Same, but different
September 6, 2007
by John Watson
Week one of the NFL regular season is always met with a ton of enthusiasm. Fans anticipate the opening kick off that starts the marathon. We’ve been teased, tortured and titillated by the snippets of what we’ve seen in training camp and the pre season.
Everyone has a perfect record on the season, optimism is running full tilt and we, the fans, anxiously await the first pass, first run or first return. As of right now, the Oakland Raiders and Cleveland Browns are tied with the World Champion Indianapolis Colts and the media darling New England Patriots. That will all change soon as the teams who struggled in years past look to change course and the stronger teams look for consistency by doing what works, tweaking a bit and continuing to work harder than the other teams.
The St. Louis Rams and the Carolina Panthers, both of whom finished 8-8 last season, look to redeem themselves as the NFL’s elite. Both organizations have marquee players, high expectations and obvious obstacles standing in the way, but both teams remain optimistic.
The 2007 Carolina Panthers were the media darlings heading into last season, but a woeful showing on opening day, the loss of three starters and the absence of Steve Smith for the first two games thwarted the team’s plans early on. Once Steve Smith returned there was a noticeable improvement in the offense, however the running game struggled as the coaches scrambled to play with a patchwork offensive line. The addition of free agent Jeremy Bridges helped, but the running game never got on track.
The passing game also struggled as monumental free agent Keyshawn Johnson was signed in the off season after being released by the Dallas Cowboys. While Johnson was usually a reliable target, there were some mistakes, penalties and drops that cost the team dearly. Former OC Dan Henning refused to involve the TE’s in the passing game and the team had trouble finding a consistent third receiving option. With the running game derailed, opposing defenses could play with a nickel or dime defense and contain the offense as a whole.
With an offense that couldn’t move the chains or take time off the clock, the Panthers often lost the time of possession battle, which as we all witnessed, took a lot out of the Carolina defense. With Dan Morgan missing the defense just never looked to be in synch as a unit, the secondary proved to be an area of concern, despite the promising rookie campaign by second round draft pick Richard Marshall. Veteran CB Ken Lucas was nursing a shoulder injury and it was obvious when you watched him “attempt” to tackle the ball carriers. On the other side Chris Gamble struggled early and often and never looked comfortable in pass coverage and often times looked as though he tried to avoid contact with the opposition, which is a problem.
Safety play was overwhelming as a whole, Mike Minter was noticeably slower than in years past and just did not resemble the hard hitting safety he once was. His knees played a huge role in the decline of his play and ultimately lead to his decision to announce his retirement about a month ago. Journeyman Shaun Williams started to come around as the season progressed, but it was too little, too late. Neither Minter nor Williams are on the team, or any team, this season.
While the Panthers struggled to move the ball and score points, the defense did manage to finish seventh in the league overall. The Panthers tried to address some of the holes in the 2007 NFL draft by picking up Miami LB Jon Beason, USC receiver Dwayne Jarrett, USC OL Ryan Kalil and up graded the special teams unit with Ryne Robinson out of Miami of Ohio. All four players will have a chance to make an immediate impact.
The Rams are the other way around. Marc Bulger looked impressive in 2006 surrounded by guys like Tory Holt, Isaac Bruce and breakout running back Stephen Jackson. Bulger and company lead the sixth ranked offense in the league last season and look to have improved even more with the addition of TE Randy McMichaels and WR Drew Bennet, both of whom have made noise in the past in the passing games. Bennett comes to the Rams via the Titans where he led the team in receiving just last year. With two more weapons and a more experienced running back Marc Bulger could have a career year.
A better Marc Bulger will spell trouble for many defenses as he eclipsed the 4,000 yard mark last year, threw three times as many TD’s than INT’s and boasted a 92.9 QB rating on the season.
The Rams defense was a different story, finishing 23rd in the league last year they look to improve this season. Despite leading the Panthers in tackles last season, versatile and veteran LB Chris Draft has a new home in St. Louis and looks to solidify a front seven that allowed over 2300 yards last year on the ground, second worst in the league. First round draft choice Adam Carriker will also help their cause as he begins his career at DT, which should be a marked improvement for the Rams. They addressed the defense in the third and fifth rounds as well with the additions of a CB and DT.
As you can see, both teams have obvious holes to fill if they want to be successful in 2007, but those holes are on opposite sides of the ball. Even though the Panthers held the Rams scoreless in last years match up I wouldn’t expect the same this year. The Panthers will start the season on the road, on turf which will help the speed of the Rams offense. While the Panthers look to revitalize their offense, the Rams know what theirs is capable of.
It should be a very good match up and a good test for the Panthers, I’m predicting a Panthers win on the road with a score of 24 – 10 as the new zone blocking scheme has a successful debut against a shaky run defense. Coming off of a seven sack performance one year ago, the Cat’s D will reign supreme.
