Was this Bill Barnwell article posted and discussed?

[KB_fan]

Hey all, I've been scarce around here due to a very difficult work situation, some internet issues, and also just the fact that right now it's not so much fun to spend a lot of time digging into Panthers stats...

But just happened to come across this Bill Barnwell article from after our loss the Falcons.  Pretty interesting analysis.  Wondering if it was posted here and discussed?

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/barnwellx161003/the-denver-broncos-cruising-carolina-panthers-struggling-long-super-bowl-50-nfl

Here's the section I found most interesting / damning.

 

4. The secondary is struggling mightily. After allowing Julio Jones to go for 300 yards? You don't say! This isn't a one-week problem, though, and while Josh Norman would have helped, the problems go deeper than losing one cornerback. A closer look at the secondary suggests that there are major issues that will need to be worked out sooner rather than later.

The good news for Carolina is that it's still getting a lot of pressure. Last year, the Panthers bothered the opposing quarterback on 28.7 percent of dropbacks. Through four games this year, their pressure rate is at ... 28.7 percent. Not bad. That's the sixth-best rate in the NFL. The problem is when they don't get pressure. Last year, when the Panthers couldn't get pressure on the opposing passer, they were still third in the league in opposing passer rating and 11th in QBR. This year, when they leave the quarterback alone, Carolina is 19th in opposing passer rating and 28th in QBR.

What has changed for the Panthers is easiest to see with a heat map. These are two charts split into 10-yard chunks for air yards, the distance each pass travels in the air before landing. The heat measures opposing quarterbacks' relative passer rating against the Panthers in each zone versus that of other quarterbacks against other teams in those same zones. Red is good. Blue is bad. Black is neutral. Here's 2015's map:

Simple enough: The Panthers allowed quarterbacks to survive underneath, but when teams threw downfield, Carolina ate them alive. What about this year?

Oh boy. The chart has flipped. The Panthers are being carved up by teams attacking them downfield. Last year, on defending throws 11 or more yards in the air (the blue spots in 2015), the Panthers posted the league's best opposing QBR by 10 points (46.0), tied for the league's best passer rating (57.5), and allowed teams to complete only 41.2 percent of their passes while throwing 10 touchdowns against 16 picks.

This year, the Panthers are close to helpless downfield. Only the 49ers have allowed a worse QBR than Carolina's 99.0 mark. Sean McDermott's bunch is allowing a passer rating of 130.3 on those throws, with teams completing 68.3 percent of their passes and tossing up six touchdowns against two picks. Atlanta torched Carolina downfield in Week 4, but it was a problem even before Sunday; the Panthers were allowing a passer rating of 103.5 on those throws over the first three weeks.

It's still too early to break down the coverage issues in the Falcons game because the league won't post the All-22 film from the contest until tomorrow, but from replays, commentary and the few big plays which yielded coach's tape on replay during the game's broadcast, it's clear that there are communication and coverage lapses within the Carolina secondary. While there were plays in which Jones was simply too big and fast for any defender on the Panthers' roster, Carolina put itself in impossible situations and seemed to make as many mental mistakes as there were physical.

[The_Rainmaker]

3 minutes ago, KB_fan said:

Hey all, I've been scarce around here due to a very difficult work situation, some internet issues, and also just the fact that right now it's not so much fun to spend a lot of time digging into Panthers stats...

But just happened to come across this Bill Barnwell article from after our loss the Falcons.  Pretty interesting analysis.  Wondering if it was posted here and discussed?

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/barnwellx161003/the-denver-broncos-cruising-carolina-panthers-struggling-long-super-bowl-50-nfl

Here's the section I found most interesting / damning.

 

4. The secondary is struggling mightily. After allowing Julio Jones to go for 300 yards? You don't say! This isn't a one-week problem, though, and while Josh Norman would have helped, the problems go deeper than losing one cornerback. A closer look at the secondary suggests that there are major issues that will need to be worked out sooner rather than later.

The good news for Carolina is that it's still getting a lot of pressure. Last year, the Panthers bothered the opposing quarterback on 28.7 percent of dropbacks. Through four games this year, their pressure rate is at ... 28.7 percent. Not bad. That's the sixth-best rate in the NFL. The problem is when they don't get pressure. Last year, when the Panthers couldn't get pressure on the opposing passer, they were still third in the league in opposing passer rating and 11th in QBR. This year, when they leave the quarterback alone, Carolina is 19th in opposing passer rating and 28th in QBR.

What has changed for the Panthers is easiest to see with a heat map. These are two charts split into 10-yard chunks for air yards, the distance each pass travels in the air before landing. The heat measures opposing quarterbacks' relative passer rating against the Panthers in each zone versus that of other quarterbacks against other teams in those same zones. Red is good. Blue is bad. Black is neutral. Here's 2015's map:

Simple enough: The Panthers allowed quarterbacks to survive underneath, but when teams threw downfield, Carolina ate them alive. What about this year?

Oh boy. The chart has flipped. The Panthers are being carved up by teams attacking them downfield. Last year, on defending throws 11 or more yards in the air (the blue spots in 2015), the Panthers posted the league's best opposing QBR by 10 points (46.0), tied for the league's best passer rating (57.5), and allowed teams to complete only 41.2 percent of their passes while throwing 10 touchdowns against 16 picks.

This year, the Panthers are close to helpless downfield. Only the 49ers have allowed a worse QBR than Carolina's 99.0 mark. Sean McDermott's bunch is allowing a passer rating of 130.3 on those throws, with teams completing 68.3 percent of their passes and tossing up six touchdowns against two picks. Atlanta torched Carolina downfield in Week 4, but it was a problem even before Sunday; the Panthers were allowing a passer rating of 103.5 on those throws over the first three weeks.

It's still too early to break down the coverage issues in the Falcons game because the league won't post the All-22 film from the contest until tomorrow, but from replays, commentary and the few big plays which yielded coach's tape on replay during the game's broadcast, it's clear that there are communication and coverage lapses within the Carolina secondary. While there were plays in which Jones was simply too big and fast for any defender on the Panthers' roster, Carolina put itself in impossible situations and seemed to make as many mental mistakes as there were physical.

Thank you Dave Gettelman

[frash.exe]

keep typing his name in every thread rainmaker, you'll spell it right at some point