Carolina Panthers Are HOT! 🔥 Rico Dowdle Debate & Bryce Young Film Review

Carolina Panthers Are HOT! 🔥 Rico Dowdle Debate & Bryce Young Film Review

Dare I say it, James? Huh? Two gameinning streak. Wow. Out of the Carolina Panthers and 3 and 0 at home. Oh my god. Here’s what it was awesome about. One, ton of Cowboys fans. Just go ahead be honest. Whole bunch of Cowboys fans. Whole bunch of Charlotte Cowboys fans left with their leg with their tail between their legs. But what I was what I was most impressed with the Carolina Panthers was when you run the football efficiently and consistently, it really takes the pressure off your quarterback and it actually galvanizes your defense. They don’t feel like here we go again. The defense for the Carolina Panthers, they were consistent. They were able to contain Dak Prescott who’s playing really good football, who’s going through his progressions. Understatement. He’s going awesome. Awesome. Going through his progressions. But one of the the things I I keep seeing, what does the Carolina Panthers do with Chuba Hubber, who’s earned that contract because his contract was up and Rico now showing that offense just looks different when he’s in the lineup. It does, man. It’s so what’s happened the last two weeks. Let’s just not just say what what what Rico Dow’s done, which by the way had 30 carries for 183 yards against his former team in week six. Hey, in this game, Steve, and by the way, he did not hide how badly he wanted to play well in this game and I loved it. I loved every second of it. Um, in this game, they had over 400 total yards, over 200 yards rushing, and 25 first and over 25 first downs. You know the last time they did that? The week before against Miami. So this offense, it’s not just him. That’s my point. It you’re seeing it as a in its totality and they’re having multiple guys on offensive line get hurt. Yes. Like showing the dep showing the depth that you may not thought was there, but it’s there cuz that’s an expensive offensive line. That’s expensive offensive line and some of the expensive people are not playing because of injury. Not cuz they can’t show up, it’s they literally have some things that are making them uh making it extremely difficult to play the game. Yeah. So, when you c you texted me, I think like after this game or whatever, you’re like, man, I actually really like the way the defense played. Like, I love the way the defense you said that to me and I is there a part of that when you see your offense run the football that way, your offense stay on the field. I mentioned the first downs. That’s the point I’m getting at. the sustained drives. How does that help your that has to help your defense in the way that they are approaching the game as well? The the same it helps your defense the same way if your defense isn’t playing great and the offense everybody they won’t say it out loud but you’re always looking at the person who isn’t you feel carrying their weight. Yes. Right. When you chopping wood and they say man I’m chopping wood and you going I’m looking Yeah. I don’t see it. I don’t see you haven’t added to your pile in a very long time. Mhm. And the difference is the running game is opening up Bryce to throw the intermediate game, which I think that’s what Bryce is. He feels more comfortable in the intermediate game because some it’s taking him a little bit when that rush comes. He still’s dropping his eyes a little bit. The footwork gets a little gets a little wonky. I didn’t see it on the touchdown to to T-Mac though, the second one. That was I I liked his where he Yep. Watch the little boop. I’m good. My eyes stay down field. Yeah. There we go. Yep. Can I say something about this right here, Steve? This is what I liked when I was watching this game. By the way, this is maybe the most entertaining game of Sunday in a game in a week of of dogs. Uh in terms of games, um I like him under center. Yeah, they started off under the whole first drive. I’m like, this is under they’re running the ball well out of this. Like I I like the way the offense looks when he gets under center. He looks better. Here’s what Here’s some of the things that people see. Go back. He started to a little bit. You saw I remember this play. Yeah, I remember this play. He’s Look, he he a little Oh, what do I do? Regrouped. It’s a good route. A little out in and up, but make him fall down. It’s always a good route. But the DB fell down was because of the the the way the route was ran. That’s why I said it’s a good I was emphasizing it as well because, you know, people like to want to hear Oh, you mean I get what you’re saying. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, just call that. Oh yeah, he made him fall out. Excellent route. It’s a really good job, you know, awesome getting his uh you know, getting his first career touchdown, I think, giving it to his grandfather. So, that was super dope to to watch that after the game, man. But pretty impressed with the Carolina Panthers and how look at look at I tell you, Derek Brown like double teams. He’s slanging people on double teams. Just the way he’s able to play uh Alshon Robinson, they got a lot of different players. Uh Wallace, Rose Bloom, those guys are playing uh playing outstanding. Mhm. It’s been really It’s been really cool to watch. Um, and I’ll say it, I I thought for a while that Evero was maybe putting guys in in compromising situations in regards of the lack of ability to sometimes get a consistent pass rush and leaving your secondary out on the island to be picked apart. M I noticed against New England Dre was going to work. He had all day every day and that has changed. It’s changed because they are getting better. Guys are understanding how to do things. They got Trevor Wallace. Trevor Wallace. He’s figuring out how to play the the the linebacker position because he knows how to play linebacker. He didn’t know he did not know how to play linebacker in the NFL to be an impact player. It’s taking him some time and he’s starting to show and led to, you know, was tied for uh leading the team in tackles, solo tackles. So, that’s that’s really awesome to see. Yeah. And I I look at some of these other quarterbacks that have um success really early, Steve, and what what do some of them have the luxury of a defense that that gets stops and you don’t put too much on yourself? And you you know, Bo Nicks lived that way in his rookie year last year. It was I’m just not going to make mistakes because my defense is going to get me the ball back anyways. So, I’m just going to try to play a little bit more smart and conservative and there’s not as much pressure on my shoulders to go out there and and make plays. And I’m kind of curious if you’ve seen that in in in Bryce to where sometimes he makes these splash plays and these praise and then sometimes he misses these layups um that that are that are there. I I just wonder if a defense gets it together and what does that do for for a young quarterback in terms of how they’re approaching their drives? I I think what we’re seeing what it does is it makes a quarterback who’s efficient Mhm. continue to grow. Getting to efficiency is extremely critical. Yeah. How about the Cincinnati Bengals? Are they looking for e getting efficient? That’s why they traded within the division to get a quarterback say, “Hey man, all we need is a chance, not a chance. put it in the vicinity of Jamar, please. Joe, I know you can still throw, but it’s somewhere near Jamar. And And so I I I I say efficient it because before you can be great, you got to kind of be efficient then consistent and then and it just snowballs from there in a good way. Yeah. Look at the two teams that probably have, in my opinion, and I’m not alone on this, I don’t think, the two most efficient offenses in football and probably Seattle and Indianapolis. No lie, right? Balance, efficiency, ability to go out there, their defenses are good. Like, yes, but but they also are I think the Carolina Panthers by drafting two first round receivers were trying to arm Bryce Mhm. with success because let’s use the let’s use Miami as a example. Oh boy. Okay. Okay. Take the Miami Dolphins. You can’t do anything about Tyreek Hill uh getting hurt. That wasn’t in the plans. Nobody goes, “Hey, just in case we lose our uh we lose our guy, we got this.” Yeah. Yeah. That that doesn’t happen. Mhm. But what we are seeing and what is happening in Miami is when you put that much money in a quarterback on one side, now you are increasing the workload for your quarterback. Your quarterback now has to make he has to carry it and make everybody better. Well, that’s the problem. You can’t. Tua is not the type of quarterback, and I think Bryce is the same way. He’s not the type of quarterback that can carry a team. And there’s nothing wrong with that. The two teams I just mentioned, those quarterbacks are playing great and they’re not having to carry everything. I get what you’re saying. They can’t carry. But when you start to car, when a guy has to carry, he overthinks, he overd does, and he tries to do way too much on a play when sometimes all you got to do is snap the ball and hand it off. So, what I’m seeing with Bryce is as he continues to show that he’s consistent and he’s productive. My only caveat is that doesn’t mean, you know, put him in that top because his contract’s going to be up pretty soon. That doesn’t mean put him in that top category because now you’re going to lose some pieces. Yep. Oh, of course. And if you lose those pieces, man, that that’s when you lose those pieces and you start to put that on there, not everybody is Josh Allen, man. They’re not. Yep. Well, that’s the problem, Steve. If we get too enamored with that group of I call them the four horsemen essentially, the four unicorns that are in the NFL right now playing the quarterback position and Burrow, Lamar, and Josh Allen and Patrick Mahomes. And then anybody who’s not part of that, you can’t win with. That’s not true. The problem is the league has a pension for paying those guys that are in the tears down too much money. You’re not you’re paying Trevor Lawrence $55 million a year. You’re paying two $55 million a year. Like it’s you’re hamstringing the rest of your unit. When you do that, you also have to convince that other player whose contract is coming up, hey, you cannot desire to be in the top five in in um APY. We don’t have the cap room. So now you’re trying to convince players to stay on the team at a discount, but and his discount is paying someone else. And so that’s where you that’s where teams that’s where the draft comes in where they try to get you have to draft well then you you got to draft well get a hell of a player on the cheap. Mhm. But then when they become free agents, you don’t want to pay them top dollar. You want to say, “Hey man, you’re our top guy. You’re our number one wide receiver. Number one wide receivers then get paid x xyz 30 to 40.” Yeah. Oh, well, you know, my checking and savings is not, you know, really don’t really work like that, man. I don’t care about your checking and savings. Mhm. I I I want to be in the top top five. Yeah. The two And I like that we’re mentioning these two other offenses that not that don’t have the the the quarterback that’s that. But both like Indie has the number one ruer in football in Jonathan Taylor. You a a heck of a a heck of a wide receiver room. Wow. Big time. Go watch that episode where we broke down that offense. And then Seattle, now they’re not running it as well as they want to, but they consistently run it. They don’t get away from it. Even if it’s not working, they continue to run it. So my point with that is both of these quarterbacks, you see them thrive in the play action game, in the boot game. And I think you saw in this game with Bryce, like when you’re running it well, he can be effective in those type of plays where you want to move them anyways. Well, here here’s why he could be effective. You have the whole playbook at your disposal, man. We can’t say they had the whole playbook at their disposal when you’re down by 20, down by 17. You don’t you you got You’re looking for You’re looking for the get back in the damn game place. Where are they? You’re trying to make it happen. Yeah. You’re trying to figure out how how do we get here? Where’s the part of the sheet here that says We kept 14 points on this play. Yeah. Yeah. There there’s not. And so that’s that’s why, you know, it’s extremely critical that one obviously draft them well, but then two, the key guys that you bring in, they got to understand their roles, right? So now here’s the dangerous part. The dangerous part now for the Carolina Panthers is is their fan base now going to expect something that’s so unrealistic that anything now that they do if they if they fall oh they’re disappointed. And I don’t think it is. I I I think this is this is a team who I think they got a running back issue. They got a running back controversy and they gonna have to figure out what to do with Chuba. When you watch Rico Dao run the football, he is such a better, more instinctive, hits the hole with a lot more juice and aggressive and he could catch the football out of the back field. When you compare him to Chuba Hubber, I’m sorry, that’s that’s just that’s just facts. Well, first off, the dude’s running like Bo Jackson at Techmo Super Bowl. You don’t take him off the field. Oh, wow. Like I I mean, Steve, these stats are insane and what he’s doing and the yards after C. I mean, the yards after contact are higher than most guys are getting for yards per carry, right? It’s like it’s it’s incredible. So, you you can’t take him off the field. You can’t stop what’s working right now. what I just mentioned about the 400 yards of total offense and over 200 yards rushing and over 25 first downs back-to-back games like that is doing everything for when we started this conversation all three phases of your offense and of all three phases of your team so of course you need to do it it’s helping your quarterback and helping your your entire offensive unit operate at a higher level and you have the Jets coming to town you playing the Jets next week and so what what I would do is you you can’t obviously depth matters Uh, you got to and a lot of times teams think about it, Stephen, and I’m paying this room, right? It’s kind of the way the Falcons and go watch our Falcons episode. Kind of the Falcons look at their room. I know you don’t want to be in that situation. Well, so I’m I’m So this is what I’m asking. You’ve been a reporter for a long time. Yeah. How do coaches and organizations manage? Well, they just paid a guy, but the guy behind him, he might be a lot better. Yeah. Yeah. It’s So, what do you do? It’s e I would say this. It’s it’s definitely something that you have to massage. It’s definitely something that you have to you have to make sure um is handled the right way in your building. I think being transparent, I think being upfront, I’m just gonna keep going uh with your roster to make sure uh that everybody knows exactly where you stand as a coach. I think the last thing you you do, Steve, is you you say one thing to one guy and you say another thing to another guy. I think you need to be completely tr but when it’s this clearcut, Steve, it’s not an argument. It’s not like But here’s the thing. Here’s the thing. I’m getting paid. Well, I’m true, but I’m getting paid Mhm. to be the number one and I’m receiving a check, but I’m also watching my starting job leave and it’s out of my hands. And so now that running back or the receivers is going, man, I just need to get in. I need to get my touches. Do too much. It’s not You don’t need more touches. He’s just a better back than you. He hits the hole better. He runs faster. He doesn’t tiptoe. I It’s It’s You can see the offense is operating. What? So, what what Rico has become, he’s become the tone setter. You can’t take the tone set off the field. Like, not when you become the identity of the offense. I mean, essentially what that’s what it’s become a little bit now, right? like that that’s where they are offensively. You don’t make it. But I think Steve, this one’s actually easier than some other ones cuz it’s like what do you do? How do you think it’s easier? Cuz one guy’s like, “Man, if I wouldn’t have got hurt, he wouldn’t have Yeah, that’s true. Totally get it. Totally get it. If the guy comes in and goes, what what what if what if R. saying this, it’s easier this way than if Rico would come and got like 105 in each one of these games and a touchdown and he’s done. He’s he’s running all over the place and he’s got explosive runs and he’s running between the tackles and he’s he’s doing all all the things you want. Catching the ball out of the back field, picking picking up picking up the blitz do, you know, like that’s my point. When when this guy’s checking every box, I mean, Truma plays the same position. He has to understand that he’s doing it at a high level, I would think. Um, but you you never you never understand you when it’s happening to you. You’re just like, I was uh no, not this guy. Exactly. But it’s like it it’s never easy. I guess that was maybe the wrong word if I said it, but it’s it’s it’s more of a clear-cut conversation with the way Rico’s played the last two weeks. Like, it’s been that dominant. So, I think that’s a part of it. But what so here’s the deal and and we’ll finish with this. You have the Jets next week, right? After the Jets, what do you have? The Bills. Yes. So it’s How big is this Jets game? They’re 0 and6. Like I think you lose all your momentum, Steve, that you’ve gained from these two games if you lose to the 0 and6 Jets. Is the Jets game a trap game? Are the Panthers now in the in the the conversation of a team that can be part of a trap game on the other side? Because we can say that Justin Fields has not been playing good, but the first game showed us he has the potential. Totally. Whether we whether whether you believe it or not, it happened, right? You don’t you don’t I don’t believe it doesn’t happen. It doesn’t matter what you believe. But guess what? London also happened too for Justin Fields. Yes. Yes. So, which if Justin Fields doesn’t show up and he’s hesitant hairy like he’s been Mhm. and the defense. Here’s what I’m interested to see too. Sauce Gardner. Where is S sauce at? Or should I? And now I know he’s going. It this may cause a response out of him, but man, Amad need to start showing up. Ahmad Gardner cuz Sauce that thing little tart bland. Mhm. What they’re doing in New York right now is interesting, Steve, because what you tried to do with Aaron Glenn and Darren Muji is we’re creating a new culture. We’re going to show people that if you play well here, you’re and you’re drafted here, you’re going to get rewarded, and we’re going to make sure we do that before we even get going. And they gave they gave Garrett Wilson his deal, and they gave Sash Gardner his deal. The the thought is, why’d you pay these two guys? They haven’t done anything in terms of accomplishing anything in terms of winning in this league. And then there’s the other side of the coin. Like I said, you’re going to say, “These are cornerstones. We’re going to lock them in early. We’re going to do deals early.” But you gave them top of the market deals. This is part of what happens in when you’re trying to turn a an organization like Aaron Glenn and Darren Mushi are trying to do. Yeah. Um it takes time and it takes time. Yeah. They got a lot of patience right now. I mean, they’re 0 and six. Um so I just think this is a huge game for the Panthers, honestly, with what they’ve done in the last two weeks. And then you have the Bills and the Packers coming up after this game against the Jets. So I think with the way you’ve played the last two weeks, Steve, it’s a big game honestly. Huge because I think you want to prove people for you know the Panthers fans that have believed what’s happened the last two weeks, you want to keep them Yeah. and keep what you got going on in the room going. Yeah. The the only the only thing is let’s the Bills have shown you and the Packers have shown you change. You give them you give them a 10point head start they’re not losing they’re not going to allow you to come back the way the Miami Dolphins did or the Arizona Cardinals. out whether it’s garbage time or not, that game be, you know, with the Cardinals became very interesting and it was something that no one saw coming. There were some opportunities missed by the Carolina Panthers, but it was they gave themselves a fighting chance and that was pretty impressive. Mhm. Yeah. Totally. It’s fun to watch this, man. Let’s It It actually It really is. It’s It’s been really fun to watch and see. And then especially with so many Dallas Cowboys fans, it being a home game, it was it was pretty uh I heard I was at a wedding, but I heard it was it it was uh it was a smaller crowd, but you can tell the hardcore Panther fans. And then you obviously um you know, Cowboys fans are like college play, you know, college teams. They they just travel well. Yeah, exactly. Two things. The the helmets were fire. Oh, helmets are dopey dope. They are out. I got I actually got to get mine from the other got to get my helmet from Brian in the other studio. Um so I can put this I can put this on the wall. Yeah, I want to see that. And two, they broke Jerry. Jerry didn’t talk after the game. Jerry talks after every game. Jerry Jones did not talk after this game. He was nowhere to be found to the media. Oh, the Panthers broke Jerry. Okay.

The Carolina Panthers are putting the league on notice, and Steve Smith Sr. and James Palmer are here to break down the surge!

*Is Rico Dowdle the New RB1?*
With Rico Dowdle on an absolute tear, James and Steve dive deep into the running back situation. Has Dowdle done enough to maintain the starting role even when Chuba Hubbard is back and healthy? They analyze the film on Dowdle’s powerful running and discuss the tough decision facing the Panthers coaching staff.

*Bryce Young’s Progression and Tet McMillan’s Breakout*
Steve Smith Sr. puts on his film-guru hat to detail the subtle, yet crucial, differences he’s seeing from Bryce Young. The rookie QB is playing with more confidence and command. Plus, he breaks down the film on rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan’s recent touchdown surge. What is Bryce Young doing differently, and how is it fueling T-Mac’s breakout?

*A Message for Sauce Gardner?*
Steve has a special message for Jets cornerback Sauce Gardner in the build up to the New York Jets vs Carolina Panthers game this weekend. You won’t want to miss this!

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