You'll notice Glenn Dorsey isn't in the box score. He strained his hamstring in practice and will miss around a month. But still, I can't be too upset after starting 2-0. Same issue as last week, with a safety blowing a deep coverage early for a long passing TD, but they settled down after that. My running game had much more success with Hart at the helm this week. Williams also looked good spelling Hart; excited to see the rushing attack with Turner back in the fold.
Rainy weather caused two special teams fumbles for the Bears, which we converted into 2 FGs in the 2nd and 3rd quarters. Delhomme didn't look as sharp as last week, throwing an early pick. Luckily for us, he didn't need to put up 400 yards this time. Yankowski looked much better kicking, missing a 52 yarder late to try and seal the game away. The defensive line got some good pressure, sacking Grossman 4 times.
Injuries during the game include starting LG Travelle Wharton breaking his hand and DT Chartric Darby severely pulling his hamstring. Wharton will miss 3-5 weeks, and Darby is expected to be out until November. With the team is need of DT depth, the Panthers cut Darby and sign DT Montae Reagor (72/72) to a 1-year deal.
Next week, Carolina travels north to meet Adrian Peterson and the Minnesota Vikings, who are 1-1 after a big loss to the Colts last week.
Sorry to hear about Dorsey-hope it's not a recurring issue.
I did see Mendenhall was drafted by the Bears but not the starter. It had to be a bad personnel move that Jones was made the starter over him, but maybe Mendenhall fumbled a few too many times in preseason.
The game locked up on me the first time I tried to play this matchup, and it was a lot closer than this one. My run game was dominant, even without Turner in the active lineup, and my pass game was efficient. Hart earned NFC Offensive Player of the Week honors for his performance. My defense gave up some plays, but was very solid overall with 6 sacks and 3 interceptions.
I get Turner back for next week, which is my first divisional matchup at home against the winless Falcons, led by Darren McFadden in the backfield.
Mike Hart's 58 Injury rating might be the only thing that would keep him from keeping the feature back position. He's definitely made the decision to name a starter at HB next week a bit more difficult for the coach.
__________________
NFL Head Coach 09 had a "Play Steal" feature.
CPU teams stole your successful plays in your playbook and added them to their playbooks. That feature met with college playbooks from incoming college coaches and user created plays birthed a new meta evolution for playcallers across the NFL.
The Panthers trainer has a 1 overall, so we'll see how Dorsey and Gooden fare this year health-wise. And yeah, he has 82 speed, not sure what I was looking at.
Rookie Contracts
Glenn Dorsey: 5 yr/$36M, $8M bonus
Branden Albert: 5 yr/$10.5M, $2M bonus
Trevor Laws: 4 yr/$3M, $1M bonus
Tavares Gooden: 4 yr/$2.5M, no bonus
Tom Zbikowski: 3 yr/$1.8M, no bonus
Jacob Hester: 3 yr/$1M, no bonus
Mike Hart: 3 yr/$800k, no bonus
Jonathan Wilhite: 3 yr/$820k, no bonus
Carolina Panthers Depth Chart - 2008
Regular Offense
STARTER
2ND
3RD
4TH
WR
Steve Smith - 84/84
Dorien Bryant - 47/69
TE
Dante Rosario - 69/79
Courtney Anderson - 62/62
Mike Peterson - 58/84
LT
Branden Albert - 81/92
Frank Omiyale - 73/75
LG
Travelle Wharton - 82/82
J'Covan Beck - 74/78
C
Ryan Kalil - 78/85
Nick Mihlhauser - 72/78
RG
Jeff Faine - 87/88
Jeremy Bridges - 75/75
RT
Jordan Gross - 92/93
Rob Petitti - 76/77
WR
Mushin Muhammad - 83/83
Al McGwire - 68/84
QB
Jake Delhomme - 84/84
Matt Moore - 72/77
Elliot Wright - 49/87
FB
Jacob Hester - 79/81
Carl Stewart - 76/84
HB
Michael Turner - 82/85
Samkon Gado - 74/80
Mike Hart - 64/83
Richard Williams - 73/85
Base 4-3 Defense
STARTER
2ND
3RD
4TH
LDE
Julius Peppers - 90/91
Charles Johnson - 75/80
LDT
Glenn Dorsey - 90/95
Chartric Darby - 74/74
Damione Lewis - 69/69
RDT
Trevor Laws - 80/83
Jovan Haye - 70/73
RDE
Elvis Dumervil - 88/90
Eric Baker - 75/86
Stanley McClover - 74/77
WLB
Jon Beason - 88/91
Na'il Diggs - 76/76
MLB
Tavares Gooden - 81/87
Bernard Gant - 66/73
SLB
Thomas Davis - 83/87
James Anderson - 72/73
CB
Ken Lucas - 84/85
Demario Minter - 72/77
SS
Tom Zbikowski - 75/79
Kelin Johnson - 79/84
Chris Harris - 73/74
FS
Eugene Wilson - 89/89
Chris Horton - 78/83
CB
Richard Marshall - 81/86
Jonathan Wilhite - 68/82
Special Teams
STARTER
2ND
3RD
4TH
K
Dave Yankowski - 80/84
P
Jason Baker - 87/87
I traded DT Ma'ake Kemoeatu to the Saints for a 2nd and 5th round pick in the upcoming draft, and K John Kasay to the Patriots for a 3rd round this year and a 6th round next year. Kemoeatu did not fit my system, and I found a kicker that originally played soccer, signed to the Jags, and they cut him in training camp. He has just as powerful a leg, is almost as accurate, and has the potential to be more accurate.
I have a few developmental prospects on the offensive side of the ball. Excited to see if I can turn Wright into the QB of the future for the Panthers. He is driven, and has great potential. McGwire is a big, strong WR that I hope to slide into the #2 WR spot when Mushin retires. Peterson needs work, but could become the star TE of the Panthers.
We lost every game this preseason, but the team was learning a new playbook and held their own when the starters were in. It is the Sweetney draft path.
Coming up, a week 1 matchup against LT and the Chargers. Michael Turner broke his arm in the final preseason game and will miss the first few weeks, we'll see how well Gado and a pair of rookies can fill his shoes.
Coming up, a week 1 matchup against LT and the Chargers. Michael Turner broke his arm in the final preseason game and will miss the first few weeks, we'll see how well Gado and a pair of rookies can fill his shoes.
05-27-2017, 08:31 PM
