Speaker 1: It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends
Speaker 1: Kristen Balboni, Will Bryan and Darren Gamp. Looking to the
Speaker 1: Happy half Hour podcast. It's your friends Kristen, Will, Darren
Speaker 1: and producer Matt Guys. It feels good to be talking
Speaker 1: about a team that's starting off the season two and
Speaker 1: oh how are we feeling? And all right, it's different.
Speaker 1: People are excited, it's kind of and it's been a
Speaker 1: while so, I mean, I think people are still kind
Speaker 1: of wrapping their minds around it because of you know,
Speaker 1: the expectations going into the season or whatever, or people's
Speaker 1: expectations going into last week after the Saints, after that game,
Speaker 1: I mean, everybody leaving the stadium was kind of like, WHOA,
Speaker 1: what does happen here? This is all right? We like this.
Speaker 1: I think though, people like, oh, what's like in there?
Speaker 1: Is everyone just going crazy? I mean it's tempered, there's
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a you know, I think people on
Speaker 1: the outside, yeah, fans, you know, have at it, go fund,
Speaker 1: you know, go have fun. Read all the expectations in
Speaker 1: the power rankings and you know that's what football is about,
Speaker 1: is enjoying this. But inside the building, there's another game.
Speaker 1: In two days and we'll get to it in a
Speaker 1: little bit like this isn't this isn't the cake walk
Speaker 1: to three, you know, like this is tempered and this
Speaker 1: is it's a long season ahead, and I would I
Speaker 1: would think with this staff and um with these players,
Speaker 1: it would be tempered no matter what. Right do you
Speaker 1: guys agree from from being around this team that I
Speaker 1: think one of the main pillars of what Matt Rule
Speaker 1: is trying to do is not to get too high,
Speaker 1: not to get too low. You know, you hear the
Speaker 1: phrase that we're gonna just try to go want to
Speaker 1: know every week, and so I think short week or not,
Speaker 1: that would be that would be the way this team
Speaker 1: is feeling. But Joe Brady, god love him, has got
Speaker 1: the worst Twitter account in the world, because it's just
Speaker 1: want to know every week and it's good and unless
Speaker 1: and Darren I would say unless, it's not unless it's
Speaker 1: unless the tweet doesn't come correct and then but uh yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it's it's not the best content or anything
Speaker 1: like that. But that's how those guys think, and that's uh.
Speaker 1: I was just working on a piece for the mail
Speaker 1: bag that's coming up later on the website and It's
Speaker 1: strange because people might not think that way, and fans
Speaker 1: want to enjoy oh my god, we're two and oh.
Speaker 1: It's first time since seventeen been able to enjoy it.
Speaker 1: They don't enjoy that part of it. I mean, Matt
Speaker 1: said Monday during his press conference. He said, people text
Speaker 1: me congratulations on two and oh, and I tell them back, Yeah,
Speaker 1: they were the one to know. This week's all I'm
Speaker 1: worried about. So, I mean, coaches are just wired differently
Speaker 1: and that and they you know, it's got to be
Speaker 1: hard to enjoy certain things. And you know, they just
Speaker 1: go into their tunnel during football season, though, and they
Speaker 1: bury themselves in that particular week and that's all they
Speaker 1: think about. Happy half hour podcast here too, the tamp
Speaker 1: down all of your excitement about a two and oh
Speaker 1: start on this Tuesday. But do you subscribe to that there?
Speaker 1: Because I think that will's write if your fans, you
Speaker 1: are supposed to enjoy this, You should enjoy this. You
Speaker 1: should be very excited about this team, right and and
Speaker 1: some of the players that are on this team and
Speaker 1: what potential they could have this season, the things that
Speaker 1: they're doing, regardless of the record. Getting to the quarterback
Speaker 1: Sam Donald looking good, all those things, Christian McCaffrey being back.
Speaker 1: You should absolutely be excited, But I would argue that
Speaker 1: you want your team, for the most part, to have
Speaker 1: the mentality that we were just talking about, which is
Speaker 1: not too high, not too low. We're not you know,
Speaker 1: looking at this Texans game going oh yeah, look what
Speaker 1: we did the last two weeks. We got this in
Speaker 1: the bag, right, Don't you want that? You want them
Speaker 1: to embrace the method that allows you to become too
Speaker 1: and oh more than the two and oh. I mean
Speaker 1: that's what process is all about in Matt Rule's mind.
Speaker 1: So you get excited about, Okay, today's practice was good,
Speaker 1: or today's meeting we learned this that. I mean, those
Speaker 1: are the sort of things they're latching onto and they're enjoying.
Speaker 1: I mean, players are enjoying We were at the game,
Speaker 1: they were enjoying it. They are enjoying this because they're
Speaker 1: not right, but they're playing a brand of football that
Speaker 1: is fun for them to play, especially those guys on defense.
Speaker 1: And I mean you talk to them after games and
Speaker 1: you see them light up. You see, I mean the
Speaker 1: Hassan Reddicks, the Brian Burns, Morgan Fox after that game Sunday,
Speaker 1: start talking about the way they're getting after quarterbacks, and
Speaker 1: clearly these guys realize, hey, they're onto something. Be there
Speaker 1: is an opportunity for success doing it this way. And
Speaker 1: see they're starting to see some of those results. And
Speaker 1: I do think it matters for a young team to
Speaker 1: get a couple of wins just to feel that kind
Speaker 1: of confidence of And we talked about this last week.
Speaker 1: You learn what it feels like to win, so you
Speaker 1: can get used to it and reinforcement of the process.
Speaker 1: So from that standpoint, it's it's great. I've said that
Speaker 1: Matt Love is nothing better than a win with stuff
Speaker 1: to work on. So the last couple of weeks have
Speaker 1: provided stuff. I mean, it hadn't been perfect. He wants
Speaker 1: to work on special teams this week. A week ago
Speaker 1: it was other stuff, and it might be something every
Speaker 1: week throughout the season. And that's just kind of again,
Speaker 1: it's just the way coaches are wired. But yeah, that's
Speaker 1: the way they're going to approach it. But it certainly
Speaker 1: beats the alternative, absolutely, And like I said, we're here
Speaker 1: to to tamp down your excitement bringing it to you.
Speaker 1: There should be no fun. Let's let's go back to
Speaker 1: that that game on Sunday before we look ahead and
Speaker 1: talk about the short week and uh in the upcoming
Speaker 1: game against the Texans. Um was there a moment though?
Speaker 1: Because there was? There were a lot of exciting plays
Speaker 1: in that game. There are a lot of very good
Speaker 1: plays that game. Was there a moment or a series
Speaker 1: or a stat will for you are very own panther
Speaker 1: stats guy that you go like, oh, oh, this is
Speaker 1: this team. This team looks good, you know. To me,
Speaker 1: I think it's over the last two weeks. I would
Speaker 1: say when those third downs come up on on defense
Speaker 1: and on offense to last week, they they did a
Speaker 1: great job. But um on defense with that being such
Speaker 1: a touch point last year of something that they just
Speaker 1: could not get off the field. And you and you know,
Speaker 1: of course you're looking at the scoreboard. I'm looking at
Speaker 1: the field, looking at the guys and then you see
Speaker 1: Dante Jackson make a huge tackle or whatever. You know
Speaker 1: what I mean, You're like, yes, all right? That that
Speaker 1: to me is is one moment that encapsulates or or
Speaker 1: one stat that encapsulates the corner that this team has
Speaker 1: turned at least to start the season. I would say,
Speaker 1: and this is more a fan and media narrative that
Speaker 1: is probably a bit unfair, but let's be real, it's
Speaker 1: still a narrative. It exists that the touchdown to DJ
Speaker 1: was just like okay, you know, you just kind of
Speaker 1: felt like a weight lifted and it was a great throw.
Speaker 1: It was you know, it was just great execution. Was like, okay, cool,
Speaker 1: we got a touchdown here. Like that was that was
Speaker 1: such an important moment because it felt like the defense
Speaker 1: is doing their thing, the offense is moving the ball.
Speaker 1: We've already been inside the five before. Now. Red zone was, yes,
Speaker 1: the red zone was an issue last year. It was
Speaker 1: an issue Week one and that was just in case
Speaker 1: anyone um doesn't remember the top of your head, that was,
Speaker 1: like you said, they've been in the red zone once
Speaker 1: in that game, and then we're able to go and
Speaker 1: score a touchdown and that it wasn't just you know,
Speaker 1: all right, CMC was able to get a couple more
Speaker 1: inches over the line. It was all right, here's here's
Speaker 1: a play where they're in the shotgun. I think CMC
Speaker 1: went empty. I mean it was he motioned out empty.
Speaker 1: Set all right, this is either Sam Donald gonna run
Speaker 1: it in or he's got to throw it, you know,
Speaker 1: and it's like he's gonna throw into a tight window.
Speaker 1: He's gotta throw something to score here. And he did
Speaker 1: it and dj caught it, and he was like, all right,
Speaker 1: that's it. We're feeling good now, Like that was a
Speaker 1: big play for me. Yeah. I think when I think
Speaker 1: back on that game, it's almost it's not necessarily a
Speaker 1: highlight or anything like that. But the thing I'll remember,
Speaker 1: probably for the longest out of that game is j C.
Speaker 1: Horn wing push ups after dropping an interception, Because hey,
Speaker 1: j C. Horne is going to be really good at football,
Speaker 1: and he knows that and they are aware of that,
Speaker 1: and we're beginning to see some of that, and he
Speaker 1: expects to make plays, he expects to intercept passes. He
Speaker 1: told Phil Snow the week before when he gave up
Speaker 1: a touchdown, he said, I'll get you a pick next week.
Speaker 1: I'll get you a turnover next week, I promise you.
Speaker 1: And when he had his hands on one and was
Speaker 1: ready to deliver on that promise and he drops it,
Speaker 1: I mean it was just an immediate reaction from j C.
Speaker 1: You know, I'm used to seeing guys drop and do
Speaker 1: push ups when they drop a pick in practice. Don't
Speaker 1: remember seeing it in a game out on the field
Speaker 1: in the middle of play where j C just drops
Speaker 1: down and cranks out tim push ups. It was like
Speaker 1: one fluid movement, like the ball grazed his hands and
Speaker 1: all of a sudden he was on the ground ready
Speaker 1: to do pushing out tim push ups. And I mean
Speaker 1: to me, that says something about the way that guy's wire.
Speaker 1: What about when he so he did get his his
Speaker 1: pick a little bit later in the game, and of
Speaker 1: course especially for that that first one, all the defensive
Speaker 1: players that are on the field are gonna run down
Speaker 1: to the end zone they celebrate. It's a big moment.
Speaker 1: He was so excited that the ball kind of squirted
Speaker 1: out of his hands and went over to like the
Speaker 1: far left side, almost to the tunnel because they were
Speaker 1: in the end zone. And it was very sweet. I thought,
Speaker 1: Jeremy Chinn. I remember when Jeremy Chinn did his first
Speaker 1: rundown into the end zone. Jeremy Chinn went over got
Speaker 1: the ball back for him in the midst of the
Speaker 1: celebration and handed it back to him like, Hey, you're
Speaker 1: gonna want to keep that. I know you're excited, You're
Speaker 1: gonna want to keep this football. I loved that moment,
Speaker 1: especially coming against his dad's former team, that's the Saints,
Speaker 1: you know, like it of all the different narratives and
Speaker 1: story line say, I think that was that was kind
Speaker 1: of a cool one to you know that this is
Speaker 1: this is this team that for the fan base, you know,
Speaker 1: for the program, largely to get that Saints thing off
Speaker 1: their back a little bit. For Horn, you know, to
Speaker 1: really show out against New Orleans was huge too. Not
Speaker 1: that he reacted to that, I mean after the game,
Speaker 1: and again that's just kind of j C's personality. Somebody
Speaker 1: asked him if it meant more against I didn't think
Speaker 1: about it like that, all right, Yeah, I think what
Speaker 1: I see it all means so much, you know, I mean,
Speaker 1: and that's just he wants to be the best on
Speaker 1: every single play. Like Darren said, he's got a lot
Speaker 1: of good football ahead of him. I'm excited. I'm excited
Speaker 1: that he's on the Panthers, if you want me to
Speaker 1: be honest, excited to get to see him develop. Let's uh,
Speaker 1: Will are of course, you're known for your stats of
Speaker 1: the week, stat of the week, but I know this
Speaker 1: week you've got a bunch are we talking look ahead stats?
Speaker 1: Are we talking to a no stats Saints game? What
Speaker 1: do you got for us? Well, I'm already and Darren
Speaker 1: woke up really early yesterday and still all of my thunder,
Speaker 1: which you know, I give him props for it because
Speaker 1: we're we're kind of like Hassan Reddick in Brian Burns
Speaker 1: out here. Yeah, we're complementary, but you both want the
Speaker 1: you just you both want the sack on the team.
Speaker 1: We're a team. But at the end of the year,
Speaker 1: we count up page views on which one of us
Speaker 1: publish an article first. So Darren got all the views
Speaker 1: for the Panthers leading the league and pretty much everything
Speaker 1: on defense. So I mean that's fun. Um. I I
Speaker 1: made a little bit of a comeback with my next
Speaker 1: gen stats Morgan Fox fifty seven fifty seven point one
Speaker 1: percent pressure rate video yesterday. Um, first half for me,
Speaker 1: I think this goes in context of third quarters are struggling,
Speaker 1: Their quarters are rough. Um, we need to see we
Speaker 1: need to see some good third quarters coming up here.
Speaker 1: But the Panthers haven't given up a point in the
Speaker 1: first half. Knock on all the wood. Yeah, they're thirty
Speaker 1: three thirty three nothing scoring margin in the first half.
Speaker 1: Sam Donald leads the NFL and first half passing yards.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's absurd what they're doing to start games.
Speaker 1: I saw some stat this morning from some NFL Twitter
Speaker 1: writer the Panthers are the only team in the league
Speaker 1: who have never played an offensive snap while trailing this year.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's it's that kind of heavy stuff that
Speaker 1: when you stay out in front of the eight ball,
Speaker 1: when your defense is getting turnovers in, your offense can
Speaker 1: execute early, and you put the pressure on teams, you
Speaker 1: can be really successful in this league. Yeah, I was.
Speaker 1: I was talking to the Texans team reporter yesterday. We
Speaker 1: were doing a segment and she said, she was like,
Speaker 1: and I had to check these stats, you know, just
Speaker 1: double check these stats again. It was like, um, no
Speaker 1: points given up in in the first half of either game.
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, that's right. Um. But but to
Speaker 1: what you said, though, the third quarter is kind of
Speaker 1: where the two opponents that they've played so far have
Speaker 1: have started to make these comebacks. But then so so
Speaker 1: you go, Okay, great, first half, third quarter needs some work.
Speaker 1: But then also as these comebacks are starting to happen,
Speaker 1: the Panthers have been able to put those teams away
Speaker 1: in uh in the late third quarter, in the early
Speaker 1: fourth quarter, and and that's a that's another thing that
Speaker 1: is um different than last year. I mean, let's be real,
Speaker 1: this is the way the NFL is built. The NFL
Speaker 1: isn't built for teams to come out and get huge
Speaker 1: first quarter leads and put them to bed. Like it's
Speaker 1: just when you play like he's gonna make half that
Speaker 1: way and you know, and it's you don't just don't
Speaker 1: go out and you just beat everyone to start the
Speaker 1: season every single game like everything, the NFL is built
Speaker 1: for parody. It's built for close games, it's built for comebacks,
Speaker 1: it's built for winning and losing and going up and
Speaker 1: down like that. That's just what this league is. Because
Speaker 1: it's exciting. The NFL is built for winning and losing. Well,
Speaker 1: you're right, I'm sorry I had to. And also I
Speaker 1: think it's worth remembering this is still a very young team.
Speaker 1: These guys are still figuring each other out. Sam Donald's
Speaker 1: a new quarterback to this system this year. As much
Speaker 1: as we talk about those young guys on defense like
Speaker 1: Brian Burns and Jeremy Chin and Derek Brown, half that
Speaker 1: defense is brand new. So there are two games into
Speaker 1: their careers of playing each other and knowing how de
Speaker 1: Kwon Jones is going to react, knowing how Hassan Reddick's
Speaker 1: going to react, knowing how J. C. Horne's gonna react.
Speaker 1: So I think part of that is almost natural, and
Speaker 1: and that's why I think it's more relief than cause
Speaker 1: for celebration for them early on, because all right, they're
Speaker 1: pushing through some of those growing pains, They're pushing through
Speaker 1: some of the learning and still winning. Now who is
Speaker 1: now that that Will has put this in my head
Speaker 1: about the two of you as and I know we've
Speaker 1: we've talked about this and given people kind of a
Speaker 1: behind the scenes of the two of you work very
Speaker 1: closely together, especially in the season on All Things Web.
Speaker 1: But well, now that you said one of you is
Speaker 1: Brian Burns and one of us to Son Reddick, I
Speaker 1: was gonna ask who's who? But I I think I
Speaker 1: have a good sense of I'll tell you what I
Speaker 1: would say, and then you guys tell me if you agree. Okay, alright,
Speaker 1: well is staring right at me. I'm not trying to
Speaker 1: think I'm gonna say that Will is Hassan Reddick. Swiss
Speaker 1: Army knife. I mean, you do like eighteen different things
Speaker 1: for the Panthers every single day, if I mean, it's
Speaker 1: just from from website to the art of marketing to
Speaker 1: f a U ticket it and you do everything. And
Speaker 1: that's what Hassan Reddick is known for, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's such a versatile player. And then you got
Speaker 1: Darren big name coming in with some some big hits,
Speaker 1: premiere you know, premiere talent, leaving up to it every day.
Speaker 1: My speed athleticis yeah, that's what made you think of it, right,
Speaker 1: But to be known to drop into a spider Man
Speaker 1: pause after a great website or enter, I just need
Speaker 1: help getting back up out of the What do you think?
Speaker 1: Did I like that? I mean I also like the
Speaker 1: fact that currently Reddick leads in the sack competition. So
Speaker 1: if we're to right, he said, what are we betting
Speaker 1: this year? Like a rental scooter ride? Oh gosh, I mean,
Speaker 1: I don't think a custom golf car. Let's let's let's
Speaker 1: put that out to our our our listeners. What should
Speaker 1: uh what should we get the other one? Based on
Speaker 1: what is it? Page vires on articles published? Okay, you
Speaker 1: had that ready to go? Yeah, all right, we'll find out.
Speaker 1: I mean, what I'm gonna do is just go back
Speaker 1: in and take Darren's author tag off some of the
Speaker 1: really good ones, the best the league and all defensive stats.
Speaker 1: We too, well, Brian, Well, yeah I wrote that. I
Speaker 1: totally did. So let's talk about let's talk about this
Speaker 1: short week coming up. So we are recording this. This
Speaker 1: will be hitting your podcast feeds earlier than usual because
Speaker 1: on on Wednesday we'll be we'll be traveling and that's
Speaker 1: when we would normally record because there is a Thursday
Speaker 1: night game in Houston against the Texans coming up. In gosh,
Speaker 1: just a minute, it feels like, um, I think people,
Speaker 1: you know, you get a sense if you're a fan
Speaker 1: of what the short week looks like. But I will say,
Speaker 1: even this being my second season, being the team that
Speaker 1: is on the road, even just surprised me when you
Speaker 1: really sit down and think about how long these guys
Speaker 1: have to recover, how much they and do in that
Speaker 1: span of time. Um, you know, I was talking to
Speaker 1: to Matt Rule after the game. I said, okay, so
Speaker 1: you win it with Sunday Sunday evening, I said, you win,
Speaker 1: What does what does tomorrow look like? As you get
Speaker 1: ready for Houston, and he said, oh, it's it's tonight.
Speaker 1: And he talked about the fact you Phil Snow for example,
Speaker 1: showered after the game and went back upstairs, and they
Speaker 1: had had some of the coaching staff already scouting the Texans. UM.
Speaker 1: And that's and that goes across the league. That is
Speaker 1: a normal every team has to play at Thursday night game.
Speaker 1: But I do think it's really interesting to kind of
Speaker 1: talk through the logistics, which is Monday. You know, they
Speaker 1: were encouraging players to to get treatment Sunday night to
Speaker 1: speed up that recovery process. Monday, Um, everyone comes into
Speaker 1: the building, you watch film, you do the same thing.
Speaker 1: You have your meetings, one practice on Tuesday, and then
Speaker 1: the team plane leaves on Wednesday. As you compare it
Speaker 1: to a normal week where you've got really four solid
Speaker 1: days and a player off day to prepare for your
Speaker 1: next opponent. And it's interesting. Christian was talking yesterday and
Speaker 1: and there's a guy, I mean, he counts and measures
Speaker 1: his hours of sleep and my and charts his stuff,
Speaker 1: so he knows how much he's sleeping one night to
Speaker 1: the next. So you know, he puts that same kind
Speaker 1: of care into all his treatment, his chiropractic, his eyes,
Speaker 1: you know, all the rehab stuff that he does to
Speaker 1: keep himself ready. So I mean he's got to condense
Speaker 1: seven days worth of all of that into four or
Speaker 1: really three and a half. So I mean he said
Speaker 1: the other day he was doubling up on you know,
Speaker 1: if I normally do to one hour of this on Monday,
Speaker 1: I'm doing two hours of this on Monday. So I mean,
Speaker 1: it's just amazing what these players and coaches put themselves
Speaker 1: through when it's there week Now again, they're all gonna
Speaker 1: when we get to Friday, when we get to Friday,
Speaker 1: or everyone thinks it's the best thing every yeah for Friday,
Speaker 1: but it's uh yeah, it's hard getting there. So the
Speaker 1: payoff on the back side of it, you better enjoy
Speaker 1: it because it is rare. And and again when they
Speaker 1: get through this long weekend, I mean, this hits at
Speaker 1: a point where they could probably use it because you
Speaker 1: had some rest after the end of training camp, kind
Speaker 1: of that long by weekend before the season started. Now
Speaker 1: get this one and then you don't get another by
Speaker 1: until December. So put your feet up this weekend, fellas, yes,
Speaker 1: store it up as if it lasts gonna be a
Speaker 1: long one, yeah, I mean, and and to to not
Speaker 1: look too far ahead. But that's what we do. Dallas
Speaker 1: plays on Monday, so not only does Carolina get three
Speaker 1: four extra days, Dallas has one less day before that
Speaker 1: Week four game in Dallas. So that I mean, who
Speaker 1: knows how much that factors in, but just something to
Speaker 1: keep note of. Yeah, that that is that is good
Speaker 1: to know. And I think because you're right there, when
Speaker 1: would you ideally, knowing that your by is week thirteen, right,
Speaker 1: when would you ideally want this game to fall? Because
Speaker 1: it was similar situation last year to very late by,
Speaker 1: one of the latest in the season, and this game,
Speaker 1: the Thursday night game came well, I want to say,
Speaker 1: like week seven ish around there, I don't have in
Speaker 1: front of me, forgive me panther stats guy, which it
Speaker 1: felt like they were really in need of arrest then.
Speaker 1: But then also, if you're going to play on a
Speaker 1: short week, I get why week three is not the
Speaker 1: worst to do it right when your body feels a
Speaker 1: little bit better, I mean week three, week four, week five,
Speaker 1: I mean I think kind of that first third, you know,
Speaker 1: first quarter of the season, you know, kind of within
Speaker 1: their beginning of the second quarter, especially with the late
Speaker 1: by um. But yeah, I mean it's also one of
Speaker 1: those like I think that question comes up a lot too.
Speaker 1: I think Christian got it was like, hey, you know,
Speaker 1: is this exactly when you'd want it or do you
Speaker 1: want it later? And I don't know, I mean, I
Speaker 1: it is what it is. Like Christian's answer was effectively, well, yeah,
Speaker 1: and you wouldn't you know, I wouldn't ask a player that.
Speaker 1: But I'm just thinking about it, you know. It's it's
Speaker 1: I think it's challenging for those guys on there right
Speaker 1: now recovering, making sure that they're ready to go, that
Speaker 1: they feel good, um. And but at the same time,
Speaker 1: better than having it very late in the season, right, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, I I do think the you know, and
Speaker 1: that kind of almost speaks to kind of the schedule
Speaker 1: as well. You know, it's like these these teams, you know,
Speaker 1: these games, you're not necessarily playing the top of these
Speaker 1: divisions in terms of some of the teams they played
Speaker 1: so far. So I do think it gives them opportunity
Speaker 1: to kind of get out the gate, to get what
Speaker 1: can be a hard turnaround on a Thursday night early,
Speaker 1: rather than hey, you know, all of a sudden, you
Speaker 1: come out of Week six and you've got some really
Speaker 1: big injuries, and then you've got to turn around for Thursday.
Speaker 1: I mean that the longer you get into a season,
Speaker 1: the more complicating factors there are. I mean, that's just
Speaker 1: how it always. There's always going to be something more
Speaker 1: that you can't prepare for later on, then early on.
Speaker 1: Let's talk about Houston. Um, you know, we've talked a
Speaker 1: lot about the short week, but let's actually look at
Speaker 1: the opponent. Looks like it's gonna be Davis Mills at quarterback.
Speaker 1: What do you guys think about this game? Well, we
Speaker 1: were talking about it a little bit earlier of just
Speaker 1: you know, that's why I think we appreciate the not
Speaker 1: too high, not too low um mentality of this team,
Speaker 1: because I think there's a lot of people out there
Speaker 1: saying on paper, all, oh, yeah, it's gonna be an
Speaker 1: easy one. Look at how well the Panthers are doing,
Speaker 1: look at this defense, and then you know they're going
Speaker 1: up against Davis Mills. But I mean Mills didn't necessarily
Speaker 1: put up huge numbers in the preseason. I mean, he's
Speaker 1: a rookie out of Stanford, third round pick by the
Speaker 1: Texans obviously, you know, they had a lot going on
Speaker 1: in their off season in terms of that QB room. Um,
Speaker 1: you know Tyrod Taylor. I mean, just gosh, that poor guy.
Speaker 1: You know the things he's gone through. Um. But at
Speaker 1: the same time, I mean, it's this is the NFL,
Speaker 1: and it doesn't matter who you're playing any given week.
Speaker 1: I mean, Carolina hasn't won on Thursday Night since you
Speaker 1: know they're there. Their prime time games record isn't all
Speaker 1: that great either, so I think you will. I mean,
Speaker 1: I'm now, when it doesn't happen, it's gonna be your fault. No,
Speaker 1: I'm tempering it. But what's that what's your halftimes that
Speaker 1: I'm not saying. No, But like the you know, every
Speaker 1: all these writers and you know all the stuff, and
Speaker 1: the everyone's right up right now. The Panthers are gonna
Speaker 1: be three and o going into the Dallas game, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, hold your horses, like, let's let's back up
Speaker 1: here this. You know, mark Ingram's the running back in Houston.
Speaker 1: They have a pretty good return game. They beat Jacksonville
Speaker 1: in Week one, you know, and now in Davis, it's
Speaker 1: not like he didn't get a chance to play this
Speaker 1: past week and he had to come in at Cleveland.
Speaker 1: You know, he threw a touchdown to Brandon Cooks, who's
Speaker 1: a really good outside receiver. They've got some players so
Speaker 1: and and they're at home, you know. So I think
Speaker 1: it's like, let's temper some of this. And you know,
Speaker 1: the players are coach coach rule, coach coach no Brady, like,
Speaker 1: they've got these guys locked in. They're not overlooking anybody.
Speaker 1: Um but I mean that's just me being me well
Speaker 1: and and again not to be a whip planket, but
Speaker 1: they're not in a position to start overlooking people yet. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean this team is still young enough in its development,
Speaker 1: and you know, let's be honest. I mean, go going
Speaker 1: into that Saints game, I mean, you know, most of
Speaker 1: the country he thought the Saints were gonna win that
Speaker 1: based on the fact that they had blown out the
Speaker 1: Packards the week before, and the Saints were more of
Speaker 1: a known commodity and people are still trying to figure
Speaker 1: out what Carolina Panthers teams all about, including the Carolina Panthers.
Speaker 1: Um So I think it's it's probably easier to sell
Speaker 1: that you haven't proven anything yet because they hadn't proven
Speaker 1: anything yet. I mean, they were five and eleven last
Speaker 1: year and made a bunch of changes, so they're still
Speaker 1: learning each other. They like what they've seen so far,
Speaker 1: and I think there are plenty of reasons to be encouraged.
Speaker 1: But yeah, I think it's easy to walk into that
Speaker 1: room and get guys attention and convince them that you've
Speaker 1: still got to focus week the week. You can't take
Speaker 1: the Texans for granted. Are you going to be looking
Speaker 1: what are you looking for specifically in this game from
Speaker 1: the Panthers, Darren, anything that you're gonna keep an eye
Speaker 1: out for. I know, as you said, Rule talks about specialty.
Speaker 1: What do you call it? Woful? Yesterday? I think is
Speaker 1: the word that he When Matt goes woful, you know
Speaker 1: that's bad. And and listen, there were some individual things
Speaker 1: that contribute to some of this stuff. I mean their
Speaker 1: breakdowns at this position versus that position. But really, I
Speaker 1: mean special teams kind of got called with their pants down.
Speaker 1: Deante Harris one of the best returners in the league,
Speaker 1: and he averaged over thirty return thirty yards a return
Speaker 1: on Sunday and you can't be given up. But with
Speaker 1: the kind of defense they're playing. You can't give up
Speaker 1: that kind of field position and have that be sustainable.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're gonna run into some other big time
Speaker 1: returners coming up this season, so you've got to get
Speaker 1: some of that stuff cleaned up, and you know, we'll
Speaker 1: see how that goes. I mean, they do have some
Speaker 1: guys who are pretty good at special teams, guys who
Speaker 1: were core teams players who that's why they are on
Speaker 1: this roster. Cats like Sean Chandler, Cats like Julian Stanford.
Speaker 1: They you know, they've got they're the ones who have
Speaker 1: to drive this improvement. And you know, we'll see how
Speaker 1: it goes against Houston on Thursday. But I think that's
Speaker 1: gonna be one of the big things to why and
Speaker 1: like everything else, the offensive line, we're gonna be talking
Speaker 1: about this all season. I mean, pet alf lines out
Speaker 1: this week with a hamstring injury, um and Dennis Daley
Speaker 1: is going to be in that job starting Thursday night,
Speaker 1: and we'll see. I mean, Dennis has an opportunity. He's
Speaker 1: a guy they like because he's a bigger, stronger guard
Speaker 1: uh than alf Line, so they're kind of intrigued by
Speaker 1: what he could be. But he's just got to play
Speaker 1: better than he did the other day, So I think
Speaker 1: he needs to improve. The entire group needs to improve.
Speaker 1: It was kind of um eye opening seeing what a
Speaker 1: difference John Miller made at right guard. I mean, John
Speaker 1: Miller is a guy who you know, the people who
Speaker 1: analyze personnel don't necessarily look at John Miller and say
Speaker 1: what a difference maker that guy is. But he's just
Speaker 1: that kind of good, solid player that coaches love because
Speaker 1: they know what to expect out of him, and planting
Speaker 1: him next to Taylor gives you a side of a
Speaker 1: line that you can trust. Yeah, and I mean coming
Speaker 1: off of the COVID reserve list. He he and and
Speaker 1: the coaching staff were vocal when talking to the media
Speaker 1: about you know, it's going to depend on the length
Speaker 1: of the drives. It's going to depend on how hot
Speaker 1: it is if if um, you know, how much he plays.
Speaker 1: I think they were estimating between like like like fifty
Speaker 1: to sixty maybe a little bit more percent of the
Speaker 1: game ended up playing. Yes, um, which I confirmed on
Speaker 1: Will's excellent articles. I love snap counts that come now. Yeah,
Speaker 1: there's one for there's one for the Hassan Reddick of this.
Speaker 1: Darren what do you got for the your get off
Speaker 1: my lawn moment of the week. And I feel like
Speaker 1: it's gonna be just extra get off my Lawnnie, because
Speaker 1: it's a short week. I am you know I would
Speaker 1: like to get off my own lawn this week to
Speaker 1: begin with. I'm a horrible person during a short week.
Speaker 1: That's why I happen. That's another thing again, Darren lovely individual.
Speaker 1: I just I love that he builds himself. I'm a
Speaker 1: tot old ogre during a short week, and I take
Speaker 1: it out on all the people closest to me, like
Speaker 1: Will and um It's just I like. One of the
Speaker 1: reasons I enjoy covering professional football for a living, Um
Speaker 1: is I know in September what I'm gonna be doing
Speaker 1: on Wednesdays and what I'm gonna be doing on Tuesdays
Speaker 1: and Mondays. And when my Tuesday becomes a Wednesday and
Speaker 1: a Thursday jam together, I become surly. And it's not
Speaker 1: I mean. I loved back in the old John Fox days.
Speaker 1: Anytime the schedule would get off by day, he would
Speaker 1: say Wednesdays and Tuesday and you'd look at him like
Speaker 1: he was insane and try to figure out but he
Speaker 1: was talking about the way the schedules stacked. But I
Speaker 1: swear to God, when my Wednesdays become anything other than
Speaker 1: Wednesdays and my Tuesdays disappear altogether, it just wrecks my
Speaker 1: entire week. And honestly, until I get to the stadium
Speaker 1: on Thursday and I look at the clock and see
Speaker 1: that it's time for the game to start, and then
Speaker 1: I will know it's Thursday at eight pm, I'm just
Speaker 1: going to be a disaster all weeks. So if you
Speaker 1: see me on the street, cross the street and get
Speaker 1: away from me, because I'm not a pleasant person. Daring
Speaker 1: that's tough for you. Because I feel really organized, got
Speaker 1: it all locked up, looking forward to none of us,
Speaker 1: none of us. The short week is is always hard
Speaker 1: on all of us. Speaking of which, I'm gonna end
Speaker 1: it with a weird question of the week. All Right,
Speaker 1: it's been a lot of time talking about Thursday. Thursday's
Speaker 1: done nothing to us as a day, but right now
Speaker 1: we have issues with so weird, Yeah, weird question of
Speaker 1: the week. I'm gonna take Monday off the table because
Speaker 1: that's too easy. But to end this out, Monday's off
Speaker 1: the table, worst day of the week. What do you
Speaker 1: got what's your worst what's your worst day of the
Speaker 1: week that's not a Monday Wednesday? Care to elaborate on
Speaker 1: this podcast? So many meetings. I just feel like I
Speaker 1: have so many meetings on Wednesday, and it's not Thursday,
Speaker 1: and it's not Tuesday, and it's just it's no. I
Speaker 1: don't like Wednesday, like third by the time you get
Speaker 1: to Thursday, Yeah, you're in the thick of it on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: but you're you're going downhill. Thursday's going downhill. You get
Speaker 1: some momentum, you're you're moving the right direction. Wednesday you're
Speaker 1: still climbing to the top of the hill, and everyone
Speaker 1: wants to have a meeting about something. I don't like Wednesdays. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm kind of down the same road, except with me,
Speaker 1: it's Thursdays, because I mean, for what I do for
Speaker 1: a living, you talk to people, you interview them, you
Speaker 1: watch practice, you gather all this material, and then it
Speaker 1: gets to a point where, okay, you've gathered all the material.
Speaker 1: Now you have to turn it into a product. And
Speaker 1: Thursday and Friday's are big turn it into product days,
Speaker 1: And so I kind of I lose track of Thursdays
Speaker 1: and a lot of times, it's um, it's hard for
Speaker 1: me if anything else is going on in life outside
Speaker 1: of work, it kind of gets lost until about Friday,
Speaker 1: middle of the day. By the middle of the afternoon Friday,
Speaker 1: most of the haze in the barn feeling pretty good
Speaker 1: about the way things are going at But Thursdays just
Speaker 1: disappear in my life. It's kind of you know, I
Speaker 1: walk in the door at the end of a workday
Speaker 1: and there's a football game on television. It's like, wait,
Speaker 1: who's playing football? Why is that on there? Yes, I
Speaker 1: know that feeling. That might be a very specific feeling
Speaker 1: to this building. I would be interested to know. Let
Speaker 1: us know on Twitter if if you guys know that more.
Speaker 1: But I know exactly what you're talking about. Where you're like, oh, oh, oh,
Speaker 1: the new week is starting for the NFL. Oh it's
Speaker 1: Thursday night. Well at least we know where you'll be
Speaker 1: eight twenty on this Thursday night. Rights that when Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm with will on on Wednesdays too. Wednesday's are a killer. Alright, Well,
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this. I feel like we've
Speaker 1: been extra positive today, really a real happy half hour, right,
Speaker 1: I'm telling you, it's all my fault. I'm sorry. No again. Daren,
Speaker 1: loveliest individual you'll ever Don't let him tell you any differently.
Speaker 1: All right, Well, thanks for joining us for this early
Speaker 1: episod ode of the Happy Half Hour podcast this week,
Speaker 1: See you next time. Wow