It's like clockwork.
Before every game the past few seasons, quarterback Derek Anderson and tight end Greg Olsen have been two of the first Carolina Panthers on the field. And when they’ve finished going through routes, Olsen’s reunited with starter Cam Newton while Anderson’s assumed his role on the sideline.
Except for those nine quarters.
The first eight came in 2014 when Anderson made a couple of spot starts for Newton against the Bucs.
“We caught a lot of balls those two games, right? 18 balls in two games? I'll take it,” Olsen says Thursday.
Yup, it was 18, but hold on. You remember those totals?
“You have two games with 18 catches, that sticks out,” Olsen replies. “In the one, I had 10, and that sticks out a lot.”
That’s fair, but it also came just seven days after Olsen set a career high by grabbing 10 receptions from Newton in New Orleans.
So, the underlying factor in all of this is Olsen’s pretty good. But if you think he has an even tighter on-field connection with Anderson, their small sample size proves you right.
In six-plus seasons, Newton’s sent 22 percent of his throws toward Olsen. But in Anderson's two starts against Tampa Bay, plus the fourth quarter of last week's loss in Atlanta, he's looked to Olsen on 33 percent of his passes.
| Newton | Anderson | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Comp | 1,517 | 66 | ||
| Att | 2,551 | 97 | ||
| Yds | 19,237 | 679 | ||
| To Olsen | Ratio | Ratio | ||
| Rec | 349 | 23% | 23 | 35% |
| Targets | 567 | 22% | 32 | 33% |
| Yds | 4,401 | 23% | 245 | 36% |
| TDs | 29 | 24% | 2 | 40% |
“Obviously 99 percent of the time, my reps are with Cam. But me and DA get a lot of individual work, pregame work, spend a lot of time chatting things through,” Olsen says. “I think we see things a lot of the times the same way. We have good communication and we've had some success in the limited times we've played together.”
With Newton currently in the NFL's concussion protocol, it appears Olsen and Anderson will get another chance to carry their pregame routine into the real thing. Once again, the Bucs will be on the other side. They have a new head coach this time, but it's not like Dirk Koetter won't be ready for what could be coming.
“Regardless of who the quarterback is,” he says on a conference call, “we’re extremely concerned about (Olsen).”
Like most quarterbacks, Anderson won't admit he goes into a play or game with a favorite target. But even if it's just purely coincidental, Olsen's not a bad option.
“If he happens to be the primary target and he's open, then I throw it,” Anderson says. “It's not like I go to the line of scrimmage and be like, 'Oh, I'm going to throw it to Greg every time.”
Sure, but 33 percent of the time has worked out pretty well so far.