Panthers at Packers Week 9 Reaction | Postgame Show | Carolina Panthers

Panthers at Packers Week 9 Reaction | Postgame Show | Carolina Panthers

Happy Monday and welcome to the Panthers postgame show. Kristen Baloney here with Panthers legends Mike Tolbert and Al Wallace. And guys, what a happy Monday. It is a victory Monday after the Panthers come off of that huge win at Lambo on the last second field goal. Mike, what were your thoughts in that game? Man, I I said it a couple weeks ago. We’ve had to find an identity. I think we found it. Yeah, it’s just a tough, physical, gritty football team. You saw them win the coaching battle, the battle on the field. Rico did his thing. We’ll get into it all, but it was like the kid that shows up and you tell them on Halloween to get one piece of candy and they take the whole bowl. That’s what the Panthers did in Lambo. They took whatever they wanted. Did my kids come trick-or-treating at your house? Sounds like All right, let’s take a look now at all the highlights. And there were there were many in this game for the Panthers. We’re going to get you going here. 642 in the first quarter. Packers ball is on the Carolina 16, but not for long because Christian Roseboom forces the fumble on the wide receiver screen and Nick Scott with the recovery, guys. Yeah, bodies to the ball. You look at all the white jerseys that are there. Physical play that started this by Nick Scott just taking on that blocker and then everybody ratt rallies around there and then Christian Rose, boom, man. 15 total tackles on the day. That dude was everywhere. All right, Panthers taking advantage of that. And Mike, this is what the Panthers missed last week. We’re going to look at this. Fourth and one. Always love to see them go for it. Nothing there for Bryce Young. He scramles and he picks up that first down with his feet. Absolutely, man. Having the ability to be versatile at the quarterback position is really going to help this offense moving forward. Man, Bryce being able to stand in the pocket and deliver the ball, but also make plays with his feet downfield is going to be extremely important for us moving forward. Uh but Al, they initially threw the flags on that late hit, which was not a late hit. Hey, hey, I love it. Move around the pocket. Don’t be disrespectful. Get out. Defensive guys will hit you. If you got one toe in, they’re going to get you. This was tough though because the Panthers drive down the field, but unfortunately that interception in the end zone. What did you see on this one, guys? It looked like the wind took the ball. The ball had a trajectory to go towards that back body line to XL, but it looked like the wind pushed it out. It’s just unfortunate. The wind certainly a factor. We’re going to get into that. But then on this next play, when the Packers get the ball back, Jordan Love 52 yards to Watson. We know this is what this Packers uh offense presents is the ability to be explosive. Yeah, they they want to hit you with the explosive plays, the deep balls. There was a previous a deep ball on the play before that and they come up with this one. They’re going to win some of those. They’re good offense, but then we see Turk Wharton sack right there in the red zone. Al, I know this is a play that you had marked down. Yeah, absolutely. You just look at the consistency with that pass rush Turk Wharton brought in here to do just that. You got to have a plan, not for the first one to work, but for the first one to not work and a backup plan. And the Turk did that great hand movement there by by Wharton. And the Panthers were able to back them up, got them into field goal range, hold them right there. And then we start to see Rico Dattle, who got the start, take off 29 yard run, Mike. Yeah, exactly, man. That’s what you want. Somebody that can finish a run violently is what I like to call it. You know, being able to move the pile, whatever you got to do to get extra positive yards. Don’t go out of bounds. Don’t tiptoe. Just go ahead and finish the run violently. No, he does not go out of finishing that run violently. And then on this same drive, you know, the Panthers are going for it on fourth down more than any other team, which we love to see. And there they do it again. Yeah, it’s just a offensive line that has bodies in and out. It doesn’t matter. The system is in place and Rico is going to seal the deal. And Mike, they let him finish off the drive right here for a touchdown. That’s the the best part for a running back is when you do a lot of work on the drive and then you actually hit him put it in the box and have a good time with it. Something tells me the Packers defense knew it was going to him and still was not able to stop them. So right before the half, Jordan Love, another explosive play, 30 yards right there. And again, this is what he’s capable of doing. Yeah, it’s just a zone defense and the Panthers just want to corral and contain those receivers. He’s a good quarterback, good offense, good receivers. Well, speaking of containment, Panthers able to hold the Packers to another field goal and they go into the half, leading this game 7 to6. But then, you hate to see this right after the second half starts. Tucker Craft, the incredible tight end for the Packers, has an injury, has to leave the game. Then, right after that, the Packers miss a 43 yd field goal. No change in the score. Then, Jordan Love trying to do what he does. Not a great decision here, guys. throws it into double coverage and it’s intercepted by Trayvon Merrick. Yeah, it’s just bad football. You’re throwing the ball in the triple coverage down there. Uh Trayvon Morg is exactly where he’s supposed to be. As you can see, three deep football players back there. It’s just like a punt and he does a good job of getting up. Hey, I’m not tagged down. It’s not college football. Try to get some yards, but just a great defense, that zone defense by the Panthers. And then stop me if you’ve heard this one before, Mike. It’s all Rico on this next drive. eight-yd run. Then a little pass right out here to Rico for another eight yards. And they’re going to let him finish it off once again, Mike, for that one yard touchdown. Absolutely. Finding your playmakers on the entire drive, but let’s give props to Bryce for standing in the pocket, delivering that pass, but you know, u this celebration. I enjoy it. You know, the refs didn’t so much, but you know, it’s it’s football. Got to be able to have a good time. I agree. They’ve clamped down on this this year, that penalty for excessive celebration. Unfortunately, the Panthers miss that extra long extra point here. And then on this this following drive, uh, Packers march back down the field. Look, it was so close there for Mike Jack Al. Yeah, you got to stay on your feet. You got to come up with that one. He’ll see this in in film and and he won’t like that one right there. But look at the pursuit. Look at Nick Scarton. Look at what he’s doing. Just running around making sure he doesn’t give up on that play. Giving his team a chance on the back end. Panthers not able to do anything with their next offensive possession and Jordan Love 21 play to Musgrave and then Josh Jacobs one-yd touchdown there. Packers kick the point after. We saw that being a little bit of a discussion right there, but they come away 13-13 tied right there. Tied up the game. Panthers get the ball back. Final drive starts with 228 on the clock. And yes, I said final drive because they do not give the ball back to the Packers. We see Bryce Young here extending the play right over the middle to Jaylen Coker. Guys, yeah, here’s where Bryce is just so good in the pocket and you really missed him a week ago. His ability to just maneuver, find an open space. You see the shoulders square to the line of scrimmage and deliver a strike. And then once again going to his favorite receiver and for good reason. Tedoa McMillan right there getting the first down. And then Rico Del once again 19yd run getting the Panthers into field goal range showing why he deserved that start. Absolutely. I mean this is what you call situational football. Last two minutes of the game. We want to take every possible second off of that clock and give ourselves a chance to win in regulation. And this is not an easy field goal right here at all for the rookie kicker. It was a 49yd attempt. But this is also, and we’re going to talk about this, why the Panthers elected to receive to start the game because the wind was in their favor and as time expires. The kick is good. Ryan Fitzgerald is a hero in this one, 16-13. And guys, the Packers were the number one seed in the NFC. They had not lost a game since week three. And these were the final stats. I mean, I mean, look at right here. Look at this Packers um red zone. uh one for five in the red zone. They entered the week at 70% in red zone situation. So of course that is where we are going to start this conversation because those numbers are glaring. Al, how was this team able to do this in the red zone? Hey, you come into the game and you know that Green Bay wants to hit explosive plays and they’re going to get some of those. Like you said, one of the top teams in the NFC and what the Panthers decided to do is just go into this opportunity and say, “Hey, Ben, don’t break.” when that field gets a little bit shorter, you turn them away. You force them to kick field goals. Couple of turnovers down there as well. And I think that’s frustrating for a team that thrives and lives off the explosive play. Short of field, not able to hit those plays. And man, were they good yesterday. And Mike, I was going to ask you, as an offense, Al just said frustrating. I mean, they’re getting backed up in the red zone, all sorts of things. So, what does that do throughout the game when your momentum is stifled and you’re normally really good at that? Well, it creates a lot of confusion. KB, it makes it to where you don’t know if you’re going to have second and six or second and 16 because the defense is playing so well, keeping you behind the chains. So, it it makes it to where you got to be a lot more creative offensively. And they did it early, the first two where they held them to field goals. Al, what does that do for the defense in terms of confidence? Yeah, we just want to steal possessions away. So, it’s about stealing one or two possessions from a really explosive team. And when you stack that up at the end of the game, you look at that box and it’s one for five. you’ve done your job. If you can hold a team like the Green Bay Packers to limited points, limited opportunities, created two turnovers, you end up winning. You have a good celebration on that plane on the way back. Yeah, no kidding. I mean, thinking about, as you said, limiting the Packers to 13 points on this game with five red zone trips is just really, really incredible. Let’s talk about the offense now. You know, just 16 points in this game. We saw them have a couple of issues here and there, but but overall a really good performance from some guys. And of course, we got to start with Rico Delt Mike getting that start. I mean, and it’s just he just does it week after week. I mean, we just looked at his stat that he’s third in the league right now in rushing after only starting two or three games, you know, since Chuba’s been down. But let’s give props to coach Canales. The game plan was to make it dirty, right? The game plan was to run the ball, give Rico the ball. He 25 carries, 125 yards. All right. Give him the ball. Let’s make it dirty. Let’s keep the ball away from the Packers and make sure that we put ourselves in position at the end of the game to have a chance to win it. Mike, for a back like Rico to get the ball 25 times, what does that do for you? It gets you get better as time go on. We see the type of runner that Rico is, right? He’s a patient runner, but we’re also seeing the knowledge that he has in the game where he knows where his all his blocks are going to be going to happen. So, just like on this play, we’re going to stretch it. We’re going to stretch it. Put our foot in the ground. Get downhill. Now, you got three guys outside. It’s an easy. You got one guy to beat right now, right? So, it makes it easier for Rico to get better as the game goes on because he’s such a violent runner with the ball. And I’ll tell you guys a secret. We don’t want to play the run. Guys like myself, defensive line, we we want to we want to rush the quarterback. And when a team is committed to the running game the way the Panthers are, when they win football games like this, it’s exhausting. No one wants to tackle Rico Dao 30 times. And there’s the graphic right there. Third in the NFL. It’s amazing to watch this team commit to the running game behind Rico D. That offensive line that has all those changing parts from week to week. Go out and absolutely dominate and get it done. That dude is different right now. He has the juice. I mean, no kidding. We saw that graphic and we were all just kind of sitting here with our mouths open because he split carries for five games. To then be able to do that is is just incredible. Certainly happy to have him on our team. 100%. 100%. Um, I also want to talk about this offensive line. So, we saw more injuries. Al, you were talking about it in the recap. Saw more injuries. At one point, Jake Currin, who is, you know, someone that has not seen the field a lot for the Panthers, came in at both right guard and left guard, which is, I mean, just hats off to him. Cade Mays did not start this game at center. Austin Corbett was back there. Mike, your offensive line is continuing to not just uh, you know, fill the holes there, but they are continuing to produce and allow Rico to have these these big games. Absolutely. But you, what you have to understand, too, is that just like Al said, defensive linemen, they want to rush the quarterback. Offensive line want to run block. Yes. Right. So, that’s the most important part that we as offensive people have is like we want to go downfield. We want to push, we want to push, we don’t want to set back, right? So those guys are excited to have somebody that’s going to be able to maintain the running game like they want. Yeah. I’m gonna look at big picture. Bigger picture is once you have a established system in place, you can plug and play a number of different guys and it goes to the depth of this team that over the last couple years you see Dave and Dan try to build up. And when you have that kind of consistency in scheme, you can put guys in there and just let it run on its own. And this team has now built the depth they need to win when adversity pops up and you see guys go down. It’s been amazing. They were also able to protect Bryce. You know, that was a big thing. And then look at this. You know, Micah Parsons, of course, that was the big storyline for the Panthers. You know, you’re facing Micah Parsons. You’re facing Micah Parsons. He is just a menace. But not in this game. Ow. How are they able to hold him to these pedestrian numbers? Yeah, Bryce is getting the ball out of his hands. They’re moving around. Bryce is able to escape and maneuver through the pocket. Um, but just finding a guy like Micah Parsons, he moves around all over the place. So, when you know where he is, you can set that protection, you can get guys in the right position, and then you have to execute in the offense. And because guys are getting open, they’re getting separation at the wide receiver position. You can you can get it all over the place. And Micah was just a non-factor. I’ll take 10 tackles by Michael Parsons and and not three pressures and hits on your quarterback. you’ll win when that guy who came into the game with one of the top pressure rates in the NFL and you you shut him out, you blank him. Love it. And then Mike, finally, we talking about, you know, with this offense having Bryce Young back. We saw it. We saw some of the plays that he was able to make. Fourth and one, getting something down with his legs, picking up those first downs, finding his receivers. What does it mean for an offense to have your guy back? It’s confidence. It’s the confidence in the guy, the signal caller, right? He’s the quarterback for a reason. He is the leader of this team. So, you have a confident confident aura about yourself knowing that we can go for third and one, fourth and one. We’re going to get it because we believe in that guy and he believes in us. All right, let’s talk about some coaching decisions here. We mentioned it a little bit. Certainly, if you watch the broadcast, you heard Greg Olsson and Adam Amin talk about this a lot. So, the Panthers won the toss and they elected to receive at the beginning of the game, which is something you certainly don’t see often. And it was because of this wind which meant in the second half they were able to pick which side of the ball that which side of the field they wanted to be on and it really came to fruition there. They had favorable wind for that game-winning field goal. Yeah, you win the coin toss and I think the first thing you want to do is say we’re going to defer to the second half. We’ll take our choice in the second half so you can come out, put your offense on the board, kind of get some momentum, that middle eight of the football game where you can hopefully get some points going into the locker room and put your offense right back on the field. Well, Dave Canales and his staff knew with that swirling win up there in Lambo, we we want the wind at our back in the fourth quarter, we’ll take the ball. We’ll put Bryce Young in the offense on on the field first and we’ll get uh Green Bay to make the decision in the second half. But that will give us an opportunity to kind of, you know, pick which side of the field we want to take and it worked out brilliantly. It just shows you the hours that those coaches uh sit in those meeting rooms and come up with the game plan. They just executed it flawlessly. Mhm. And the trust in your coaches, you know, the trust in Tracy Smith, the special teams coordinator. We’re going to hear Dave Canalis talk about that in just a minute, but we’re talking about coaching decisions. Mike, you mentioned this 33 rushes to 20 passes in a game. And you talked about developing this Panthers identity. Yes. The identity that we spoke about was what are we going to be when some when another team’s put us on what’s our scouting report, right? We already know now that we’re going to run the football. You have to stop the run. As you see at the end of the game, the Packers had 11 guys in the box trying to stop the run. And Rico still broke out for 19, right? You have to stop the run when you come against this team. And then just playing solid football across the board. I told Al yesterday, there’s two things that always travels with a good football team. Solid defense and a running game that traveled to Lambo and we came back with a victory. Yeah. And it it just it works in the wind, it works in the rain, it works in the cold. So, if you can do those things, and it just takes me back to 02 03, our Super Bowl team, John Fox, a defensive-minded guy. We’re going to play defense and we’re going to hand the ball off to Stephen Davis. If you can stop it, good luck and you you’ll beat us. But no one could because those things, no matter what the setting is, are going to be the fundamentals of football, line of scrimmage, got to dominate it. And speaking of coaching decisions, Al, what did you think of Aarro Ao’s game plan? He has worked it out. He understands his personnel now. he knows what these guys can bring and that that game plan with the linebackers and the pressures uh it shows you the trust that he has on the back end and now they’re starting to turn the ball over because they’re getting hits on the quarterback pressure in quarterback’s faces and that timing is thrown off. So to to play a zone right too deep shell protect from the deep ball don’t let these guys fly down the field and just steal a couple of possessions away was key to just stopping one of the top offenses in the NFL. Yeah, very well coached and well executed game. All right, we talked about this wind. As we said, that was a huge factor in this game. Here is what Dave Canales had to say about trusting a special teams coordinator with that big decision. Yeah, I got to give a lot of props to uh Tracy Smith. He and I were talking before the game and he was like, if we if we take the ball, we can set ourselves up to have the ball with the wind to our backs to finish the game to give us an opportunity. And it played out just like that. Um it was unbelievable, but it took all of us doing right, you know, to make it happen. Um so it was a little bit of a change from what we normally do. who we’d normally defer in that situation, but the wind was a factor in that decision. All right, Mike, another week, another victory for the Carolina Panthers. Let’s continue to break down how this team has improved while they’re winning. Let’s start on the defensive side of the ball. Cuz one thing you’ve noticed, it’s a bunch of turnovers for the Carolina Panthers and hits on the quarterback, sacks, and pressures that make a difference against one of the best offenses in the NFL. So, we’re going to start here to see how coach Zerro Ao has done a great job of adding these young linebackers right here in the mix, in the pressure. You’ll see Christian Roseboom, we’ll see Trevon Wallace, we’ll see the job that these guys are doing adding themselves in the rush, creating more pass rush opportunities and hits on the quarterbacks for the Panthers. So, we’ll get started right here. Of course, Green Bay, Jordan Love, really good. And you see just a little pump fake right there by Trevan Wallace. Uh as he kind of starts off back in this area. It looks like he’s going to drop off in coverage. But what he’s doing is putting pressure on this offensive line, these centers to make sure that they come up with the right call, the right protection for Jordan Love here. And you are offensive guy, so you can probably break it down for us a lot better on all of these guys are going to their left, right? Eyeballs as they diagnose Christian Roseboom as the mic in this protection. It’s usually four down to the mic and here we go. Christian Roseboom, but they forget about Trevon Wallace. Absolutely. So Alwire here, what you do, what you’re going to see is we’ll see it from the end zone copy is they’re going to go the offensive line. See Jordan Love right here, he’s telling his running back, see his eyes are already out here, right? He’s telling you, clear that out for me. He’s telling his running back that hey, you got somebody coming here, but he also is responsible for right for Trevor Wallace right there in the middle. The line now what the line has to do is make him right. So they’re going to what we call going to air. You can’t go to air in this game otherwise you going to have a bad play. So now he is responsible for two. He’s responsible for JC and Trevon Wallace and he can’t do both, you know. Yeah. You see JC Horn on that and I’ll back it up a little bit uh so we can take a look at it. You’ll see JC Horn kind of add himself in this play. We’ll go on to the next one. Same thing here, Mike. Right. They’re trying to figure out who are the four down guys. One, two, three, four. And which one of these backers that we’re going to make the running back responsible for. This time they change it up, right? They’ve been watching Trevon Wallace on the first one. He comes through get pressure on the quarterback. And now you’re going to see Christian Roseboom. Just perfect timing on this snap. A free run. quarterback’s back is turned, so he’s not going to see it until it’s too late. Watch what kind of pressure that puts on Josh Jacobs right here as this play gets going. He never sees it. I’m not sure if it’s a draw or if it’s protection, but we pause it right here. Here are your four down guys, right? You have even more. One, two, three, four. Man, this is tough. Right now, we’re going to bring this six guy. You got to assume one of these outside guys is going to bail out of there in coverage at some point. But a lot of pressure on this offensive line to get it back like you talked about. But what is this guy going to do? He’s in a bind trying to pick up this blitz. Great timing by Rose Boom right there. Gets the ball out of Jordan Love’s hands really quickly. And it’s how this team has really done a good job of creating pressure, generating pass rush. You’re not getting maybe the production from the outside, but Coach EJ has done such a great job of being creative with this defense. Yeah, absolutely. Now, we’re going to switch over to the offensive side of the ball and we just going to watch a man at work right here. Right. This is something that I want to talk to you guys about. Just simply the fact that Rico is in the zone right now. So, we take it back. Obviously, that’s a great run, right? So, we’re going to take it back just a little bit. Now, Rico’s job now, he knows that this is what we call a same side plant, right? Plant means that it’s a single back in the back field. Now, somebody is pulling to take this defensive end, this outside linebacker, whatever it is. So, your tight end is going to come here, and I want you guys to watch this tight end the entire time. Like you said, Al, he’s going to stay on that block the entire time. But, it’s Rico’s uh game making and playmaking ability and his knowledge of the game, knowing who’s doing what. He’s a smart football carrier. This run is equivalent to Bryce putting the ball on the back shoulder or throwing somebody across the middle away from danger, right? So, this is the exact same thing. Rico’s ability to set that block, get outside, put his foot in the ground, get downhill for a 10, 11 yard run, it doesn’t get any better from the running back position right here. And Mike, as a defensive player, a defender, you you know, you have a responsibility. And I’m going to I’m going to stop it right here. I’m going to look at Quay Walker right here. Great football player. What Rico is going to do is challenge his responsibility. Get him to move so he can help out his blockers and and set it up. Do a great job. challenge the responsibility of defenders and then go downhill, get where you’re supposed to be. The best part about it is that he knows where he wants to go, right? But he’s setting it all up knowing that his tight end is coming around. He has him one-on-one. So, he knows once he puts his foot in the ground outside, nope, go. Right. It’s amazing. It makes it so much easier when you can play the game at a fast, high level, but it slows down for you as a running back. Yeah, it’s it’s all the work that goes into it. Sometimes we see the physicality of the game on film, on the field, but what we forget to think about is the hours that these guys put into the film room, the preparation that it takes to go out there, make just one subtle move, right? Just give them a little cheese out here to get back where you’re going. And that’s why the Carolina Panthers have been so good. defense, making sure you can rush the quarterback, add pressure, be creative, and then on offense, absolutely dominating with not just one of the most violent and physical running backs, but football Q on 10 right now, the way you see Rico D playing. But that’s how we break it down here on the postgame show. Mike Tobbert, Al Wallace. Love off the fake taking another deep shot into double coverage under thrown to Trayvon Mer. Interception by Jordan Love. A rare one at that. And here comes Merrick into Packer territory inside the 40 yd line. What a big play that was by Trayvon Merrick. And we thought it was worth highlighting exactly what this front office was done. He’s one of those big free agent signings that the Panthers brought in this year. And of course, we’ve talked a lot about Dan Morgan in the front office shoring up that offensive line. And of I mean, we could say that every single week, but we also need to talk about this defense. Trayvon Merrick, uh, Turk Wharton, we saw him have that huge play, Christian Roseboom, and then of course Rico on the offensive side. Al, when you look at what Dan Morgan has done, what can you say? I think he’s added playmakers and and especially on that defensive side of the ball. Uh, this team struggled against the run last year, but you added a guy like Turt Wharton, you see there on the sack, great hand movement, great body placement. Um, you know, and then those linebackers. Merrick has been great around the ball, but he gets an interception cuz he finds himself in the right position coming over from the the Las Vegas Raiders a year ago. They’ve done a great job of adding complimentary playmakers to this defense and I think it’s made the world of difference. And Mike, to be able to get Rico D, a thousand yard rusher last year for the Cowboys here to go along with Chuba Hubard. I mean, my goodness. Yeah, I mean that’s all props to Dan and Dave for that because I mean he he had some some contract issues with Dallas and ended up in our laps and we love him for it, you know. But um they they’ve done an amazing job just bringing in the right caliber and type of guys, you know, they I remember Dan at his uh opening press conference being named the general manager and he said, “We want to build the team the right way. We want to build it from the inside out. you know, get our guys in the trenches that is going to make plays and they’re they’re constantly doing it year in and year out. Man, I’m I’m super excited for the future of this team. That’s when he said, “We want dogs.” You want dogs? I think they got some dogs. You beat me to it. He wanted some dogs. And when you look at those kind of guys, they go and get it. Especially that defensive side. Rico falls into that category, too. Angry, violent, physical runs. You talked about violence earlier. That dude, that dude runs with violence. And especially guys with the young team, you bring in these these guys, these free agents who are really setting the tone. Yeah. They become your leaders of the team right away. These guys just come in first uh year here in the organization, but they’re an example for all the young guys of how it’s supposed to be done. I know I was with TD a couple of weeks ago and he talked about especially this defense starting to look like Carolina Panther defense and you know, you feel good, I do about being at the foundational pieces of that. So, it’s starting to look exactly like I remember. All right, coming off of this huge win against the Packers, let’s look and see what the Panthers have coming up. And guys, you know, the first thing that stands out to me and certainly to you, I’m sure, are these two division games starting with the Saints at home, Mike. And that looks like a a winnable game, but we know that the Saints are better than they’re getting credit for right now. Absolutely. And, you know, division games are always tougher, you know, so we got to make sure we come ready to play some good football. I mean, we’ve already, you know, did what we had to do against Atlanta, but we got to do it again. So, we got got to continue to make good plays and uh move forward. Yeah. Great opportunities for the Panthers. Two divisional games. You know, how important those are as far as the standings and going where you want to go, some of those goals you want to achieve at the end of the season. And then it it gets a little bit tougher. But now, I think uh when the Panthers uh are on your schedule, you no longer look at them as we talk about it like a get right game. You got to buckle up. You got to get ready cuz they have Rico. They have this defense and those aren’t the ones you circle anymore. You got to get the eraser out for the Panthers now cuz they’re coming to town. They’ll beat you. Is it fair to say that the Panthers are now a team that you don’t want to play? You don’t want to play. The physicality of the game, the offense, the defensive line. Yeah, they have playmakers and and they’ve shocked a lot of people. I think you get a lot more attention, a lot more respect for what they were able to accomplish uh yesterday in Green Bay. All right, let’s take a look at this division. Of course, we’re talking about those division games coming up, but the Bucks were on a buy this week. Falcons and Saints both lost. So, not only did the Panthers win this game, but they were the only NFC South team to win this week. And Mike, we were looking at this a little bit earlier and you went, “Yes.” Yes. Yeah. You I never root for the NFC South other than Carolina. I bleed blue, so I can’t help it. Yeah, it it looks good. That looks good right there. One loss in the division, the conference. And if you can go out and continue to do that, uh, I think you you you send a message to Tampa Bay. You let Baker and the Bucks know, hey, we’re we’re here. Yep. And you still have those two games coming up against Tampa Bay at the end of the season. You look three and one in the NFC. What the Panthers are doing right now is really, really impressive. Uh, all right, let’s take a look. Now, we always ask you guys to give us your Monday night picks. We’re going to do that in just a second, but we have for the first time, we’re going to see what these updated standings are. We’re going to see what the guys picks have been, what the record is. All right. Okay. Okay. Top of the list. You guys are at the top there above TD and Jonathan Stewart. So, that’s got to make you both feel good. Al, do you want to have a victory speech at all? No, I’m not going to gloat. Still a lot of games to play and I don’t want to go the other way. But I I think when you look at it, it just shows the parody the how competitive this league is and and it’s tough. It’s tough every time we pick these football games. But I’m happy to be in the lead right now. Two thirds is crazy. Yeah. But but Mike, you look, we got a road crew and a home crew, and you guys are beating the uh the home crew right now. We Hey, we we we see eye out of we right here. We get it. You do. All right. So, now we’ve got our Monday night pickum. A chance for you guys to continue uh that great performance. Al, let me start with you. Cardinals at Cowboys. We see the stats right there. Where are you going to pick as our leader in the clubhouse? Yeah. No, Kyler Murray. I’m not too confident in the Arizona Cardinals defense. And you get Cidi Lamb, he’s healthier. Jake Ferguson was shut out a week ago. They’re going to make a big point of emphasis to get him the ball. That wide receiving core and Dak Prescott. Uh they they run the ball well. I’m going with the Dallas Cowboys in their building tonight. All right, Mike, you agree on this one? I do and I don’t. Oh, I do and I don’t. I really do like Jacobe Brouset as a quarterback. I think he can do some really good things. I think that Arizona has a trending defense. You know, Buddha led by Buddha Baker, but they’re not gonna win in Dallas. They’re not gonna win in Dallas. I’m taking the Cowboys in that go. All right. All right. We like that a lot, guys. This was so much fun. What a great game to talk about. Once again, the Panthers going in and on a last second field goal, beating the Packers on their home turf. H. Happy Victory Monday to both of you. Thank you for being here and thank you all for watching. We’ll see you next Monday. [Music] I got

Al Wallace and Mike Tolbert join Kristen Balboni to breakdown the Carolina Panthers significant road victory over the Green Bay Packers. They breakdown how Rico Dowdle dominated on the ground and why Dave Canales’ coaching staff was the deciding factor in the win.

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