entirely, I think the next three weeks are far more of an indicator to me than week one, because that's not what the question was like some people, like somebody came at me and was like, well, this team is going eight and eight, I'm done, And it's just like all right, so cool man, don't watch the rest of the season. That's great, But like, what what's your reaction to what

you saw Sunday? And is it, as Caroline prompted with us the measuring stick, does this the way this team measured up to the Rams give you encouragement because hey, that team went thirteen and three, patters didn't play their best football almost came out with a win against that football. Well, I think I think the Rams didn't play their best football. Agreed, I think that it was, which is why I just don't see it as enough of enough of anything to

really get a feel. You're not playing along? What do you I'm really not What do you think I was encouraged. You're encouraged because we beat ourselves. Like the things that I think went wrong in that game, it wasn't anything that like Aaron Donald really came through and rocked that one. You know, we weren't saying like, oh, the Rams did that and caused the Panthers to do this. I mean, there's uh missed field goal, there's you know, fumbling the ball and so you know, no one was coming after

and like knocking that ball out. It was it was turned over by the Panthers. And I think there's just things that when we're saying the ball wasn't bouncing our way, it was like, but it's not necessarily because the Rams were pulling it away from us. And I think that's

the part that is encouraging. Frustrating, yes, but encouraging when we look ahead to the rest of the season that Okay, they don't play their cleanest football, they don't play their smartest football, but they scored twenties seven points against the defending NFC champions like and and hold not hold thirty points is not being held to anything. But I think you keep it a close game with an offense that

is known for throwing up some serious points. The defense did I think what they were supposed to do Aaron Donald, I mean, I don't think he got his first hackle until the second half. You saw some other guys break through the line and get hands on cam and you know you don't want to see that. But when you have a guy like Aaron Donald was gonna pull up a lot of attention. I just thought there were some good things that can they be better. Absolutely, they need

to be better, but I was encouraged. I walked away thinking, I mean, yeah, a win would feel a lot better. But you make that field goal, and it's a tie ball game, you don't turn the ball over on that first drive, you get in the know and you're playing

from ahead. I think there's just like two things in that game that I really think, you know, early on in the game, if we would have capitalized on that, if if the Panthers would have capitalized on that, not if the Rams wouldn't have forced us to do this, you know, I think that's what the different narrative is. And I'm like, you know, you come back in the meeting rooms, you fix those couple of things, you make sure they don't happen again. And those are things that

you can control. It's not something that I think the Rams did. Yeah, I think overall with you. I think the frustration comes from the fact that this Rams team could have been had they not play their best football at all, And I thought that's kind of what the Panthers needed to have happened. So the game was there for the taking, but they didn't take it. I still think losing by three points to defending NFC champions is

not the worst way to start your season. I think some people are reacting that way, and it's it would have been one thing if they lost by four scores to a mediocre team last year, then I could I could understand some of the reaction. But if we take a step back for a second, yes, this is a you know, results based business, and they didn't get the result they wanted. But to play that Rams team pretty tough. I agree with you. I think that should be a

sign of some encouragement. Let's see what happens Thursday night against the Bucks. I think if if there were one on one at the end of this week, then you can feel pretty good about the direction this team said. Yeah, certainly a lot of things to still follow going into this Thursday night game. Um, and if you've been following along,

I'm gonna pub my own social media here. If you've been following along on my Instagram, I've been showing you how early the trucks got here for Thursday night football, how many trucks they're are, of broadcast trucks that are out there. It is so tight. But Thursday Night, if the build up to Thursday Night has been any indication, it's going to be absolutely insane. It's going to be so fun to be that kind of opening Thursday not not kind of. It is the opening Thursday night football game,

So get excited about that. We hope everyone can come down to Bank of America Stadium and join the party with us. But if not, of course, there are plenty of ways to tune in for that Thursday night game on the NFL Network and of course the radio broadcast and Jake Blow We're gonna give a little shout out here. Okay, Jake DeLong joined the radio broadcast. I mean I'm speechless. I mean he literally just can't even speak right now. Is is that a tear coming out of it? It's

a little embarrassing. How much we love but it's true, I just get it together will. But yes, it was really really great to hear him on the broadcast. He goes a lot of great insights, so tune in anyway that you can, and on Thursday night, we appreciate you joining us for another week of the group Chat, and if you really do start calling yourselves the Groupies, we would really love that. We'll see you next week.