Pass Protection: WORRIED
Tackles Byron Bell and Nate Chandler, and guards Amini Silatolu, Trai Turner and Fernando Velasco started the season strong. According to Pro Football Focus, Carolina’s line had the NFL’s 8th-best pass blocking efficiency through the first two weeks. They gave up a combined four sacks against the Bucs and Lions, but then came Sunday night.The Panthers’ front line surrendered three sacks, three QB hurries, and at least six QB hits to the Steelers. With Cam Newton continuing to lack explosiveness and big-play running ability, a line struggling to keep an already dinged-up quarterback upright is cause for concern.
Run Game: WORRIED
The Panthers entered Week 3 ranked 25th in rushing, averaging 87.5 yards per game and a far-from-stellar 3.1 yards per carry.DeAngelo Williams and Fozzy Whittaker were inactive Sunday, leaving Jonathan Stewart, a banged-up Mike Tolbert, and practice squad call-up Darrin Reaves as the team’s active running backs. They still had a prime opportunity against a Steelers defense that had surrendered 327 rushing yards and 5.7 yards per carry. But the Panthers ran the ball just 10 times for 42 yards against the 5th-worst rush defense in the league. Take away a 15-yard Stewart run that opened the second half, and Carolina averaged three yards per carry on nine attempts.If the Panthers can’t run at home against the Steelers, who can they run against?
Return game: NOT WORRIED
One of the Panthers’ biggest decisions this offseason was choosing not to re-sign WR/PR Ted Ginn. The Cardinals gave him a three-year, $9.75 million-dollar deal that was too rich for GM Dave Gettleman’s taste. So the Panthers handed Ginn’s special teams duties to undrafted rookie Philly Brown.He averaged a respectable 8.8 yards per return through the first two weeks, the 11th-best average in the NFL. Of course, Brown’s Sunday night botched return was what many feared when he struggled with drops throughout training camp. But it doesn’t sound like that mistake will make the Panthers hit the panic button.“We will continue to evaluate it but right now (Brown) is the most dynamic of all of them that we have,” head coach Ron Rivera said after Sunday’s loss.”While Ginn offered a game-breaking element that Brown has yet to flash, the rookie has been far from a train wreck. Yes, his muffed punt is cause for concern, but not panic.
Pass Rush: NOT WORRIED
After leading the league with 60 sacks last year, the Panthers got off to a similar pace with seven sacks through the first two weeks. Four of those came against the Lions in the Carolina’s first game without defensive end Greg Hardy. But on Sunday they had just one sack and three QB hurries against hard-to-bring-down Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.The Panthers are still on track for 42 sacks, a sharp-drop from where they finished last season, but it’s not like they have no rush at all. Sacks also tend to come in bunches.The Panthers are able to provide such a strong edge rush thanks to a dominant interior line that clamps down on opposing run games, allowing down and distance to dictate defensive play calling and personnel. They weren’t able to do that against the Steelers because Le’Veon Bell and LeGarrette Blount racked up 265 rushing yards. That impressive performance kept the Panthers defense off-balance and negated their ability to get after Roethlisberger.Given the Panthers’ track record for getting in opponent’s backfields, it would surprise me if Sunday was the start of a new, downward trend.
Run Defense: NOT WORRIED
The Panthers hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher over their last 16 games, and the only guy they let get to 100 over their last 22 games was Buffalo’s C.J. Spiller in Week 2 last year.Le’Veon Bell entered Sunday ranked 5th in rushing with 168 yards. Even more staggering was the 15 missed tackles he shed through two weeks, and that elusiveness showed on numerous occasions against the Panthers’ defense. Bell made several videogame-esque moves that made arguably the best front seven in the league look pedestrian. And Bell wasn’t the only one. LaGarrette Blount keep it going late, piling up 118 yards on 10 attempts. It was the first time Carolina allowed a pair of 100-yard rushers since 2001 when the Rams’ Marshall Faulk and Trung Candidate combined for 328 yards.The Panthers’ impressive streak of bottling up opposing backs was going to end sooner or later. I think this performance might have more to do with the emergence of Bell as one of the league’s elite backs more than a weakness being exposed for the Panthers’ defense.
Steelers are just a bad match-up for us. Their quick passing game negates our pass rush and Bell’s stutter step hesitation lures our DLs and LBs into overpursuit.
The O-line was terrible but I thought we had a chance to get back in the game until Philly muffed that punt.
Steelers are just a bad match-up for us. Their quick passing game negates our pass rush and Bell’s stutter step hesitation lures our DLs and LBs into overpursuit.
The O-line was terrible but I thought we had a chance to get back in the game until Philly muffed that punt.
Kroeger Without Hardy, they aren’t even in the argument for best front seven in football. Them the breaks of the game.
Kroeger Without Hardy, they aren’t even in the argument for best front seven in football. Them the breaks of the game.
MPiRor they sure seemed fine without him last week. One game at a time…it’s the NFL. Never as good or bad as you seem each week.
MPiRor they sure seemed fine without him last week. One game at a time…it’s the NFL. Never as good or bad as you seem each week.
MPiRor Kroeger bad night. They’ll bounce. Back. Remember when they started 1-3 last year?
MPiRor Kroeger bad night. They’ll bounce. Back. Remember when they started 1-3 last year?
It was National TV – the Panthers have rarely been able to go on National TV and not make themselves look like Pop Warner players – they get so hyped up about playing in front of a national audience that they seemingly walk out on the field and lay an egg before the National Anthem is played – I can only hope the scheduling gods keep us out of the limelight more often and make us play at 1 pm each and every Sunday….then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a shot during the playoffs.
It was National TV – the Panthers have rarely been able to go on National TV and not make themselves look like Pop Warner players – they get so hyped up about playing in front of a national audience that they seemingly walk out on the field and lay an egg before the National Anthem is played – I can only hope the scheduling gods keep us out of the limelight more often and make us play at 1 pm each and every Sunday….then maybe, just maybe, we’ll have a shot during the playoffs.