Final Defensive Rankings for the 2021 Carolina Panthers

[BrianS]

23 minutes ago, Jackie Lee said:

That would be Matt Rhule, who mentioned having the #2 defense in his last presser as a bright spot of the season. I'm surprised no one brought up the turnovers/field position. We were super average in sacks and only had 9 interceptions, 2 of which were Gilmore who didn't require any coaching

Absolutely agree.  Rhule was ridiculously off base with that comment.  

In the end, defense (and the NFL as a whole) has only one measure that matters - SCORING.  If your defense is top five in points per game, and you're not a playoff contender, it's pretty safe to say the problems lie elsewhere.  I'm looking at you Denver Broncos and New Orleans Saints.  Though, Saints, if I'm honest, your offense was fine.  Keep it just like it is.

[Basbear]

20 minutes ago, Waldo said:

The longer you look, the worse it gets. 

Panthers had nearly 0 "comeback factor" once they are down, didnt even need to be 2 scores, 3 points would do....... Then its run, run, run and the panthers SOFT-ASS DL could not stop it, thus the game was over in theory.... SO the passing stats never got challengeda and stood til the end of year after the epic first 4 week start. I saw it and others were like "LOLOLOL whatever Bas they are 2nd derp derp darp.." I dont see red-zone, but that was buns as well(i bet)....

Edited January 18, 2022 by Basbear

[Waldo]

13 minutes ago, Basbear said:

Panthers had nearly 0 "comeback factor" once they are down, didnt even need to be 2 scores, 3 points would do....... Then its run, run, run and the panthers SOFT-ASS DL could not stop it, thus the game was over in theory.... SO the passing stats never got challengeda and stood til the end of year after the epic first 4 week start. I saw it and others were like "LOLOLOL whatever Bas they are 2nd derp derp darp.." I dont see red-zone, but that was buns as well(i bet)....

Yup, after week 3 the fantasy died. Just run left and enjoy the yardage. 

[mav1234]

I mean, the few times the defense needed a stop in the 2nd half against decent opponents it just crumbled. And it often crumbled despite momentum from ST or the offense.  So... Yeah. Average sounds right. Still far ahead of our offense but that isn't saying as much as it seemed midseason...

[matt rhules gut fat]

1 hour ago, Shotgun said:

Our opponents knew they only needed 14-17 points to beat us so they were pretty conservative. Whenever teams really needed  to score against us they did.   

Yup
 

I can understand the defense was put in some bad spots with a horrible offense and can look past some of the issues. However, when it came down to us playing any decent offense it wasn’t just the bad situations. It was the defense getting trashed completely.

Sadly, they still have a long way to go on both sides of the ball and our hero Matt Rhule is here to save the day.

[top dawg]

2 hours ago, BrianS said:

There are so many things to say here.  Did we give up fewer yards because we kept turning the ball over?  Absolutely.  Likewise, we gave up more points because our opponents started closer to our goal line.  It's not all that hard to score when you get the ball and only need a couple first downs to be in FG range.

Our defense was dead last in opponent starting field position.  No other team's defense started, on average, in worse position.

Our defense has flaws, I will readily grant this.  However, we are not NEARLY as far away from being a true top 10 defense as some metrics (and fans, and pundits) would like us to believe.  Give the Panthers an offense that isn't historically bad - even just an average NFL offense - and you'll probably see quickly that we have a defense which can be pretty darn good.

Well said. 

[Pimpdaddy]

1 hour ago, Jackie Lee said:

That would be Matt Rhule, who mentioned having the #2 defense in his last presser as a bright spot of the season. I'm surprised no one brought up the turnovers/field position. We were super average in sacks and only had 9 interceptions, 2 of which were Gilmore who didn't require any coaching

...we know whats up...he again blowing smoke up our azz and insulting our intelligence .... #2 defense lol...

[mc52beast]

I think it’s fair to say our defense is closer to being respectable than our pathetic offense. 

[cambum]

Who on this defense would be hard to replace?

[hepcat]

7 hours ago, BrianS said:

There are so many things to say here.  Did we give up fewer yards because we kept turning the ball over?  Absolutely.  Likewise, we gave up more points because our opponents started closer to our goal line.  It's not all that hard to score when you get the ball and only need a couple first downs to be in FG range.

Our defense was dead last in opponent starting field position.  No other team's defense started, on average, in worse position.

Our defense has flaws, I will readily grant this.  However, we are not NEARLY as far away from being a true top 10 defense as some metrics (and fans, and pundits) would like us to believe.  Give the Panthers an offense that isn't historically bad - even just an average NFL offense - and you'll probably see quickly that we have a defense which can be pretty darn good.

The run defense sucked either way. Derrick Brown is a bust and they need to sign or draft a true MLB badly. 

[Icege]

15 hours ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Intentional or not, the defense is constructed to play with a lead.  We have a good pass rush and cover corners.  Unfortunately, we do not have an offense capable of producing a lead.

The defense's weakness is stopping the run.  That's a bad weakness to have when you have a bad offense, but it's also not great for a championship defense.  Stopping the run is usually important in the playoffs.

Very much intentional.

They were banking on Brady's offense lighting up the scoreboard and playing with a lead, which would allow their speed and secondary to make plays while they get the DL after the passer. The theory was that this would result in turnovers, thereby giving the offense opportunities to run the score up until it was time to run the clock out.

Unfortunately, they thought they could do that with one competent offensive lineman and one of the biggest QB busts in the last 15 years since Jamarcus Russell.

[Riverboat Ron]

It ultimately comes down to coaching.

[Snake]

20 hours ago, PNW_PantherMan said:

Intentional or not, the defense is constructed to play with a lead.  We have a good pass rush and cover corners.  Unfortunately, we do not have an offense capable of producing a lead.

The defense's weakness is stopping the run.  That's a bad weakness to have when you have a bad offense, but it's also not great for a championship defense.  Stopping the run is usually important in the playoffs.

That's the most comical part. They build the defense yet they built it like we had a good offense.