The Panthers’ ran their no-huddle offense a few times against the Steelers and Ravens, but the post-game clamor for more of the faster-tempo offense wasn’t nearly as loud as it was after Sunday.
A win over the Bears instead of a blowout loss sure helped it look better. As did the fact the Panthers actually finished a couple of their drives while using the no-huddle this time.
The Panthers used the no-huddle on four drives against the Bears. Two resulted in touchdowns while punts ended the others. Here’s a log of the four drives.
LAST DRIVE, FIRST HALF
- 1-10-CAR 37 (1:23) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass deep right to Jason Avant to CHI 43 for 20 yards.
- 1-10-CHI 43 (1:23) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass short right to Avant to CHI 21 for 22 yards.
Timeout #1 by CAR at 00:51. - 1-10-CHI 21 (:51) (Shotgun) Newton pass incomplete deep right to Kelvin Benjamin.
- 2-10-CHI 21 (:46) (Shotgun) Newton pass short left to Jerricho Cotchery to CHI 12 for 9 yards.
- 3-1-CHI 12 (:20) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton up the middle to CHI 9 for 3 yards.
- Timeout #2 by CAR at 00:17.
- 1-9-CHI 9 (:17) (Shotgun) Newton pass short right to Greg Olsen for 9 yards, TOUCHDOWN.
FIRST DRIVE, SECOND HALF
- 1-10-CAR 14 (11:16) (Shotgun) Newton pass short right to Olsen to CAR 29 for 15 yards.
- 1-10-CAR 29 (10:47) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Darrin Reaves left guard to CAR 38 for 9 yards.
- 2-1-CAR 38 (10:12) Reaves left guard to CAR 41 for 3 yards.
- 1-10-CAR 41 (9:42) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass incomplete deep right to Benjamin.
- 2-10-CAR 41 (9:36) (Shotgun) Newton pass short middle to Brenton Bersin to CHI 38 for 21 yards.
- 1-10-CHI 38 (9:02) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass incomplete short right to Avant.
- 2-10-CHI 38 (8:58) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass short right to Reaves to CHI 22 for 16 yards.
- 1-10-CHI 22 (8:19) Reaves left tackle to CHI 13 for 9 yards.
- 2-1-CHI 13 (7:47) (No Huddle) Reaves up the middle to CHI 14 for -1 yards.
- PENALTY on CHI-Christian Jones, Face Mask (15 Yards), 7 yards, enforced at CHI 14.
- 1-7-CHI 7 (7:25) Newton pass incomplete short left to Benjamin.
- PENALTY on CHI-Kyle Fuller, Defensive Pass Interference, 6 yards, enforced at CHI 7.
- 1-1-CHI 1 (7:21) Chris Ogbonnaya up the middle for 1 yard, TOUCHDOWN.
FINAL DRIVE, THIRD QUARTER
- 1-10-CAR 19 (2:31) (Shotgun) Newton pass deep left to Cotchery to CAR 41 for 22 yards.
- 1-10-CAR 41 (1:58) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Newton pass short middle to Olsen to CHI 40 for 19 yards.
- 1-10-CHI 40 (1:16) (No Huddle) Newton scrambles right end to CHI 38 for 2 yards.
- 2-8-CHI 38 (1:08) (Shotgun) Reaves up the middle to CHI 35 for 3 yards.
- 3-5-CHI 35 (:23) (Shotgun) Newton sacked at CHI 43 for -8 yards.
FIRST DRIVE, FOURTH QUARTER
- 1-10-CAR 39 (12:40) Ogbonnaya up the middle to CAR 43 for 4 yards.
- 2-6-CAR 43 (12:11) (No Huddle, Shotgun) Ogbonnaya right end to CAR 47 for 4 yards.
- 3-2-CAR 47 (11:28) (Shotgun) Newton pass incomplete deep left to Benjamin.
Quarterback Cam Newton often appears crisper in the no-huddle, which should be expected considering he never really played out of a huddle until he got to the NFL.
But don’t expect Sunday’s success to translate into a completely new offense anytime soon. The Panthers may be better at times in the no-huddle, but that doesn’t make them great at it.
On Monday, head coach Ron Rivera and offensive coordinator Mike Shula attempted to explain their no-huddle philosophy, and why you may not see a big increase in those types of drives.
Rivera:
“I think it’s a good change of pace for us,” … “When things seem to be going 100 mph, they seem to slow down even better for (Newton),” … “I think part of it is not just about the flow but the rhythm of the game, too. You come out, and you don’t go no huddle, you’re very methodical, you drive down, you put points on the board. Well, hey, let’s do that again. Take your time, keep the clocking going, keep your defense off the field. You have to always consider those things.”
Shula:
“The bottom line, you have to have a good mix. I don’t think you want to go to it the whole game. If we weren’t good at it, we probably wouldn’t be doing it at all. Each week you decide if and how much you want to use it. I don’t think we’ll ever just do it the whole game,” … “If we thought there was a huge difference, yeah, we’d be doing it 100 percent. But like I said, it’s good to have balance.”
Aquick glance at defensive end Charles Johnson’s stats show Sunday was his best performance of 2014. At least one Panthers’ coach didn’t even need to see a stat sheet.
“This was his best game of the year, no doubt about that,” defensive coordinator Sean McDermott said. “He was very active. He looked quick and decisive, which is part of being a good pass-rusher. And yet he defended the run, too.”
But were Johnson’s two tackles, a fumble recovery and first sack of the season truly a product of a guy who played that much better than he had in his previous games?
“It wasn’t necessarily the difference in Charles Johnson as much a difference in the way we played defense,” Rivera said.
Bingo.
- RB Jonathan Stewart, who missed the last two games with a knee sprain, is facing the same drill he had last week. The Panthers are hopeful he can practice Wednesday, and if he does, he has to be able to emerge without any setbacks.
- RB DeAngelo Williams is now in a walking boot after he had his cast removed Sunday. He will likely be out at least a couple more weeks with a high ankle sprain.
- RB Fozzy Whittaker, who pulled a quad in Week 2, vowed after Sunday’s win that he’ll be ready to play against the Bengals. Whittaker was active, but never got in versus the Bears. He was there in case the Panthers lost the services of either Darrin Reaves or Chris Ogboyanna. “Fozzy was really, really close to being 100 percent,” Rivera said. “We had Fozzy set up to be the emergency guy if we needed it.”
- CB Josh Norman suffered a shoulder stinger and concussion while making a first-quarter tackle. He will have to pass the league’s concussion protocol in order to get back on the field this week.
- CB Bené Benwikere, who left the locker room Sunday with a boot on his right foot, twisted his ankle in the first half.
BBR NUGGETS
- First place? Yay. The next five games. Oh. — BBR
- Sunday’s snap counts. — BBR
- Antoine Cason, who’s already set a single-season career high for forced fumbles, got some tips from a Bear. — Pro Football Talk
- This is said with no homerism whatsoever. And we don’t want to talk badly about other media. But this piece … this piece is just not close to on-air worthy. — NFL Network
- The Bengals are having trouble selling tickets for Sunday. — FOX 19
- Random, but nice Steve Smith story from the summer. — Charlotte Observer
- A profile on Captain Munnerlyn’s background. — St. Paul Pioneer Press