Latest / C3 Panthers Podcast: Carolina Panthers / Nick Carboni of WCNC Talks Panthers VS Falcons | C3 BeatCheck

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Nick Carboni of WCNC Talks Panthers VS Falcons | C3 BeatCheck · C3 Panthers Podcast: Carolina Panthers

• 0:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: See through Legion, welcome back to another edition of the C3B deck where we check in with the B reporter covering the Carolina Panthers to get an in-depth look and bit of analysis on the team that we still love that Carolina Panthers put up.
• 0:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: 37 points and then attempt to beat the Chicago Bears in the home opener only to have almost 60 points put up on them.
• 0:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: We're going to talk about the aftermath of that game and look forward to our week two matchup in Atlanta against the Falcons with none other than Nick Carboni
• 1:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, man.
• 1:17
  [SPEAKER_01]: Cody, thanks for having me.
• 1:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Appreciate it.
• 1:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: Next, let's just jump right into this.
• 1:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: Uh, how should a Carolina Panthers fan feel about this difference right now?
• 1:27
  [SPEAKER_02]: We spent almost 165 million in upgrades on the defensive side of the football and then for them to let Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams put up almost 60 points.
• 1:42
  [SPEAKER_02]: Did we just run into a bus all of an offense with Ben Johnson and a burgeoning superstar in Caleb Williams or should Panther fans really feel bad about what we're showing on defense right now?
• 1:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I think the top 10 defense hopes can be put on pause for at least a week and we'll see what it looks like going forward.
• 2:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: There were issues throughout every level of the defense.
• 2:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Nobody that was out there on Sunday is absolved from what happened, not even the players that are being paid tens of millions of dollars, not even stall award players and perennial pro-boulders
• 2:27
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, it started up front and then it continued into the second level and then the third level can get off blocks and stop it from there.
• 2:35
  [SPEAKER_01]: So the thing I keep going back to though is like, I'm still not convinced that a defense that boasts Derek Brown up front, Jalen Phillips on the edge, Devon Lloyd in the middle.
• 2:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: J.C. Horn on the outside and there are other complimentary pieces that we know and have seen play good football.
• 2:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not convinced that that unit is, you know, I don't even think they were the 30 second.
• 3:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't even think they were the worst defense in football this week by some statistics.
• 3:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: I certainly think they are better than they put out there on Sunday.
• 3:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: And in terms of the buzz
• 3:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: like, yeah, Ben Johnson has already clearly stated he wants to have the highest scoring offense in the NFL.
• 3:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: What better way to do it than almost hang 60 points in week one.
• 3:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think we're going to see a lot of big numbers from Caleb Williams and the Chicago Bears this year.
• 3:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think they're going to make a couple of, you know, if he defenses
• 3:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: look not so good.
• 3:41
  [SPEAKER_01]: We'll see what happens when they run into a, you know, a big time defense, which the Panthers are still aspiring to be, but clearly aren't there yet.
• 3:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, a lot of people are calling for a Jeroy Veros job here after week one, but it's not just a week one thing, right?
• 3:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like, there have been a lot of people unhappy with him as defensive coordinator, unhappy with his scheme, dating back a few seasons, and then you go back to last year, the end of
• 4:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, so I get that, but let's just give it a little time to course correct here with that personnel and, you know, they get to get a chance to do that against the Atlanta Falcons and Cleveland Browns in the next two weeks.
• 4:21
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it will look better.
• 4:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, but you know, those lofty goals of top 10 defense like, let, let's see what happens, but they're on pause for now.
• 4:30
  [SPEAKER_02]: So I mean, listen, in a lot of ways looking at the Falcons and the Browns, it's almost just what the doctor ordered for the Carolina Panthers.
• 4:39
  [SPEAKER_02]: I mean, as we sit here right now recording this, the Atlanta Falcons have still not named who's going to be their starting quarterback this Sunday.
• 4:48
  [SPEAKER_02]: And it seems like so much of this match up going into Atlanta, we already know what we're looking out for, and it's kind of Carolina Panthers stop the run of the Atlanta Falcons and be John Robertson.
• 5:02
  [SPEAKER_02]: Better than we did against the Andre Swift and Kyle Mnong guys.
• 5:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: who both went for over a hundred yards is there a chance that the defense can actually get back on the right track and shut down this Atlanta rushing attack.
• 5:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: Knowing you got absolutely whooped last Sunday, but also this is pretty much the only real offense that the falcons can mount right now that they're in the other limbo and quarterback.
• 5:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, you know, whatever quarterback it's going to be, it's not going to be Caleb Williams and, you know, I think that's the best medicine that you could get after last week because he accounted for 65 of those 291 rushing yards.
• 5:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: Atlanta is a one-man show.
• 5:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's a heck of a show in Bajon Robinson.
• 5:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, that guy is about his dynamic and powerful and fast and agile and good with the ball as any running back we've seen in recent memories, definitely one of the best in the game right now.
• 6:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: But it quite literally is all
• 6:15
  [SPEAKER_01]: Especially with Cooper Rush, a quarterback, but I think it's still somewhat true with two time to have I lower at quarterback in his first season in this system.
• 6:24
  [SPEAKER_01]: And if Michael Pettix Jr returns, like that's his first time back on the field with everybody since the Carolina Panthers played there in, I think it was week 11 last year.
• 6:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it's a much easier task to stop
• 6:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: One talented player rather than try to stop four or five.
• 6:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now the land has other talented players, but you know, we saw what Pittsburgh always a good defense was able to do to limit everybody not wearing number seven last week.
• 6:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think it'll be a bounce back for the Panthers defense.
• 6:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm not after seeing them give up 59 points and 552 yards going to go so far as to say they're going to shut it down.
• 7:04
  [SPEAKER_01]: I definitely think that John's going to get him.
• 7:06
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think Drake wanted might have his moments.
• 7:10
  [SPEAKER_01]: But you can still have that happen.
• 7:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: and mitigate things and not let it snowball and get stops and get sacks and create turnovers which I think will be incredibly important.
• 7:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then, you know, if the offense performs somewhat close to what it did on Sunday against Atlanta, I think things should balance out.
• 7:33
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, and the Falcons are missing some key players on defense if you look at the other side of the ball there without jail and walker towards ACDL before the start of the season James Pierce Jr. serving in games suspension.
• 7:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: So this is a Falcons defense that we feel is going to kind of be a little bit vulnerable on the back of the Panthers putting up almost 40 points against the Chicago Bears listen.
• 8:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: I haven't always been the biggest fan of Bryce Young, but if he's going to start this hot and take care of the ball of that well and put it on four touchdowns, Nick, I love what I'm seeing.
• 8:13
  [SPEAKER_02]: Can you give me a little bit of insight into what prompted this fast start for the Panthers?
• 8:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: And just how important is that
• 8:21
  [SPEAKER_02]: For this now Brad Isaac led offense, since he's the one calling the players, how important is it that they're able to get off to such a good start so early on and what that can mean for the offense going forward this year.
• 8:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah well I think for Bryce to me it started with that you know there were moments last year but having that playoff performance be you know what kind of was still in his mind going in to the next season had to kind of bully his confidence and and keep it high where it had been for you know
• 8:56
  [SPEAKER_01]: portions of last season, although it was inconsistent.
• 9:00
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think having that be kind of the last taste of football he had, the last vision of how he played was very important.
• 9:07
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then I do go to Brad Izzick.
• 9:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I mean, the bears were the ones having things like,
• 9:13
  [SPEAKER_01]: getting a delay, a game out of a timeout happened with their operation.
• 9:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: As sloppy as we've seen the Panthers offensive operation be for quite some time now, they really had had it cleaned up by week one and that was great to see.
• 9:29
  [SPEAKER_01]: And then you saw the trust and Bryce Young to go down the field.
• 9:40
  [SPEAKER_01]: have the play action working so well and do have plays in there that allow him to use his legs to create and extend plays down the field.
• 9:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: You saw the tight ends involved, which Panthers fans have been begging for.
• 9:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: The running backs are healthy right now and offer complimentary skill sets to Bryce Young.
• 10:03
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that combined with another year in the system, I mean, I can't tell you how many times Cody, I heard people on shows like this that were outside of kind of the Panthers universe, say, oh, I got a new play caller, you know, always know what that means, there's an adjustment, what like no, like Brad, it's expand here.
• 10:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's been in Bryce's ear.
• 10:23
  [SPEAKER_01]: Monday through Saturday, just not on Sundays, and he runs Dave Canal's offense.
• 10:28
  [SPEAKER_01]: They built it together.
• 10:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: So it is merely just a, now he's calling plays.
• 10:33
  [SPEAKER_01]: Now that's off of Dave's plate, so we can handle other things and it's Brad's soul.
• 10:38
  [SPEAKER_01]: Focus on Sunday.
• 10:39
  [SPEAKER_01]: So I think a lot of those things combined.
• 10:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: With Bryce just kind of starting to really get it.
• 10:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Like he's starting to slow the game down.
• 10:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's starting to see a lot more.
• 10:50
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's not forcing things as much.
• 10:52
  [SPEAKER_01]: He doesn't have to as much.
• 10:54
  [SPEAKER_01]: So, you know, I don't know.
• 10:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: It's going to be a little bit tougher of a challenge against Atlanta's secondary.
• 11:02
  [SPEAKER_01]: at their place, then it was against Chicago at home, but I think, you know, if they can establish the run early, they can get those tight ends involved.
• 11:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think things will be there for Bryce Young, as they always seem to be in Mercedes-Benz Stadium.
• 11:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, I was just about to bring that up.
• 11:18
  [SPEAKER_02]: It always heartens you when you think, man, brightest performs really well against the Falcons historically.
• 11:25
  [SPEAKER_02]: Here we have such a connection with Jalen Koker.
• 11:28
  [SPEAKER_02]: Koker means so much to the same.
• 11:31
  [SPEAKER_02]: To me, it was one of the most pertinent moves that Dan Morgan could have made, paying Koker.
• 11:36
  [SPEAKER_02]: early and making him a real part of this offense going forward, and if you're a Panthers fan, you have to feel like they barely even got team back involved.
• 11:46
  [SPEAKER_02]: And there was still able to put up that kind of an offensive explosion that has to excite you.
• 11:51
  [SPEAKER_02]: I think about what they're still able to do going forward that we haven't even seen yet.
• 11:57
  [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm going to pivot to a player that
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: with a bright sound.
• 12:03
  [SPEAKER_02]: And that's exactly what you're like yet, former first round pick.
• 12:07
  [SPEAKER_02]: The Carolina Panthers accounted for almost 40 points, and Xavier like that was none of those points.
• 12:16
  [SPEAKER_02]: One reception, and it was dropped.
• 12:19
  [SPEAKER_02]: You know, you really felt like when the Carolina Panthers drafted Chris Brousal, it was like a nudge, nudge, hand tent, like we really need you to turn into a meaningful contributor in this offense, and that just hasn't happened yet, where do you think Xavier will get fits in this offense, and is there in the chance that we can actually get him going sometime in the foreseeable future?
• 12:45
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, I mean, I think he has a role in the offense.
• 12:49
  [SPEAKER_01]: Clearly, Tetsai Roe, McMillan, and Jalen Coker, Occupy, the top two spots by a mile in that sort of silver room.
• 12:57
  [SPEAKER_01]: I think at this point, they know that we get kind of is what he is.
• 13:01
  [SPEAKER_01]: He's a guy you have to create spaces for and get him the ball, maybe a little shorter down the field and then let him take off with good blocking, but case and point on Sunday, you've got to make that first catch.
• 13:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: or the coaches aren't gonna go back to you.
• 13:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Bryce Young isn't gonna go back to you.
• 13:20
  [SPEAKER_01]: There is a lack of trust that has built there over the last couple of years to where they don't think he's the first or second or in that case, third, fourth, fifth.
• 13:32
  [SPEAKER_01]: That's the option to throw the football too and you know, we've seen them now Partways and cut ties and cut bait with several recent draft picks, including fork from Excel's class, but he's a first round pick.
• 13:47
  [SPEAKER_01]: They are
• 13:48
  [SPEAKER_01]: playing this out as long as they can to try to salvage something from that.
• 13:55
  [SPEAKER_01]: I truly think they believe in what the kid does from a work ethic perspective and a practice perspective, but it's all about the trust you can build on game day and he has not only not built it recently but kind of built it in the negative.
• 14:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: So it's, you know, we thought in training camp he had really kind of like started the climb his way out of that, but then you see what happened Sunday early and then you don't hear from him or see much of 17 again.
• 14:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: I always said this, the people asked me, is this a big year for Xavier Ligat?
• 14:30
  [SPEAKER_01]: I said it was a big summer.
• 14:31
  [SPEAKER_01]: I thought he had a good summer, but if you're not doing it on Sundays, that doesn't matter all that much.
• 14:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: So it's going to be interesting to see if he can, you know, he had a good game against the land at last time when they had that come back.
• 14:42
  [SPEAKER_01]: So we'll see if he can kind of rebound as well.
• 14:45
  [SPEAKER_02]: Yeah, that's a great point, um, I feel like this entire team had a big off season, you know, because we all know what's on the line.
• 14:55
  [SPEAKER_02]: Bryce wants to get paid.
• 14:56
  [SPEAKER_02]: But, you know, when the NFC South isn't flux like it is, the Carolina Panthers have a real opportunity to assert themselves in a very up in the air division.
• 15:06
  [SPEAKER_02]: Nick Carbone of WCNC Charlotte, give me your keys to this game this Sunday.
• 15:12
  [SPEAKER_02]: If the Carolina Panthers come away victorious, what did they do well to do so?
• 15:18
  [SPEAKER_01]: Well, it's basic football math.
• 15:22
  [SPEAKER_01]: establish the run on offense and stop the run on defense.
• 15:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: No doubt about it.
• 15:26
  [SPEAKER_01]: The primary focus of this defense regardless of which quarterback is going to be playing in this game is to stop Bajad Robinson and limit him as much as possible.
• 15:37
  [SPEAKER_01]: And when you have a player that is 70 something percent of the Falcons offense, it's like the McAfrey conundrum
• 15:46
  [SPEAKER_01]: here back in 2019, you know, you can let him get his to a point, but if you limit him enough and get stops, you know, you're not letting anybody else hurt you.
• 15:59
  [SPEAKER_01]: On offense, you know, they had 125 rushing yards and 5.7 yards per carry on Sunday, but I thought the run game could have been better and they said the same thing.
• 16:11
  [SPEAKER_01]: Um, you know, I think 28 of those were AJ deal and late the game.
• 16:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: I can't even pick it out of 20 something you're in scramble.
• 16:16
  [SPEAKER_01]: So that factors in there, but I think they're going to come out and really look to establish the run early often play with the lead maybe that is a novel concept and continue that that push up front and and really with that.
• 16:34
  [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm not just saying like, hey, like,
• 16:36
  [SPEAKER_01]: Go out there and try to get out of there with like a 1710 win like that Run game could really open things up for Bryce Young and his weapons in that domed Especially off the play action and how good he was off the play action on Sunday So establish the run stop the run You know, if not really going out of limb with those two things, but I think in this particular case those are the two biggest keys
• 17:00
  [SPEAKER_02]: yeah next you've been awesome tell our fans where they can find you where they can enjoy your work and just overall what you're doing for a WCNC
• 17:08
  [SPEAKER_01]: Yeah, appreciate it.
• 17:09
  [SPEAKER_01]: I'm on X at Nick Carbony, WCNC.
• 17:12
  [SPEAKER_01]: My Instagram is N Carbony.
• 17:14
  [SPEAKER_01]: Put up interviews and videos there all the time, and I'll be on every night on WCNC Charlotte at 11, and of course we'll be on after Sunday night football this week.
• 17:25
  [SPEAKER_01]: I don't know who the Sunday night game is off the top of my head, but we'll be on after that, hopefully talking about a Panthers bounce back.
• 17:32
  [SPEAKER_02]: hopefully Nick will have to get to one again this is before the trade deadline absolutely it's going to be active in that and not but we appreciate you absolutely Nick Carboni of WCNC this has been another addition of the C3B check C3Ligin until next time keep pounding