Tag: Jeremy Chinn

Panthers rookie watch: Derrick Brown develops another skill

Part of that development is thanks to the team’s rookie class of 2020

The Panthers’ defense is starting to look like it could be special as soon as next season. Over the last two games, the unit has had a ton of success shutting down their opponents’ passing attack.

Part of that development is thanks to the team’s rookie class of 2020. Here’s what they did against Washington this week.

DT Derrick Brown finds a new trick

First-rounder Derrick Brown keeps finding new ways to help his team. Last week, he finally broke through and got his first two NFL sacks. Yesterday, Brown continued flashing the power we’ve seen all year and also showed he has a talent for batting down passes at the line of scrimmage.

Brown had two pass deflections. He also added another QB hit, bringing his season total to 11.

DE Yetur Gross-Matos gets another sack

It was a banner day for Carolina’s young defensive line, even with Brian Burns being limited by knee and shoulder injuries. Gross-Matos collected one of the team’s three sacks (he now has 2.5 on the year) and posted two quarterback hits.

LB/DB Jeremy Chinn falls behind Chase Young

The league’s Defensive Rookie of the Year race was probably settled on Sunday. While Washington’s stud defensive end Chase Young was a monstrous disruptive force (four tackles, one sack, two quarterback hits, two tackles for a loss), Chinn did not make his normal impact. He did post eight tackles but also committed a bad pass interference penalty after getting burned by tight end Logan Thomas.

CB Troy Pride Jr. sat out

The team’s fourth-round pick was not in the lineup today, as Pride was ruled out due to the hip injury he suffered last week against the Packers.

DBs Myles Hartsfield, Sam Franklin active again

As the season goes on, we’ve seen more from the team’s late-round picks as well as a few of the undrafted free agents. On Sunday, DBs Myles Hartsfield and Sam Franklin both saw action on defense, combining for four tackles.

RB Rodney Smith continues committee work

The Panthers’ running back by committee approach continued against Washington, with Curtis Samuel taking over for Trenton Cannon’s role and looking good doing it. Rodney Smith kept getting touches, however. He only managed 23 yards on seven carries, though.

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Panthers defense continues to grow, draft position be damned

There are two sides to every story.

There are two sides to every story.

Your side, most likely that of a Carolina Panthers fan being that you’re currently reading this, probably wouldn’t have minded a loss to Washington here in Week 16. That’s understandable.

The team was 4-10, the prospect of a playoff berth has been non-existent for some time and two more losses would—as a result of the early afternoon games—clinch them the third overall spot in the draft. And you want a realistic shot at one of those four potential franchise quarterbacks.

But, while you’re in it for the greater good, the players and coaches on the field are in it for their livelihood. Even though having a Justin Fields, a Trey Lance or a Zach Wilson in range would potentially be an important step forward for the franchise, none of those 20-year-old college kids are helping put food on their tables—at least not today.

So, no, the Panthers who played against Ron Rivera’s new team on Sunday don’t care about who you want their front office to pick in April. They care about performing well, which they largely did in their 20-13 victory.

The win, just the second in their last 10 outings, came on the strength of a collectively encouraging defensive stand. It wasn’t perfect, it wasn’t always clean and it wasn’t particularly dominant. It was just right.

Carolina took care of the business that was in front of them—and that was a susceptible quarterback in Dwayne Haskins. Haskins, whose underwhelming play in his young NFL career has likely used up all his rope in Washington, completed just 14 of 28 attempts for 154 yards and two interceptions.

Defensive coordinator Phil Snow and his unit never allowed the 2019 first-rounder to find any sort of comfort throughout the afternoon, consistently applying pressure and knocking him off his spot. Haskins, who ate a pair of sacks as well, would later be replaced by another familiar face in Taylor Heinicke, who fared better (12-of-19, 137 yards, one touchdown) primarily because of garbage-time prevent defense.

The Panthers made an offense with a bad quarterback and no No. 1 wide receiver (sans an injured Terry McLaurin) look like an offense with a bad quarterback and No. 1 wide receiver. The final numbers may not be pretty, as Washington finished the day with 386 total yards, but Carolina’s continuous stops kept a stranglehold towards a result that played much more dominantly than the final seven-point differential.

And that – not worrying about what pick the team has – is the more tangible fruit of their labor. A painfully young defense, who came into 2020 with limited experience, preparation and a league-high turnover rate in personnel is learning to grow together.

Over their last five games, the Panthers have allowed just 322.8 yards to opposing offenses. That’s one heck of a leap from the 380 yards per game they gave up in their first 10 contests. (That 322.8 average would rank sixth in the NFL for the entire season.)

They’ve also tightened up on third down, the bugaboo that cursed the group at an historic pace for much of the campaign. After allowing teams to convert on 68 of their 123 third-down tries (55.3 percent) in those first 10, they’ve shrunk that fat number down to 24-of-62 (38.7) over the last five.

Additionally, Carolina has sprinkled in 16 sacks and nine takeaways in that span, improving on another pair of categories that appeared rather scarce for a chunk of 2020. That has now helped them to three watermark performances of sorts—their shutout of Detroit in Week 11, their second-half stand in Green Bay to keep themselves alive against the league’s top offense last Saturday and their handling of Washington today.

For now, let’s not focus on what the professionals within the organization cannot and should not want to control. Let that sink starting next week and then over the next five months.

Let’s bank on what the Panthers have right now—a budding, relentless, focused defense with three promising cornerstones in Brian Burns, Jeremy Chinn and Derrick Brown. Winners focus on winning. Right, coach?

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NFL flexes Week 16 matchup between Panthers and Washington

It’s not hard to see why the NFL wants a bigger audience for this one.

You don’t see a lot of 4-10 teams get flexed in the NFL. It’s happening this week, though. The league just announced a scheduling change for Week 16. Specifically, the Carolina Panthers’ Sunday matchup with the Washington Football Team has been flexed to the late time slot. Instead of kicking off at 1:00 p.m. ET, it’s now scheduled for 4:05 p.m. ET on CBS.

Here’s a look at the league’s statement.

It’s not hard to see why the NFL wants a bigger audience for this one.

While neither team is a contender, there a lot of interesting storylines to follow here, including a potential revenge game for Ron Rivera and two hot Defensive Rookie of the Year candidates in Chase Young and Jeremy Chinn.

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The NFL’s Week 15 Overreaction Index: Defensive Rookie of the Year Version

Jeremy Chinn, Patrick Queen and others can make a case, but can anyone top Chase Young?

As the season winds down everyone’s favorite part of the NFL year is upon us.

No, not the playoffs. Award debate season.

That’s right, soon enough everyone’s Twitter timeline will be filled with rage and fury as we argue over awards. What makes a player valuable? Who really had the biggest comeback? What head coach did the best job? What general manager?

And of course, Rookie of the Year awards.

Given that the league has a pair of Rookie of the Year awards, one for offense and one for defense, we are going to handicap each award in this week’s Overreaction Index. Here are the likely – and perhaps in a few cases unlikely – candidates for Defensive Rookie of the Year. You can view the parallel piece on Offensive Rookie of the Year candidates here.

Panthers rookie watch: Derrick Brown powers up vs. Packers

It took him almost a full season, but first-round pick Derrick Brown finally got his first sack.

The Carolina Panthers lost again last night, this time on the road against the Green Bay Packers, 24-16. While it was another frustrating result, the team’s young defensive unit shined in the second half, offering promise of things to come, especially from a few first-year players.

Here is a review of how the rookies did this week.

DT Derrick Brown powered up

It took him almost a full season, but first-round pick Derrick Brown finally got his first sack. He split this one with Efe Obada.

Later, Brown had another all to himself.

This explosion as a pass rusher was inevitable. Brown has been moving the pocket all year thanks to his bull-rush. When pressure is consistent, sacks tend to follow eventually. He’s now up to 10 quarerback hits and eight tackles for a loss in 2020. Brown also avoided drawing a penalty again. He has come on very strong the last few weeks.

Jeremy Chinn continued DROY case

While he wasn’t as flashy as Brown, Chinn continued to build his case to win Defensive Rookie of the Year. No. 21 made several key stops early on that prevented the Packers from blowing the game wide open. The range and hustle he displayed on this tackle on Davante Adams were phenomenal.

Chinn finished with six tackles, pushing his total on the season over 100.

DE Yetur Gross-Matos was quiet

While the rest of the defensive line was on fire, it was a quiet night for Carolina’s other second-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos, who posted only one tackle despite playing a season-high 84% of the team’s defensive snaps. He did show monster potential last week against the Broncos, though.

CB Troy Pride, DT Bravvion Roy injured

The rest of the 2020 class didn’t have such a great night. Aaron Rodgers went after Troy Pride early on, who cracked under the pressure. Pride wound up leaving the game with a groin injury and he did not return. Coach Matt Rhule did not offer any information on his condition afterwards.

The team’s sixth-round pick, defensive tackle Bravvion Roy also left at one point with a knee injury. He was able to return, though. Roy finished the evening with three combined tackles.

Two undrafted rookies picked up steam

Two of the team’s undrafted rookies are steadily making progress as they earn more playing time. DB/RB hybrid Myles Hartsfield is now a core special teams contributor – he was on the field for 71% of those snaps last night and posted three tackles. Also, RB Rodney Smith showed some wheels, totaling 23 yards on four rushes and 24 more on three receptions.

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Even in defeat, future of Panthers defense shines in Green Bay

But it was the thrill of the chase for these Panthers that’s worth remembering more than the final score.

If the Carolina Panthers were seeking warmth during the break at a frosty Lambeau Field while facing an even colder 21-3 deficit at halftime, they were in luck. Steve Smith brought the heat.

The franchise great and current NFL Network analyst lit up Carolina during NFL Network’s halftime show, likening the Green Bay Packers’ leisurely, easy-going dominance over his former team to that of elderly mall-walkers. In a less eloquent summation of Smith’s rant—they were comfortably strolling right through the Panthers, getting what they wanted whenever they wanted it.

That breezy strut eventually turned into a brisk walk, followed by a pretty sweaty jog. And by the two-minute warning came, those galavanting seniors were in an all-out dash trying to keep the cats off their tail.

Well, you may know by now that those cats never caught up, as Green Bay held on to top Carolina, 24-16. But it was the thrill of the chase for these Panthers that’s worth remembering more than the final score.

Smith wasn’t wrong about the Packers in the first half, as they reached the end zone on each of their first three drives while converting on all four of their third-downs. With 3:58 remaining in the second quarter, Green Bay’s 21-spot was powered by 163 yards of total offense on 27 plays over 14 minutes and two seconds.

Over the next 15 minutes we finally saw some resistance from the NFL’s most rookie-heavy defense—and some impressive resistance at that.

The group got home for five sacks on Aaron Rodgers, helping translate into an average of 7.2 per completion for the two-time MVP—the third-lowest clip over his last five seasons. They also limited the Packers to 49 net yards in the second half, their second-lowest such total of the last two decades, while forcing punts on six of their final seven drives.

Much of that can be attributed to the play of rookie defensive tackle Derrick Brown, who is coming on like a freight train. The 2020 No. 7 overall selection was practically impossible for Green Bay to contain and accounted for two of the team’s five sacks on the night.

After a rough start to his season, one that saw the 22-year-old litter the field with penalty flags on numerous occasions, Brown has tightened up his game tremendously of late. Instead of hearing his number called for having jumped offsides or using every ounce of his 326-pound caboose to illegally rough up a ball carrier, we’re hearing it called for blowing through an offensive line and eating up some sorry blocker in the backfield.

Brown’s performance on Saturday also helped give way to another shining young star, defensive end Brian Burns. Burns also had a pair of sacks, including the biggest of the night, which gave Carolina the ball back with a minute left down by one score. Even though the stop didn’t lead to a game-tying score on the other end, the second-year stud solidified what we’ve seen all year on the sack and throughout the night—that’s there no quit in this elite playmaker.

Along with *checks notes* safety/linebacker/edge rusher/sometimes nickel cornerback Jeremy Chinn, who chalked up the 100th tackle of his exceptional rookie season, coach Matt Rhule has three promising building blocks for his young defensive unit. Their refusal to roll up in a ball after Rodgers and company pounded them for 21 early points is proof of that winning culture he’s talked so much about.

Despite this failure, the future is bright for this Panthers defense. And even in a loss, it shined particularly bright on primetime TV in Green Bay. Take that, Smitty.

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Steve Smith: Jeremy Chinn ‘top candidate’ for Defensive Rookie of the Year

Listen to Panthers legend Steve Smith make the case for Chinn to win the award during the pregame show.

Jeremy Chinn is the frontrunner to win NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year after taking home Rookie of the Month honors in both October and November. We’re seeing a good example of his value in tonight’s game against the Packers early on. Chinn has already made several key stops to prevent huge plays for Green Bay.

Listen to Panthers legend Steve Smith make the case for Chinn to win the award during the pregame show.

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Panthers rookie watch: Yetur Gross-Matos flashes monster potential

If he can stay on the field consistently, Gross-Matos might just develop into a dominant defender like Brian Burns. 

The Panthers lost their seventh game out of eight yesterday, falling to the Broncos 32-27 at home.

On the bright side, a couple of Carolina’s rookies stepped up with a significant increase in playing time. Here’s how the kids did this week.

Yetur Gross-Matos flashed a lot

Gross-Matos has flown under the radar a bit this year but he flashed a lot on Sunday with his ability to get consistent pressure on Denver quarterback Drew Lock. He played 69% of the team’s defensive snaps and finished with four tackles (one for a loss) and two QB hits.

If he can stay on the field, Gross-Matos might just develop into a dominant defensive end like Brian Burns.

Jeremy Chinn is going to be special

Every week Chinn finds a new way to impact the game. Against Minnesota, he ran back two fumbles for touchdowns. This time around, Chinn blew up Lock on a blitz that almost resulted in a defensive score for Efe Obada.

Chinn also made several dazzling tackles in the open field. He leads all NFL rookies with 94 this season.

Bravvion Roy stepped up

With starter Zach Kerr on the reserve/COVID-19 list, sixth-round pick Bravvion Roy earned another start and did well for himself. He posted three tackles, including half of one for a loss.

Derrick Brown still searching for first sack

Carolina’s first-round pick is still looking for his first sack in the NFL. Brown got a few pressures on Lock and one QB hit but still couldn’t get into the sack column. At least he didn’t have any penalties this week.

Seventh-round pick Stantley Thomas-Oliver saw his defensive snap count drop to just four with the return of Donte Jackson to the lineup, Myles Hartsfield continues to be a core special teams contributor and Kenny Robinson was inactive again.

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Winners and losers from the Panthers’ 32-27 loss to the Broncos

Here are our winners and losers from today’s game.

Despite a late-game comeback, an inefficient offense and a leaky defensive performance contributed to a 32-27 loss for the Carolina Panthers, who are now 4-9 on the season.

Here are our winners and losers from today’s game.

Winner: DB Jeremy Chinn

If Chinn wasn’t already the NFL’s frontrunner for Defensive Rookie of the Year, he most definitely is now. Chinn solidified his case for the award with an early forced fumble recovered by the Panthers, then followed it up with eight tackles, including one for a loss. Unfortunately, Chinn was one of the few bright spots on a Panthers defense that allowed 32 points to second-year Broncos quarterback Drew Lock.

Loser: QB Teddy Bridgewater

Bridgewater’s quarterback rating was over 50 points lower than that of Lock, but even that doesn’t completely reflect his poor performance. The intangibles— a dropped interception on a wildly inaccurate deep shot, taking sacks instead of throwing it out of bounds, poor game management— should all be pinned on Teddy. To cap it off, Bridgewater threw a check down to Curtis Samuel on a fourth-and-long situation, despite having Robby Anderson and Pharoh Cooper downfield. That failure ended the game for Carolina after netting a mere one yard.

Winner: K Joey Slye

It’s been an inconsistent 2020 season from the “swole kicker,” but Slye finally turned in a perfect day. Slye finished the game two-for-two on field goals and three-for-three on extra points, with a long of 35. Slye also had perfect execution on a late-game squib kick that pinned Denver deep in their territory and eventually gave the Panthers a shot at putting together a potential game-winning drive.

Loser: Special teams

The first points on the board for either team came on an 83-yard punt-return touchdown thanks to multiple embarrassing missed tackles. Just a play later, Trenton Cannon had poor foot placement that forced him to take a kickoff out of the end zone and leave the offense with dreadful field position. To add on, Natrell Jamerson was flagged twice on special teams just one day after being signed from the team’s practice squad. While Slye outperformed Brandon McManus, the rest of the special teams unit needs to recover from some costly mistakes.

Winner: RB Mike Davis

It’s clear that the Panthers need Christian McCaffrey back to do well on offense, but Mike Davis has been a more-than-decent fill-in for much of the season. Although h only put up 51 yards off 11 carries, Davis was responsible for two of the team’s touchdowns, getting Carolina some compensation from their red zone trips.

Loser: Panthers secondary

The Panthers’ DBs made Lock look like an elite quarterback today. After seven straight starts with an interception, Lock threw for 280 yards, four touchdowns and no picks, shredding the Panthers’ defensive backfield. Key mistakes by Rasul Douglas and Juston Burris fueled the fire, with the former stumbling on an early K.J. Hamler touchdown and the latter completely misreading another deep score for Hamler.

Winner: DE Efe Obada

Obada has been a fan favorite since he was signed through the NFL International Player Pathway Program just a few years ago, and he showed off his agility and hustle on a fumble return that set up a short scoring drive for the Panthers. Obada didn’t contribute much more, but he served his role as a rotational player for a banged-up defensive line.

Loser: Penalties

Coming into the game, the Panthers had accrued the fifth-most penalties in the NFL, with 77 of them in 12 games. Unfortunately, today was no exception. The offensive line was responsible for a few crucial flags, but the team as a whole had seven called against them, translating to 48 lost yards in the process. Matt Rhule needs to instill some discipline in his young team for the final few games of the season.

Loser: Referees

From the questionable unnecessary roughness call on Brian Burns that resuscitated a Broncos scoring drive to a suspiciously ill-timed Denver timeout that gave them another shot at a third-and-one, there was plenty of reason for Rhule to be upset about the officiating. Expect a few of those calls to be submitted to the league office this week.

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Halftime analysis: Sluggish Panthers trail Broncos, 13-7

They trail the Broncos 13-7 at halftime.

The Panthers look a little bit sluggish in their first game after the bye week. They trail the Broncos 13-7 at halftime.

Here’s how things are going so far.

Offense

Teddy Bridgewater has been too tentative against an admittedly tough Denver defense. He’s been sacked three times already (losing 32 yards total) and has gone 9/12 for 62 yards and an 86.1 passer rating. He was also lucky not to be picked off late in the second quarter on his only deep attempt of the game. It doesn’t help that D.J. Moore and Christian McCaffrey are out, but Bridgewater can do better than this. The run game has also been stagnant with Mike Davis, Rodney Smith and Trenton Cannon combining for just 21 yards on six carries.

Defense

This side of things hasn’t been bad, despite what the scoreboard says. Free safety Tre Boston has shown a lot of energy, tallying a team-high five tackles. Rookie standout Jeremy Chinn made the play of the half by forcing a fumble which set up a touchdown for Davis. A slew of penalties have cost this group dearly, though. Troy Pride, Brian Burns and Jermaine Carter have all drawn critical flags.

Special teams

It’s been nothing but bad news, here. Carolina allowed an 83-yard touchdown on a punt return by Diontae Johnson early on and their own return game continues to be quiet.

The Panthers receive the kick to begin the third quarter.

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