Tag: Panthers defense

Red-hot Dak Prescott exposes first vulnerabilities in Panthers’ defense

The Panthers’ defense looked like world-beaters in the first three weeks of the 2021 NFL season. Then, they ran into the Cowboys.

Through the first three weeks of the 2021 season, the Panthers’ defense had allowed just 30 points (only the Broncos had allowed fewer with 26), a league-low 573 total yards, a league-low 3.8 yards per play, and they were tied with the Broncos allowing a league-low 4.3 net yards per attempt. That they had played the Jets, Saints, and Texans made Phil Snow’s defense a bit of a mirage, as you want to see a defense go up against a great offense before you want to crown them.

As it turned out, when Carolina’s defense faced the Cowboys on Sunday, the mirage status might be in play for now. The Panthers have shown a ton of progress in all areas of their defense, but in a

Prescott started out with this 18-yard touchdown to tight end Blake Jarwin with 14:09 left in the second quarter. Jarwin wan a slant underneath as receiver Noah Brown pushed upfield, and safety Jeremy Chinn left too much free space over the middle.

Prescott threw three touchdown passes in the third quarter, matching Tony Romo’s efforts in 2007. Prescott started off with a 35-yard touchdown pass to Amari Cooper.

Panthers cornerback C.J. Henderson, who the team just traded for to replace injured first-round cornerback Jaycee Horn, didn’t do a horrible job here — he fell off at the last second. The problem is, when you’re defending Amari Cooper, you have to defend the entire route.

Then, Prescott hit tight end Dalton Schultz with a six-yard touchdown pass with 7:21 left in the third quarter, and let’s just say that if you’re a defensive coordinator, you never want to see this much empty space around an opposing tight end in the red zone.

Prescott finished off his big day with this 23-yarder to receiver Cedrick Wilson Jr., and I’m not quite sure what cornerback A.J. Bouye (No. 24) is doing here.

This isn’t to say that the Panthers are a paper tiger on defense — they’re a young group, putting it all together, and there are a lot of moving parts in what Phil Snow calls. It can take a minute for everybody to get on the same page, and if you’re facing the combination of Dak Prescott, Dak Prescott’s targets, and offensive coordinator Kellen Moore’s playbook, you have to be on point more often than this. No doubt, they’ll bring the lessons they’ve learned when they face the Eagles next Sunday.

Shaq Thompson: Panthers defense is ‘going to be immaculate’

There’s reason to believe they’re about to turn the corner, though.

This Panthers team peaked six years ago, which was linebacker Shaq Thompson’s first in the NFL. Carolina ran up a 14-0 record to start the 2015 season en route to their second Super Bowl trip in franchise history. League MVP Cam Newton drove that engine. However, he also got help from a special defense that featured some future Hall of Famers.

Today, that core group of players is all but gone and forgotten. On defense, the only remaining piece is Thompson, who has taken over a leadership role in the absence of legends like Luke Kuechly and Thomas Davis. Thompson was apparently the ringleader in organizing voluntary workouts for the defense this offseason and he thinks they can do special things if they play for eachother, per the team website.

“And I wanted us, since we’re a new team, to have that team camaraderie, to have that defensive camaraderie. The offense, you can mess up and have another down. The defense messes up, and it’s either a big play or a touchdown. And I figure if we all know each other, get to know each other, and then you’re not just out there with someone you just met, like last year. . . Let’s play as brothers. I play for Burns, Burns plays for Jeremy Chinn, Chinn plays for A.J. Bouye, AJ plays for Bravvion Roy. As long as guys play for each other, this defense is going to be immaculate.”

That may sound far-fetched given how poorly this group has performed in recent years. There’s reason to believe they’re about to turn the corner, though. After a rough start to the 2020 season, the defense came on late, especially a burgeoning pass rush. Combined with key reinforcements at linebacker and cornerback, this unit looks much tougher on paper than the ones we’ve seen recently.

Truth is, they weren’t far off even last year before they added pieces like Jaycee Horn, Denzel Perryman and Haason Reddick. Carolina allowed 360.1 yards and 25.1 points per game last season, both good for No. 18 in the league, or just slightly below average.

If the new guys work out and the pass rush continues to develop, there’s a real chance this could be a top-10 defense in 2021.

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Carolina Panthers: 4 questions for their defense going into 2021

Here are four questions we have about the defense going into 2021.

The Carolina Panthers begin their mandatory minicamp today, the final portion of their offseason schedule before the summer break. On paper, they look better than last season. However, this team is still a work in progress.

Here are four questions we have about the defense going into 2021.

Panthers LB Shaq Thompson put on 10 pounds this offseason

Shaq Thompson is entering his seventh NFL season, making him the elder statesman for the Panthers linebackers.

Panthers linebacker Shaq Thompson is entering his seventh year in the NFL.

Every year brings unique challenges, so to stay on stop professional athletes have to evolve their game and their bodies as-needed. One change for Thompson this coming season will be carrying a bit more weight. Defensive coordinator Phil Snow told reporters today that Thompson added about 10 pounds this offseason, bringing him up to the 235-237 range.

It’s a safe bet that extra weight is more muscle than Bojangles.

Either way, in the absence of future Hall of Famer Luke Kuechly Thompson has become Carolina’s most consistent defender.

While Jeremy Chinn led the team in tackles last season, Thompson was close behind and only missed eight attempts (6.6%). His coverage is still solid as well, as he allowed one touchdown and a 90.7 passer rating. Thompson didn’t record any sacks and only posted two QB hits all year though, despite 55 blitz attempts.

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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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Coverage rates show Carolina has one of the NFL’s most conservative defenses

Snow could stand to be more aggressive, but Marty Hurney has to find a way to get him more talent.

The Carolina Panthers have played 12 games this season. At 4-8, they’re not as bad as some people thought they would be coming into this year. Clearly, they still have a lot of room to develop, though. While there are questions about their offense, most of that growth will have to come on defense.

Under defensive coordinator Phil Snow, Carolina has had one of the most conservative units in football. Here are three defensive stats that help explain what this team has been up to on this side of the ball. According to Matt Bowen at ESPN, the team is playing cover 1 (man-free) on just 19.5% of their defensive snaps. That’s the second-lowest average in the league behind the Giants (16.0%).

This has been perhaps the most zone-heavy defense in the NFL this year. Bowen says they have played cover 3 more than anyone else (38.9%).

The Panthers also have one of the league’s lowest blitz rates. They are sending five or more pass rushers only 18.8% of the time. Only three teams are bringing extra pressure less often.

This is mostly about personnel. If Snow had a stronger pass rushing unit (the Panthers rank No. 26 in sacks per game) and a couple of cornerbacks who could shut down great receivers one-on-one, the Panthers would likely be playing a bit more man.

Sometimes these conservative tendencies have gotten out-of-hand, though. Snow has taken a lot of criticism for his habit of rushing three and dropping eight when trying to protect a lead. Sunday’s loss to the Vikings was an perfect example of how that strategy can go wrong very fast. Facing a series of weak three-man fronts, Kirk Cousins was able to march down the field with ease and throw the game-winning touchdown. Coach Matt Rhule told reporters that Snow indicated if he could do it over again he would have brought more rushers.

It’s tough to be too hard on Snow, though. While he has a lot of experience as a coach, this is his first year as a playcaller at this level and he has one of the weakest defensive units in the NFL on paper. In fact, if you took away either Brian Burns or Jeremy Chinn for any length of time, it could be in the running for the worst in the league.

Snow could stand to be more aggressive, but Marty Hurney has to find a way to get him more talent.

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Falcons QB Matt Ryan impressed by Panthers’ speed on defense

Matt Ryan says he’s impressed by their speed and ability to limit explosive plays.

The Falcons have been crushing the Panthers over the last few years, winning eight of the last nine matchups between these teams. In fact, if not for a rare end zone drop by superstar wide receiver Julio Jones, Carolina’s losing streak against Atlanta would likely be nine in a row.

There’s reason to be hopeful about this weekend’s matchup, though. For one thing, the Falcons are 0-4 to start the season and are reeling from injuries at a few important positions. Also, the Panthers’ defense is much tougher than most people were expecting going into this season. Matt Ryan says he’s impressed by their speed and ability to limit explosive plays. Here’s what he told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution about this young defensive unit.

“Looking at it, last week, they keep things in front of them. They do a good job of trying to limit explosive plays. I think they’re up there in terms of statistics in terms of limiting offenses’ explosive plays. . . They’ve been very good about that, and they’re fast, they’re athletic. That’s the one thing I see when you watch the film is that they have really good speed at all three levels of their defense.”

The biggest surprise has been the team’s play at cornerback, which was supposed to be their Achilles’ heel. Donte Jackson and Rasul Douglas have been starting outside and have done an excellent job in coverage and limiting yards after the catch.

One area this defense has struggled in is the red zone. Opponents have scored touchdowns on almost 77% of their trips inside the 20 – only five teams are doing worse going into Week 5. If defensive coordinator Phil Snow can clean that up, this should at least be a close game.

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Kliff Kingsbury: Panthers defense has ‘improved dramatically’ since Week 1

The progress is good to see, but when you’re starting at the bottom there’s nowhere to go but up.

There’s a lot of work yet to be done but so far this young Carolina Panthers defense is not the historically-awful, worst-in-the-NFL unit that we were led to believe they would be this offseason.

Carolina held the Los Angeles Chargers to 16 points in Sunday’s victory, their first of the 2020 season. While rookie quarterback Justin Herbert’s mistakes didn’t hurt, the defense took some promising steps forward in several key areas of the game. Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury has taken notice. In his conference call with local media today, Kingsbury said the Panthers defense has “improved dramatically” from Week 1 to Week 3.

The progress is good to see, but when you’re starting at the bottom there’s nowhere to go but up. This is still a well-below average defense.

Despite their breakout performance against the Chargers offensive line, Carolina still ranks dead last in sacks, pressures and QB hits. They’re also struggling in the red zone, missing too many tackles and failing to get off the field on third down. To top it off, they are allowing the NFL’s most rushing touchdowns for the second-straight season.

That all being said, with no preseason to prepare they are exceeding expectations. We will learn a lot about this group based on how they do against Kingsbury’s Cardinals.

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Matt Rhule: Panthers were in wrong defense 10-12 times vs. Raiders early

Knowing that, the fact that they only gave up 17 total points in the first half is pretty impressive.

If it looked like the Carolina Panthers defense was out of its depth against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday it wasn’t an accident. Not only was the youngest defensive unit the NFL has seen in a decade playing their first live game together ever, issues with the headsets had the defenders in the wrong play several times in the first half.

According to head coach Matt Rhule, Carolina was in the wrong defense 10-12 times early in the game, per Joe Person at the Athletic.

“Rhule counted between 10 and 12 plays in the first half where the Panthers ran a defense that was different from what was called from the sideline. The Raiders had 33 offensive plays before halftime, which means the Panthers were in the wrong defense about a third of the time.”

Knowing that, the fact that they only gave up 17 total points in the first half is pretty impressive.

This may still prove to be the worst defense in the NFL this season. However, there were some positives to build on. Derrick Brown and Jeremy Chinn had promising debuts and Rasul Douglas played well when Donte Jackson went down.

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Panthers defense ranked last in the NFL going into 2020 by the Athletic

Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow has his work cut out for him.

Panthers defensive coordinator Phil Snow has his work cut out for him. It’s difficult to think of a coordinator coming into a more difficult set of circumstances for the 2020 season.

Not only has Snow’s defense lost six starters from last season plus a few key role players, the replacements he’s gotten amount to the youngest NFL defense in a decade. Throw in no traditional offseason program and no preseason games and you’ve got a mountain of a challenge for any coach. As is probably appropriate, this Carolina defense is ranked No. 32 in the league by Sheil Kapadia at the Athletic.

“Matt Rhule’s squad spent all seven draft selections on the defensive side of the ball. That included using the seventh overall pick on defensive tackle Derrick Brown. The Panthers have some nice young pieces, and edge rusher Brian Burns could end up being a star. But they’re young and looking at six new starters with a new scheme and a new coordinator. That’s tough, given the nature of this offseason.”

Tough is the understatement of the year.

If Carolina is able to field anything better than a bottom-five defense it will prove that Snow is very capable at his job.

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