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Our Defense The Truth

NAS

By NAS,
in Carolina Panthers

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NAS Grand Master

NAS

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Thus tweeted Carolina wide receiver Robbie Anderson after the Panthers skunked the Saints 26-7 Sunday in Charlotte. It’s cool to credit the reborn Sam Darnold for the Panthers’ 2-0 start, or maybe Christian McCaffrey’s 324 scrimmage yards. Those are big things. (In fact, for Darnold to be throwing 18 times with a second-half lead tells me coach Matt Rhule and offensive coordinator Joe Brady trust him to be careful with the ball.) Darnold and McCaffrey are factors, but neither is the biggest one.

The unit led by Snow, the 65-year-old defensive coordinator, is the biggest reason Carolina shares the NFC South lead with Tampa Bay this morning. Carolina, in two games, has allowed 22 first downs and 21 points to the Jets and Saints. Composite first-half score: Panthers 33, Jets/Saints 0. The beatdown of New Orleans was notable because the Saints put a 38-3 beating on the Packers last week, and Jameis Winston played peerless football. On Sunday, Winston was harried consistently by a changed pass-rush, and Alvin Kamara managed five rushing yards on eight carries. What gives?

Snow, who came to Carolina from Baylor with Rhule 20 months ago, played a 4-3 “over” front last year, with the defensive front shading toward the tight end side and the edge players most often in a three-point stance. This year, wanting to get athletic edge players Haason Reddick and Brian Burns away from the line, Snow had them stand up and allowed free-agent defensive tackle DaQuan Jones and young Derrick Brown to occupy in-line blockers. Last year, the Panthers were 31st in the league in third-down defense. This year, foes have converted only 25 percent (six of 24) on third down. Snow adjusted, wisely, and his pass-rush (10 sacks in two weeks) and run defense (46.5 yards per game) says he’s made the right adjustments.

Now the Panthers have a short turnaround to a Thursday night game at Houston, with Snow’s men likely to face rookie Davis Mills in his first NFL start. No one could imagine a 3-0 start for Carolina, but it’s on the horizon.
 

Peter King 

https://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2021/09/20/ravens-chiefs-oweh-nfl-fmia-week-2-peter-king/

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