Panthers offensive game plan for week 1 (1 Viewer)

[Jeff Haseley]

Article from the Charlotte Observer that I thought might interest some of you Link

Quotes from article:

"People will be surprised at what's going to happen Sunday as far as offensively. I was very surprised and excited. Coach (Jeff) Davidson and the offensive staff have done a great job as far as some of the new wrinkles that we have in there. Actually, I was excited about coming in today to see what else we have new."

"It was tough because of what we did in (offseason training activities) and what we were not doing once the games started," Smith said. "We came to the OTA's and were changing up things, and when the preseason came, it was totally different. We were real vanilla, stripped it down. "I was frustrated a little bit, saying, `What's going on?' They just kept telling me to just be patient; `you will see." - Steve Smith

 

[PantherPower]

 

[pantherclub]

Uh, okay. Whatever you say. We trust you.

 

[stbugs]

Article from the Charlotte Observer that I thought might interest some of you Link

Quotes from article:

"People will be surprised at what's going to happen Sunday as far as offensively. I was very surprised and excited. Coach (Jeff) Davidson and the offensive staff have done a great job as far as some of the new wrinkles that we have in there. Actually, I was excited about coming in today to see what else we have new."

"It was tough because of what we did in (offseason training activities) and what we were not doing once the games started," Smith said. "We came to the OTA's and were changing up things, and when the preseason came, it was totally different. We were real vanilla, stripped it down. "I was frustrated a little bit, saying, `What's going on?' They just kept telling me to just be patient; `you will see." - Steve Smith

As a Steve Smith owner (not me), I am not sure I would be happy with any changes to the game plan. While their offense hasn't exactly been that good the last couple years, anyone with Steve Smith couldn't complain FF-wise with Delhomme locked onto Smith.

 

[PantherPower]

I've heard rumors of Smith getting the ball a lot more this year, including reverse runs, screens, and the usual downfield bombs.

 

[Garts]

Deangelo and Foster at the field at the same time...

 

[Anonymous Internet User]

David Carr is going to start, and they plan on him getting sacked, fumbling, and then using a variety of gimmick runs based upon recovering the fumbles?

 

[Jeff Haseley]

Another article - this time a quote from DeAngleo Williams - Link

"There might be another reason why Williams appeared so happy. He's excited about getting to show the new offense of coordinator Jeff Davidson when the season opens Sunday in St. Louis. Williams said the Panthers were very cautious in what they showed in the preseason. "I can tell you this much, everything that we run now is totally different from what we ran in the preseason," Williams said.

 

[Birdie048]

Interesting....

Either he is making excuses for the poor Offensive showing in pre-season (which I doubt / not in his character).

or ....

They did not want to show anything until the real games start. More likely IMO. Could be interesting with the turf field. Wonder if there will be a new "Greatest Show on Turf".... atleast for 1 week anyway...

 

[Max Power]

I'll post the entire article....

Steve Smith spent the preseason perplexed. He liked new offensive coordinator Jeff Davidson's philosophy and ideas, but the Panthers did little more than run basic plays in exhibition games.

"We were real vanilla. We stripped it down and I was frustrated a little bit," Smith said Thursday. "I was kind of saying, 'What's going on?' They kept telling me to be patient.

"They kept their promise."

When the Pro Bowl receiver was handed the offensive game plan for Sunday's season opener at St. Louis, he was amazed at the different looks.

"I said, 'OK, that's what I'm talking about,"' Smith said. "I called my wife and told her, 'This thing is nice."'

And complicated. Smith spent Wednesday night in bed with his nose in the playbook, thinking the Panthers have a chance to break out of the offensive funk of 2006 that left them 8-8 and got old coordinator Dan Henning fired.

"It's not like you wake up, you roll out of bed and you know your plays. I have to actually study," Smith said. "It's back to football. It's drawing it up in the dirt and being able to go out there and say, 'What do we have this week?"'

NFL game plans are treated as state secrets, so Smith couldn't reveal the details of Carolina's new offense. But Smith hinted he'll line up in several different spots and he promised it will look a lot different from the preseason version.

Davidson, a former assistant in New England and Cleveland, started with a bang when Jake Delhomme led a 13-play, 81-yard touchdown drive against the New York Giants in the first exhibition game.

The rest of the preseason was a struggle. The Panthers' first-team offense managed only one more touchdown in the final three games. Many of the problems that plagued Carolina last year -- a poor running game, not converting on third down and not getting the ball to Smith enough -- flared up again.

"I can tell you this much, everything we run now is totally different than what we ran in the preseason," running back DeAngelo Williams said.

Smith agreed.

"There are a lot of new things in there you're going to see that haven't been done in a very long time, in the seven years I've been here," Smith said. "Not since the era of Steve Beuerlein."

Smith was referring to the 1999 season when the Panthers threw the ball all over the field and scored 30 or more points eight times.

Davidson has talked about wanting a balance of the run and pass, getting the tight end involved more and finding new ways to get the ball to Smith, whose numbers declined last season after a stellar 2005.

"People will be surprised at what's going to happen Sunday," Smith said.

The uncertainty about the Panthers is also affecting how the Rams prepare.

"That's the advantage when you change coordinators, you change systems," coach Scott Linehan said. "We know we are going to see things that we didn't see in preseason, and we know we have got prepare for things they did in Cleveland, New England and even things they did last year there."

But by the sounds of Smith, the offense won't look much like last year's predictable, conservative system that averaged only 16.8 points per game.

"There are some different formations," Smith said. "There are some different things that while maybe are the same play, it's being able to do it out of four different looks. And we haven't always had that around here."

If you noticed in the reading all these new things have been put in THIS WEEK...

I'll wait to be impressed