By David W. Walters

The Hornets jumped out to an early lead and never looked back en-route to a 99-86 victory over the Washington Wizards on Friday night in Greenville, S.C. Charlotte took advantage of an abysmal shooting performance by the Wizards, who only managed to shoot 37% from the field.

The Hornets showed a much stronger defense against the Wizards, clamping down when needed and forcing bad looks at the basket. This is more typical of the top ranked defense that we saw last season under coach Steve Clifford.

Gary Neal led the Hornets in scoring for the second straight game with 19 points starting in place of Lance Stephenson, who sat out with a toe injury. Al Jefferson had a solid game in the post with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist had a nice all-around performance with six points, nine rebounds and four assists.

The Hornets played noticeably better throughout the game and everything seemed to click right from the jump in this one. Each starter has at least three assists as the ball moved with more fluidity on the offensive side.

Rookie P.J. Hairston had another solid game for the Hornets scoring 13 points. The combined three-point shooting between Hairston and Neal has been encouraging so far this preseason, as that was an obvious area of need going into this season. Hairston and Neal shot 3-4 and 3-5 respectively from the arc, while third-string guard Jannero Pargo was 4-7 from long range for 15 points of his own.

Xavier Silas led the Wizards in scoring with 16 points, knocking down four three-pointers, while second year forward Otto Porter chipped in 14 off the bench.

Gerald Henderson sat out while he rehabilitates a hamstring injury and rookie Noah Vonleh continues to work his way back from an offseason sports hernia.

The Hornets (1-1) are back in action in front of their home crowd on Monday night at Time Warner Cable Arena when they face off against the Orlando Magic (2-0).

follow David W. Walters on Twitter @Original_DWade.
Photo credit NBAE/Getty Images

Tight End Greg Olsen makes his first of two touchdown receptions [via panthers.com]

In week 4, the Panthers traveled to Baltimore for what would turn out to be an especially painful road loss. Not just because it sent the team home with unanswered questions about it’s Greg Hardy-less Defense, but because it came at the hands of their former wideout star – Steve Smith Sr. – who scored 2 highlight-reel touchdowns in the blowout.

To some, it confirmed what many had believed all offseason: That the 35 year-old, still explosive receiver should have never had to hang up his iconic Black and Blue uniform. But after returning home a disappointing 2-2, Carolina had far more tangible worries – Specifically, a Chicago Bears team that was undefeated on the road and as Offensively-loaded as any team in the league.

Facing a 14-point deficit with time winding down in the first half, the Panthers would find themselves on the other end of their haunting Steve Smith narrative from the week before. Former Bears tight end Greg Olsen, who was traded to Carolina for a third round pick, found the endzone twice on Sunday – including the go-ahead score – to fuel an exciting comeback. Earlier in the week, former Bears GM Jerry Angelo admitted on a local radio show that trading Olsen was ultimately a mistake, saying “I understand he wasn’t the ideal fit in the scheme, but we let our best receiver go.”

Just in case there was any leftover doubt after that statement, Olsen confirmed it in the most appropriate way on Sunday. He continued to build his case for a long-overdue trip to the Pro Bowl, while sending his former team back home on the darker side of .500.

Offensively, the Panthers were able to overcome a slew of injuries to their once-crowded backfield. With a practice squad call-up and a newly signed free agent splitting carries, they were able to run the ball effectively enough to open up the passing game.

After a slow start, and some help from a heads-up Special Teams play, the Panthers came alive late in the second quarter by sustaining back to back drives deep into Chicago territory. The first came to a halt on an unfortunate interception, after Newton’s pass was tipped by the defensive line.

But after a missed field goal by Robbie Gould, Newton responded with consecutive completions of 12, 20, and 22 yards – using the no-huddle offense to develop a rhythm and keep the defense on it’s heels. A few plays later, Newton and Olsen connected on a 9 yard touchdown pass, ending a 75 yard drive that took just 1 minute and 39 seconds. The score brought the Panthers within 7 just before halftime.

The momentum continued in the second half, as the Panthers put together a 10 play, 86 yard scoring drive after forcing a quick Chicago punt. After the Bears regained the lead with a third quarter field goal, the Panthers would go on to dominate the fourth.

3 forced turnovers on Chicago’s final 3 drives ultimately won the game for the Panthers, but it was Greg Olsen’s precise route-running and 2 late catches that would produce the go-ahead score.

Tied at 24, with 2:39 left on the clock, the Panthers faced a critical 3rd & 3 from the 16 yard line. It was a situation in which a struggling redzone offense would be tested with the game on the line, for good or for bad. As Newton dropped back, Olsen beat veteran cornerback Tim Jennings to the outside and made the reception on the 5 yard line. The conversion set up his 6 yard touchdown catch 3 plays later, giving the Panthers the 7 point lead they would hold on to win with.

Get the man to Hawaii already.

Defense: A Tale of Two Halves

Carolina was able to win the all-important turnover battle Sunday, something it hadn’t done since beating Detroit in week 2. The defense’s performance was a testament to it’s talent on the front seven, and Sean McDermott’s ability make adjustments throughout the game.

How important are adjustments in the game of football?
Chicago scored 21 points in the first half. They were held to just 3 in the second.

Since losing Pro Bowl defensive end Greg Hardy, McDermott has had to mix it up with different looks to create pressure – something the Panthers didn’t do much of with two double-digit sack specialists opposite each other.

Hardy’s dominant presence has been missed this season, but Carolina still has Top-5 talent on their front seven. Not only has reigning DPOY Luke Kuechly been playing out of his mind thus far, but his counterpart Thomas Davis continues to round out one of the best linebacker duo’s in the league.

Linebackers Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis [via panthers.com]

If you need reassurance, look at Jay Cutler’s first quarter interception from Sunday. It started with pressure from the defensive line, but the play was created by Davis:

A linebacker being asked to cover one of the most prolific receivers in the NFL, Brandon Marshall, is not something you’ll see very often. It’s a matchup Cutler, or any other quarterback, would take on paper 9 times out of 10. But Davis ran step-for-step with Marshall like a seasoned corner, and broke up the pass into the awaiting arms of Roman Harper. There aren’t many linebackers in the league who don’t get burned for a big gain there.

Luke Kuechly led yet another game in tackles, and the secondary held up – although the unit continued to struggle against the screen game, letting Alshon Jeffery and Matt Forte gash them for several big gains. And while the defensive line still has work to do against the run, they were able to come up with big stops when it mattered most, stuffing Forte on multiple 3rd down rushes late in the game. Their constant pressure on Cutler produced the turnovers, none bigger than the game-sealing strip sack by Kawann Short inside 2 minutes. The pass rush that hadn’t been seen in two weeks finally showed up against Chicago, and that is the morsel of hope that I needed to believe this Defense can be what it once was again.

Overall, the defense saw much improvement, but will need to channel it’s second half attitude against Gio Bernard and the Bengals this week. With AJ Green likely out, the Bengals will look to get their star running back the ball more both on the ground and through the air. If the Panthers can limit the run and contain the screen game in Cincinnati, they might be able to make a deep-threat-lacking team one-dimensional. But if they fail to stop the run early, it’s sure to be another ugly AFC North matchup for Carolina.

Stay tuned for a full Week 6 preview including match-ups to watch, injury updates, and more.

For breaking news, practice reports, and in-game tweets, Follow Austin on Twitter @Austallings

By David W. Walters

The Charlotte Hornets made their first appearance of the preseason in Philadelphia on Wednesday night but ultimately fell to the Philadelphia 76ers, 106-92.

Coach Steve Clifford got a good look at his starting unit as all five starters played at least 20 minutes a piece.  As a group, they only managed to shoot 18-50 from the field, while the team as a whole shot 36.8% from the field.  Make of that what you will; it was the first game of the preseason with a starting unit that features two new additions in Marvin Williams and Lance Stephenson.

Gary Neal was the Hornets most efficient player for the Hornets, leading the team in scoring with 14 points and shooting 5-8 from the field off the bench.  The backcourt tandem of Kemba Walker and Stephenson scored 13 points a piece as they seemed to play well off each other and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist showed off his reformed jump shot scoring 11 points while adding seven rebounds and two steals.  Big Al Jefferson chipped in nine points and eight rebounds.

We got our first look at our new starting power forward Marvin Williams, who was brought in to be a stretch four, and he certainly didn’t shy away from the arc, shooting six 3-pointers but only making one to give him five points to go with eight rebounds.  Rookie P.J. Hairston showed off his range, shooting 2-5 from three for six points, but also rounded out his game with four rebounds and four assists.  The Hornets other first round pick, Noah Vonleh, sat out the game as he continues to rehabilitate after an offseason injury.

Shooting woes aside, the Hornets played well in the first quarter and led 24-21.  In the second quarter, they allowed their opponent to go on a run in a 38-point second quarter that gave the Sixers a 59-47 lead at the halfway point.

At times, you could see the Hornets experimenting with their pace of play and Stephenson got his share of ball handling duties as the team played off the dribble more than they had last season.  On defense, the Hornets looked lost at times, which was not typical of a team that ranked near the top in team defense last season but, as I have said earlier, it’s preseason.

The starters didn’t see much time in the second half of the game as the reserves mostly led the way.  Second year center Cody Zeller had seven points and four rebounds and newly acquired backup point guard Brian Roberts had seven points and two assists off the bench for the Hornets.

Tony Wroten started in place of defending rookie of the year Michael Carter-Williams and scored 15 points to go along with seven assists and six rebounds.  Nerlens Noel, the Sixers top pick last season, looked strong with ten points, nine rebounds and three blocks.

The Hornets Gerald Henderson sat out the game with a right hamstring strain while the Sixers’ Carter-Williams was nursing a sore right shoulder after having offseason surgery.

The Hornets are back in action against the Washington Wizards at 7 p.m. on Friday in Greenville, S.C.

follow David W. Walters on Twitter at @Original_DWade

 

(Photo by David Dow/NBAE via Getty Images)

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(Written By Austin Stallings)

This past weekend, NBC’s Sunday Night Football made one of it’s few-and-far-between stops in Charlotte – and brought with it an atmosphere that Panthers fans hadn’t seen in years. Crowds gathered in uptown’s Romare Bearden park and nearby tailgate hotspots to partake in game-day festivities as early as 8 hours before kickoff. Driving through Uptown was no easy feat on Sunday, but sitting in gridlocked traffic has never been more enjoyable: amongst a city-wide party, cheerfully awaiting it’s guest of honor, the 2-0 Carolina Panthers.

Unfortunately, that pre-game atmosphere didn’t stay for any after-parties, and the electrifying hype that fueled the Queen City all week failed to make it to the 4th quarter Sunday night.

No — the game didn’t go Carolina’s way for most of the evening; Offensive coordinator Todd Haley came to town with a perfect gameplan to quiet the Panther pass-rush, and [the legendary] Dick Lebeau schemed up a defensive front that hit Newton so much he couldn’t keep his pads on straight.

Years ago, I had a wise football coach tell our team – following an embarrassing home loss one week before the State Playoffs – that we would not be revisiting the film from that game. We were much better than the effort that took place on the field that night, and instead of dwelling on the loss in the film room — the tape would be trashed. Unconventional as it may have been, he was right. We quickly turned our attention to the next team and decisively won the playoff game the following week.

That could not be further from what this Carolina Panthers team has to do to improve from this loss.

This team will watch every painful frame of this tape, over and over again, as well they should. Not only to improve upon themselves, but because there are 11 teams lined up to play the Panthers this season who are salivating at the sight of this film reel. Both Offensively and Defensively, the Steelers put together a successful blueprint that – along with plenty of self-inflicted miscues – attacked this Carolina team in the right ways.

Obviously, it’s easy to point to 2 distinct Special Teams blunders that changed the course of this game. After all, both led to immediate Pittsburgh touchdowns. But amidst your [totally justified] distaste and ill will, be sure to credit what is one of the most successful coaching staffs in this league’s recent history. The Steelers were able to methodically maintain drives on Carolina’s vaunted defense, and consistently get to Cam Newton with a 3-man pass rush.

Upon further review of the film (because trust me, you don’t want to watch it), here is what the Pittsburgh coaching staff did with their extended week of preparation, and what the Panthers need to correct moving forward:

 

Offense: Screen & Run Game Will Slow Down Any Pass-Rush

If you’re a Panthers fan, you should know by now how the Carolina defense has come to earn it’s notoriety. A big, talented front seven that prides itself on sacking quarterbacks, (The unit led the league with 60.0 in 2013). It’s secondary, which for the past 2 seasons has been assembled with young undrafted talent and veteran free agents, really does not have to be elite or name-brand when playing behind such a gifted group. In the first two weeks of 2014 that formula has held up. The front seven kept quarterbacks Josh McCown and Matthew Stafford under duress, and as their number of drop-backs increased, the pressure got to them and they turned the ball over.

Enter Todd Haley, who became the offensive coordinator for the Steelers in 2012, and has since tweaked their philosophy to help protect franchise quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Since he has been in Pittsburgh, Haley has significantly reduced the amount of full drop-backs Roethlisberger takes, and upped his number of screens and short passes (10 yards or less) to 66.2 percent.

That being said, there may not be a single player in the NFL better fit for Haley’s screen-oriented offense than Antonio Brown. In last week’s preview, I highlighted him as a matchup problem and said he might be the best player in the league after the catch — He is.

Why the preface on Haley, Brown, and the screen-game? The Steelers employed their new philosophy to perfection on Sunday night, and in-turn were able to neutralize Carolina’s elite pass-rush that it relies on. Typically when the Panthers get an offense in passing down situations – they sub in specialists (Kony Ealy and Mario Addison), assume sprinter stances, and hope they can get to the quarterback. But Haley refused to take many chances in those situations. Instead of 7-step drops and long routes, he continued to opt for low-risk quick passes and screens. Because of this, Roethlisberger often only held the ball for a second or two at a time, and was only sacked once.

 

While the Panthers were able to contain the many screen passes early on, Brown’s elusiveness began to wear on the defense and the gains got longer. This forced players like Luke Keuchly and Thomas Davis to provide more help to the sidelines, allowing a much-improved Le’Veon Bell more room to work up the middle. Bell responded with great patience and vision, waiting for blocks to develop and hitting holes with authority. After shedding 20 pounds this past offseason, Bell looks like a completely different player: Much more explosive with moves he was physically unable to make in the past.

Pittsburgh’s executions of screens, draws, and off-tackle runs proved that they were well-prepared for this defense. They removed Carolina’s strongest asset from the game by giving it’s pass-rush few shots at the quarterback. They countered the aggressive nature of the defense by making it pay when it over-pursued. And they forced a talented linebacking core to try to play both run-gap responsibility and sideline help. Minus a few costly mistakes and 4th quarter fatigue, the Panthers defense played well – despite getting put in far too many compromising positions.

Pittsburgh’s air-tight gameplan was mostly to thank for their offensive success, and was a testament to their experienced coaching staff and their extended week of preparation.

 

Defense: Hit Newton Early and Often

While watching this film, I wrote down one particular phrase a disturbing number of times:

“3-man rush gets to Cam.”

I wrote that so many times that if I were using an Apple device it would have auto-corrected any unrelated sentences to such. I wrote that enough times to make it a top search suggestion on Google.

Not that this is news to anyone, but the legendary Dick Lebeau has been the mastermind behind the Pittsburgh defense for many years now. (If that was news to you, let me know where to send you one of many coffee-table-books on NFL history.)

One of the best to ever do it, Lebeau-coached defenses are historically complex, hard-hitting units that have earned him 6 AFC Championships and 2 Super Bowl rings over the years. Against the Panthers, he dialed up schemes that were able to contain the runner in Newton and expose an offensive line that was heavily-criticized entering the season.

One of the packages in his gameplan was an enigmatic “amoeba” defense, in which all defenders in the box are standing upright instead of the traditional three-point stance. (This package is utilized by several other teams, and goes by various names.)

The defensive front moves around before the ball is snapped, and can rush any combination of 3 to 6 players while dropping the remainder back into coverage. This is difficult for a quarterback, who has to quickly determine who will blitz and who will drop. It’s also very difficult for the offensive line and running backs, who must adjust the pass protection accordingly to not allow any free rushers. When executed correctly, the amoeba defense can leave parts of the protection with no one to block while greatly  outnumbering a weak spot.

More often than not, Lebeau opted to rush some combination of 3 against the Panthers, while utilizing a quarterback spy and dropping the rest into man coverage. A “spy” is commonly used against mobile quarterbacks, and is usually a linebacker who neither rushes nor drops. Instead he assumes a zone-type stance (eyes on qb), making sure to stop him if he tucks and runs. The drawback to rushing 3 men is, well, you’re not typically going to get to the quarterback very often.

The Steelers did.

 

Both by scheme and by skill, the Pittsburgh front seven got entirely too many open shots on the still-injured Newton. I saw Cam take almost as much criticism for his play as he did for his post-game attire. But the truth is: When he wasn’t getting sacked, he was still getting hit; When he wasn’t getting hit, he wasn’t able to step into throws because the pocket had collapsed.

He missed a handful of throws under the pressure, but he also connected on some tough ones (including an endzone shot on which Benjamin miss-timed his jump.) Working in such an inconsistent pocket – the Panthers are fortunate he was able to avoid further injuries, albeit he appeared to be in pain most of the night.

Often after these types of games, you can point to a player or two who allowed so many sacks and pressures – but this falls on the entire group: offensive linemen, running backs, and tight ends.

Both tackles Chandler and Bell got beat pretty frequently – around the edge and flat out bull-rushes. Greg Olsen, Mike Tolbert, and Jonathan Stewart all missed a number of blocks in pass protection – which is something you don’t hear very often. Even perennial Pro-Bowler and offensive anchor Ryan Kalil blew protection assignments that led to free hits on Newton. Understanding that this style of defense can be extremely difficult to protect against, and the Steelers executed their gameplan well — This group has to come together and improve from this, especially heading into a particularly tough 8-game stretch without Tolbert and Stewart.

Part of why the Steelers had so much success rushing the quarterback Sunday night, was being able to play a pressed man coverage for most of the game. Knowing that the Panthers were without Jericho Cotchery, playing with a still-healing Jason Avant, and mostly leaning on a rookie for productivity – Pittsburgh gladly walked up their defensive backs, daring the receiving core to beat them. For much of the night it worked, as the pass-rush was able to hit or pressure Newton before any of his receivers could really get open. There were a few bright spots however:

• Kelvin Benjamin continued to shed the rookie stigma, proving he can win one-on-one matchups in the NFL.
• Greg Olsen played Mr. Reliable once again. After beating cornerback Cortez Allen on an out-route, he then turned up field and sped to the pylon for a 37-yard touchdown early in the 4th quarter. The play provided a much-needed spark and cut the deficit to 10. Olsen continues to make his Pro Bowl case as a primary weapon for this team.
• Undrafted rookie Philly Brown proved that he can be an asset to the offense, using his quickness to get open for 7 receptions and 66 yards. *You already know about his special teams mishap, but making one mistake while trying to make a play will not land him in my dog house yet. Besides, who else do you propose the team field punts with? Moving on.

 

The Panthers continued in their Sunday Night struggles, and missed opportunities to remain undefeated and keep sole possession of the NFC South lead. But there is much to be learned from a loss like this, and the team must seize the opportunity to improve from it. This Sunday they will travel to Baltimore to take on their second of four AFC North teams this season. The Ravens, also 2-1, are fresh off two division wins and have a certain wideout who undoubtedly circled this week the moment the schedules were released. Stay tuned for my Week 4 preview and injury updates throughout the week.

 

 

We were granted the privilege of being one the Charlotte Hornets fan blogs/sites that was selected to attend “Media Day” on Monday Sept. 29th. As you may have noted in the past we are not like other fan blog/sites. We like to beelieve that we are “By The Fan, For The Fan.”

This being said, we are not exactly sure what the format of the day will be but we want to try and get our followers involved.

***PLEASE COMMENT on this post any questions you want to see us ask any players and staff we may come across!***

FYI, we will also have a professional photographer with us to capture as much of the day as possible… IF that is allowed!