Panthers organization would do well to understand the Steelers success instead of just imitating basic philosophies

Well I think I made a Guinness record for longest title of a post, but I digress. It's hard to put that much perspective in a title smaller than that one.

Anyway, if you haven't heard already, or if you're so out of touch with technology you can't find a television near you, the Steelers just won Superbowl 43 about an hour ago. Anyway, this is their 6th Superbowl win in franchise history, the most of any other team in the league, and this most recent victory propels them over a tie with the Dallas Cowboys and 49ers with 5 apiece.

Now it seems perfectly acceptable for one team to emulate another, especially a team that has only been in the league for 14 years. Last year Jerry Richardson said that he wanted to be a more physical team that could run the ball well and played hard-nosed defense, and when the 60 minutes expired your opponent was exhausted and bruised. There is no doubt that this was the consensus of the brass of the Panthers, and that, of course, this wasn't the only Steelers trait they wanted to emulate. I kinda know some of the other things they admired that they didn't have the time to elaborate. That's why this piece expands on the ideas. This will be a suggestive synopsis on some of those suspected traits. Lets get started.



1. It is perfectly acceptable to desire continuity when it comes to head coach. ...Just make sure you've got a person with a good head on his shoulders when you do.
I know what you're thinking. "Oh he went 12-4, that buys him another 5 years to do whatever the fuck he wants even if it sinks the Panthers into obscurity."

Listen. John Fox achieved early success with a team as a first time head coach. It happens. It's always happened. But if he's stringing together back to back losing seasons and playoff appearances are few and far between by 2015, I'm not remembering 2003 and thinking he can still go there. Fox can be brilliant sometimes but too often his gameplans are grossly exposed to be a consistent winner. He isn't really strong at breaking down the Xs and Os and beating the other team with his mind, as sometimes you are required to do, and instead relies a little too much on just outmatching the opponent physically. And worst of all, he doesn't realize a weakness on his own team when he sees one. Too many times he has refused to fix what isn't working out, and it has hindered his progress. He reminds me too much of Marty Schottenheimer sometimes. He, too, was as stubborn as a mule, and you can't say San Diego hasn't been better off after firing him. Norv Turner came in after the top seeded Chargers went one and done in the playoffs and the next year led the team to an improbable AFC Championship game. The Steelers coaches have long been known to field competitive teams at least most years. Fox has trouble reaching the playoffs and stringing back to back winning seasons. Trust me when I say Fox is not a "be-all end-all" when it comes to coaching the Panthers.


Know when to say "when", when it comes to replacing aging, diminishing starters.

I like Delhomme. I mean I really do. But I don't like him enough to turn the ball over skatey-eight fucking times every playoff game we compete in. Just because he led us to an improbable Superbowl visit in 2003 when he was 28 does not mean he can do it when he's 40. Players' abilities eventually all deteriorate over time. Brett Favre can't lead a team to a Superbowl like he did in 1996. You saw first hand, without a running game he was shit in New York.

Delhomme played like garbage each and every single time the Panthers' run game was stopped. You know full well, eventually, a team is going to stop your running game, no matter how good it is, and when it happens, you better make sure you have a damn good QB who knows how to read a fucking defense. Jake Delhomme looks like he's confused as shit sometimes when he's in the pocket. Then he throws a wobbly, inaccurate crappy throw, and you're just crossing your fingers and lighting a candle to Saint Anthony everytime he drops back to pass. If not for Steve Smith's theatrical Ringling Brothers circus grabs, Jake would not have anyone to bail him out sometimes.

IMO the best teams invest in the future of a position well before a player is set to call it quits. The Patriots have Rodney Harrison aging every second, and guess what, they've got an equally talented young buck waiting for his name to be called upon already (Meriweather). The Panthers, on the other hand, have a bad habit of not doing a damn thing until the player retires, and then go through the pain of a hole at one position while trying to bolster it, if they didn't already go through the pain of a player with diminished capabilities starting already. Mike Minter did not play well in 06, and Rucker had two terrible, unproductive seasons before retiring, and in that span, was never benched in favor of a younger option, probably just because he had tenure, and Fox can't notice when players get old and crusty. Jeez, anyone else wonder if Fox keeps his bread way after it turns green and shit and thinks it's still good?

Sometimes, assuming a risk is a critically necessary undertaking.
The last 4 Superbowl winning QBs were drafted in the first round. Ben Roethlisberger and Eli Manning both led clutch game winning drives in the closing minutes of their respective games. Are you still wondering why teams draft QBs high, even if it has a chance of not panning out? Let me tell you, first round QBs get a bad rap, because of guys like Akili Smith, Alex Smith, Jamarcus Russell and Ryan Leaf. These are all QBs thrown into teams with no direction, no supporting cast, and no running game. On the other hand, QBs like Big Ben, Rivers and Eli have had a good supporting cast to surround themselves with, which in turn, helped them develop quicker and better. The Panthers do have a good supporting cast for a QB to develop on. Williams and Stewart were the best RB tandem in the entire league and Steve Smith is one of the most prolific wide receivers. Not to mention, with a little continuity the offensive line can repeat its dominance this year. This is no league to be fucking conservative and stingy. The only teams that had success are ones that took calculated risks and put something on the line in an effort to improve. If the Steelers thought the same way Fox did, Tommy Maddox would still be QBing the team into mediocrity and Big Ben would be elsewhere. Fox just has this inherent philosophy that he can build a superbowl winner by side-stepping or avoiding necessary roster moves required for contendership. Fielding outstanding QB play is just one of many areas carelessly ignored.

There's a reason they have those other 6 rounds in the draft.

Not every starter has to be a fucking first round draft pick. If that was the case, it would take 22 years of drafting talented guys to fill in every position, and by the time all those years elapsed, the guys you drafted first those first 7 years would likely be retired by then.

Basically, what those day two picks do is either A) give you quality depth at a certain position or B) give you a quality starter if you have enough patience and interest invested in the guy. The Panthers have neither. Too often later round picks never see the field and never get a chance to be thrown out there and show us what they can do. Also, some guys we've carelessly thrown out have found success elsewhere, for example Tony Brown of Tennessee and Jovan Haye in Tampa Bay. Philly had a top 3 defense this season and only 2 starters were first round draft picks. Lamar Woodley just had a phenomenal year as a linebacker in Pittsburgh. Meanwhile, the guy drafted right before him, Dwayne Jarrett, is lucky if he gets in 3 plays a game, let alone activated on Sunday.

Part of John Fox's reputation is the fact that as far as coaching the Panthers goes, all we have to compare him to is George Seifert and Dom Capers. But it's kinda like comparing dick size to men who suffer from micropenis. At the end of the day, it's a no contest because there's no dispute between which is superior. That doesn't mean there aren't potentially better options available elsewhere. I often find myself thinking maybe the entire Panthers organization had shifted into pure conservative, take-no-risks gear because making plain dumb mistakes in the infancy of this franchise caused it to become gun-shy even in the most obvious examples of replacement. Sometimes I wonder if Fox has his fucking head screwed on tight the way he was ready to maintain an entire defensive coaching staff after giving up 30 points almost each and every single fucking game we played in the second half of the season. Then I wonder, "wouldn't it be great if the Panthers franchise had a set of balls but knew which risks to take at the same time?"