Chemistry 101
July 2, 2008
As the Panthers begin training camp July 27, much of the team’s focus is going to be on learning plays, competing for starting jobs, and getting used to being knocked around, but training camp also serves another fundamental purpose for every football team: building chemistry.
Whether it is Jake Delhomme getting to know his receivers better or the offensive line learning about each other, the chemistry built during training camp and during the preseason games is huge. We had an article last week about the Panthers recapturing the “magic” from seasons past, and if that magic is going to be recaptured it is going to start with the chemistry the players have with each other.
I feel that the offensive line is the most important aspect of a football team, you could make the worst quarterback in the world- say David Carr- look like Tom Brady behind a great offensive line. I don’t care how bad you are, if you have all day in the pocket to throw the ball, even if you’re David Carr, you’re going to find someone open. The same holds true to the running game as well. As long as you have a great line in front of you blocking, any running back is going to look like a Pro Bowler (one of the reasons Adrian Peterson looked so good last season, running behind Steve Hutchinson).
But, for an offensive line, the most important thing is chemistry. The more playing time they get with each other, the more they can begin to understand each other, the more they can tell what there teammates strength and weaknesses are. If you have the right combination of guys on the line with the right chemistry then you’ve got the key to contending season. Once the line has chemistry, then the quarterback has more time to throw, the running back more room to run.
Like I mentioned earlier, the same chemistry concepts hold true with the quarterback and wide receivers as well. For example, going back to one particular game in 2006, the Panthers were playing at Cincinnati, they were past the two minute warning in the fourth quarter and Jake Delhomme had driven the Panthers down into the Cincinnati red zone with about a minute left to play. On the next play Keyshawn Johnson was supposed to run a post to the back of the end zone, which he did, the thing was though, the defense was lined up so that Johnson would have no shot at catching the ball behind the defenders. Delhomme recognized this, Keyshawn didn’t. Delhomme expected Keyshawn to cut off his route instead of going behind the defender and threw the ball right into the hands of the Bengals defender while Keyshawn kept running. The point is Delhomme and Keyshawn didn’t have the right chemistry. I guarantee you if they ran that same play again to say Steve Smith or Moose, it would be a touchdown every time, or at least not an interception.
So with luck, the Panthers will be able to get it together during training camp, maybe build some chemistry which they have clearly lacked for two seasons. This is the one thing that makes coaching so hard in the NFL, you can teach route running, you can teach blocking, but you cant teach chemistry, at least not the kind you need on the football field.
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Written by Dylan Forrester · Filed Under Featured
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