[dieterbrock]

November 30, 2015
Cam Newton has awful day and Carolina gets drilled by Minnesota 31-13, their record falls to 3-8-1
At this point in the season, they are in contention for the #1 overall pick in the draft
Yeah the schedule was soft
Yeah the division was terrible
But there they were escaping 1st round in the draft talk, to winning division with 4 straight (5 straight including playoff)
And like Seattle, they go out and win 1st playoff game
So since that point, they've won an incredible 22 games out of 24 including 3-1 in post season

No reason we cant desire/expect a winning team, a playoff contender. We may not get/have a Cam Newton but they sure don't have a Todd Gurley

Sorry to be chiming in so late, I spent the entire weekend shoveling, snow blowing and trying to get a puppy to do its business in a blizzard...

[Hacksaw]

Great story deiter, and the cat in you avi suddenly has new meaning.

Yeah, It's funny how well a team plays and how healthy everyone remains when the team is clicking. A different mindset occurs. The Cat's have that right now and no one more so than Cam (I am the greatest ever) Newton. He moves at a very calm pace and seems to be in complete control of the moment. His timing is spot on, and his team is running downhill.
I seriously doubt the Broncos can stop them but if they at least knock that cocky smile off Newtons face for 60 minutes I'll be happy. To see Dickardsons team lose would put me on cloud 9. And another Denver QB could ride of into the sunset having won his last game.

[aeneas1]

pro football focus rated carolina's oline 2nd best for 2015, up from 22nd in 2014, and those who love to point to olines as the end-all for offensive success have, not surprisingly, pointed to this oline "improvement/rebuild" as the reason for carolina's surge...

so what did carolina do to "improve" their oline?

> at left tackle the panthers brought in the hugely underperforming oher to replace bell - oher was dumped by the titans last season after just 1 year with the team, a year in which pff rated him 74th among offensive tackles (worse than backup), which is about where pff rated grob this season. prior to that oher had a largely disappointing 5-year career with the ravens... this year pff ranked oher 32nd among tackles, a few notches above bell (41st) who he replaced.

> at right tackle the panthers started undrafted mike remmers, a nomad they picked up from the rams halfway through last season, a guy with 10 nfl starts under his belt headed into the season... 2015 marked remmers' 4th year in the league, and the panthers represent the 7th team he has played for.

> at left guard the panthers kept undrafted norwell at the spot, a guy who entered the year with 9 nfl starts under his belt, a guy 1 year removed from his rookie season.

> at right guard the panthers kept 3rd round turner at the spot, a guy, like norwell, who entered the season with 9 nfl starts under his belt, a guy 1 year removed from his rookie season.

> and at center the panthers had perennial pro bowler kalil.

so, for the rams to emulate this apparently successful oline "rebuild", all they have to do is find a reject vet left tackle who graded out as bad as gbrob, find an inexperienced, undrafted nomad for the left guard spot who kicked around with 6 teams in 3 years, pass on a right guard in the draft and instead pick up an undrafted free agent for the position, draft a right tackle in the 3rd round, and find a 2nd round perennial pro bowl center in the draft? sign me up!

[OldSchool]

I'd rather they let the young guys who started most of last year work together for another year. Possibly replace Barnes but that's iffy if Fisher would do that.

[SoCalRam78]

Also, luck is a factor. Rams had the fist pick in 2010 and selected Sam Bradford. The next two years, Cam Newton and Andrew Luck. Who got the short end of that stick? Hell, even Stafford went number 1 in 2009 and has had a couple excellent years and a much better career than Bradfraud.

[Elvis]

Is it luck or shitty coaching?

Luck and Cam got to learn and play under some pretty good coordinators.

Would Cam Newton be Cam Newton if he spent his first 5 years under Spags, Fisher and their OC choices?

I tend to doubt it...

[SoCalRam78]

Is it luck or shitty coaching?

Luck and Cam got to learn and play under some pretty good coordinators.

Would Cam Newton be Cam Newton if he spent his first 5 years under Spags, Fisher and their OC choices?

I tend to doubt it...

I get your point, but I don't think Bradfraud is a good QB compared to these guys. Bradfraud moved on to Philly and offensive genius Chip Kelly and hardly impressed. None of the litany of back up QBs this organization has employed the past few years are barn burners either.

[max]

Is it luck or shitty coaching?

Luck and Cam got to learn and play under some pretty good coordinators.

Would Cam Newton be Cam Newton if he spent his first 5 years under Spags, Fisher and their OC choices?

I tend to doubt it...

It's probably both.

Fisher is the most overrated HC in NFL history. Even his friends in the media are backing off him now. His record is impossible to defend without using convoluted logic, although I have seen several people try.

How many times must people see Fisher do the same thing over and over before they realize what he is.

I don't see the Rams turning things around until Fisher is gone.

My hope is that the LA media run Fisher out of town after he turns in another lackluster performance, of which I am certain.

[Hacksaw]

Or we could be on the precipice of one of those fluky great seasons like Carolina is having. OK I would like our chances better with a better QB like Newton.

[Stranger]

pro football focus rated carolina's oline 2nd best for 2015, up from 22nd in 2014, and those who love to point to olines as the end-all for offensive success have, not surprisingly, pointed to this oline "improvement/rebuild" as the reason for carolina's surge...

so what did carolina do to "improve" their oline?

> at left tackle the panthers brought in the hugely underperforming oher to replace bell - oher was dumped by the titans last season after just 1 year with the team, a year in which pff rated him 74th among offensive tackles (worse than backup), which is about where pff rated grob this season. prior to that oher had a largely disappointing 5-year career with the ravens... this year pff ranked oher 32nd among tackles, a few notches above bell (41st) who he replaced.

> at right tackle the panthers started undrafted mike remmers, a nomad they picked up from the rams halfway through last season, a guy with 10 nfl starts under his belt headed into the season... 2015 marked remmers' 4th year in the league, and the panthers represent the 7th team he has played for.

> at left guard the panthers kept undrafted norwell at the spot, a guy who entered the year with 9 nfl starts under his belt, a guy 1 year removed from his rookie season.

> at right guard the panthers kept 3rd round turner at the spot, a guy, like norwell, who entered the season with 9 nfl starts under his belt, a guy 1 year removed from his rookie season.

> and at center the panthers had perennial pro bowler kalil.

so, for the rams to emulate this apparently successful oline "rebuild", all they have to do is find a reject vet left tackle who graded out as bad as gbrob, find an inexperienced, undrafted nomad for the left guard spot who kicked around with 6 teams in 3 years, pass on a right guard in the draft and instead pick up an undrafted free agent for the position, draft a right tackle in the 3rd round, and find a 2nd round perennial pro bowl center in the draft? sign me up!

given that your other posts have shown that O-line isn't as important as we thought it was, what do you think the Cats have REALLY done to improve over last year?