Panthers’ improved defense puts Matt Stafford, Lions on lockdown

Kelly Stafford has another shutdown to be upset over.

Kelly Stafford has another shutdown to be upset over.

If so, she should blame the Carolina Panthers—who just blanked her husband Matt and the Detroit Lions 20-0 on Sunday afternoon with a much-different looking defense.

The team we saw in Weeks 1-10 allowed 380.0 yards per game and 447.3 over their last three losses. During that stretch, Carolina total just 11 sacks, the second-fewest in football, and 47 QB hits – the eighth-fewest. Plus, they were giving up a historically bad 55.3% conversion rate on third downs.

The team we saw today held the Lions to a paltry 185 yards. They tallied season-highs with five sacks and 11 QB hits. Most notably, they finally muscled up in those get-’em-off-the-field situations, limiting Detroit to 3/14 on third down (21.4%).

For the first time in 2020, the Panthers defense looked engaged for 60 minutes. Tackles were finished, matchups were taken advantage of and high-energy vibes persisted throughout. This was all something much different from what we’ve seen from defensive coordinator Phil Snow’s unit.

What did look familiar, however, was Brian Burns—the seemingly lone constant the group has had to offer all season. The second-year pass rusher has made it abundantly clear that it’s time to take him seriously.

Burns bullied his way into Detroit’s pocket all afternoon, chalking up a pair of sacks and four hits on Stafford. He even threw in a pass deflection for good measure. His pressure and presence alone, as it has all year, not only put the shine on him, but gave his teammates opportunities to make an impact as well.

Quite simply, Burns is elite and if he wasn’t playing in this particularly small market, you’d be hearing much more about him.

Panthers fans know Burns has made a substantial step up, as they saw him go from punt return gunner for too much of 2019 to a premier disruptor. It’s only a matter of time until everybody else knows.

General manager Marty Hurney knew he had something special in drafting Burns last spring and got lucky he was there at No. 16 overall. Snow knows he has something special, having forecasted an outing from Burns we actually ended up witnessing. It’s all come together for No. 53.

While the feel-good story of P.J. Walker will prevail above all, the most meaningful takeaway from today’s win is Burns’ continued emergence. Walker should take a bow, though—stepping in for an injured Teddy Bridgewater in a fine enough performance to pick up a win in his first career NFL start.

You build championship-caliber teams through quarterbacks and the guys who knock them down. Either Bridgewater or Walker could give Matt Rhule the long-term solution to the former. Burns is a cornerstone type of talent who’s already given an answer to the latter.

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