Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Panthers by the numbers after Week 5

Some significant Carolina Panther numbers after five weeks:

0 -- Interceptions by Panther cornerbacks so far this season.

2 -- Steve Smith's rank in NFL receiving yardage with 609 (second only to Wes Welker's 740). With less than a third of the season played, Smith already has surpassed his 2010 numbers for both yards and touchdowns. The Panthers made two great moves involving trades in the offseason -- acquiring tight end Greg Olsen for a third-round pick and not trading Smith at all.

5 -- Cam Newton is the first player in NFL history to have at least 5 rushing touchdowns and 5 passing touchdowns in his first 5 games. That's the good part. The not-so-good part is that Newton has been directly involved in 12 of the Panthers' 13 touchdowns so far this season (7 pass, 5 run), and that's too lopsided. A defensive or special-teams score would be very helpful for the Panthers, who rarely get any cheap points.

5.6 -- Average margin of the first five Panther games, with none decided by more than a touchdown. It's almost weird to see almost all of the seats still full in Bank of America Stadium in the fourth quarter after last year's halftime exodus trend.

7-6 -- Number of touchdowns and interceptions thrown this year, respectively, by both Newton and Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan, who is this week's opponent. Newton's overall quarterback rating is slightly higher (84.3 to 79.9).

14 -- Armanti Edwards' longest punt return of the season. He averages a pedestrian 5.7 per return so far in 13 attempts. On the plus side, he hasn't fumbled.

1610 -- Newton's passing yardage through five games, which is fourth in the NFL behind three quarterbacks who have won Super Bowls (Tom Brady, Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers are 1-2-3).

41 comments:

Show me or... said...

Not to worry Scott. As with last year, the stands will be full up until cold weather comes in. Check back in December when we are still stuck on one win. The stands will be empty just like last year. No matter how much you want fans to think otherwise, we have not improved much at all.

1-4

Anonymous said...

You left this out ...

This is a first for this QB on Fox Sunday Football who at exactly 3:37pm 31.5440 secs at precisely 76.231degrees passed for exactly 172 yards 4.72201 inches before 73,023 fans who averaged 32.367 years of age while the earth was tilted on its axis at exactly 47.42011 degrees and aligned with the sun at the 17.90114th symetrical parallel while the bionisphere was evaporating at 2.44034 bio-centimeters per milisecond ...

Be more thorough & get it right next time.

Anonymous said...

If you dont think we have improved then you were paying know attention last year........

Anonymous said...

Armanti is NOT a kick/punt returner!!! There is no way around that. He is not what we need out there to get us in good field position. We cut the only person who had any real skill with returning punts. Now we are stuck with a wannabe. It will never work. They need to go back and pick up the guy from Louisville who they cut. At least he had some kind of ability when it came to doing something with the ball. If they weren't so concerned with looking like fools for even selecting Armanti and trying to turn him into something that he isn't, we wouldn't have this problem. But to save face, they let a good guy go and kept someone who is always going to be mediocre. Great call Marty!!!

Anonymous said...

It looks like our five-year plan to find a kick and punt returner is still in progress.

Is Brandon Tate still available?

Evan C. said...

Steve Smith could still return punts. That guy has more fire and energy than anyone else in pro football. Who cares if he's the big money receiver? Desean Jackson returns punts for the Eagles. Smitty broke into the league as a kick returner and I think they should still let him do it. I don't want to hear about his age or wearing him down or the possibility of injury. This is an aggressive team so they should let Smitty return punts. Gone are the days of conservative and playing scared (John Fox Era).

Teams would fear Steve Smith returning punts.

Anonymous said...

No way. Steve "butterfingers" Smith will never return kickoffs or punts again and led the league with more fumbles than Carter has pills for 3 seasons when he first came to what was actually a winning team with decent QBs then but has since gone downhill with all these bad picks or starting the wrong ones.

Anonymous said...

What was Clausen's record at this point?

Anonymous said...

Clausen is 1-0 in his only preseason start against the NY Giants.
Newton was 0-3 preseason. Go fig.

Anderson would be 4-0 preseason and have a 4-1 reg season record but starting him is not politically correct plus it makes too much sense.

Anonymous said...

Armanti Edwards,a former quarterback, has no vision or feel for kickoff/punt returns. He is misplaced. Can he run and catch passes better than some others, or did John Fox already try that last year and give it up? Just too small for the NFL maybe.

The stands will remain full in cold weather this year if the Panthers play the same as now. But as Scott Fowler noted, that depends on Cam Newton.

Other than a couple of plays in the Saints game, where IS DeAngelo Williams hunkered down. Stewart, on the other hand, is steady -- but called on less versus the Saints. Coaching decisions?

Why have the Panthers started so many first-and-tens with a call for DeAngelo to run up the middle. As predictable as the commercials. Strange?

Reggie said...

Cam is 4th in passing yards, but he should be on the bench? The team averaged 10 pts a game last year with Clausen. Anderson couldn't keep his starting job with Arizona.

You said it is not politically correct to start Anderson. It is also not football smart.

Anonymous said...

Ok, this is the last time I am going to tell you Armanti hating jerks this...until we get some PR blocking, no one, I mean no one will have big returns for this team. Scott should give the whole picture when he spouts off about AE's avgs. The very, very few times Armanti hasn't had 3-4 guys hit him immediately after CLEANLY making the reception, he has had good returns. Many have been called back for stupid penalties. In our lone victory, did you not see AE cleanly field the punt with 6 minutes to go in the game, make a great move to the outside at the 35 and get us great field position at mid field?? Are you blind? That set up Cam and the team for our game winning score. This week the Saints only punted twice, count em, twice. One was a 57 yard launch that sailed out of the end zone, the other was a bounding gounder that AE wisely scooped up in traffic and returned 9 yards...the longest punt return against the Saints all year! Now, let's hear your rebuttal supported with those kind of facts. Kind of tough to do huh??

Anonymous said...

To all the experts who have offered their predictions about how the Panthers' season will end I offer this bit of history. The 1995 expansion Panthers with were 0-5 at this point in the season. They went on to record victories against these 'great' franchises. NY Jets, NO Saints, NE Patriots, SF 49ers who went on to win the SB, AZ Cards, Indy Colts and Alt Falcons. On the last game of the season, they lost by 2 to the Skins. The 1995 Panthers finished 7-9, and in the following year they won their division over the SB champs and went to the NFC Championship. All of this accomplished with rookie Kerry Collins, a rookie HC, and expansion draft picks.

itsjimmyon said...

Panthers will beat the Falcons this weekend. You heard it here first.

Anonymous said...

Newton has exceeded expectations and shut his critics down. The Pathers needs a decent defense and the Pathers will be fine. I'm very impressed with the young QB. Unfortunately some are losing sleep, becaus they are just flat dumb, ignorant, and uneducated.

Anonymous said...

If you are hating on what newton has done then you are screwed as a person and a panthers fan. If you are not impressed by what he has done so far , then best of luck to you in the future. Go pull for the skins again and leave the rest of us alone !

Anonymous said...

Capitalist Dave says ...

To "hate on" someone is some type of ignorant uneducated hood term in a weird socialist society where everyone is required to think act talk and reason the same way like androids or drones. Screw you.

But its perfectly OK for these hypos to trash and "hate on" others like Jake, Clausen, Fox, Anderson, Richardson, Hurney etc for years but some overrated scammer QB fresh out of pay for play? Get out of here. "Hate" is the wrong word. Cheaters never win and winners never cheat.

GO FALCONS

Atlanta by 18

Anonymous said...

6'5" 240lb ex-Boston College great Philly boy QB Matt Ryan former #1 in the ACC winning 3 BCS bowls ready to snuff the loser Panthers who continue to SUCK. Hellava QB. Big tough solid strong and accurate without all the grandeoise hype.

Matts 3rd in 2008 draft led the Big Birds to a 11-5 playoff season as a rookie breaking records. He went a 9-7 in 2009 and 13-3 in 2010losing to the Pack in the semi final Div.

Falcs vs Pants since 1995:
Won 20
Lost 11

2-3 Falcs vs 1-4 Panthers.

Vegas > -4 spread > Atlanta.

Oct. 16 Carolina
10 a.m. at Atlanta
Favorite ATL ATL ATL
Point spread -4 -4 -4½
Total 51o/u 51o/u 51o/u
Total money line -110 -110 -110


vegas.com ask for bookie dave

Anonymous said...

Armanti Edwards is actually a good punt returner, watch the game footage and you will see that he is fearless when it comes to fielding every punt while 4 or 5 defenders are there to knock him out. Hes usually able to make a move and get 5 or so yards, but its doubtful that many other returners could get any yards or hold onto the ball with 11 opposing defenders running freely at him. The problem with our return game isnt the man catching the ball, but the inability of our team to make a consistent effort to block for him.

And Matt Ryan will never win a playoff game with mike smith at coach, and the panthers will win by 17 this weekend when the falcons game plan remains conservative and they cant keep up with the panthers attack. The wheels are going to come off in atlanta this weekend, I actually could see the falcons coming out and playing superbly out of desperation... But if they dont start the game that way I think there season could fall apart on the field on sunday. The panthers are 1000 times better than last season, and even though they had mental mistakes last week (specifically the time out, the bomb on 3rd and 2, playing prevent defense with 7 minutes left and letting Brees dink and dunk them down the field) they also had two of their best offensive drives of the season in the second half against the saints. The film room will show them how much control they had over the field on those drives and boost their confidence even further. And its also important to mention that the Panthers started last game (and this is mostly about newton) in the worst way that it could have possibly started. INT on the first play and we essentially gave them 7 points. Add in the freebie field goal at half and the block extra point and we "gave them" 11 points. Lets not kid ourselves here, the saints are good and they are much better than the falcons... but we still gave up only 20 points to the saints that werent handed to them... thats a pretty decent defensive effort.

The game on sunday will go one of two ways that all depend on the first quarter. Either the falcons come out and arent wasting talent with a conservative approach and score quickly with the panthers retaliating in a shoot out where the winner is a toss up. Or (and this is also a legitimate possibility) the falcons come out and continue the conservative rut their in, while the panthers confidence leads them to absolutely blow the falcons out... And this would be sparked by a 10 -0 panther lead in the 1st quarter. Im not sitting here bashing your players, they certainly have ability, but in being a panthers fan Ive also had a first hand look at a coach who is too stubborn to change his game plan (john fox) and ive seen how quickly the team can give up on effort when they dont feel like the plays given to them give them a chance to win.

Anonymous said...

"Capitalist Dave said" a bunch of crap about Cam newton, then said "Cheaters never win, and winners never cheat".

Apparently he doesnt remember the superbowl champion Patriots spygate scandal. Perhaps only good cheaters win Dave?

Knowing what we know of Newton's father, the kid was fairly misguided growing up. Can't blame Cam for not having a good role model growing up, and if u feel u still need to blame everything on him, then find a new team to root for.

Heyman said...

I am guessing CAM will always have haters? You guys are pathetic. I expect another close game on Sunday!

Anonymous said...

"Rivera said last week he was not making a change at punt returner because Armanti Edwards, the former Appalachian State quarterback, had not received much help from his blockers."

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/11/2684560/goodson-now-a-man-without-a-role.html#ixzz1aZplEW5X

Anonymous said...

New England Patriots or anyone else "spying" were NOT cheating. Did the NFL take back the Super Bowl? Have they ever taken back a Super Bowl for "spying"?

Teams spy on each other all the time. Routine. Some idiots cant grasp the difference due to low IQ.

Anonymous said...

THE PANTHERS LOSE BY 9 TO THE FALCONS ON SUNDAY--JUST WAIT AND SEE. WE SHOULD HAVE TAKEN MARCEL DARNUS DT AND THEN MAYBE WE COULD HAVE STOPPED THE RUN. WE ALREADY KNOW YOU CAN GO TO A SUPER BOWL WITH A SORRY QB ( 2003). WE TAKE LUCK IN 2012. THERE ARE NO DT IN THE TOP 20 IN 2012 SO LOSINF WILL CONTINUE. AND WITH THIS RUNNING QB WE HAVE NOW WILL BE ON IR BEFORE THE SEASON IS OVER

Anonymous said...

Sports For Dummies.

In sports they call them these "spys" as "scouts" and every single pro team in every sport in America and worldwide uses them by the 100s who go to all games to film, gather all stats reports reviews etc. Scouting is about 150 years old. No crime.

Anonymous said...

Dear Carolina Fans,
In an effort to make everyone happy and completely satisfied with their teams I propose this:
- We will exchange Matt Ryan TODAY for Cam Newton. No questions asked.
- In exchange for Cam Newton, we will give you our entire special team and defensive line.
- To sweeten the pot, we will even throw in a special teams coach and new defensive coordinator
- To assist Matt Ryan with his transition to Carolina, we will personally hire him a QB coach.
Matty Ice will definitely fit better with your organization. He's laid back, doesn't care if he wins, and is afraid of taking a hit, thus making your defense work harder to score points. If you are interested in this proposal, please e-mail Arthur Blank.

Sincerely
Desperate Atlanta Falcons Fan

Anonymous said...

10:22 - Actually what the Patriots did WAS cheating buddy. Thats why the NFL fined them 750k and took away their 1st round pick. Teams in all leagues really DON'T videotape their opponents' practices on a regular basis. And I still don't understand why all you anti-Cam people have your pannies in a bunch over a stolen laptop and his dad trying to get money for him. Do you really think that EVERY big time college athlete isn't taking money in some form. Your naievety is comical. And to answer your question - No they haven't taken a superbowl back for "spying". But they also don't take them back for stealing a laptop when you are 19, a fact you will find out when Cam wins takes us to the glory land in the near future.

Anonymous said...

Seriously you Carolina people ---- enough of the squabbling already----- We need for you all to continue with your disgruntled, hard to please, will -pick- lint -off- a- mosquito, self absorbing ways--- and in the meantime, can somebody to start a "let's trade Cam " campaign so we get the ball rolling? Atlanta fans would like nothing better than to snatch your QB right from under your nose!!!! We could care less about a freaking laptop! Laptop? Seriously--try dog fighting (Vick) and prescription drug abuse (backup Brett Farve-1991) Can you imagine our fan base with a HOMETOWN QB like Newton? Superbowl all the way baby!!!!

Anonymous said...

Panthers will win Sunday. Newton will be at home and a team with nothing to lose but everything to gain is DANGEROUS... Go Panthers!,,,,

Anonymous said...

6'5" 240lb ex-Boston College great Philly boy QB Matt Ryan former #1 in the ACC winning 3 BCS bowls ready to SNUFF the loser Panthers who continue to SUCK. Hellava QB. Big tough solid strong and accurate without all the grandeoise hype.

Matt was 3rd in the 2008 draft and led the Falcons to a 11-5 playoff season as a rookie breaking many records. He went a 9-7 in 2009 and 13-3 in 2010 losing to the Pack in the semi final Div.

Falcs vs Pants since 1995:
Won 20
Lost 11

2-3 Falcs vs 1-4 Panthers.

Vegas > -4 spread > Atlanta.

Oct. 16 Carolina
10 a.m. at Atlanta
Favorite ATL ATL ATL
Point spread -4 -4 -4½
Total 51o/u 51o/u 51o/u
Total money line -110 -110 -110

vega.com sports gambling

If you think Newt is so great they will clean your azz out. Put yo welfare mo where yo big mouth is.

Anonymous said...

Where is wonder boy Matt Ryans ring at.? I don't see Superbowl in his stats no where...He got all those stats and no ring after 4 seasons. Man get off that Vegas crack and go sit your country a@&zzz down somewhere....

Anonymous said...

11:24 - Amen brother. A stolen laptop. There are a lot worse things in this world. I'm not gonna let such a small insignificant thing (how many players have DUI's or have been arrested for domestic abuse and nobody talks about it? and lets not even start with vick or rapelisberger...) change my opinion of what appears to be our franchise QB for the next 12 years. I am ashamed to be a member of the worst fanbase in the NFL. I didn't want to draft Cam either because of questions about his accuracy and transition to the pro game. I don't give a sh*t how much he got paid in college. But I am man enough to admit that I was dead wrong and we should all be thankful that our 16 years of QB-less (apologies to Jake) Panthers football is over! There are about 20 NFL fanbases who would sell their children for the chance to have Cam suit up for them. And people on here are calling for Derek Anderson???????

Anonymous said...

I got to get in on this. I always though Carolina fans were nuts. Now I know y'all are. Pass us the Cam slam in Tennessee--- we'll take him

Anonymous said...

I love Armanti Edwards but he has not performed well @ returning punts.. That's a fact.. Steve Smith sounds good.. Cam's the man.. People post dumb stuff on here.. His stats are 4th behind 3 super bowl winners.. If ur calling for Clausen or Anderson ur up for idiot Panther fan of the year... Unfortunately we could change our quarterback but your stuck with that brain ur whole life

Anonymous said...

Ok, "that's a fact" guy below, did you read my AE post above? How exactly do you support your claim that Armanti has performed poorly?? If you only us his punt return avg, that is not enough because as I supported above, it doesn't reflect the reality of the situation. I think AE has done a great job with the few opportunities and non-existent blocking that he has received!

MicFlo said...

@capitalist Dave

I'm sorry sir but isn't ALL language CREATED BY MAN? You are attached to what a man named WEBSTER? fck webster and fck you. If I want to use "hate on" as a figure of speech and other people can understand the meaning of the figure of speech then it is valid communication. You sir sound like the adroid or robot with your "everyone speak proper english that some other man I've never met deemed as correct" philosophy. And by the way do you even know what socialism is? you clearly are using the made up Fox news definition. it is completely irrelevant on this forum as you are

Corbs said...

Haters or not the facts remain...

The Panthers are GREATLY improved over last year. (not to be redundant PERIOD)

The quality of play, at least on the offensive side of the ball is in the premier of the league. However, the Panthers lack the defense to win games.

There is no excuse for an up the middle run in this league. We have no proven run stuffer and with Beason and Davis out have no "back up" for a lack luster defensive line. Further, since teams do not have to double interior line men they are either doubling up on the outside or able to pick up blitzes coming from the outside.

Now, as that is not bad enough, the Panthers secondary, quite frankly, sucks and I do not think it is entirely a personell issue. Granted, Gamble has been a bit disappointing but if you review the tape the secondary breakdown is schematic based, As much as I have like Gamble in previous years, I do not think he has shown himself to be the "shutdown" cornerback he thinks himself as. Additionally the lack of play making ability in the LB core (sans Beason and Davis) puts even more pressure on the secondary. If a team is not doubling an interior lineman and going one-on-one with a defensive end, there is more than enough bodies to cover a LB, CB, or Safety blitz. You can point fingers at AE, 3rd down conversions, or missed FGs all you want but when you have a team that can march down the field unadulterated there is a bigger problem.

I was not a fan of Cam Newton based solely on his football acumen. I did not think he had he experience to make the move to the Pro level. I think that his performance both on the field and the way he is handling himself has proved me wrong. Clearly the offensive side of things is night and day better than the last couple of years. Much like the blind faith we all had in Delhome (at first) I think Panther nation believes that Newton can lead the team down the field. And I think he has proved it. Has he made rookie mistakes? Absolutely, but if you look at the stats, he has made less, and has repeated less of these mistakes than the vast majority of notable rookie NFL QBs.

Haters are going to hate regardless of outcome. I wonder what all the haters would say if Beason and Davis were healthy and our 1-4 team was 3-2 or 4-1. Whereas in previous years the Panthers have been blown out, the Panthers have been competitive, and these are in high scoring games...Defenses win high scoring games. The offense is clearly working if a team is competitive in such a game.

At the end of the day, it does not matter how many points the Panthers put on the board. If the opposing team scores more, the Panthers loose. The only part of the team that can prevent the other team from scoring is the defense.

Ashamed in Charlotte said...

Unfreakin' believable! I used to go watch those sorry Falcons get their a@@es crushed twice a year until I got my own team in Charlotte. The fans in Hotlanta are a joke. They are Ignorant, Poor Hygiene, lousy winners and lousy losers. I did not believe that worse fans could exist until I saw that first game at home in Charlotte. It is embarrassing at the stadium and embarrassing on the comment boards.

A person’s character and his football ability have nothing to do with each other. To say Cam is a cheater (stealing is, I must assume, cheating at football), and that cheaters never win is stupid. It is 2 national championships and an undefeated SEC season stupid.

To say that AE is terrible is stupid. To say he is great is stupid. The guy has done marginally acceptable work as a punt returner. No better, no worse.

To say the defense is good is stupid. We may have only given 20 points excluding the "free 11", but we cannot stop the run, we cannot stop on 3rd down, and we cannot stop in the last 5 minutes. What is that? Break but don’t bend???

Charlotte definitely has the lesser fans than Atlanta (31st best to 32nd best), and the lesser team. But those days will be over soon. Then we will only have the lesser fans.

Anonymous said...

First of all, GO PANTHERS!!! I'm a loyal and dedicated Panther fan who's seen the good the bad and the ugly with this team. I'm not a "blind loyalist" who makes up pseudo-statistics and analysis to support my arguments. If we suck, we suck...but guess what. WE DONT....we're actually a good team with a GREAT young QB who's going to continue proving all you CHUMPS (I'll refrain from using the word "Hater") wrong...and by the way, the Panthers have THE TOUGHEST schedule in the entire NFL this year (google it if you don't believe me). We WILL beat Atlanta and we WILL continue to get better, and the way Cam Newton and our offense is playing this year, you'd have to be a fool to think we won't sign any good free agents after this season is over. We may not make the Playoffs this year but I'm predicting at least a 4-0 start next season. Remember I said it

Scott said...

Edwards returns are pedestrian becuase we NEVER force a punt on their side of the 50. Every return he has is a fair catch or a pin back inside the 10.

levitra cialis said...

Well I've heard many opinions about this... Many people says that this is a bad thing and the other part of the people says that they are going on a good road. Personally I hope this can help.