# Panthers @ Bears



## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

I do not really know what to expect today. I hope we can win and it is not like the Bears have been very impressive the past two weeks. I do not know what to expect from our team really either. We are so young and we have so many unknown quantities in key positions. Of course Gamble is not going to play at last report and I don't think we can replace him.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

Well the offense has made this a game, but the ST and defense have been god awful. Naanee has made too many mistakes too (two unacceptable drops, one that caused a pick 6). I just made a big thread praising the young defense, saying it is much better than the numbers...this game they've been worse. Absolutely dreadul performance by Fua, McClain, Connor, and Thomas Williams (Jason hasn't been great either). Good to see the running game spark back to life. The interior of the line is finally picking it up since Chicago isn't blitzing Cam.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

The mistakes and penalties have killed us today. That penalty on Shockey was total BS of course. The guy fell down and Shockey just happened to touch him while he was going to the ground. They have to let that TD stand, because that was not even close to being offensive pass interference. 

Newton has been throwing some beautiful balls today, but of course he made a mistake when he threw the pass that led to the tipped ball pick for a TD. That was just not a ball that he should have thrown even if it probably should have been caught.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

While I agree with you, any time a receiver extends his arm they will call it 10/10 times even if it's bullshit.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Is Thomas Davis hurt again or something. Don't see him out there


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

scroll down on the Charlotte forum

http://www.basketballforum.com/charlotte-bobcats/462149-thomas-davis-tears-his-acl-yet-again.html


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

His presence (or lack therof of) has definitely hurt this game.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

That is the 3rd helmet to helmet hit by their defense on Steve Smith (2 by Merriweather). He's not even hiding the fact that he's head hunting.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Cam might be the 2nd best QB in the division. Ryan and Freeman have underwhelmed, from games I've watched. Incredible.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

The defense, special teams, and Naanee...all were beyond pathetic this week. 205 yards for Forte was all on a porous front 7 performance.


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Our rush defense was horrendous today, our special teams was slapstick. We had one killer penalty after another, and honestly I do not remember seeing the Bears flagged for a single penalty today. We would have won this game somewhat easily if we had not been so busy beating ourselves. Newton was great until the fourth quarter too. He just did not get it done when we really needed him to make plays for us. 


Still all things considered I am not as unhappy with this team as I might be. I did not expect us to be very good and we are a decent team, we just aren't good enough to win games. We have had a chance to win all four games this year with just one less bad play or one more good play. Of course we are going to have a lot of problems with the difficulty of our schedule, so it is just as well to look at this season as a chance to develop young players and work towards the future.


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## ATLien (Jun 18, 2002)

Moral victories aren't enough


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## nutmeged3 (Apr 11, 2005)

I'm fine with the D not playing as well as it could. It's tough to watch but we have two rookie DT's starting and 2/3 of our LB's out for the year. Give Rivera and McDermott a full offseason to do their thing and it'll be fine. I just don't want to see Naanee touch the field again. Dude is terrible.

Don't understand why the hell we punted to Hester either...and then after he burned us once turned around and did it again


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## Diable (Apr 26, 2005)

Shockey was calling out the ref on that PI they called on him. I would like to see Rivera do it too. That call probably cost us the game and it was not the correct call. The guy fell down and Shockey had nothing to do with it other than running past him and coincidentally touching him. Someone from the league office needs to explain that crap to me, because it looks like a huge blown call in a game where all of the flags favored the home team.


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## Kaas (Apr 8, 2003)

I know expectations are low, but the way that game played just leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Chicago fluked into quite a few once a season things, and we couldn't convert in the red zone. Despite some of the Bear's gaudy stats/records this game, it feels like we were the better team and should have won (just like the first 1.5 games of the season too).

Also, this game meant a good amount to me due to my dislike for the Bears and their fan base (and the smack talk I receive from college friends when/if we play the Bears and lose), but that's not why I'm frustrated with this loss. The GB game showed we can compete against any team in this league, so my personal expectations for what we are capable of definitely rose after that week. 

The league seemed to think we were devoid of talent because of last year, when there was plenty of talent around, it was just injured, or stuck under a lameduck coach, or unable to be shown off due to the ineptitude of Jimmy Clausen. The losses are that much more frustrating because it allows the media to paint an inaccurate picture of a bad team holding Cam Newton back.

I see a lot of Panther fans ripping the rookie DTs today (and even I did in this thread), but honestly I don't think too much blame for Forte's game goes to them. They got pushed around in the 1st quarter, when the Bears ran the ball really well. But in the 4th, the Bears were just doing a great job blocking. And in the middle quarters, they were stout across the line. Throughout the game though, tackling was atrocious. Munnerlyn and James Anderson had issues, but still made plays. Connor and two of the three Will LB fill-ins (Jason and Thomas Williams) were beyond bad this game. Gaither was the only one to step up. So many times Forte would be stopped at the line, but find a way to have a 5-7 yard gain due to poor tackling.

I know after the Beason and Davis injuries, people more or less wrote the season off, but we did the same thing with our dominant early 2000's team. We'd have a key injury every couple of years and follow up a championship contending season with one going 8-8. I think this year, the team will be given a pass, but they shouldn't be; injuries are a part of this league. The talent is already there, now this teams need to get experience and wins. I feel/hope that we're like Detroit, but a year behind them.


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