speaking of nicknames...

[nosuchthingasapanther]

under meeks, i'm eager to see if "the hit squad" can truely live up to their name.

yeah..this is just a random out of the blue i have nothing to do until i go to work post.

[Fireball77]

I would rather they could be called the "tackle and have great gap integrity" squad but maybe that's just me.

[Azteca]

I cant wait to see Chris Harris level somebody like he did during that Jacksonville game a while back

[carolinarolls]

what the hell is "gap integrity"?

[panthers55]

what the hell is "gap integrity"?

It is a basic concept known to folks from pee wee football on up.

In rushing the passer or in run defense the defender stay in his rushing lane through a designated gap to keep from getting caught out of position particularly against the draw. Something highly valued by Fox. It will be interesting to see how that plays out when meeks send everyone at the quarterback to get a sack and we are vulnerable to the run. A problem he had in Indianapolis. Hopefully Kemo keeps the middle clogged.

[nosuchthingasapanther]

It will be interesting to see how that plays out when meeks send everyone at the quarterback to get a sack and we are vulnerable to the run. A problem he had in Indianapolis. Hopefully Kemo keeps the middle clogged.

meeks's defense...or better yet, dungy's defense wasn't the problem in indy.

bob sanders is indy's run defense.

where he goes the defense goes.

much the same way beason and harris are key to carolina's run defense.

when harris and beason were hurt last season, the panthers' run defense went south.

[panthers55]

meeks's defense...or better yet, dungy's defense wasn't the problem in indy.

bob sanders is indy's run defense.

where he goes the defense goes.

much the same way beason and harris are key to carolina's run defense.

when harris and beason were hurt last season, the panthers' run defense went south.

If it wasn't defense than what was it- offense??? They were 24th in run defense in 2008 with a banged up Sanders. In 2007 with Sanders playing 15 games they were 15th. Don't see that as a big difference as it was around 12 yards per game. They were similar to us the past 2 years and we admit we have largely sucked the past 2 years. Seems by most standards that means they sucked as well.

As for why our run defense was poor, it wasn't Beason or Harris that caused the problems so much as the defensive line and our DTs in particular. When kemo and Lewis went down we went south in a hurry. Most folks didn't even know Beason was hurt until after the season.

[nosuchthingasapanther]

If it wasn't defense than what was it- offense??? They were 24th in run defense in 2008 with a banged up Sanders. In 2007 with Sanders playing 15 games they were 15th. Don't see that as a big difference as it was around 12 yards per game. They were similar to us the past 2 years and we admit we have largely sucked the past 2 years. Seems by most standards that means they sucked as well.

not a big difference?

if you go by ypg...12 yards is the difference between their 15th ranking and dallas being ranked 6th in '07. sometimes you have to look at other factors to gauge run and pass defense.

the difference is the big plays. in '07 with sanders, they only gave up 4 20+ yard runs. with a beat up sanders last season, they gave up 11 20+, and 3 40+ runs. in '06 when he was practicly put on the shelf...18 20+ and 4 40+.

As for why our run defense was poor, it wasn't Beason or Harris that caused the problems so much as the defensive line and our DTs in particular. When kemo and Lewis went down we went south in a hurry. Most folks didn't even know Beason was hurt until after the season.

the secondary was the reason why carolina kept the league's top RBs under 100 yards rushing the beginning of the season. (the secondary is why the defense showed promise in 07). if you scan thru beason's and harris's blogs, they both were hurt before kemo and lewis.

[panthers55]

not a big difference?

if you go by ypg...12 yards is the difference between their 15th ranking and dallas being ranked 6th in '07. sometimes you have to look at other factors to gauge run and pass defense.

the difference is the big plays. in '07 with sanders, they only gave up 4 20+ yard runs. with a beat up sanders last season, they gave up 11 20+, and 3 40+ runs. in '06 when he was practicly put on the shelf...18 20+ and 4 40+.

the secondary was the reason why carolina kept the league's top RBs under 100 yards rushing the beginning of the season. (the secondary is why the defense showed promise in 07). if you scan thru beason's and harris's blogs, they both were hurt before kemo and lewis.

I won't deny that Sanders makes a difference in their defense but their poor numbers last year were due to more than him. Indy's defense has always benefitted from an offense that controls the clock, puts up points and forces teams to throw the ball to catch up primarily with the pass. Indy's offense in 2008 was 13th in points and 15th in yards. In 2007 they were 3rd in points scored and 5th in yards. In 2007 they were 3rd in TOP at 29.49 while in 2008 they were at 28.39 (26th). Consider that until Indy got going late in the season the numbers were even worse. Those numbers were more of a factor than Bob Sanders alone. He is good but this is a team sport.

As for our guys both Beason and Harris played all 16 games. They may have been banged up and clearly Beason says he was a one armed tackler at the end of the year, still Beason made the same number of tackles in 2008 as he did in 2007 and other than NO was in double digits almost every game.

On the other hand look at what happened when Kemo and Lewis went out- we get gashed for a franchise record high number of yards against the Giants and Kemo had one tackle in the last 3 games. When you give up 120 yards rushing to Denver without him you know something is wrong.

And the secondary was no more the reason for our run defense than the D line and linebackers. We played differently the first half of the year when we had a bunch of high profile runners like LT, Forte, AP, Johnson, et all at the beginning of the season. We played more 8 in the box so obviously Harris was a factor but honestly I think of him more as an extra linebacker most of the time since his coverage skills are somewhat suspect and he rarely plays deep.