CSR’s weekly heat index of the Carolina Panthers continues with a fresh batch of hot and cold players to spotlight and critique heading into our upcoming game.
Welcome back to the 2018 edition of Step UP or Step OUT, a series on CSR that is intended to look at players who are playing well and highlight a few that need to step their game up. Think of it as a heat index for the Carolina Panthers; guys who are playing well are stepping up and those who aren’t need to improve their game or. . . step out.
This week we’ll look at some guys that saved our behinds in the narrow win over the New York Giants. The others mentioned, well. . . they need to play better or maybe just step out of the way and let someone else take over.
Steppin’ UP
Graham Gano
Heat Rating: #GanoLoGanó
I’m not a guy who likes kickers. But if you beast a 63 yard kick through the uprights in the final seconds to win a football game, you deserve to be commended. Graham Gano has been perfect on the season for us kicking field goals, and that’s about all you can ask out of a kicker. I might just finally be over the whole Harrison Butker situation. This man has now earned the money we gave him, especially given the amount of bad kicking we have seen in the league this year.
#GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó #GanoLoGanó pic.twitter.com/e8LI1tgQzO
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 7, 2018
D.J. Moore
Heat Rating: With a Panther roar, she cried Moore Moore Moore
The coaches clearly made every effort to get their two young speedsters, Curtis Samuel and D.J. Moore, increasingly involved in the game plan and that was one of the few decisions that paid off for them on Sunday against the Giants. Samuel of course had the beautiful catch and run for a touchdown, but Moore gets the nod in this column for his steady involvement throughout the day. He is still showing an incredible ability to break tackles and make people miss, and the Moore we can get him the ball, the better. For those wishing we had moored ourselves to Calvin Ridley in the draft, there is significant reason to believe that D.J. will be better once all is said and done.
The trickery @idjmoore!
— Carolina Panthers (@Panthers) October 7, 2018
pic.twitter.com/cGqiSNe0Ij
Mike Adams
Heat Rating: The not so new Spicy Chicken Sandwich
Mike Adams securing two interceptions in one game at this age is like the NFL equivalent of the old guy working at your Chick-Fil-A being able to refill four of your drinks at once. Jokes aside, Adams has had a great season so far for the team once again, and as Eric Reid continues to acclimate himself, the two should make for a pretty darn good safety pairing down the stretch.
Steppin’ OUT
Ian Thomas
Cold Rating: A cold apple turnover
Ian Thomas has had some big shoes to fill since Greg Olsen went down with a foot injury, and quite frankly, it was only a matter of time until he had a game that showed why he was a fourth round pick in this year’s draft. He still has a lot to learn about playing tight end in general. He’s taken a lot of positive steps in that direction, and getting some live experience will benefit him long-term. However, we can’t afford two interceptions that were caused in part by a player being less than sure what he is supposed to do while running a particular route.
Luke Kuechly
Cold Rating: A Snickers bar that is just too frozen to bite into right now
It has decidedly been a quiet couple of games for the Panthers’ defensive field general, and quite frankly, we have grown used to seeing a lot more out of him. Some of this might get better as the team shuffles David Mayo off the field and Thomas Davis back onto it, but really, it just seems like Luke is playing a bit more conservative than before. No one could blame him given the head injuries he has sustained if that is the case, but right now, he isn’t having the impact we are accustomed to. It feels likely to me that this is only a temporary slump, but even stars need to be called out once in awhile.
Norv Turner
Cold Rating: Like if Han Solo were frozen in carbonite, but looked like he did in Episode VII.
Fans of the Carolina Panthers cheered when Mike Shula was fired, but he was without a doubt the more creative coordinator in Sunday’s game compared to Norv Turner. It was an awful game from a play-calling perspective, particularly in the second half, and most certainly on the drive to win the game. Who runs the ball up the middle with 30 seconds left and no timeouts when you’re outside normal field goal range? In general, it looked like to me we would start each drive with a Christian McCaffrey run, it would succeed, and then we would just keep going to that well over and over again without switching things up. This coaching staff continues to somehow believe that a two score lead is enough to maintain a victory instead of stepping on their opponents throat for more points. The fact is, our defense is NOT as good this year as it has been recently, and we need those points. This is a game we should have fully controlled, instead of left up to a low percentage field goal to win at the last second.
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