Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 12, 1995 TAG: 9509120100
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: ED HARDIN LANDMARK NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: ROCK HILL, S.C. LENGTH: Medium
St.Louis, this week's opponent, knows Carolina's game plan, too.
In fact, the entire NFL knows what Carolina is likely to call on every play in almost every situation.
The Panthers' game plan was set in stone two days last January when Dom Capers was hired as head coach and Joe Pendry was hired as his offensive coordinator the next day.
Since then, Carolina has been as predictable as a calendar.
The Panthers are a team built around defense, not offense. And the offense is built around the run. Simple and sweet.
``We want to establish the run on offense and stop the run on defense,'' Capers said in one of his first news conferences.
That, as much as anything else, is the basic theory guiding the franchise. Failure to do either one will result in a loss almost every time. The Panthers are 0-2 because they have not been able to run the ball consistently enough to give the defense the opportunity to stop the run.
Sunday's game was the first opportunity to see Carolina's entire package, as simple as it might be. Last week's preview against the Falcons was hardly and indication of what's to come. The opening game at Atlanta was against a gambling defense suspect against the pass. The Panthers passed for more than 300 yards.
The Falcons' run-and-shoot offense is the strangest offense in the league. Atlanta didn't establish the run, and it almost lost.
But the Bills are another story. Buffalo's 3-4 defense is not unlike Carolina's. The Bills' offense is built around the running of Thurman Thomas, huddle or no huddle. Buffalo rushed for 172 yards Sunday, eventually running over a tired Carolina defense.
The Panthers gained 101 yards on the ground, all but 21 in the first half.
``If we were only playing for a half we'd have played a great game,'' Capers said.
Carolina led 9-0 early in the second half because most everything the Panthers had done up to that point was working and most everything Buffalo had done up to that point had failed. The Panthers' hold on the game was, thus, tenuous at best. In one play, everything changed for both teams.
Buffalo's comeback was really more of a wake-up call. The Bills scored 31 straight points, held Carolina to one first down in the second half (by penalty) and 15 yards in offense. This was no turn in momentum.
The Bills simply figured out all they needed to do was stop the Panthers on third down every series. And there were a lot of third downs.
``Our philosophy,'' quarterback Frank Reich said, ``was to pound the ball on first and second down and get third and short. That's a good philosophy.''
And a very simple philosophy. Many teams around the league have used it to build powerhouse football franchises. Dynasties were built on the same precept. Carolina will live and die by it.
Sunday was just the beginning.
``We wanted to convert 50 percent of our third downs,'' Reich said. ``We didn't.''
The Panthers converted about 12 percent of their 17 third-down opportunities, none in the second half. The Panthers passed on every third-down in the second half except one when Reich was sacked trying to pass. But more amazingly, they ran on first and second down on 11 of 13 plays in the second half while the Bills were getting further and further ahead.
Capers would not speculate Monday on possibly shaking up the offense. And though he said anything is possible, he did not care to address the possibility of replacing Reich with Jack Trudeau this week.
The problem, and Capers knows it, is Trudeau would be asked to run the same offense. Capers knows that in order for the Panthers to win later they might have to struggle now with a basic offense and an opportunistic defense.
The biggest problem is that everybody else in the league knows it, too.
by CNB