Putting Bad Teams Away Early

[Scott Campbell]

I watched the first half yesterday, and coudn't believe the score at halftime. It didn't feel like we were winning that handily. This was the 2nd week in a row that the Packers put a lesser team away early. That didn't happen early in the season. I think the team may be improving week by week.

[MJZiggy]

Not so fast there, cowboy. They had a decent score by halftime, but the Cats scored twice in the second half and were moving the ball fairly well. There's still a lot of work to do.

Did anyone else notice that they had all the creative plays and different looks in the first half, but didn't try too much of that stuff in the second?

[FritzDontBlitz]

Not so fast there, cowboy. They had a decent score by halftime, but the Cats scored twice in the second half and were moving the ball fairly well. There's still a lot of work to do.

Did anyone else notice that they had all the creative plays and different looks in the first half, but didn't try too much of that stuff in the second?

Yes, Zig, I noticed that as well. I think M3 kinda eased off on the Panthers after they went up 28-3, got a little more conservative trying to eat up the clock I mean. Combine that with the second miss by Mason Crosby and it looked like they just sat on the lead for a while. Then, Al Harris got a little sloppy and Let Carolina close the gap a bit. To be honest the Pack could have put at least 14 more points on the board instead of settling for field goals but I think after the 28-3 lead M3 would have preferred to do it with the ground game rather than through the air.

On the plus side, the 31-17 score kinda keeps us under the radar still because it doesn't look as dominant as the game actually was. :wink:

[Partial]

Not so fast there, cowboy. They had a decent score by halftime, but the Cats scored twice in the second half and were moving the ball fairly well. There's still a lot of work to do.

Did anyone else notice that they had all the creative plays and different looks in the first half, but didn't try too much of that stuff in the second?

Well, when you're up 28-3 its time to let off the reigns a little bit. They had the game well in control. They aren't the Pats. They're not going to keep running up the score like chumps.

[Carolina_Packer]

Since the Packers aren't nearly as scary and terminator-like as the Pats, they could put more points on the board and still not look as bad as the Pats in terms of running up the score. We put up 28 against a decent defense. I'm more surprised we gave up 17 to their offense, but I guess that's just about their scoring average/game. We looked a little soft at times, but Vinny can still complete passes and elude the rush. We did not get a consistent rush on him, but then Vinny is not Brooks Bollinger, so he's not going to wilt under pressure. I was surprised we were giving up gashes in our passing game, and there were times we didn't wrap up on tackles. But, they're trying too, and bottom line, I'm happy for the team to be 9-1, but not an overly confident 9-1.

[Partial]

I am beginning to think this team is pretty good. Solid across the board with an excellent quarterback, defensive line, secondary and receivers.

[OS PA]

Since the Packers aren't nearly as scary and terminator-like as the Pats, they could put more points on the board and still not look as bad as the Pats in terms of running up the score. We put up 28 against a decent defense. I'm more surprised we gave up 17 to their offense, but I guess that's just about their scoring average/game. We looked a little soft at times, but Vinny can still complete passes and elude the rush. We did not get a consistent rush on him, but then Vinny is not Brooks Bollinger, so he's not going to wilt under pressure. I was surprised we were giving up gashes in our passing game, and there were times we didn't wrap up on tackles. But, they're trying too, and bottom line, I'm happy for the team to be 9-1, but not an overly confident 9-1.

The key to this game was that we were up 28 - 3 after halftime. If that isn't proof of a dominant defensive effort, I don't know what is. I realize that if the defense had exerted a little bit more effort in the second half, they probably could have held the Panthers under 200 yards and to the three points they got off of a gift to Bigby, but it's not like Carolina was in this game after the first quarter.

One reason the score was closer than the game was the fact that the offense wasn't sustaining drives in the second half. If McCarthy had continued play calling like he did in the first, this game would have resembled the Patriots more than a lot of you may think. Rather, McCarthy noticed that we had the win hands-down, and let off a little bit. Looking at the score, one may think that the Cats were close to a comeback. Be honest now, after we were up by 25 points in the second half, were you ever worried that we would lose the game?

Sure, I wish McCarthy would have kept stabbing the Cats for four quarters, just so we could be one of the best statistical teams in the league, but he won the game didn't he? Isn't that what matters?

Nothing from this game makes me worry that the Packers have a weak defense.

[MJZiggy]

Not so fast there, cowboy. They had a decent score by halftime, but the Cats scored twice in the second half and were moving the ball fairly well. There's still a lot of work to do.

Did anyone else notice that they had all the creative plays and different looks in the first half, but didn't try too much of that stuff in the second?

Well, when you're up 28-3 its time to let off the reigns a little bit. They had the game well in control. They aren't the Pats. They're not going to keep running up the score like chumps.

I'm not talking about running up the score, more like just making sure you're still moving the ball and having your defense keep the other team on their heels. After a while, the Panthers were able to get into a bit of a rhythm which could have been costly if they were a better team or had Smith in there.

[HarveyWallbangers]

I'm not talking about running up the score, more like just making sure you're still moving the ball and having your defense keep the other team on their heels. After a while, the Panthers were able to get into a bit of a rhythm which could have been costly if they were a better team or had Smith in there.

You can blame the situation more than anything. Green Bay went up 28-3 and started playing pass defense, but the Panthers ran it on 12 of 14 plays the next drive. Sure, they scored, but they also wore out most of what was left of the 3rd quarter. Even though they scored, they gave themselves less chance to win by running so much time. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, the Panthers made some plays and we were in prevent defense--trying to avoid the big play. I don't think it was anything more than that. Offensively, we could have put up 40 points, but we went to all-out conservative mode. It worked. We won by 14 points.

[FritzDontBlitz]

I'm not talking about running up the score, more like just making sure you're still moving the ball and having your defense keep the other team on their heels. After a while, the Panthers were able to get into a bit of a rhythm which could have been costly if they were a better team or had Smith in there.

You can blame the situation more than anything. Green Bay went up 28-3 and started playing pass defense, but the Panthers ran it on 12 of 14 plays the next drive. Sure, they scored, but they also wore out most of what was left of the 3rd quarter. Even though they scored, they gave themselves less chance to win by running so much time. By the time the 4th quarter rolled around, the Panthers made some plays and we were in prevent defense--trying to avoid the big play. I don't think it was anything more than that. Offensively, we could have put up 40 points, but we went to all-out conservative mode. It worked. We won by 14 points.

There ya go.

[MadtownPacker]

I wonder if M3 is friends with John Fox. He seemed to let up in the 3rd with his offensive playcalling. This was really a 34-10 game if Crosby doesn't choke on FGs and the garbage TD wasn't scored by CAR. Works for me as long as they finish with 1 more pt then the opponent.

[FritzDontBlitz]

I also think having another game on Thursday plays into it as well. They were obviously coasting but why kill yourself in a game that's pretty much in hand when you have a divisional opponent on the road in 4 days?

The good thing is they managed to win without any major injuries.