The midway point of the NFL season is fast approaching, and the Carolina Panthers are not trending in the right direction. After 2 losses in 5 days, the magic ran out quickly and the plucky media darlings with an explosive offense have turned back into the pumpkin we all know and begrudgingly love.
With all the evidence of Ejiro Evero’s tenure as the Defensive Coordinator, another loss in embarrassing fashion was enough to force Dave Canales’ hand to go in a different direction. While Evero has plenty
of supporters within league circles that sing his praises and tout his merit as a coach, the consistency of the the defense’s inconsistency wore too thin.
If there was ever a time to makes these changes it’s now, as despite everything, the Panthers are still in the lead for the NFC South title. As we all know, the NFC South counts as a division the same way that Thursday Night Football counts as primetime: barely. Anything can happen, and I’m not sure if that’s actually a good thing.
While many different areas of the Panthers flailing, it’s the defense that is in the most desperate need of some change. On Thursday, Packers quarterback Jordan Love dropped back 41 times. The Panthers did not register a single quaterback hit, let alone a sack. If they were playing drop 8 coverage the entire game, then fine. But no, they also blitzed 44% of the time, according to SumerSports.
According to NFL’s NextGenStats, Jordan Love had a 2.47 second time to throw. So maybe he was just getting the ball out quickly underneath? Well, Love had the 10th highest average completed air yards (6.4 yards) in the NFL and the 5th highest intended air yards (9.8 yards) during Week 8.
To the Panthers credit, they were able to hold the Packer’s to a pretty dismal rushing day. I’d like to give kudos, but I have a hard time reconciling that the Panthers had to sell out to stop the rushing attack of the league’s worst rushing team in order to find that success.
Granted, when you are among the league’s worst rushing defense, maybe that’s what is necessary. Maybe they do have to sell out to stop the run and everything else be damned regardless of opponent or circumstance? Who knows, but hopefully a new defensive coordinator can help figure it out.
If the Panthers do want to win the NFC South crown and make more than a whimper in the playoffs, it’s not going to happen if they stay as the defense ranked 28th in points per game, 22nd in yards per game, 30th in rush defense, 30th in pressure rate, 28th in 3rd down stop rate and dead last in the NFL in red zone stop rate. If you’re going to be bend-but-don’t-break, the ‘don’t break’ part is a crucial component.
Being 4th in takeaways is nice, at least. Hopefully that sticks around. I guess we’ll find something soon, when the Panthers take on the Denver Broncos. Until then, keep pounding.
