NFL or College football Fans

[Buzzo]

Anyone else fancy the Bronco's tonight?

Got the feeling that Defense is going to have it's way with the Panther's O line tonight.

I think you called it!

Certainly from what I saw until HT, it seemed that both defences were on top and the Panthers offence couldn't get going at all.

[Chazza]

Super Bowl 50: Cam Newton and Panthers pick bad time for meltdown

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — No smiles. No dabs. Just the icy silence of a defeated locker room littered with shellshocked Panthers players trying to grasp the gutting Denver put on them for 60 minutes in what would end as a crushing 24-10 Super Bowl 50 loss.

The best football team all year long and the NFL's highest-scoring offense was stunned and silent, player after player lined up in front of lockers with heads down, staring emptily into cell phones, unable to process what happened on Sunday.

The sad scene was punctuated by the brief appearance of quarterback Cam Newton at his media interview. Newton spent this season identifying himself as an icon of football and fashion, appearing after games with gold-studded shoes and foxtails attached to his pants. There was nothing garish about the downtrodden MVP, who spent less than three minutes talking with the press, mostly in short, clipped answers before walking off.

The amount of vitriol involved in the discussion of Cam's post game behavior was incredulous, but it's nothing new for the league's most polarizing player. Newton is a different dude, and his out-of-the-box personality is usually a very welcome change for a buttoned-up generation of quarterbacks (one ironically created by watching Peyton Manning for so many years).

Here's a fact, though: Newton didn't do himself any favors by sulking away from the throng of cameras. It's not about doing his duty in front of the media. It's about the way you're perceived as a leader to the public and to the locker room. The Panthers take their cue from Cam.

None of what happened makes Newton a bad human or a selfish jerk or an immature person. Just like the Panthers, he had a really bad day and it affected his reaction.

A debate about the merits of leadership is going to end in a lot of asinine sports shouting -- but the reality is there is a gulf-like dichotomy between Newton's reaction to rolling up a team in a win and the sulking Super Bowl quarterback we saw on the podium. And don't come screaming about this take, either -- Cam got plenty of praise for his maturity in this spot just a few weeks ago.

All of the high-energy antics Carolina was known for this season emanated from Newton's on-field behavior. Dancing and celebrating when you win is fun, and it's entertaining and was enjoyable to watch all season long. If you didn't want Newton and the Panthers to dance, well, stop them from scoring. It's what they told everyone.

On Sunday they were stopped in their tracks, with Von Miller and DeMarcus Ware spending the evening in Cam's kitchen, treating Mike Remmers and Michael Oher like turnstiles. They hit Cam over and over and over and then hit him some more. They tip-toed the line between aggression and dirty play perfectly, covering Cam's jersey in shoddy Levi's Stadium turf and forcing him into a position where he was forced to carry the load on offense by himself.

Carolina's 2015 season was marked by a high-octane offense and mistake-free football. Sunday was marred by Carolina repeatedly shooting itself in the foot. They were a better offensive team in almost every statistical category Sunday.

SUPER BOWL STATS
No code has to be inserted here.But the Panthers were a sloppy team.

"They're a great defense. So I'm going to give credit to them, but us as an offense, we can't do things," fullback Mike Tolbert said. "We can't turn over the ball. We can't give up the sacks. We can't fumble. We can't kill ourselves with penalties. That's the thing -- that's the story of our offense tonight and unfortunately, we picked the worst time to do it."

From the get go Carolina looked lost, borderline overwhelmed by the stage. Newton came out of the gate missing badly on his throws and his line unable to Miller out of the backfield.

The Panthers mustered just 28 total yards in the first quarter while going 0 for 4 on third down. Carolina's drives in the first half? Punt, fumble, punt, touchdown, punt, fumble, punt.

There were times when Carolina looked like it was generating some momentum, picking up chunks of yardage and starting to get its offense into rhythm. Denver wasn't going to run away and put up a pile of points. All the Panthers needed was to quit making mistakes and execute their offense.

"We picked a really bad day to kind of have a meltdown," tight end Greg Olsen said. "When we were on we were moving the ball, we had some things going. We had a couple big plays that sparked us, and then it just seemed whenever we had something going … critical error, penalties, drops -- obviously the turnovers were huge.

"Not even the turnovers, but just that [they happened at] inopportune times."

Cam's first fumble resulted in a Broncos touchdown. The Panthers blew punt coverage on Jordan Norwood when he didn't call a fair catch and generated the longest punt return in Super Bowl history (61 yards). Tolbert coughed up the ball on the very next possession.

There were more false starts and blocks in the back for Carolina than there are hippies in Haight-Ashbury.

The Panthers finished the game with more penalties (12) than points (10). Carolina produced more penalty yardage (102) than they allowed rushing yards to the Broncos (90).

It was a team playing with a little bit of tight-butt syndrome again, except they weren't sitting on a 31-point lead in front of a home crowd.

"They just played better than us. I don't know what you want me to say," Newton said in his one lengthy answer of the short session. "They made more plays than us and that's what it comes down to. We had our opportunities. We dropped balls, we turned the ball over, gave up sacks, errant passes. That's it. They scored more points than us."

The end of the game was just sad. Ron Rivera punted down 14 with two minutes left in the Super Bowl, waving a white flag on a fourth-and-24 and one last shot at trying to make some magic happen.

Maybe he saw Newton not dive on a fumble and realized where his team's mindset was. The Broncos sure did.



"That's the way he is," Broncos linebacker Danny Trevathan said. "Playing for himself."

"He didn't want it," Denver cornerback Aqib Talib said.

Losing the Super Bowl doesn't diminish what the Panthers did. It doesn't tarnish an incredible season from Newton. The Panthers had two bad days all year, and the second one just happened to come at a really inopportune time.

Maybe Newton's brief comments were spot on after all.

"We got outplayed. We got outplayed, bro."

"We lost."

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/eye-on-football/25477178/super-bowl-50-cam-newton-and-panthers-pick-bad-time-for-a-meltdown

[spud_gun]

I think you called it!

Certainly from what I saw until HT, it seemed that both defences were on top and the Panthers offence couldn't get going at all.

On reflection it wasn't hard a call.

The Broncos defense is the top rated in the league. The Panthers O line had Michael Oher at left tackle.

Only surprise was so many 'experts' picked The Panthers.

[paulg]

I liked how the BBC guys kept winding up the 1 pundit who said the Broncos defence (I insist on English spelling :-)) would nullify the Panthers. Bet he enjoyed the ripostes.

I did my usual and made it to about midnight, all of 5 minutes into the game, before going to bed.

[Hollowman]

Looks like my boy Carson Wentz could go number one. That would be ridiculous/amazing.

[paulg]

Just reading that the Browns look like they are doing a big rebuilding job. Their owners must be confident of being there a long time and having the support to see it through.

How good is Wentz? His rating on nfl.com makes him sound like a good starter, but the write up from scouts makes him sound amazing.

[Hollowman]

Couple of pages back I posted about Wentz. I like the kid, and it's a great story, but I'd have concerns. He had a good senior bowl and has impressed at the combine and on scouting days, but it's in live situations I'd worry about him.

He doesn't settle his feet particularly quickly, and doesn't hang around in the pocket long enough when he sees any pressure. Scouts will like him because the Bison had him making a lot of different short and medium throws. But on longer throws, especially to the sidelines, he doesn't know how to guide his receivers into space with his throws. Quite often he has wildly overthrown pretty straightforward throws. I worry about what he sees down the field.

But he has size and athleticism, a good arm, and enough general accuracy to be promising. He can tuck and run too, almost in Andrew Luck style - he doesn't mind railroading a mother****er. I suspect teams think they will be able to work on the rest, believing you can teach reads and footwork but can't teach size and new arms.

They're going to need to offer him serious protection. He played for a massively dominant FCS team and still looked sketchy under pressure. A porous offensive line on Sundays could see him sink pretty quick.

With work I'd have said he was a good pick as his arm strength probably means he has a higher ceiling than Goff, but it'll be interesting if he's a day one starter (which surely he would be if the Rams rake him). I wouldn't have given all those picks away for him. Or for Goff, that said.

[paulg]

Cheers Hollow, I'll go back and read your earlier post about him.

I read an interesting article about the NFL not developing QBs anymore. I suppose it's similar to the EPL and not blooding enough youngsters, or looking to spend big short term.

[spud_gun]

Cheers Hollow, I'll go back and read your earlier post about him.

I read an interesting article about the NFL not developing QBs anymore. I suppose it's similar to the EPL and not blooding enough youngsters, or looking to spend big short term.

Dunno about that. Billy Vegas and Johnny Football are two of the most gifted young quarterbacks in recent memory.

I guess in a way the NFL has seen a golden period for quarterbacks. Brady, the Manning brothers, Big Ben, Brees all HOF quarterbacks. While guys like Romo, Rivers and Ryan can also play at an elite level.

All these guys are.the wrong side of 30 and replacements will be required soon.

Interesting piece I read last week is who'll replace these guys when the time comes? The perceived thinking was that both the Rams and Eagles bet the house on Geoff and Wentz while the asking price was comparatively low.

Look at the cluster **** that is the Broncos QB situation. That may be the shape of things to come unless teams are willing to give up 5 firsts to get a Luck type prospect.

[Chazza]

First Round draft picks

1. Los Angeles (from Tennessee): Jared Goff, QB, Cal

2. Philadelphia (from Cleveland): Carson Wentz, QB, North Dakota State

3. San Diego: Joey Bosa, DE, Ohio State

4. Dallas: Ezekiel Elliott, RB, Ohio State

5. Jacksonville: Jalen Ramsey, CB, Florida State

6. Baltimore: Ronnie Stanley, OT, Notre Dame

7. San Francisco: DeForest Buckner, DE, Oregon

8. Tennessee (from Cleveland): Jack Conklin, OT, Michigan State

9. Chicago (from Tampa Bay): Leonard Floyd, OLB, Georgia

10. N.Y. Giants: Eli Apple, CB, Ohio State

11. Tampa Bay (from Chicago): Vernon Hargreaves, CB, Florida

12. New Orleans: Sheldon Rankins, DT, Louisville

13. Miami (from Philadelphia): Laremy Tunsil, OT, Mississippi

14. Oakland: Karl Joseph, S, West Virginia

15. Cleveland (fromTennessee): Corey Coleman, WR, Baylor

16. Detroit: Taylor Decker, OT, Ohio State

17. Atlanta: Keanu Neal, S, Florida

18. Indianapolis: Ryan Kelly, C, Alabama

19. Buffalo: Shaq Lawson, DE, Clemson

20. N.Y. Jets: Darron Lee, OLB, Ohio State

21. Houston (from Washington): Will Fuller, WR, Notre Dame

22. Washington (from Houston): Josh Doctson, WR, TCU

23. Minnesota: Laquon Treadwell, WR, Mississippi

24. Cincinnati: William Jackson III, CB, Houston

25. Pittsburgh: Artie Burns, CB, Miami

26. Denver (from Seattle): Paxton Lynch, QB, Memphis

27. Green Bay: Kenny Clark, DT, UCLA

28. San Francisco (from Kansas City): Joshua Garnett, G, Stanford

29. Arizona: Robert Nkemdiche, DE, Mississippi

31. Carolina: Vernon Butler, DT, Louisiana Tech

32. Seattle (from Denver): Germain Ifedi, OG, Texas A&M

[Gibbo]

Wasn't there some shenanigans with one of the better players Step-dads posting a photo of him smoking weed like 20 minutes before the draft started out of spite, resulting in him getting picked near-last?

[Hollowman]

Laremy Tunsil. He still went 13th but had looked a top five pick. In fact, when the Titans were first they were linked heavily with him. It was a video of him smoking weed through a gas mask, and it was posted to his own Twitter account so must have been someone familiar to him.

[paulg]

That was either stupid or ****ed up by whoever posted it.

How good is the story about Moritz Boehringer? First ever direct from Europe drafted. Let's hope he doesn't just get cut before the start of the season.

[paulg]

Dunno about that. Billy Vegas and Johnny Football are two of the most gifted young quarterbacks in recent memory.

Shame Manziel is such a **** though. He clearly thought he was God's gift and was an automatic starter / Pro Bowler / etc. Now he's without a team.

[Buzzo]

Its going to be interesting to see where this Colin Kaepernick protest ends up. He seems to be getting more and more players following suit every week, despite the attempts to side track his protest down the 'patriot' route.

Its an admirable stance and I hope they keep it going. Its ****ing the establishment off big time, so they must be on to something.