Speaker 1: It's time for the Happy Half Hour with your friends
Speaker 1: Kristen Balboni, Will Brian and Darren Gamp. Welcome to the
Speaker 1: Happy half Hour podcast. It's your friends Darren, Will, Kristen
Speaker 1: and producer Matt. Guys, we're talking about a three and
Speaker 1: oh Panther's team that's had a little rest before they
Speaker 1: head down to Jerry's world. How are we feeling? I mean,
Speaker 1: they're three and oh. Of course we all expected this, right, yeah,
Speaker 1: questions asked when they were in Spartanburg. We were like, yeah, absolutely,
Speaker 1: this is the best defense in the NFL, no question.
Speaker 1: It's been I mean it's been alarming, and it was
Speaker 1: kind of funny this week to hear Rule talk about,
Speaker 1: you know, I want to stay the Watford Panthers. I
Speaker 1: want to stay that team that nobody believed in. They
Speaker 1: would love to latch onto. Nobody thinks we're any good,
Speaker 1: but and listen, there are questions to be asked, but
Speaker 1: they're pretty good and it's not an accident. They're playing
Speaker 1: incredible defense right now. They lead to league in every
Speaker 1: meaningful defensive category other than points allowed, and that's only
Speaker 1: by a couple because Denver's also you know, off to
Speaker 1: a hot start. But yeah, it's just it's been eye opening,
Speaker 1: it's been impressive, and it's been collective. I mean, it's
Speaker 1: everything a football coach wants in a team because everybody's
Speaker 1: got a hand in it and they're playing at a
Speaker 1: high level. Well, if he wants people to not believe,
Speaker 1: and I'm I'm happy to do it again. I did
Speaker 1: it last week and it worked out pretty well. I
Speaker 1: can just keep rolling on with all the reasons why
Speaker 1: they they're awful. It's just speak it out into the year.
Speaker 1: It's not only taking credit for you know, a superstition
Speaker 1: of something he did last week that works. It's also
Speaker 1: not complementary of the team. Like, yeah, you want me
Speaker 1: to talk about how awful it is, like I will totally,
Speaker 1: I will totally not believe in them for for them,
Speaker 1: and I will say this. I it's funny to like,
Speaker 1: look at Panthers Twitter. I mean, not like the actual Panthers,
Speaker 1: but people that talk about the Panthers, and you know,
Speaker 1: each day it's a new here's some random graphic that
Speaker 1: wasn't attributed to anything that said the Panthers are in
Speaker 1: the fourth tier of average defenses. You know, they're like,
Speaker 1: I'm so mad about this. It's like, where does that
Speaker 1: even come from? And who cares? Like I can tell
Speaker 1: you where they rank their first period. That's that. No,
Speaker 1: no graphic on Twitter can change that. But I think
Speaker 1: the cool thing about the NFL that we're starting to
Speaker 1: become part of that again, just like they were in
Speaker 1: is there's nothing that is recorded outside of my power rankings,
Speaker 1: which come out Tuesday morning Panthers dot com. Please click
Speaker 1: on them. There's nothing that's actually meaningful. There's no a
Speaker 1: p top twenty five pole that you're number five, you know,
Speaker 1: four weeks in a row, which leads to something in
Speaker 1: some sort of you know FC you know rankings or like, no,
Speaker 1: none of it matters. All that matters is the standings.
Speaker 1: Like that's all the NFL is is just the standings.
Speaker 1: There's no polling, there's no voting of who gets to
Speaker 1: play who at the end of the year. There's no
Speaker 1: you know, how well did this wind look or not look?
Speaker 1: There's no none of that matters. It's just the standings.
Speaker 1: And and that's a kind of a simple, cool, easy thing.
Speaker 1: And all the stuff that people say are just what
Speaker 1: people say. The only thing the NFL is better at
Speaker 1: than making money and creating television ratings, is creating conversation.
Speaker 1: And by playing once a week, there's another six days
Speaker 1: a week that have to get filled up. So now
Speaker 1: they're filled up with Are the Carolina Panthers for real?
Speaker 1: Can you trust the Carolina Panthers? Is this the real sounds?
Speaker 1: Are they? You know? I mean in all this stuff.
Speaker 1: But to Will's point, none of the stuff actually matters
Speaker 1: because that they have strung together three straight one in
Speaker 1: a weeks. And I love what Dante Jackson said in
Speaker 1: his press conference earlier this week, and it is a
Speaker 1: sentiment that we've heard plenty of times, but just the
Speaker 1: way he just has a way of putting things. As
Speaker 1: you guys know, d jack Um, he said, you know,
Speaker 1: I don't Someone asked him about all of the outside noise,
Speaker 1: and of course all of the players and coaches are
Speaker 1: gonna say, ye, we don't pay attention to it. It
Speaker 1: doesn't matter. As you said, Darren uh coach rules said,
Speaker 1: you know, I want to. I like it. I like
Speaker 1: the Wafford Panthers mentality when no one knew what to expect,
Speaker 1: but Dante said, he said, you know, I just that
Speaker 1: that stuff doesn't enter my day. You know whatever, someone
Speaker 1: says that hasn't seen us practice, like I'm just not
Speaker 1: concerned about it, and you know, I've even noticed that.
Speaker 1: So this this person said this about this team, and
Speaker 1: I'm like, well, you've seen them on TV, like that's
Speaker 1: about it. That's that's really about it. And well, you're right,
Speaker 1: it doesn't really matter at the end of the day.
Speaker 1: But there is this kind of national conversation around is
Speaker 1: this three you know, quote unquote for real or is
Speaker 1: it not? Do you think that this conversation would be
Speaker 1: happening if the rash of injuries in the Thursday night
Speaker 1: game did not happen, because I know that's a contributing factor.
Speaker 1: I think it still would be probably almost certainly in
Speaker 1: every year the NFL creates one of these. And listen,
Speaker 1: Denver I mentioned earlier, Denver is getting caught in the
Speaker 1: same conversation. It's like, how good are the Bronco's really?
Speaker 1: Who cares? They've beaten the three teams they've had to play. Um,
Speaker 1: I think it it would still be happening even if
Speaker 1: Christian McCaffrey was healthy, even if J. C. Horne was healthy. Um.
Speaker 1: But obviously that opened the door to a lot of that,
Speaker 1: But the reality is down here in Mayberry, in our small,
Speaker 1: little southern town where nobody ever comes except the Rolling Stones.
Speaker 1: Um Darren is wearing since since no one can see this,
Speaker 1: Darren is wearing his Rolling Stones shirt because the concert
Speaker 1: is happening. If you're listening, maybe after the fact. The
Speaker 1: concert is happening at Bank of America Stadium tonight. Darren
Speaker 1: is already an accountdown. How many hours until everything kicks off?
Speaker 1: Until until I start preparing wisconser not that man, Until
Speaker 1: Darren starts warming up. Consent trading today is going to
Speaker 1: be pretty difficult, there's no lie, because it's We've been
Speaker 1: walking around the stadium all week and the stadium has
Speaker 1: been taken over by other people. But um, yeah, what
Speaker 1: were you talking about? I have no idea. I'm this
Speaker 1: is my day, you know, the other the other week,
Speaker 1: I was completely distracted by uh short week and game
Speaker 1: on Thursday and what day it is today, I'm totally
Speaker 1: distracted by feels like yesterday and also as but I
Speaker 1: mean I I also I don't like the simplicity that
Speaker 1: and you know again it's ratings we're talking blah blah blah,
Speaker 1: but that this weekend will tell you everything you need
Speaker 1: to know about the Carolina Panthers. There's so many lines
Speaker 1: of these UH analyzes that are saying this weekend will
Speaker 1: tell us what we need to know. Now they're playing
Speaker 1: a team. It's like, as you said, now it's it
Speaker 1: doesn't it's week It's still only week four. They can
Speaker 1: lose and that doesn't mean anything. They could beat the
Speaker 1: Cowboys and then lose to the Eagles and it's like,
Speaker 1: oh no, that was didn't mean anything, and like, now
Speaker 1: you've got the whole season. I do think I mean
Speaker 1: to kind of go along with the narrative little bit.
Speaker 1: I mean, this is the toughest test they've had. This
Speaker 1: is obviously the most difficult opponent they've faced um over
Speaker 1: the course of this season. And the way they match up,
Speaker 1: I mean, because Dallas can spread you out offensively, because
Speaker 1: they have a ton of skill position talent, and because
Speaker 1: all of a sudden your secondaries full of injuries and
Speaker 1: guys who aren't there anymore and you're changing tires on
Speaker 1: a moving car. It's reasonable to say, yes, this is
Speaker 1: the tough one for the Carolina Panthers. This is where
Speaker 1: you'll fight well. It will learn things about the Carolina
Speaker 1: Panthers for sure this weekend, but again because it creates
Speaker 1: national conversation. Every week turns into a referendum on and
Speaker 1: it's the Cowboys. You know, anything involving the Cowboys is
Speaker 1: a national everything. That's just what it is. Well, let's
Speaker 1: talk about this game in terms of of the injuries
Speaker 1: that happened in the Thursday night game and and what
Speaker 1: we think we'll see on Sunday that might look different
Speaker 1: from what we've seen in the first three weeks. During
Speaker 1: you mentioned the secondary, So let's start there. Both j C.
Speaker 1: Horn and Justin Burris will not be there, right and
Speaker 1: j C won't be there for most of the regular season,
Speaker 1: if not all of the regular season. I mean broken
Speaker 1: foot surgery that's probably a two or three month thing.
Speaker 1: And Justin Burros even though it's not even though it
Speaker 1: kind of is in the shadow of j. C. Horn.
Speaker 1: I mean, listen, in any other setting, losing j C.
Speaker 1: Horne is a disaster because that guy is great at football.
Speaker 1: I mean, he has come in in three weeks and
Speaker 1: proven himself already to be on the verge of being
Speaker 1: one of those corners that you just don't grow. I
Speaker 1: think one of the biggest compliments that I've heard. I've
Speaker 1: said it a couple of times, and then when Matt
Speaker 1: Rules said it to me, I was like, oh, okay,
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad that I'm not the only one.
Speaker 1: Matt Rules like, I forget he's a rookie, and that's
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't think there's a bigger like there's
Speaker 1: there's Matt was like, he's a football guy compliment, and
Speaker 1: then there's like, I forget he's a rookie. And I
Speaker 1: think that those are like the two biggest in season
Speaker 1: compliments that that Matt Rule will give out. And I
Speaker 1: think it's true. Yeah. And and when I was talking
Speaker 1: to Phil Snow last week for the big Phil Snow
Speaker 1: profile that we did on Panthers dot com and you
Speaker 1: should definitely read only if you're up at five thirty
Speaker 1: in the morning, when Darren tweeted it because that's when
Speaker 1: Phil Snow lives waight at five am because he's a
Speaker 1: football guy. Um, but Phil said something along the same lines.
Speaker 1: He's like with j C, I kind of forget he's
Speaker 1: there sometimes because the ball is not going to that side.
Speaker 1: And I mean that's the ultimate sign of respect from
Speaker 1: opponents since they're not gonna try him, And you know,
Speaker 1: losing one of those guys changes everything you can do
Speaker 1: as a defense, and they're also doing it without their
Speaker 1: starting safety and Justin Burrows. They had already lost Miles Hartsfield,
Speaker 1: who was playing nickel for him in the opener. So,
Speaker 1: I mean, and a J boy A comes in this week.
Speaker 1: He's new. We thought he was going to get back
Speaker 1: in last week, but as it turns out, practicing one
Speaker 1: time in about seven weeks is not ideal preparation for
Speaker 1: your first game of the season. So but this week
Speaker 1: AJ is back on the field, and Dante is going
Speaker 1: to be out there, and Rashaun Melvin is a full
Speaker 1: time member of the fifty three again after being around
Speaker 1: all training camp and being promoted from the practice squad
Speaker 1: in the last couple of weeks. And and oh, by
Speaker 1: the way, they traded for a top ten pick and C. J.
Speaker 1: Henderson um and don't know how much he'll play this week,
Speaker 1: Maybe not a lot. But there's a lot of stuff
Speaker 1: going on For a team that talks about the standard
Speaker 1: is the standard, and we expect everything to just keep
Speaker 1: continuing down the same path. It is such a bummer,
Speaker 1: I mean, individually, of course for for anyone who's injured UM,
Speaker 1: but also that secondary. After last season, they put in
Speaker 1: a lot of work to really get it in a
Speaker 1: good place, have depth, and it was exciting. It was
Speaker 1: one of the most exciting position groups coming into the season.
Speaker 1: So it is a bummer to see, as you said,
Speaker 1: with three significant guys that at this point not to
Speaker 1: be able to to be out on the field. Do
Speaker 1: you feel comfortable going into this game about where the
Speaker 1: depth is. I think I feel you know, the C
Speaker 1: J Henderson trade a J boy coming back. He's he's
Speaker 1: really been someone that of course we haven't gotten to
Speaker 1: see a lot of and certainly the fans haven't gotten
Speaker 1: to see a lot of UM because he couldn't practice.
Speaker 1: We saw him in the off season. But he's someone
Speaker 1: that I know j C looks up to. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's he's been able to perform in the NFL at
Speaker 1: a high level for for years. I feel pretty good
Speaker 1: about it. And then Dante is making plays left and
Speaker 1: right on on that other side, so I think it's
Speaker 1: not you say, you lose two starters in one game
Speaker 1: out of the secondary. I feel like they're gonna find
Speaker 1: a way to adjust and as you said, the standard
Speaker 1: is the standard. I feel okay about the secondary going
Speaker 1: into this game. You know, if J. C. Horne had
Speaker 1: never happened, if he never entered our lives here in Charlotte,
Speaker 1: this secondary would still be light years a head of
Speaker 1: where it was last year. I mean, last year, you're
Speaker 1: pulling guys off the street. Congratulations, great to meet you.
Speaker 1: You're starting Sunday. Um. Now they've at least got Dante Jackson,
Speaker 1: who is playing so much better this year than he
Speaker 1: did last year when he wasn't well it was and
Speaker 1: still learn a new offense. And boy is an adult.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a grown up NFL cornerback who's better
Speaker 1: than anybody they stood in that spot last year. And
Speaker 1: Melvin is Melvin's another old head. And so we'll see
Speaker 1: what those other guys bring. I mean, well, we're gonna
Speaker 1: find out more about cats like Keith Taylor and Stanley
Speaker 1: Thomas Oliver and Sam Franklin and Sean Chandler over the
Speaker 1: next couple of weeks because they're gonna have to so
Speaker 1: it's gonna be interesting. But they are absolutely when you
Speaker 1: when I've watched them throughout training camp and O T A.
Speaker 1: S and stuff. It's been the immediate difference is that
Speaker 1: secondary is so much better than it was a year ago.
Speaker 1: And and the pass rushes that help when you can
Speaker 1: make quarterback. Yeah, those guys are as aggressive as they've
Speaker 1: been in the first three games, and hopefully it'll make
Speaker 1: it a lot easier on the second. And one of
Speaker 1: the big parts about that is not just that it's
Speaker 1: the it's the run defense. It's it's both parts of
Speaker 1: that because Dallas, like Carolina, is actually one of the
Speaker 1: more balanced offenses in the NFL. Like they have nearly
Speaker 1: fifty fifty pass and and rush plays well with those weapons.
Speaker 1: When I mean, when when you have I mean, you
Speaker 1: know everyone knows Zeke. You know, you've got this guy
Speaker 1: Pollard that that's averaging just as many yards on the ground,
Speaker 1: you know, really good change of pace. And they've been
Speaker 1: able to, you know, like old school football people. They
Speaker 1: established the run and then all of a sudden, Dak
Speaker 1: Prescott gets to sit back there and play action. And
Speaker 1: I mean he's completed over of his pass is the
Speaker 1: last two games. He's not missing his guys. And when
Speaker 1: you can do that, when you can, you know, as
Speaker 1: to have that run threat in you know, have the
Speaker 1: linebackers be sitting back looking for the run or whatever.
Speaker 1: I mean, people are getting open. But the Panthers pretty good.
Speaker 1: I mean they shut down Alvin Kamara, who then the
Speaker 1: next week went back out and did Alvin things. You know,
Speaker 1: I mean that that wasn't just Alvin's having a down year.
Speaker 1: That was the Panthers defense. And that's the thing. There
Speaker 1: excuses and conditions for all three of those games. You know,
Speaker 1: it's just the Jets, Oh, it's just the Texans. Ah,
Speaker 1: the Saints are you know, missing all these guys in
Speaker 1: COVID and away from home. The Panthers have had something
Speaker 1: to do with each of those conditions the last three weeks.
Speaker 1: But like Will says, because they're playing so well, they're
Speaker 1: forcing people into those days. Absolutely absolutely, um. And you're
Speaker 1: talking about, of course the Cowboys run game and the
Speaker 1: Panthers needing to the run. Defense needs to be there.
Speaker 1: But but also it will be the first time the
Speaker 1: season that they're facing a quarterback. I don't know how
Speaker 1: to put this, like who's experienced in decision making? Who
Speaker 1: can outthink you? Who's um? I mean, and I know
Speaker 1: Jamis has experience, but that would have been Drew Brees.
Speaker 1: Last year, they would have seen Drew Brees and and
Speaker 1: I think the NFC South traditionally has had those just
Speaker 1: credible veteran quarterbacks, but this is really the first one.
Speaker 1: So I'll be interested to see how this steam line
Speaker 1: does against you know, it was it was it was rookie,
Speaker 1: it was Jamis and then it was rookie. So I'll
Speaker 1: be interested to see how they fare against a guy
Speaker 1: who has more tools and his tool belt and and
Speaker 1: Dak Prescott has the ability to spread you out. And
Speaker 1: when you're talking about injury questions in the secondary, that's
Speaker 1: a bigger problem because Dak is smart enough to know
Speaker 1: where it goes and Okay, I'm gonna look here, here, here,
Speaker 1: And he's got the ability to do all that stuff.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's he's not he's not Drew Brees, but
Speaker 1: he's definitely moving down that road and he's closer to that.
Speaker 1: I mean, DA's one of those guys now that drews
Speaker 1: out of the league. I mean Tom Brady's just Tom Brady.
Speaker 1: That's a different conversation. But you know, DA's got that
Speaker 1: awareness and that ability to process on the fly that
Speaker 1: they haven't had to contend with in the first three weeks,
Speaker 1: so that was going to be a challenge anyway, you know,
Speaker 1: and especially because the cats he gets to work with.
Speaker 1: I mean that skill position gast of characters is pretty strong.
Speaker 1: So it's it's definitely going to be the toughest tast
Speaker 1: and and like I always like to do with these things,
Speaker 1: I always like to look at the other side of
Speaker 1: the matchup that people aren't talking about as much against
Speaker 1: this Cowboys defense and Sam Donald without Christian McCaffrey. And
Speaker 1: one of the things I think is really interesting about them,
Speaker 1: they lead the NFL and takeaways. They have eight takeaways.
Speaker 1: They've had more at least two takeaways in each of
Speaker 1: the last seven games dating back to last year, but
Speaker 1: their third to last and total yards allowed, second to
Speaker 1: last in sacks, and like tenth to last and points allowed.
Speaker 1: Sorry just this year or in that same seven games
Speaker 1: defensive coordinator. So the first three games they are getting
Speaker 1: after people making takeaways, but like not stopping. Yeah, I mean,
Speaker 1: like Philly, Philly should never have been within an arms
Speaker 1: throw of them on on Monday Night, and somehow, all
Speaker 1: of a sudden, here goes Jalen Hurts for a couple
Speaker 1: a d r drives like how did that happen? And
Speaker 1: then they get a pick six and you know, and
Speaker 1: and all of a sudden it's it's gone again. So
Speaker 1: you have a quarterback in Sam Donald who's taking care
Speaker 1: of the ball really well. Um, you know that they've
Speaker 1: spread the ball around a lot, and obviously they found
Speaker 1: DJ Moore. But yeah, I mean it's a Now, obviously
Speaker 1: some of those strip sacks that happened in Houston, like
Speaker 1: those start getting scary. Matt Paradise is there, though, don't worry.
Speaker 1: Matt Paradis is there to recover those. But that that's
Speaker 1: what Dallas is. Dallas is is you know, no risk a,
Speaker 1: no biscuit. Okay, Um, but let's let's talk about that,
Speaker 1: because let's let's talk about this offense without Christian McCaffrey
Speaker 1: would be a little bit harder to establish the run
Speaker 1: um with you Bohubbard and Royce Freemant. Is just the
Speaker 1: way it is. Christian McCaffrey is one of one. What
Speaker 1: have you seen? You know that I've asked Matt Rule
Speaker 1: about this and I think we're all in agreement. At
Speaker 1: least from the Thursday night game. Cuba didn't look his
Speaker 1: best early knowing that he's a rookie. But by the
Speaker 1: end of the game when he got his I don't know,
Speaker 1: he got a little bit more familiar, got his legs
Speaker 1: under him a little bit. He showed a lot of promise,
Speaker 1: showed like he was he was ready for it, and
Speaker 1: I thought, you know, ended the game on a high note.
Speaker 1: How how are you guys feeling about the Royce Freeman
Speaker 1: Cuba hubbard Um running back situation for this game? It
Speaker 1: could be worse. It could be worse. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 1: it's having been around here long enough to remember when
Speaker 1: there were a couple of backs at the same time,
Speaker 1: and Angelo and Jonathan or Stephen Davison Deshaun Foster. There
Speaker 1: was always that debate of how can you get a
Speaker 1: guy in a rhythm when you're running one in and out?
Speaker 1: And to your point, Kristen Chuba looked much better in
Speaker 1: the second half of that game when it was all
Speaker 1: him than he had in these previous Okay, come in
Speaker 1: spot him for a play. You got this series, You know,
Speaker 1: it's hard for running backs to develop any of that
Speaker 1: kind of stuff without being on the field to do it.
Speaker 1: And and if you want to be encouraged by that
Speaker 1: second half of Houston gives you some reason to be
Speaker 1: I mean, he did look better in that than he
Speaker 1: did at any point previously this season. So we'll see
Speaker 1: if that holds up. But it's a lot more incumbent
Speaker 1: on him to do that because they've talked about and
Speaker 1: we wrote it on Panthers dot Com last night, Um,
Speaker 1: the offense isn't necessarily going to change. They don't want
Speaker 1: to change the way they're doing business. They still want
Speaker 1: to try to run and all by the way, in
Speaker 1: addition to Christian McCaffrey, they're also without Dan Arnold. I
Speaker 1: was just gonna say, we're we're watching twenty minutes in
Speaker 1: and I just thought I was like, oh, we thought
Speaker 1: of talk about that. So there's a lot of adjustment
Speaker 1: happening on the fly with this offense right now. But
Speaker 1: they want to try to do the same thematic things,
Speaker 1: which means Jube is gonna have to be the guy
Speaker 1: for a minute. He is, you know, and we've talked
Speaker 1: about red zone especially or getting the ball down. The
Speaker 1: said no Christian McCaffrey, Now, no Dan Arnold, who was
Speaker 1: your coming into this, you know, your number one tight end.
Speaker 1: I think that shows a lot of confidence and in
Speaker 1: Tommy Tremble he had a big game, and Ian Thomas,
Speaker 1: anyone in that tight end room. But that's something that
Speaker 1: we haven't touched on as well. How different do we
Speaker 1: think that the the quarterback to tight end dynamic is
Speaker 1: going to be, if at all without Dan Arnold on
Speaker 1: the field. I think when people ask me, you know,
Speaker 1: how is he going to get the tight end involved,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna say by throwing it to Robbie Anderson that
Speaker 1: that's my answer. I mean, you you've got to figure
Speaker 1: out a way that Robbie becomes back what Robbie was,
Speaker 1: you know, like whether you know he remember last year,
Speaker 1: you know, you know midway through the season, you know,
Speaker 1: he was getting all of these catches, he was coming in,
Speaker 1: you know, short yardage, you know, routes, crossing routes, all
Speaker 1: these different things, finding space in there. And then it
Speaker 1: feels it feels like so many targets now are just
Speaker 1: that kind of throw it up and see what happens
Speaker 1: down the Cybeline and Robbie. Robbie has shown he cannot
Speaker 1: us do that. It's not just him running past a guy,
Speaker 1: It's it's him finding space and zone. It's him going crossing.
Speaker 1: It's him doing a lot of things to get the
Speaker 1: ball in his hand, to loosen things up over the middle.
Speaker 1: And that was partly because they didn't have that tight
Speaker 1: end in this seems last year. But now it's like,
Speaker 1: you've got to get him involved because that again we'll
Speaker 1: start opening things back up for Tommy. And it's not
Speaker 1: just the d J. Moore show and the and the
Speaker 1: coaching staff has has set that too, and and Merrell said, look,
Speaker 1: he's been open. It's not that he's not been able
Speaker 1: to get open. We just got to work on making
Speaker 1: sure he gets the ball. Yeah, never a bad idea
Speaker 1: to get Robby Anderson the ball, especially if you're gonna
Speaker 1: pay a guy that kind of money the way they
Speaker 1: did going into the season. You want him to have
Speaker 1: more than five kitchen. So again, the one big play
Speaker 1: shows what he is capable of. Uh, And I think,
Speaker 1: you know, obviously he's gonna have to be a bigger
Speaker 1: part of it moving forward. But you know, even without
Speaker 1: a Christian McCaffrey to walk into a situation with d J. Moore,
Speaker 1: Robby Anderson tears Marshall, that's still a pretty good spot
Speaker 1: for Sam to be in. He's still not a guy
Speaker 1: with out weapons out here. He's still got targets. So
Speaker 1: let's see how you adjust. Absolutely, What what do you
Speaker 1: guys make of Dallas? You know, there's a lot of
Speaker 1: suburbs around it. You know, I think Fort Worth is
Speaker 1: pretty nice. That's on me for asking a bad question.
Speaker 1: Are the Cowboys the Cowboys? I know we all watched
Speaker 1: the Monday night football game. You know, they do have
Speaker 1: one loss, but it was a good loss, right consider that?
Speaker 1: What do you make of this team? They're They're a
Speaker 1: team that's on the opposite end of of getting the
Speaker 1: hype as the Panthers, which is like a lot of hype.
Speaker 1: As you said, anything with the Cowboy're going to the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship already, and of course, you know, I mean
Speaker 1: that's Jerry Jones, I mean says everyone on TV. I mean,
Speaker 1: and that's and that's what people want every They're the
Speaker 1: type of they're like the Lakers. They're the team that
Speaker 1: everyone still thinks or the Knicks. You know, you need
Speaker 1: the Cowboys to be great for this league to you
Speaker 1: know that that's what people want. I think that they do.
Speaker 1: They have a young, aggressive defense, they've and they've got
Speaker 1: like they have some young good playmakers. I mean Ceedee
Speaker 1: Lamb is really good. I mean my COMPARTA. You have
Speaker 1: a first round PICKT linebacker, and and then you still
Speaker 1: have like a Mari Cooper like people overlook him. I
Speaker 1: I don't know. I I like. I like the way
Speaker 1: they go about their business. The players do. Um you know.
Speaker 1: I mean you have Dan Quinn up there. You know
Speaker 1: there's different life on that defense now there is, and
Speaker 1: there needs to be. I mean they're still going to
Speaker 1: be Their season is gonna be dictated by how successful
Speaker 1: they are offensively, and they should be able to score
Speaker 1: points with anybody in the NFL. I mean they've got
Speaker 1: We've spent a lot of time talking about Sam Donald's
Speaker 1: cast of characters. I mean, DA's got a pretty good
Speaker 1: system to walk back into. I mean, now that he's
Speaker 1: well again, it's like, oh, hey, there's Zeke, There's Pollard,
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper, Ceedee Land. This is okay, yes, um, A
Speaker 1: lot of stuff. Still a good still not a dominant
Speaker 1: offensive line the way it's been in the past because
Speaker 1: they're down some guys, but still some big time players
Speaker 1: up front, great skill position, talent, and and they should
Speaker 1: be able to score with most people whether they are
Speaker 1: able to do it. I was wondering if that in
Speaker 1: the NFL, we'll see. I think that's why we tune in.
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna be a fun game. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: think that the whole time it's gonna be entertaining. Have
Speaker 1: you been to know? I have not, No, I have
Speaker 1: not anything I should look out for. I don't know,
Speaker 1: I haven't anything. Okay, it's gigantic, which we knew already
Speaker 1: it was gonna be. But there's a Walmart right next door.
Speaker 1: That's fun. Yeah. I mean the first time I was there,
Speaker 1: I was parking in the Walmart parking lot and walking
Speaker 1: across the highway. How many people do you think do that?
Speaker 1: I bet a tom probably how much I have a
Speaker 1: Navy Are they selling it that Walmart on a game day?
Speaker 1: I have been to the Star, and for those that
Speaker 1: watch Hard Knocks is summer, you can kind of saw
Speaker 1: like their their aerial stuff. I mean, the Star is
Speaker 1: interesting because it's it's a it's a version of kind
Speaker 1: of like corporate NFL football at its most corporateness, you know,
Speaker 1: I mean it feels it feels like, you know, a
Speaker 1: billionaire's office park and then it's like, yeah, yeah, but
Speaker 1: it is there. There's so many cool things that you
Speaker 1: can do with it, you know. I think there's a
Speaker 1: lot of um there's a lot of templating involved from
Speaker 1: that that we're going to see in rock Hill. It's
Speaker 1: obviously the Panthers are going to have their own spin
Speaker 1: on it and have their own culture to it. But
Speaker 1: I I think there's some there's some really cool elements
Speaker 1: from it. Yeah, but the stadium is everything they say
Speaker 1: it is. It's huge, it's awesome, it's a spectacle. It's
Speaker 1: all inspiring, and you walk into it the first time
Speaker 1: and it's like, you know, you wonder, why isn't this
Speaker 1: in Las Vegas? Because this is what football in Las
Speaker 1: Vegas feels like it should be. It's it's just one
Speaker 1: of those places that you walk into and even if
Speaker 1: there's not a game going on, you can be entertained
Speaker 1: there because when you walk into that room, you know
Speaker 1: something big is coming. What what was it? I think
Speaker 1: like J. J. Jansen said that it was like walking
Speaker 1: into a rock concert and then a football game broke out.
Speaker 1: Question good, like I wait to check it out for
Speaker 1: the first time. All right, well, what is your stat
Speaker 1: of the week it Ficks of the week. So we
Speaker 1: already touched on a little bit this This run defense
Speaker 1: obviously first in the league in total yards allowed in
Speaker 1: yards per Russia allowed. But how about this one from
Speaker 1: next gen stats. They have made initial contact with the
Speaker 1: rusher on average point two yards behind the line of scrimmage. Wow. Right,
Speaker 1: in last game it was point seven against the Texans
Speaker 1: behind the line of scrimmage. I mean that that's it's
Speaker 1: just absurd to think that they're that far into the backfield.
Speaker 1: And you know, and and it's so when you're when
Speaker 1: you have that ability, when you're scheming things up the
Speaker 1: wayfil snow is not only are guys winning kind of
Speaker 1: their one on one battles, but the scheming is allowing
Speaker 1: people to come free. I mean, how many times does
Speaker 1: Brian Burns come free either to hit a guy in
Speaker 1: the backfield or to you know, blow up a play.
Speaker 1: But when you're trying to run against that, you know,
Speaker 1: it's like, okay, you know, if we can't do a
Speaker 1: draw back up the middle because they're coming too fast
Speaker 1: because they're hitting the draw, and then we do a screen,
Speaker 1: but then Dante Jackson comes up and knocks the guy
Speaker 1: back on a screen. You can't get things going when
Speaker 1: everyone sitting in your backfield. I mean, like there, we're
Speaker 1: sitting in people's backfield on rushing place, which is a
Speaker 1: really cool thing. It's a traffic jam back there, nowhere
Speaker 1: to go, nowhere told place to be. All Right, we
Speaker 1: are gonna end this with We usually do a weird
Speaker 1: question of the week, but I think we just opened
Speaker 1: it up for Darren. It's not a weird question. It's
Speaker 1: a very valid question in honor of the Rolling Stones
Speaker 1: concert here tonight, In honor of Darren's concert worn Rolling
Speaker 1: Stone shirt that he has on. What are your top
Speaker 1: three Rolling Stones songs? Why don't you ask me to
Speaker 1: tell you which child I love the most? Monster? Um,
Speaker 1: it's a long list. It's a lot of songs. And
Speaker 1: when you're talking to young people around here this week,
Speaker 1: it was great walking in. Do you hear this? Well,
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, coach speak, coach speed speed. We're walking in
Speaker 1: the stadium the other he's about to pull me out
Speaker 1: to he's already told this story. Why you know, he's
Speaker 1: caveating and now he's going into a story so that
Speaker 1: he doesn't have to give his time. I'm gonna I'm
Speaker 1: gonna give another version of We're Walking in Stadium the
Speaker 1: other day with Deonte Brown in another coworker, Deante is like,
Speaker 1: what's going on here? A concert? Deonte who's playing Rolling Stones?
Speaker 1: And somebody said, have you heard of the Rolling Stones?
Speaker 1: And Deonte is like, yeah, I've heard of them, you know,
Speaker 1: any of their songs? And then when you start prompting him,
Speaker 1: he's like, oh, yeah, I've heard that. I've heard that.
Speaker 1: I've heard it. So but they've got so many songs,
Speaker 1: and you know, a lot of them get played in
Speaker 1: NFL pre games, like start Me Up, which you've probably
Speaker 1: heard a time or a million at NFL games. I've
Speaker 1: heard it. It's not my favorite. It's not my favorite song.
Speaker 1: I love Gimme Shelter. That was when you knew, well
Speaker 1: I now know apparently I know others. But all right,
Speaker 1: So if you can't give three, or if you can't
Speaker 1: give what, what do you want to open with? And
Speaker 1: what do you wanted to close with? How about that?
Speaker 1: Oh you're It's always hard for me because I I
Speaker 1: tend to like songs that don't always that aren't always
Speaker 1: the hits, as you might imagine. My absolute favorite Rolling
Speaker 1: Stone song is Dead Flowers and it's it's kind of dark,
Speaker 1: but you know, there you go when you're sitting there. Now,
Speaker 1: I know that sounds a lot more like the Town's
Speaker 1: Van's Aunt cover that's in the end of Big Lebowski
Speaker 1: than anything and your silk poster chair talking to those
Speaker 1: rich folks that you know. Yeah, I mean that's see
Speaker 1: and for me, cut that up right now. That's going
Speaker 1: on Twitter now. I mean, this is so cool because
Speaker 1: with me singing that a couple of bars of Dead Flowers,
Speaker 1: I have performed art in the same building that Keith
Speaker 1: Richards and Mick Jagger will on the same day. Is
Speaker 1: this podcast to speaking into a microphone? This is huge
Speaker 1: for me. Isn't just beside myself, but like dead Flowers,
Speaker 1: Brown Sugar and if I could really go off the menu,
Speaker 1: it's more of a Keith Richard solo song. But before
Speaker 1: they make me runing, you should listen to that. All right,
Speaker 1: we'll check it out, Darren, get yourself ready. I don't
Speaker 1: know that they'll play any of those tonight, but that's okay.
Speaker 1: They hold a special place in mine. If they don't,
Speaker 1: we can always get an encore from Darren. I just
Speaker 1: heard those pipes. I feel good about it. I hope
Speaker 1: petition to can can we just get you either recording
Speaker 1: yourself or or having your wife records you just smiling
Speaker 1: like that when they play a song that you love.
Speaker 1: Please tonight. That's all in maternal happiness. It's yes, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty fired up. It's nothing like going to see the show,
Speaker 1: and and honestly, we'll see it this week. I've been
Speaker 1: sitting in the press box working, just watching them build
Speaker 1: the stage, this monstrosity of a thing in a foot
Speaker 1: ball of stadium, and I get more and more excited
Speaker 1: with every passing day. It's it's it's cool because the
Speaker 1: way Darren feels about this is the way a lot
Speaker 1: of people feel about coming to see a Panthers game
Speaker 1: for the first time. So it's neat to to see
Speaker 1: the thing that's still that's still get us excited. After
Speaker 1: being in certain industries, are being around well known people
Speaker 1: for years and years. I'd love to see the enthusiasm.
Speaker 1: I saw one of our coworkers walk onto the stage
Speaker 1: about an hour ago, and yeah, now that would be jealous.
Speaker 1: I mean Eddie, I'll call him out. Eddie's out there
Speaker 1: on Stage's legend now. Someone's gonna take a picture of
Speaker 1: Eddie on here if you know, you know perfect all right, Well, Darren,
Speaker 1: I can't wait to get a full recap. Next week
Speaker 1: we'll talk about the game, but we'll talk about the
Speaker 1: Stones concert. Thank you all for listening. We will see
Speaker 1: you next week on the Happy Half Hour podcast four
Speaker 1: Foo