On Wednesday's "Around The League Podcast," we touched on the state of the Panthers' offense coming off a 12-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. While up-tempo schemes are all the rage, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton led an attack that ran a league-low 50 plays in Week 1.
Panthers coach Ron Rivera knows the NFL is getting faster -- he watched Chip Kelly's Eaglesrip up and down the field on Monday night -- but he isn't convinced a high-speed approach is the way to go.
"I'm not quite sure what the real, true benefit is other than having a few more plays," Rivera said Thursday, per The Charlotte Observer. "People say, 'Well, you get 75, 80 plays going faster.' You also can go 1-2-3 and out faster and put the other team back on the field faster. So which is it?"
The Panthers held a 7-3 halftime lead over Seattle and seemed determined to cling to it in the second half. Instead of attacking, offensive coordinator Mike Shula grew increasingly conservative. It doesn't seem fair: While the San Francisco 49ers talented passer, Colin Kaepernick, plays for an ultra-creative coordinator in Greg Roman, Cam is stuck in a ball-control approach that feels shot out of 1962.
Said Rivera: "There's some stretches if you go out there and you go too fast and make a mistake, and all of a sudden your defense is back out there. Now your defense is getting worn down. Is that a good thing, too?"
Rivera must have seen what Kelly's high-speed attack did to Washington in the first half of Monday's encounter, leaving the Redskins breathless on defense and unable to sub in players.
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