By Eric Quackenbush
In only their second week of preseason, the list of expectations has grown since last week. In "Pre-Week" Two, we want to see more improvements and high-level play and consistency from last week's stronger performers. I also want to see the starting lineup get going a little sooner and play with a little more vigor.
The starters didn't play very vigorously on Monday night, but they were only on the field for a short 15 minutes, and coupled with the fact that the other team's offense or defense is on the field too, both teams' starting lineup on offense and defense saw perhaps four or five possessions. Not quite enough time to get into much of a rhythm.
This week the Panthers head down to Miami and Land Shark Stadium, where they will visit the Wildcat masters of 2008, the Miami Dolphins.
Miami had a close game too on Monday night, and judging by the score it was defensive on both sides, so their offense will need to step up it's game as well.
The Panthers' running game looked pretty solid for the most part, with the exception of a few fumbles and a penalty. The running game seems to mirror last year's efforts, so I'm not going to touch on that a whole lot this week; Miami's run defense is similar to the Giants', and the Panthers runners looked pretty good against it.
I'm not going to say too much about Jake Delhomme, because of the short series the starters were on the field, but I will say that for all intents and purposes, we should see a better performance from him and the offensive line, as they will have the entire first half to get a rhythm going.
Dwayne Jarrett needs to show a little extra this week. I was not at all too thrilled with Jarrett's performance, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt along with the rest of the starters as well. This is the week that I expect to see marked improvement on offense and defense, even though there really won't be any set gameplan, because once again this is to give everyone a chance to make some plays on their own. Teams don't really gameplan in preseason until the third and fourth games.
I also expect receiver Ryne Robinson should get some catches this week, too. After missing last season, I'd like to see what he's got under the hood.
On defense the Panthers' starters gave a shoddy performance, and I was rather disappointed with that, but again, this is the week we should see a difference. No excuses. The Dolphins have a couple of rabbits in the backfield with Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams, and guarding against the running game has been the Panthers weakest area.
If the Dolphins go with more of a run game, then the defensive front will need to step up and put forth more effort in wrapping up the ball carrier. Ricky Williams can be quite the load to bring down, but I'd rather see our guys win the battles in the running game, thus saving the team some cap space from bringing in a veteran player at the defensive tackle position.
Unlike the Giants, which have two power-backs in Brandon Jacobs and Ahmad Bradshaw, the Dolphins have two backs who are more shifty and elusive. Ricky Williams could be more of a pounding back this year as he was in the past, but regardless, the Panthers run defense needs to show us a little something more than Monday night. Watching Chris Gamble get flattened was probably the most ridiculous play I saw all night.
If the Dolphins use more of a passing game on Saturday, we could see how the Panthers defensive secondary has improved since the dreadful playoff loss to Arizona. Dolphins quarterback Chad Pennington doesn't have the strongest arm in the league, but he can get them out there when the team needs him to. While he can get them out there, he has his moments of inaccuracy, and hopefully that's when Chris Gamble or Richard Marshall will make a play on the ball.
I hope to see a little more hustle out of the return teams as well.. While Mike Goodson and made some decent runs in the return game, they looked a little slow. Then again, this is the NFL where everyone is the best at what they do. But a little more hustle would be nice. Captain Munnerlyn was on the fair-catch end of a lofty Jeff Feagles punt, so his excuse is obvious.
The punt coverage was also iffy, and I look forward to seeing improvement in that area as well. The second and third team's punt coverage was about the same, and lacks in speed and coverage.
The kickoff and placekicking games were fairly nonexistent, so this weekend I hope to see a little more from them, provided the offense can capitalize on any drives or turnovers created by the defense.
However all was not lost--there were a few bright spots in the mundane times of Monday night's performance.
I look forward to seeing some of Jeremy Leman's spit and fire rub off on his defensive compatriots; I also hope to see receiver Kenneth Moore get some more time. He had a couple nice catches, and Jake Delhomme seems to have instilled some faith in the rookie receiver already.
Another bright spot is defensive end Everette Brown. He should be able to wreak some havoc on the Dolphins offensive line, getting some pressure and maybe a sack on the Dolphins quarterback.
We should see fullback Tony Fiammetta get some carries, as his playing time was sparse on Monday night. Heck, there's always the very outside chance that Jonathan Stewart might be ready to play a few downs. The chances are slim, but there's always hope.
In the end, Saturday's game will give us a better idea and feel for what this team is doing and where improvements have been made. As far as the starting lineup is concerned, realistically they have nowhere to go but up after Monday night's performance. In order to avoid the cut, some players will need to step up their performance. It's crunch time!
This Week's Picks:
Patriots by seven, over the Bengals
Eagles by two, over the Colts
Vikings by six, over the Chiefs
Falcons by three, over the Rams
Titans by six, over the Cowboys
Lions by three, over the Browns
Jaguars by three, over the Buccaneers
Dolphins by three, over the Panthers
Steelers by three, over the Redskins
Texans by six, over the Saints
Packers by three, over the Bills
Giants by six, over the Bears
Raiders by three, over the 49ers
Chargers by seven, over the Cardinals
Seahawks by six, over the Broncos
Ravens by six, over the Jets
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