The Panthers get to return from their mini bye following two crushing losses to the Buccaneers and the Packers. They fired their defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero following these games, if you hadn’t heard. Funny enough, they’ll be taking on the Broncos, the team Evero coached for as a DC prior to Carolina poaching him up. This Broncos team is a different iteration compared to that one, as they were a QB injury away from going to the Super Bowl last season and currently sit at 6-2 atop their division
for a playoff berth. The Panthers also sit atop their division, albeit with very different circumstances and definitely a seemingly different direction. The Panthers will need to stop the losing skid they are on soon if they want to reclaim control of their season, where the Broncos have the Chiefs nipping right at their heels for control of the division. Let’s dive right into all the key storylines.‘
Defense: Contain Bo Nix
The easy story to talk about is the Panthers rushing defense, ranked in the bottom of the league in most categories. However, Denver’s rushing attacks ranks in the mid 20s in the league in yards per rush, yards per game, and rushes per game via TeamRankings.com. The Panthers will also be making a concerted effort to stop the run per Dave Canales this week following their changing of the guard in the coaching staff, so instead I’d like to highlight another problem that has plagued them in losses this year; mobile quarterbacks. EDGE Patrick Jones talked about being more aggressive, specifically along the defensive front, and getting into the backfield more. Nix hasn’t been AS damaging as a rusher this season, averaging short of 4 yards per attempt. But believe me, the man can get away from some pressure and keep plays alive. I would expect the Panthers to unveil an attacking forward defensive approach this week, and rattling Bo Nix will be the best way to keep them in this game.
Offense: Dear god offensive line PLEASE
The story of the last several weeks has been the Panthers allowing pressure on basically half of their passing snaps. For an offense that cut its teeth early on in the season with aggressive passing down the field, that’s a really bad thing. It was especially apparent against the Packers, as they not only sacked Bryce Young 6 times, but they batted down a ton of passing attempts even when they didn’t get home on the rush. This offensive line is allowing a free rusher at the quarterback at an alarming rate, and they need to figure that out one way or the other. Maybe they execute more rollouts and waggle plays where they get Bryce Young moving, maybe they bring in extra blockers at tight end in the backfield or to chip as they run out on their passes. Either way, the last couple of weeks have not been sustainable no matter who the QB is. It looks like they’ll be without OG Damien Lewis for another week, and his backup Corey Bullock was limited at practice on Wednesday. They did activate OL Brady Christensen from injured/reserve, who practiced in full on Wednesday, but I currently would doubt he plays Sunday. So they appear to once again be looking at fielding a somewhat patchwork line, with the same starters who have been struggling like Rasheed Walker and Luke Fortner.
Bonus storyline: Cornerback room changes?
I broke down the Panthers cornerback room in depth earlier in the week. While Marco Wilson showed some fire last week in his first start and the Panthers have two guys who seem under utilized at this juncture in the season in Corey Thornton and Chau Smith-Wade, the bottom line is this unit is beaten up and has to try and survive until they get reinforcements. They’ll draw Jaylen Waddle, Courtland Sutton, and Marvin Mims Jr in the passing game this week, all guys that can take a pass to the house on a busted play. I’m not entirely sure how they’ll try to scheme against this, especially if Will Lee’s hamstring injury keeps him out of this game on Sunday. But it’ll be up to interim DC Todd Wash to figure that out, with DeAngelo Hall brought in as coaching reinforcements to try and teach some parts of the scheme they want to implement to try and get things going in the right direction. Maybe Hall should pack a game day jersey just to be safe?
Tell us down below what storylines you are watching for this week, Panthers fans!
