PANTHERS SQUAD SHOW: Can Carolina Start 2026 With a Statement vs. Bears?

0:00This is the Lockdown Podcast Network celebrating 10 years of your team every day. Today's episode is brought to you by the Dell XPS. I'm Wes Goldberg from Lockdown NBA Daily and Lockdown Heat. So what does it feel like to have a better laptop like the Dell XPS powered by Intel Core? With a premium design that's thin and light, it feels smooth. With a responsive touch screen, it feels fast and precise. And with long lasting battery life, it feels like non-stop energy with a laptop that can keep up. Built for those who want better, the Dell XPS. Built for you. Hey, Drake May here. As a pro quarterback, I know I can't do it alone. I have to trust my team, and that goes for my money too. Which is why I use Betterment, the trusted investing and savings platform. Their automated investing tools always have my back. Like my own line, over a million people already trust Betterment to build their wealth. So I know I'm in good company. Start building yours at Betterment.com or download the app.

1:02Investing involves risk. Performance not guaranteed. Paid client ad. Views may not be representative. See App Store and Google Play reviews. Learn more at Betterment.com slash ambassadors. Game week is here. It is time for us to watch Caroline and Panthers football. I'm Walker Mail. I'm here to tell you why Chuba Hubbard, not Jonathan Brooks or all the other special weapons this team has. It might be Chuba. That's the X factor in this game against Chicago. Yep. And I'm Mike Chickas. I'm ready to see these new guys feast on Caleb the Sunday. I'm Carolina Panthers first ever defensive selection Tyrone. Whoop. Keep pounding. It's the Panther Squad. Everything Carolina Panthers every week. Covering all the big hits and game changing plays from the Queen City. The way only the Lockdown Podcast Network can gear up the Panther Squad Show starts now. What is up everybody? Welcome into the Lockdown Panthers Squad Show week one. Here we go.

2:02Excited to talk a little Panthers football with everybody today. We'll take a look around the NFC South. What the division looks like going into the season. What are the keys to beating the Chicago Bears? Team captains being set for Carolina. What does that mean as we look at the year ahead? And then ultimately what does Carolina have to do to find success in week one to begin their 2026 season? I'm JJ Jackson, the host of the show. Also you could find me on Lockdown Blue Daffles. We've got Walker Mel here from Lockdown Hornets and Wesson Walker on FNZ Radio there in Charlotte. Mike Chickas, the proud host of Lockdown Panthers hits where you could find on YouTube and podcasts. And then 1995 Carolina Panthers first round pick Tyrone Poole with us on the squad show. Fellas, this is going to be a wonderful show that we've got for the people here tonight. And I'm just excited football is here. The real games are right in front of us. One more sleep before high stakes football in the NFL and then just a few more sleeps before

3:04we get to Carolina Panthers football. And what might be one of the most important games of the season outside of Dave Canal is constantly telling us it's the next one. That's the most important. Panthers fans are really rowdy for a victory over Chicago with this little rivalry we have against the Bears. So I think they want this one as bad as they want any game this season. And not only that, it's been five years since we won an opening game to the season. So let's do it. Let's just start out of the gate with the win this year. We're well over here. And for those who watch TV, you watch TV, right? I'm going to go back to good times when JJ say it's Dino Mike. So for 26 seasons, get ready to start up people and it's Dino Mike. We need a Dino Mike start out of this Panthers team as Mike just alluded to. It's been five years since the Panthers had a one and a record. It has been a long couple of weeks. Remember, we talked about when the rosters would be cut down to 53 men on that Sunday.

4:06It would be 14 full days before you saw the Panthers in action with that first game of the regular season. Tyrone, what is that like for the players, those two weeks post preseason when you're amped up, you've already got a little taste of it. And now you're just counting down the days for the real games. Yeah, you know, JJ is like the weight of preseason is off the backs. They now can sleep in their homes. They can wake up in their home. They can spend time around their family, go through the rituals and oh, did I forget the good part? The real chicks start coming in, baby. The ones that you get paid to go out there and get that W with. So so much excitement that it's about to begin for these players, the fans. Hey, let's go. Let's go. I'm ready. Where's my helmet? Where's my shoulder pants? Where's number 38, baby? I'm ready to get back out there. I've got a helmet here in my set for you, Tyrone. I mean, I could get it over to you and you'll be, uh, you'll be ready to work.

5:10Walker, how are how revives in the Charlotte area right now is we're just a few days away from from the start of the season. You know what? Great question. They're oddly not great. I think people want to feel good about this team, but there've been a couple of at best questionable performances and joint practice. And I think at worst, especially against Houston, it was a terrible performance with the edge rushers that they had that constantly put Bryce, uh, in pressure situations. And it feels weird with Chicago getting some guys healthy. We'll talk about Rome, a dunesay, who's day to day. Ben Johnson told us just a little while ago, but it for some reason, Panthers fans, they're a little nervous about this one. I think it's because they want it so bad with this rivalry we have with Chicago. We've got bears fans and radio host up in the windy city talking trash about the deal. Of course, that Carolina made with Chicago to move up to number one, get Bryce young, and they still got the number one overall pick off the backs of Carolina and then took

6:12Caleb Williams. And of course, with that supporting cast and Ben Johnson, they've already got a postseason victory under their belt. And Johnson, by the way, the same coach that got his pick when he was being courted as the next head coach of some franchise, Dave Tepper, he wanted him to be the next head coach. And Ben Johnson said, no, thank you to coming to Carolina. He'd rather work with Caleb Williams. He'd rather work with everybody in the bears organization. So it's a little personal for us down here. And I think that has us all on edge. We want this victory pretty damn badly. Yeah, I'm really excited to talk about the coaching of it all with Ben Johnson in his second season as the bears had coach. He is an Asheville North Carolina native went to the same high school that I did shout out AC Reynolds with all of our notable alums out there and then went on to have a really good career at North Carolina. So a family weekend ahead for Ben Johnson to open up the year. But it's actually Carolinas coach that I want to talk about here, fellas. Dave can Alice starting his third year as our head football coach took over a team that

7:15had won just two football games, debuted with five wins and then followed it up in a second season with eight wins. How pivotal is this for Dave can Alice to get off to a good start this year? Michael, let's go to you. Yeah, no, year three. I always consider year three as the most important year for a head coach. Those first two years, that's when you're getting to learn the players, the system, especially being a first year head coach in this year three. That's where we needed make that that lead. We got to win a playoff game this season. We got the pieces he has as players. He's got more of his picks. So he's not on the hot seat in my opinion. I the growth over the last couple of years. He's shown enough to really establish himself. But this is the year that he's got to own it. He's handing off play calling duties to Brad Idzick. So he's going to take more of a management role. He should have more control of the offense. He wants to pick up the pacing on the offense. You mentioned this year. So we should see that all that move forward and that's where the pressure is. This is the year that he's got to make that next leap and take us not just to the playoffs,

8:16but win a playoff game. That's the big story is Dave Canalis putting on the CEO hat rather than the play caller hat this year. It was interesting. The fact that he gave play calling duties to Brad Idzick with Idzick being a guy that's been alongside Dave for quite some time. Dave could have come into this year with all of the authority in the world to tell you and the rest of the fan base that I'm going to be the play caller. We just made the postseason last year. Even if you did get there at eight nine, you needed a lot of luck to get there as well. They did improve to Mike's point. And Dave could have come in without much backlash and told you that he was going to continue to call the plays. But he's now handing over those responsibilities to first time play caller, offensive coordinator Brad Idzick. So Dave Canalis can manage the game a lot better. He can have his hands in both the offense and the defense. He can oversee everything happening with his football team. And now Bryce Young who works with Brad Idzick every single day very closely because they're

9:17on the offensive side of what Carolina is going to do every single week. Now I think they have that relationship. Idzick and Bryce knows what page everybody's on. I think they're on the same page for both of them. And so I'm interested to see how this relationship is going to work on game days. And really I'm interested to see how Dave Canalis handles the game management side of things because that's been a little bit of a question mark with him over the last two years. I'm going to add this. We were talking about Dave Canalis and I know fans fans are used to microwavable results. Right. You go look at the Rams and you know they weren't paid for a Super Bowl, right? But then what happened to them the very next year, right? So what I'm trying to hint at and get at is if you want to be consistently in the championship race run, being a contender, not a protender, I'm going to take you back

10:19to 1995 when Jerry Richardson, God bless his spirit, when we first heard from him as a team. Jerry Richardson, the first owner of the Carolina Panther said, I have a 10 year plan. To get the Carolina Panther to the Super Bowl. So I'm here to tell all the Carolina Panthers hopeful. The food don't taste good when it's microwavable. It's only good when it's slow cooked. So Dave Canalis, you got to give him an opportunity and he knows what he's doing. Dave Tepper didn't hire this guy just picking his name out of the sky, right? So he has a plan. He knows that it takes a process, right? You got to build a culture. You got to build a foundation. Then you got to get players in here that got chemistry. Then that's when the championship comes. So if we are always looking for the microwavable results, then we're going to be like a lot of these teams in the league. They got 10 coaches in the last 12 years. And that's not what you want, right?

11:19So again, you got to trust the process and let Dave Canalis, build a foundation, put up the walls. And before you know it, you have a beautiful house that you can consistently go in and know that it is a championship culture. But Tyrone, how difficult do you think that is for him to give up those play calling duties? That's, that's been his MO. Well, that's where you bring in people who know your system. That's why a lot of these coaches, when they leave and become head coaches, they bring players with them that know exactly how they think, right? They not know truly exactly, but they know pretty much who spy on what these coaches would call in this situation. So yes, you oversee, you oversee, but you have to be able to be a general, a general, and you send your, your, your infantry out into the war. But the general can never think clearly when you're out trying to fight off the bullets yourself.

12:20But the general has to have enough clarity to sit in a culture area of where he can sit behind his desk, look at them and then come back to the coaches and say, this is what we need to do. Then they go out and carry it out. But I don't think you can be an effective hand coach if you're out there in the infantry, fighting the bullets as well. You got to be the general, oversee everything and give your commands from the higher post. Which is why the decision was interesting for Dave Canalis to hand over these responsibilities to Brad Edzick because usually coaches don't want to give up that power. They usually do that when it's a last ditch effort to save your job or if something isn't working. And yeah, Caroline has offense hasn't been great over the last couple of years, but we had seen some improvement and even still loop kegley gave them the stamp of approval. A couple, I think it was a couple of years ago when he turned to Jake Deloam in the broadcast booth and said, Dave got me, he's got the goods from a play calling standpoint. So there are all these things you can point to and say, this is why Dave should have held

13:21on to those responsibilities. But if you are going to give Brad Edzick these duties, I do think that this is the exact right time to hand him over because of the familiarity between the two. Edzick and Canalis were in Seattle together. The one year Canalis the first year Canalis was ever a play caller the year in Tampa Bay. Edzick was on Canalis staff. And of course Dave brings Brad Edzick over here to Carolina. Now the third time in Carolina, that's when he'll be the play caller. You also hire Darryl Bevel whom you have familiarity with. He was in Seattle forever. The offensive coordinator with the Seahawks then kind of bounced around a little bit was in Miami with Mike McDaniel for quite some time. And I think all of these guys are pretty open minded. I don't think that there's a power trip with either one of them. I think they have a pretty open door policy with everyone. And I think you're right Tyrone Brad Edzick knows the system Canalis wants to run. And so he'll still go to that word bank who go to that play call sheet bank.

14:23And he doesn't need to call the exact play Canalis might call in that instance, but he can bring his own tendencies. He can add his own flavor to it. Even if it's still within the general idea of what Dave would want to run, you get this new little wrinkle of the Mike McDaniel system installed with Darryl Bevel's presence on the staff as well. This is the time if you're going to do it. And it's always nice to change some things up a little bit because defenses, they're going to watch film, they're going to pay attention to some of the tendencies that you've shown over the last couple of years. And even if it is working really well, which I wouldn't say that it has, but even if it is working really well over the course of a two year span, it's still nice to stay ahead of the game because you know other smart coaches are making adjustments. As much as I questioned it at the time because Dave Canalis was hired with the play calling that he was able to roll with in Tampa in mind, like that's what got him the job. I've come around a lot on it and it didn't take me very long to understand this is actually

15:26the right process to give Brad Eddick so much authority over the offense. And really there's not like this checks and balance system in terms of what that, you know, the what Canalis is going to have us hand in on game day itself. The NFL each and every year has more and more access right over the years hard knocks has become such a big thing that now every team is taking this thing in house and we want to give you as much behind the scenes footage. What we still have it stumbled across fellas is teams letting us know the in game communication amongst these coaching staffs. I would do anything to be able to hear this stuff across the league is a head coach over writing his coordinator what conversations are you having from the box and down like all of that I'm fascinated by and we just haven't got there yet. That's my message to the NFL. Please let us see these things. I'm thinking, you know, NASCAR you can hear the comms of a spotter up top. I understand it's an unfamiliar thing in many levels of sports, but oh, I would love

16:29to be able to know what those in game communications look like for the staff guys. Am I alone? Classified. Classified. I think it was the XFL who did that with the referees, the discussions and the talk that's going on behind the scenes for like, I love that stuff, the insights and how decisions I've been made. So I'm all for it. There's an argument about being a little bit too transparent, but I mean, me as a fan and somebody that loves that stuff too, I'm right there with you. I may never subscription they want. I'm in. Well, and it was cool last year. They're going to be very selective in what sequences they give you, but they did give us something last year when Rico Doudle went off of the field and he went straight to Dave Canales and said, let's run that crack toss. It's there. If you run this, I've got a scene where I can take it to the crib or get a big gain. They run it. Dave Canales listens to his player and sure enough, there's a big play somewhere within that first six weeks span, especially when Rico Doudle took over.

17:29So they give it to us, but not nearly as much as we would want. We want to hear some of the drama behind the scenes as well, not all the hunky doors. And here we go right here, Walker. I want you to run a toss right. I got my car. You're not going to hear it, guys. You'll only hear it. You'll only hear it. Yeah, Mike, Mike, JJ. Yeah, that's, you're not this classified, guys, you're giving away too much. And Tyrone, that's fair because not only do we use the play cards to cover our mouths wealth, but then we've got a million different emojis and signs that are up there. How many of these coaching staffs have different colored shirts for the players to look at to understand what the play call is? I get it. You want to be able to protect some of your plays and that sort of thing. But man, I would just, I'd love to know what goes it because I don't think that's unless you've done it before, I don't know that you truly understand how many people are talking and trying to put their input in to decisions that you're making. Like Dave Canallus got to be selective with who he's listening to in those moments.

18:30Well, and that was the issue for Bryce Young early, right? How many cooks were in the kitchen? How many chefs? Head chefs were in the kitchen. Now, it is an interesting question, right? Is Dave Canallus still going to feel this overwhelming sensation to override, Brad Edzick and these got to have it situations? Or is there full trust here? The way that Dave has operated, the way that he's spoken about Brad Edzick and what he wants to do this upcoming season, I really think that Brad Edzick has the reins. Dave just seems like that kind of guy as well. No decision really doesn't seem to make any decision where he put himself before the team. I mean, even in that Rico example that I just mentioned, like he was listening to his player. He took a look at things and said, yeah, there's no ego check here. He's right. Let's run it and sure enough, they prospered from it. So I really do think that Dave Canallus is going to let Brad Edzick cook as much as possible. Fourth down decisions, that's the head coach's responsibility I want Dave making those decisions.

19:35This is why he's the head coach. He's been preparing and he has a full time to think about it rather than having to think about that decision and making sure that he gets the play in on time. Now, Edzick just has to worry about that. So I do like the operation a lot more. Let me say it's really cool. Go ahead Tyrone. Brad, I know we talked about Brad, we talked about the head coach, but really this food is not really going to be served the way it's supposed to be served to office I'm talking about. Until Bryce Young becomes the top chef and he calls what he sees out though net field. That's when you want to see the Carolina Panthers office take off. And because he's out there, he sees it, he sees the Florida game, he knows what a weak spots are. So I feel like, you know, yes, Brad can call it, he could change it up and the all that stuff. But until they hand the reins over to Bryce Young and he becomes that official top chef,

20:35then we'll be cooking from the satellites and the food will be good, but it won't be great. I like good food. Great foods even better than I might be. Bryce Young has to be that top chef. That's a good transition for us. He's going to be top chef so much so that he's been named one of the captains for this Carolina Panthers team. Let's talk about those selections for the captains, what their leadership role will mean for the Panther success and so much more here in a moment. How about the timing? Home Chef is the best was schedules getting busier and everyone getting back into their normal routines, figuring out what's for dinner can become a daily headache. Home Chef makes cooking simple with fresh food delivered right to the door, easy recipes to follow and meals that actually taste great weekly deliveries help eliminate the meal planning, grocery runs, complicated prep and even a lot of the cleanup and with more than 30 meal options every week. There are choices for different tastes and dietary needs, including 30 minute meals and

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23:39role within an NFL locker room speak to that from your playing experience. What does it mean to truly be a captain for the team? Yeah, usually JJ that they have offensive captain. They have a defensive captain, special teams captain and usually that fourth guy is the guy that's very respectable in the locker room, whether he's on offense or a defense. Of course, we know the quarterback. That is the focal point. That is the person that as we mentioned earlier, the top chef, that's the one that gets everything going. So if you don't make the quarterback, you're captain then you're really going to lose your offense. Defense is the same thing. It's usually going to be that guy that everybody pays attention to, right? It's like in that movie, a forest gump, right? When he said, gump, why don't you put that gun together so fast because you told me to

24:39drill sergeant. That's what that captain is, right? That captain is the one that when they say, hey, let's go guys, we go. Special teams is usually the same person. The person that is always around the ball that playmaker because you want your captains to be the example because somewhere doing the game, the game is going to fall behind. The emotion is going to get down and that's when you're captain rallies your team and gets the momentum and gets the energy back up. So it's very important and very vital that those entities that we call the captains are people who are very energetic, very respectful because of course, if they don't do it, then the team is not going to follow. So this used captains, they have a big role and it is a big role to be a captain. Well, now we're in a spot where there are five captains, the panthers have named for the full season. They can have additional, I mean, it's crazy as the years go by, the more captains that

25:40are added into the mix. So offensively, Bryce Young and Chuba Hubbard have earned that distinction for Carolina, defensively, Derek Brown, Devon Lloyd in his first year with the team is giving the captains honor and then special teams have our guy, JJ Jansen, the long snapper. He's played more games as a Carolina panther than anyone else. He's been on the team since 2009, 264 games as a panther to his name, but those are the five. Bryce Young, Chuba Hubbard, Derek Brown, Devon Lloyd, JJ Jansen, Walker, I turned this over to you. Yeah. First, I love the idea of JJ Jansen and Bryce Young acting like this, castizing drill sergeant. He's just so far out of both of their elements. And maybe, right, it wasn't so joky when we talk about Bryce not being a drill sergeant. Actually, I remember when Jadevian Clowney was here when he was asked about his first impression of the signal caller. He mentioned now he wanted Bryce to be a little more vocal and that just hadn't happened naturally yet because he was younger.

26:41There were some older guys in that locker room and that maybe he didn't feel like he could really take charge. There was also Andy Dalton in the QB room who had been to the playoffs a million times with Cincinnati, had a bunch of experience under his belt. And I think they got ready to be in part because I think it was time to move on. They said they wanted to get younger at the position. But I also think that there was a little part of that too that they wanted Andy Dalton out. So Bryce felt like he had authority over the leadership role. Can he pick it's not going to take away from that? You're not going to have Haynes King as an undrafted rookie come in and take away from some of that leadership that is supposed to belong to Bryce. I do like both of those guys showing the drill sergeant authority there. It makes sense to me. I mean, I think the guy to focus on in my opinion here, Derek Brown, self-explanatory, just a monster of a player is always that vocal leader leads by example as well. Bryce Young, self-explanatory as well. Devon Lloyd is interesting to me. Devon Lloyd coming off of an all-pro season down in Jacksonville.

27:44Not only has he made an impact on the field with the preseason play, grading out really well, just watching him on film in the very limited snaps that we've seen. Looks like a hit immediately. Huge upgrade at that linebacker spot. I would argue one of the bigger position upgrades all across the NFL going from Trevin Wallace who just got cut to Devon Lloyd, who's an all-pro last season. So huge upgrade there. But even so, Robert Mays, I think I referenced this last week too. Robert Mays of the athletic was discussing how Devon Lloyd went to a giero of arrow and was discussing camouflage with him. Let's disguise this look a little differently than what we were doing originally. And this is why, and I think he's already made an impact. I know Jake DeLome loves him hearing Jake on the broadcast when there was an interview with Devon Lloyd in one of the preseason games. Devon was asked about the linebacker lineage. It's special here in Carolina. It starts with Sam Mills, who is just an all-time otherworldly football figure, Luke Keekley,

28:45John Beeson, even Dan Morgan. There are so many great linebackers in Carolina. He was asked about continuing that lineage. And he said, to be honest, I haven't done anything yet. I've got a lot to accomplish. And while it's great, I really appreciate everybody putting me as that next guy, the guy to kind of carry the baton from all the greats before me, I haven't done anything yet. We got a lot to accomplish. And I think leading by example, saying, giving a message that indicates that as well, it's easy to see why Devon Lloyd has had such a big impact before he's even played a game as a Panther yet. Mike, what do you think? Yeah, I was going to say the same guy. Devon Lloyd being here just a new player amongst all new teammates and getting voted as Captain. That's not something that happens very often. So that just shows the amount of respect that these players have for him. I know he's the first one in the building every day along with Chuba Hubbard, which is why Chuba has finally been elected as a Captain as well. So well deserved role as he's grown with the team over the last four or so years. But I just can't wait to see Devon Lloyd out there behind Derek Brown.

29:50We have Ocarake and the other side and Devon Lloyd. That's like, yeah, I'm like, still knowing my words here because I'm so excited about it. But Devon Lloyd, seeing him come in and immediately demand that respect and that, get elected Captain. I am stoked for it. It says volumes about him, his character, every interview with him. He says the right thing. He's already working on building chemistry, helping recruit the guy. So I love it. I absolutely love it. Yeah. Was there a player like that in your career Tyrone who as soon as he comes into a locker room, demands respect from teammates and instantly gets to be a captain in the first season. Anybody come to mine? Cause this seems really impressive. What linebacker Devon Lloyd is doing this year for the Panthers. Oh, yes. When I was with Carolina in the first year, of course, Sam Meals, you know, part of a great linebacker core, back with the Saints. Then Kevin Green, God bless his spirit came in and right away, you know, he had instant

30:55years of of a plan and respectability. I remember Eric Davis came in coming from the San Francisco 49ers respectability. So usually that respectability comes when you have put down years of work, right? You put sweat equity into it and the guys who even guys who have played longer 10 years respect the fact that this person, even though they are younger than me in years, they respect their game. And that's what it's all about. You want to respect their game. If your teammates don't respect your game, they don't respect the effort that you put into your preparation. If they don't feel like you respect just a logo itself and a chemistry. And what the team stands for then I don't care if they do label you a captain, they're not going to follow you. So when they say, you know, why did you put that?

31:57Can I do it again? Well, I'm leaving alone. I'm leaving alone. So anyways, no, Sam Meals, Kevin Green, Eric Davis, those guys come to mind as automatic respectable guys from their tenure playing previously before coming to Carolina. And it feels like if Devon Lloyd can be even a percentage of those players, Carolina is going to be in a really good spot. And I think he could be even greater than that with what the Panthers look to do defensively. All right. I think one is here. It's the Chicago Bears, a playoff team from a season ago. We're going to get into the X's and O's, the matchups that matter and what you need to know as Carolina looks to start off one and O for the first time in five years. That's coming up next here on the Lockdown Panther Squad Show. Our show today is brought to you by indeed sponsored jobs. And workplace chaos hits and you need the right hire indeed sponsored jobs helps connect

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34:03This is a job for indeed sponsored jobs, a proud sponsor of the locked on podcast network. All right, the show moves forward here today as we look at game one week one for the Carolina Panthers as they get set to take on the Chicago Bears who are led by Caleb Williams at quarterback former number one overall pick in his own right much like Carolina's Bryce Young, the physical stats. Therefore, Caleb Williams are more fitting to what you would expect of a top pick. We've talked obviously about the measurable for Bryce Young throughout his career. It was an up and down rookie season for Caleb Williams. Man, he really flourished last year in his first season working with head coach Ben Johnson. And guys, I think key number one for the panthers to get off to a good start here against the Chicago Bears is making life difficult, especially in those early downs against Caleb Williams. Ben Johnson and the Spares offense. Yeah.

35:04And here we are with the first test right out of the gate for Jalen Phillips with the big debate surrounding him and his $30 million of your contract all off season. Can you get home and bring down the quarterback because those pressures against Caleb Williams, that kind of guy can still make plays when he's on the move. In fact, he flourishes in that environment. So I'm not sure that this is one of those games where your defensive end who comes in and again, immediately raises the level of play from everybody around him. I think he's probably going to have to get on the traditional box score that you care about so much. I think he's actually going to have to bring down the quarterback because if you flush him out of the pocket, he is exceptional throwing on the move. I love the weapons that he's throwing to, especially with Luther, Luther Burton, who can redirect and maybe go deep because Caleb Williams has the arm talent to fling at 60 yards to a really fast Luther, even if the defense starts to get out of sync a little bit as Caleb leaves the pocket and Luther can redirect.

36:05Now you're even talking about him picking up a big chunky yards after the catch. I love Colston, Loveland. I mean, he's just an amazing talent. I think he could be the best tied end in the league at the end of this season, at least in tier one alongside a Tremac bride, Brock Bauer's, and you could take your pick of the litter. But those two guys I'm really worried about, if you can bring Caleb Williams down, get to him early and then finish the job, that's going to be huge. But I don't know if this is one of those games where you look at the advance metrics. You see the pressures from a Prince Lewman, Vialin or a Jalen Phillips, especially because he is very good in that regard. I don't know if this is where you go to the next gen stats and you see, oh, okay, Phillips got in the backfield, man, awesome game. We really felt him. I'd still rather you get there than just like it be a clean pocket or not, but Caleb is so good at the playmaking side of things. I'm interested to see if Phillips gets on the board here early. Yeah, discipline. It's all about discipline this game.

37:07When you're against Williams, I was looking at the stats from last season and a third of the dropbacks last season were play action. Those linebackers, Bobbi O'Karek is one I'm a little bit worried about, biting on the run, Devon Lloyd, he's magnificent in coverage, one of the best coverage linebackers in the league. What we got to do is we got to get after him, but we got to stay disciplined. We got the guys in the secondary. Let's make them make some mistakes. I mean, he only threw Caleb only threw seven interceptions last season, putting through five in the playoffs. The blueprints there, they got the video to go back and look at what happened in the playoffs, incorporate some of that in the play, but make them make some mistakes, make some plays, get some picks, but you got to stay disciplined for sure. Yeah, so we saw Caleb Williams sacked 68 times as a rookie. And then that numbered fell all the way off to 24 last year. Go ahead Tyrone. No, I was just going to add in a Lawrence Taylor sound bite, the path of defense against Caleb Williams.

38:08We got to go out there like a pack of wild dogs. So, what Carolina defense is going to have to do is opposite a wet walker said, we don't want to flesh him out, right? Because some quarterbacks are good on the run, plus when you flesh the quarterback out, it extends the play on offense that makes it tougher on defense. So what we need to do defensive, you make sure we contain him. Do not let him escape the pocket. Make him step up into the pocket and push that rush, those defensive tackles in his face and make him throw from the pocket like they say he's supposed to do, right? And then what we got to do on defense, we got to win first down. You got to win first down because first down sets up third down. And if you can win first down, keep them behind the sticks or at the sticks going to run into second down. Then nine times out of ten, you're going to change the play calling as we alluded to earlier about our offense, the play calling.

39:09So when you can get the offense behind the sticks first down, it makes it very, very good for your defense. And then we got to be able to get off the field on third down. And just so happens, if the bears do get into our red zone, then we have to do that. We have to hold them to field goals, field goals like Steve Young said one time before. The old San Francisco 49er quarterback, I played against him. He says every time they kicked a field goal, he felt like they were that much closer to lose it. So when you can keep a team from scoring a touchdown, you take away four points. And then I've always said this, a great defense is a great offense. So the Carolina Pathas offense has to stay on the field, keep that defense fresh so we can continue to go out there like a pack of wild dogs and keep Caleb Williams in the pocket. And guys, obviously tonight we're here with our Panther Squad Show live on YouTube and

40:10able to get some comments from folks watching. Let me give Chris some love here who just left us a message saying I'm curious to see how the bears plan to run the ball with Derek Brown on the field. We play the most zone in the NFL. I'll look for the bears to have a few sweeps screens and gaps games away from DB, Derek Brown and then Chris also saying we need Lee Hunter, the rookie out of Texas tech to have a big game and be a force. What do you think Mike? Yeah, because I think Derek Brown is obviously huge for this team. But Lee Hunter starter in the latest depth chart. That was the change, right? We had seen Cam Jackson as that starter with Lee Hunter as that backup at the nose. Now it's actually Lee Hunter that's going to run with the ones according to the depth chart. You like Lee Hunter over there, Mike, being a starter and do you have some faith in him? I need to see it. I like again, the deepest of line is the area outside of like Jalen Phillips and Derek Brown. I have that's where I'm most concerned on our defense.

41:11If they're like again, we're pretty well balanced with Derek Brown and Jalen Phillips, but that other side and the other deepest tackle, that's where I'm most concerned is I don't know until I see it. I hope so. But again, we at least with Derek Brown in the middle demanding those double teams because no one guy is going to block Derek Brown. That should help him out, but I will see you on Sunday. I'll go to the offense if that's okay, fellas. Talk about our keys to the game. And I'm really curious. We talk a lot about Bryce Young and rightfully so. But how about the reigning NFC offensive rookie of the year at wide receiver and Ted Aroma McMillan against that bear secondary Tyrone Chicago has a years worth of film on team act now. You know what this guy is all about after his standout rookie season. And that feels like a challenge almost for Dave can Alice Brad Edzick and then quarterback Bryce Young to scheme something up to let team at get open. But it's physical tools.

42:12Just do the work. Yeah, I think what they're going to have to do is put team acting situations where he can create those mismatches. It may come with formations line up trips on one side motion and create opportunities where the Bears defense has to adjust and then try to hit that pocket that they just created. Also I think Bryce Young is going to have to target more than just one person. He can't stare team act down because if you do that, we know that the Bears are going to make sure and I promise you this fellas and everybody who's watching the Bears defense. They know who McMillan is right. So I'm pretty sure that defense coordinator is saying we're going to double. They got some call in their defense with double team act right. And somebody else going to have to step up when that Poundtors offense. So in the locker room, we're saying it's a defense.

43:13Anybody else can beat us. But team act is not going to beat us on Sunday. So we're going to make sure we know where he is. So that's why the offensive scheme is going to have to put him in different positions, motion him out the backfield to try to create some situations. Put him in motion from left to right, put him in the slot, do anything to try to get that ball into your playmaker's hands. And then everybody else is going to have to play their role and get open and Bryce Yom. Don't force the ball. Throw the ball with a defense tells you to throw it. Yeah, this defense went very good last year. And the offense kind of puts a strain on them because they're scoring so many points. And it really brings out the creativity and opposing offenses to try to keep up with Ben Johnson. They went out and they got a safety in the first round. A safety that a lot of Panthers fans wanted and Dylan Theaneman out of Oregon. He felt like that was the Panthers fan bases favorite prospect there to because he was such an easy plug and play starter from day one.

44:13Well, that will be the case in Chicago. They lost their safety for I think what's probably going to be the regular season. Maybe he comes back Kobe Bryant, C O B Y Bryant. So good player for Seattle last year. Dylan Theaneman, maybe you want to test him early is the enemy shading over like Tyrone was suggesting wherever team act is. If team act is on the outside, I think that's when you can rely a lot on Jalen Coker with him being the number one option. Plus, this is where you start to get experimental with team act running out of that slot a lot more, which has been all the talk here in camp. We saw him run I think five of seven past plays when team act went out for a route in the preseason. He was lined up in the slot. They had success going to him when he lined up inside. There was a nice downfield play on a dig route from team act where you just automatically have the advantage lever twice and Dave can allis it's a company did a nice job of attacking it. So I wonder if you really stress Dylan Theaneman, stress those linebackers and look,

45:14the run games going to matter to to open up the passing game. This bears defense. They allowed a decent amount of passing guards. I think they were worse against the run. So Chuba Hubbard like I Chuba is the guy. Jonathan Brooks is still out with general soreness. We don't know for sure that Brooks is going to suit up even if can allis said he was optimistic. That Brooks would be available week one, but I want to see him out there at practice. Even so, I just think Chuba is going to be the early down guy and I think because of pass protection, I think it's going to be in on a decent amount of third down opportunities. So yeah, man, big Chuba game. And I think that could lead to a team act game, a big team act game. Hopeful for success for this Panthers offense and quarterback, Bryce Young to make life simple for him to get off to a good year to the season. That's so pivotal for his success. And unfortunately, we've been talking about it all off season really in this training camp and preseason world, the patchwork that Kierlein has had to do at the tackles spot in particular in the offensive line.

46:16Because if Chicago finds a way to get after Bryce Young, then we might be scrambling and trying to figure out ways for the offense to be successful. Yeah, that's that's my biggest concern on offense. I think we're going to see a heavy dose early in the game of run, run, run, quick pass, see how Monroe Freeling does against Montess wet early in the game. I don't think we're going to test that early on if we start to get that run game established. That's where we take those deep shots. But early in the game, we got to make sure Bryce is protected. He has time to throw the ball. We saw what happened against the Texans defense. Monroe Freeling, he owned up to it this week in interviews, talking about it, but we're going to have to see how he holds up first. We're going to have to give him help. So I, there's going to be some opportunities, hopefully if we get that run game going, but we're going to have to see how he holds up first before we start taking some shots. And continuing with that Chicago Bears defense that you look at Carolina last year, they were one of the worst past rushing teams in all the football. They only totaled 30 sacks. That was fifth worst in the league.

47:16Sixth worst in the league. Excuse me. They were tied with a couple of other teams at 30. The Bears only had five more. I think they were seven. They're eighth worst in the league. So it's not like they got home a whole lot last season. Even so Montess wet is a respectable past rusher in this league. Hate to be a broken record, but this is where you start to install 13 personnel right away where you're going to have a bunch of tight ends out there on the line of scrimmage to help with Monroe Freeling. And to be a broken record again, Monroe Freeling is going to struggle in this game that is going to happen because I don't care if you're top 20 tackle that's taken. And then you play your first game. Everybody gives up pressures every single one of those guys gives up at least a sack. If not two in the first two games that you play of their NFL career. So how do you respond to that? Are they going to be back breaking plays? How much are you going to help keeping Tommy Tremble inside, chipping and then going out for a route? There's a lot you're going to have to do, I think, to protect Monroe Freeling in particular

48:17in this one just because he's such a young pup playing a different position than he played last year at Georgia. Right tackle this season because of the Timo injury was a left tackle at Georgia just a season ago. Well, we want to be out. No, I'll go ahead and I'll take our break here Tyrone. So we've won is here. And that means that we've got a full slate of action for here, the NFC South excited to get into that and take a look around the NFL when locked on Panther Squad show continues here in a moment. Our show today is brought to you by our friends over at Fandall America's number one sports book. Welcome to your most rewarding NFL season ever only on Fandall. How rewarding are we talking more rewarding than a touchdown with time expiring more rewarding than an 18 point comeback, maybe even more rewarding than an offensive lineman catching a touchdown. This season, Fandall is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all new Fandall rewards club featuring exclusive offers surprises and more this season.

49:23Fandall is making the excitement go beyond what happens on the field with the all new rewards club every week. Check the Fandall app to see what's waiting for you. Take a look at week one here for the Panthers. They are taking on the Chicago Bears Carolina is a three point dog according to our friends over at Fandall Chicago minus three and over under set at 46 and a half get involved with America's number one sports book make your most rewarding season ever with Fandall visit Fandall.com to get started Fandall is a proud sponsor of the Lockdown podcast network. All right, let's keep going here on the Lockdown Panther Squad show got about 10 or so minutes left here tonight with everybody and excited to look at this week one is again Caroline is trying to repeat as NFC South champs looking across the division fellas. The Saints are playing the Lions. You've got Tampa Bay taking on Cincinnati and then the Atlanta Falcons are playing to Pittsburgh Steelers Tyrone did me to cut you off a moment ago, but looking at the division

50:26here, any of those games excite you going into week one. Well, I think in the today's NFL game, even the Falcons against the Steelers, you know, we got that opportunity where, you know, Pittsburgh is a vulnerable, vulnerable team history being on their side, what they stand for. So I do believe that they will play hard. I think the Atlanta Falcons, I think they're still trying to decide at that quarterback position like we alluded to talking about Bryce Yom being the captain. The quarterback position is the most important piece. And I think that right now the Falcons really are a game that I believe they could lose, which will give us an opportunity to finish first with the win out of the division.

51:27So I'm looking for that Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers game. I think the Steelers could come out on top of the Falcons. Yeah. And you look at the division, you went over all the games. Caroline is the only NFC South team playing at home this weekend to open up the season. Every other team is also an underdog and a pretty decent size underdog at that. So Tampa Bay on the road again, Cincinnati, a three and a half point favorite. You have since he a favorite over Tampa, you have Pittsburgh favorite at home over the Falcons at three and a half as well. Detroit at home monster favorite over the Saints. Seven point favorite are the Detroit Lions. So it kind of funny you look at Carolina who again is an underdog at home. They still have the smallest spread of any other team in the division. This is an opportunity for Carolina to capitalize on all of these other teams in the division playing on the road, playing against good teams on the road. And if you look at the way Carolina's schedule starts out, this is why I think it's a

52:29YJC horn. Bryce Young the coaching staff, Mike Jetkiss. So I everybody is telling you, it's important to start off fast because if you get this win against Chicago, you're want to know going on the road to Atlanta, who you swept last year. And I just don't have a whole lot of faith in them, especially with their quarterback situation. Then you play Cleveland. If you're going to be a playoff team, then you should expect to be Cleveland in week three, even if it is on the road. Can we get off to a three and a start right yet Chicago is going to be the toughest opponent in that three weeks span. But if you can get that victory, if you, I don't even wanna say steal one, it's certainly winnable. It's at home. We had a playoff team last year. They had a couple of upsets against really good football clubs. So if you can beat Chicago to start the season, I really like the way that the schedule sets up for Carolina. Yeah, we haven't been three and 0 since Matt Rol was our coach. Let's, let's, let's change that. Great. Oh, yes, exactly. Oh, man, but I'm really looking forward to that Tampa Bay since an adding matchup. Baker Mayfield, he just got paid. He got his payday from the bucks.

53:31We're gonna see how that plays out. But I really like the bangles. I think they're gonna get going this season. They've typically been a late start of the last couple of years. If they could keep Joe Burrow upright. We have a prime opportunity. They really get a head start, a jump start on the division this year. But we gotta come out and we gotta take care of business, which we have not been doing the last few years. This is a year to do it. And so with week one here, Walker mentioned this in the open, but we're one sleep away from football being back in our lives at the NFL level Wednesday night first game of the season. A bit odd this year. As tomorrow night, we will see those Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks and rematch of the Super Bowl taking on the New England Patriots. Pretty exciting. But again, Tyrone, a little different that it's Wednesday night football to get the season started, my friend. Joe, meet up money. That's what it's all about, fellas. That's what it's all about, right? If you can keep those televisions turned on and keep them tuned in,

54:32you got all these streaming services. So you know what the NFL is just sitting back again. What's the money machine? This is just spending money. So that's what it's all about. So I wouldn't be surprised if the NFL could have it their way. They will have a NFL game Sunday through Saturday, right? But of course, you know, the NFL PA ain't going to go for that. So, but no, Wednesday night, you know, hey, this is football season, right? You got high school, you got college, net a pros are about to kick it off. So man, tailgate, tailgate, I think they about to run out of, run out of hamburger meat, high dog buns. And, you know, so I think we need to invest and start out on a hot dog and meat company. I think we can cash in and do it in the football season. No doubt. There's always a need for that. Yeah, you can front the money, Tyrone. And as long as you do it, I don't mind earning a profit as long as it's you investing,

55:37right? Like you're getting the jump start on all of this. Hey, we all need it together. So that means I'm going to be a piece of pie. I love it. I love it. So it's a super bowl rematch. The schedule worked out for that one. It's going to be really exciting going into tomorrow night. I'm not sure if Walker has any trivia prepared today for Tyrone pool, but I've got something. So let me get us started in our final few minutes here. I'm looking back Tyrone throughout your career with Carolina, the 95, 96, 97 seasons. We've been talking week one all night long. What was your record? What do you remember from those first three games of the season that you were a Carolina Panther? Ooh, well, I'm a tag on one. I'm going to try to nail home with this one. I think Walker mentioned, you know, we could possibly, the care on the Panthers could possibly go three and oh, you know, we could win three games, right?

56:39Well, I believe in 95, we started out like, you know, we were, we hadn't won a game. We played like about five games and, you know, we were like, you know, win this. So I say all that to say that we can start three and oh, we can go six and oh, but truly is how you finish the second half of the season. So you're going to see some teams that are going to jump out and they're going to be, you know, they're going to have a great record. And then come around week nine, week 10. That's when we really see and separate the pretenders from the contenders. So I say all that to say my remembrance of the Carolina Panther team in 1995, we started out man, coldest ice, long ago, baby, we were coldest ice. But then we started warming up towards the middle of the season and then came that 96 season. Woo, we brought in a few players and we called fire. So again, I want to see the care a lot of pastors start the season with consistency and

57:45finish the season with more consistency and intensity. So I think that's going to help us with this 2026 season. Well, let's just bring this full circle because you mentioned that 95 season. You guys went 0 and 5 and your last loss in that opening five game losing streak was against who Tyrone say. That's right. It was against Chicago. Go ahead. No, that was the first. I had to say this. We all like it's NFL players, right? When was your first touchdown you threw, right? Every quarterback knew their first touchdown he threw. Every receiver remembers their first touchdown who it was against. The first sack, right? I remember my first touchdown I got beat on as a starter with the Carolina Panther. That was my first start as a Panther up until that Chicago Bears game. I was coming in at Nickel and that's how he broke me in. And then he came up to me the week of the Chicago Bears game and George Catabas who was the

58:50defensive back coach came up to me and said, hey, we're starting you this week. So I took all the reps right at corner. Then I went in at Nickel. So man, it was a lot of information. So Curtis Conway, man, Curtis ran and out and up, right? And I said earlier, you know, and I'll other cast shows, people got to go check that out. If you want to hear what I said entirely. But I was known for my quickness, right, and my explosion. And doing field work, right? They studied me and man, Curtis Conway, I was on the left side of the defense. He ran out. And I read that thing so good. I was like, woo, I was just looking at my chops. And I got that pump that pumped from the quarterback. Curtis way turned it up. And man, next day I know it was a touchdown. So I think it was a 35 yard touchdown pass. Curtis Conway, he was the Chicago Bears receiver number 80. And that was the first person to ever score a touchdown on me.

59:5241 sorry to add insult to injury. 41. I'll pass. I'll go. Here's the real trivia question. Who threw it? Who was the Chicago Bears quarterback in that game? Oh, you got me on that one there. Eric Kramer was the Chicago Bears quarterback. Yeah, Eric Kramer was the guy. But that was the last loss before a four game winning streak. And you guys never look back. Carolina getting to the postseason the next year, finishing that season seven and nine. And we finally had a football team here in the Queen City, baby. And Tyrone the answer I was looking for was one and two across your three season openers with the Panthers 95 losing to the Falcons in overtime in the first game of the year 96 a win over the Falcons. And then in that 97 season first game of the year against Washington. I think it was a 24 10 victory for Washington. So any of those first games come to mind for you. I was looking for the one and two record there. Yeah, again, the Falcons, the Atlanta Falcons.

1:00:56That was a rivalry game. So once they put the Carolina Panthers in the area of the South, right? Now we are fighting for territory, right? You got the Falcons and you got the Panthers. So that was a real big rivalry. I remember that was a game that was talked about, you know, the Atlanta territory. Now you got to upstart Carolina Panthers coming in and we're trying to action put our name in the States. So definitely those Atlanta, the Atlanta Falcon games, that first game that was again our first ever season as a team. It was a hard fought game. We played very well, played the Falcons in the old Georgia dome and they pulled it out. And then, you know, we had an opportunity to get back at them and we did. And then, you know, so at the end of the day, you know, those first couple of games, they are important. They are momentum drivers and we hope that the Carolina Panthers have a great game plan.

1:02:00You know, everything that they have put in this week, they started two weeks ago. So we're talking about this couple of weeks that they had off, right? And even doing training camp, they have been preparing for the Bears. I was saying probably in the last month or so, they have been preparing for the Bears. And this week, they totally and truly concentrated on the Bears. So this week coming up is not the first week that the Carolina Panthers offense or defense was preparing for the Bears. They were preparing for the Bears in training camp. So it's going to be very interesting to see what we're able to do week one. And hopefully Caroline is able to win for the first time in five years to open up a new season. This has been the Lockdown Panther Squad Show. Fellas, a whole lot of fun here tonight. Get everybody ready. We will be back Thursday night, one final squad show preview to get you set for the week ahead and the first game of the season for the Carolina Panthers. Super excited to do that with all of you guys.

1:03:00Again, Tyrone Pool, Mike Jitkiss, Walker Mail, I'm JJ Jackson. Special thank you to all the Panthers fans out there that are making us a part of your daily routine here with the Lockdown Hot Cast Network. We'll see you guys again real soon. Keep pounding. This is David Harrison of Lockdown Commanders. When the opening whistle blows on a new repair, get your crew moving forward with supplyhouse. Their real time inventory and honest lead times keep you from punting projects while their industry leading customer service always has your blind side covered. Join the free trade master program today and score serious perks like priority shipping. Super prices and a dedicated support line visit supplyhouse dot com to sign up for free. Use the promo code s h n f l five for 5% off your first order that supplyhouse dot com real people real service.

1:04:01Hey, NFL fans. I'm Brian Peacock and that is Matt Williamson hosts of the NFL six pack part of the Lockdown podcast network. Your team every day NFL six pack brings you the latest NFL news and analysis and breaks down all of the weekly action. The six pack of takes daily on the playoff pushed in the 2025 season or if your teams in draft mode, yeah, we'll hit that too. All right here every day on the Lockdown podcast network, the NFL six pack subscribe on YouTube or everywhere you get your podcasts.