Panthers
The Panthers were able to defeat the Buccaneers, who are four-time division champions, and GM Dan Morgan thinks that HC Dave Canales and DC Ejiro Evero have helped the team reach this point and keep them in contention.
“Canales has done an awesome job with the guys,” Morgan told Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “Just letting them be themselves, and also tailoring the scheme to what they do. Same thing with [DC Ejiro] Evero on the defensive side. And then just creating that positive environment where, ‘Hey, we’re a young team. We’re gonna make mistakes, but play hard, play your ass off, and where the chips fall at the end, they’ll fall.’ I think it’s really been the chemistry part of things that the guys have really come together as a team. You’re really starting to feel that around the building.”
“We play so hard,” Morgan added. “I’m rarely gonna watch the tape and be like, ‘Man, this guy’s jogging to the ball, or this guy’s not trying to finish a block.’ Looking out there today, you could really see that. They’re hungry to win. They’re tough. They’re physical. That’s the brand of football we want to play around here.”
Saints
The current favorite to win the Offensive Rookie of the Year is Panthers WR Tetairoa McMillan, but Saints QB Tyler Shough has moved into second place. However, Shough is focused on getting more wins under his belt.
“That’s obviously a great achievement,” Shough said, via Matthew Paras of NOLA.com. “But I think for us, that can be attained by finishing the season the right way with getting the victory next week and then the week after that. So that’s all I’m focused on right now. And we’ll go from there.”
Saints
The Saints had a record of 1–7 when QB Tyler Shough was named the starter and have since gone 4–3. He is also currently completing 66 percent of his passes, and the 26-year-old rookie feels he has taken advantage of the opportunity to start in his first year.
“My goal is to put everything on film, so that they feel comfortable with me starting every single game,” Shough said, via Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated. “My preparation, what’s on film, how I operate in the building, being a leader, being myself, that’s what I care about. Everything has been great so far. I have to continue to do that because, at the end of the day, it’s the NFL. You’re constantly being evaluated, and I understand that. What I put on tape matters.”
Being 26, Shough has the experience of having both successes and failures at college programs such as Louisville, Oregon, and Texas Tech, and learned to balance out his performance and the expectations that are placed on him.
“That leveled me out mentally, as far as expectations and the importance of preparation,” Shough continued. “The two-minute drive right before half, coming out there, I had a big throw to Juwan [Johnson], and that wasn’t even part of the play call we had,” he said. “We had multiple alerts, multiple different kinds of things we’re trying to attack, and I just checked to a completely different play. We were all on the same page, and it ended up being an explosive [play] and helped flip the field. Just having that confidence and the preparation, and also just having that in the toolbox, it was kind of a fun moment.”
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