How are we feeling about this? It would be nice to get Chuba going but he hasn't forced a single missed tackle this year. Rico has been on an absolute tear and having him off the field for half the game seems like a poor decision…

37 comments

  3. It’s worth giving another shot given:

    The Jets have a good D. Interior O-Line wasn’t ideal for us.

    Chuba looked a little slow but is just coming off of injury.

  4. If we can rush for 125+ yards per game, I don’t care if its my mom running the fucking ball. Plus, splitting the carries reduces the milage on each.

  5. Rico had 18 touches last week, which is how many a lot of teams give their starter already. He doesn’t need to get 30 every week unless you want to run him into the ground in a month. Some people are just so fantasy brained.

  6. I don’t mind the whole 2 back approach. It’s just weird to stick with one at a time thing instead of rotating them in and out on the same drive. Like what’s the point of 2 back if we’re keeping Chubba in after he runs 3 or 4 times in a drive and is less explosive at that point.

  7. I’d give Rico the first half and then give Chuba the 3rd quarter. Hot hand gets the 4th quarter.

  8. How does campbell handle monty and Gibbs? Is it the exact same way canales did Sunday?

  10. Give it another two games and see how it goes. Went well for Stew and D Will, so having two fresh runners during a game is a positive, as long as it works. Let’s see if Chuba can back into a rhythm the next game and rotate them again. Rico can’t keep up the load he was at and not fall apart. 

  11. They’ll rotate until Chuba looks like a decent option and the coaching staff or GM feels validated.. at which point the panthers will also not be winning games

  12. I feel like Chuba isn’t 100%. He didn’t have burst and could barely make it through the line of scrimmage.

  13. This is idiotic. Ride the hot horse while you can. Maybe he sustains it, maybe the league will adjust to him, but use the hot hand.

    Also, last week Bryce was under center more, therefore not telegraphing that he’s passing. He was much better that way against a better defense because he can’t lag around and start dancing.

  14. They need to do more stretch plays with Chuba instead of just sending him right up the middle of the line. that’s where Rico has had his success

  15. As it stands right now it should be 70-30 Dowdle-Chubba. One thing that stands out to me about the two is Dowdle seems way more patient than Chubba. Chubba just smashes himself in there but he’s not really moving the pile. Dowdle had more success against the Jets because he waited for lanes to open and took advantage of them when they did.

  16. We need to be riding Rico as much as we can next week, especially with Bryce out. Anyone who thinks Dalton and Chuba can carry a win is delusional. Definitely letting Chuba get some plays in to get his confidence up, but Rico has got to be the #1 guy for most of the game. Not using his hot hand is insulting

  17. I think Rico should be our 4th quarter RB. He should be the sole RB in the 4th until he ask to come out

  18. I think they should use them interchangeably but not specifically for drive a and b 

  20. it’s okay having 2 really good running backs. doesn’t matter who starts or not.

    Looks at Gibbs and Montgomery.

  21. You guys are actually making me feel like I’m crazy.

    Did Chuba not carry us to wins last year? Literally?

    Was literally ANYONE calling for Rico in weeks 1-4? All anyone said in the gameday threads is “why is canales going away from Chuba?!” anytime Rico got a touch.

    You guys are just constantly chasing shiny objects.

    Rico has outperformed Chuba for, in the most generous interpretation, 3 weeks, and you guys are pretending like Chuba is shit and we found the next coming of Eric Dickerson as a 27 year old FA RB.

    Having said that, Chuba is likely not 100% and it would be good to lean on RIco.

  23. I think this is Canales showing poor leadership.

    You have to reward Dowdle with the playing time and starts, he’s given this team a spark they didn’t have before. If he’s off one day, give Hubbard some touches and a shot at taking back over.

    It’s like Canales is scared to hurt his starters feelings despite having found a better player.

  24. “Hasn’t forced a single missed tackle”

    This might be a tad hyperbolic. Are you talking about like statistically or just you haven’t really seen it?

  25. I’m fine with the two RB approach. But am given Rico’s two amazing games, and outperforming Chubba yesterday I’d probably do a 60-40 split favoring Rico until the hot hand dies down

  26. I feel like when everything falls into place we will have an effective, run first, two headed snake style offense. Chuba getting back into rhythm and getting just a few more touches per game will be proof of concept. Rico fits perfectly in canales’ run scheme, I would hate to see us overwork him and possibly lose the momentum we’ve built. Share the sugar, 45%dowdle, 40%chuba, 15%Etienne.

    Im very excited about the versatility available to us running the ball, and while i like canales’ hybrid style play calling on the ground, I do not necessarily agree that they should rotate per drive. It makes our offense more predictable. Switch them out old school, every other first down or whenever the clock stops.

  28. It’s wild to me to see people act like Chubba hasn’t looked awful all year. His stat line is NOT good. It’s not even average. He’s not earning the contract he got. He doesn’t deserve to split carries. He deserves to come in to give Rico a rest at best. If our front office were smart, they’d put him on the trade block and hope some other team is dumb or desperate enough to give us a 4th or 5th for him.

  30. I think I’m in the minority but I still see Chuba as the more proven back. I think it’s a bad idea to “demote” him based on Ricos stellar play against poor run defenses.

    Rico looks like the better runner when watching because he looks just like our vision of a great back – he’s strong, fast, explosive. He’s more likely to make someone miss or break a tackle. However, despite Rico being stronger, I think Chuba is who you give it to if you need 3 to 4 yards. He has excellent vision and an uncanny ability to squeeze through small gaps. The first guy will likely bring him down, but he’s more likely to turn a 0 or 1 yard gain into a 5 or 6 yard one.

    I like keeping both involved

  31. Rotating them is fine but I think it’s silly to rotate them after a drive where they don’t get a single carry.

  32. Wow. There are some actually sane comments here. 15-20 touches per man is absolutely normal. I love the fact we can run the ball 30 times but that’s BECAUSE we have two awesome guys back there. As to the question of “how are we feeling about this?” I’m feeling that Canalas and Co. know more about what they are doing than I do. Keep Pounding.

  33. Dowdle got 17 carries vs the Jets which is in line with all the other top RBs in the league. CMC has the most carries per game of any RB at a little less than 19 a game.

    Running Dowdle 30 times like we did against the Cowboys isn’t sustainable.

  36. I’m excited about having two starting RB’s that the coaching staff has the ability to run the same type of offense through. People keep wanting to make the Seattle comp. as if it’s a bad thing. We have a much better o-line than they do and it’ll only prove to be a boon. Bills have been ass against the run, have a feeling the process will show this coming Sunday.

  37. My only problem with it is he already told all our opponents what we are doing.  This would be a perfect opportunity to run some different plays and keep them guessing

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