We got the DJ Moore revenge game on tap for the Panthers week 5 tilt against the Bears!
Welp, here it is, a game I’m sure many of you have been dreading. The Panthers defense gets to face the amalgamation of their trade for Bryce Young in 2023, as the Bears will trot out rookie first overall selection Caleb Williams, paired with former Panthers standout wide receiver DJ Moore. Hooray! Let’s dive in!
Will a real linebacker please stand up?
The Panthers will unfortunately be missing their top two interior linebackers in this game, as Shaq Thompson will miss the remainder of the season with a torn Achilles, and Josey Jewell is all but officially ruled out with a couple of leg issues. This was a nightmare scenario for the Panthers, as inside linebacker was a position with weak depth, and now will need to test that depth. Rookie 3rd round pick Trevin Wallace will take over the “green dot” duties, meaning he will be tasked with taking and relaying the defensive play calls from Ejiro Evero. His running mate will likely be 2023 UDFA Claudin Cherelus, who saw a great deal of snaps next to Wallace with the 2nd and 3rd teams during the preseason. The Panthers rush defense was already a weakness, and this week could be even worse if those two don’t hit the ground running fast. How these two perform could be a huge indicator of how the rest of the season will go for this front seven.
The Ghosts of alternate universes
DJ Moore will get his second crack at a revenge game against the Panthers, as his 2023 game against the 1-7 Panthers wasn’t much to write home about. This week, he’ll be playing with the QB who the Bears drafted, with the Panthers 2024 first rounder, as part of the trade to acquire Bryce Young. As a reminder, if you haven’t forgotten already, that first rounder ended up being the first overall pick this season, meaning the Panthers traded away the 2024 first overall pick, DJ Moore, and a bunch of other stuff for the 2023 first overall pick, QB Bryce Young!
This is a bad matchup for the Panthers. Jaycee Horn certainly did his job last week, however as I predicted, the Bengals went after whatever wide receiver was not being covered by Horn as often as they could. This led to solid outings by both Tee Higgins and Ja’Marr Chase. This week, the Panthers have to deal with three high end talents in DJ Moore, Keenan Allen, and 2024 9th overall pick Rome Odunze. I expect a lot of the same strategy from the Bears, as they are looking to get Caleb Williams into a groove against this defense and to give his offensive output a boost going forward.
Please… pass rush
The Panthers had a nice outing against the Raiders in week 3 from a pass rush standpoint, at least from an expectation standpoint. This unit just isn’t very good on paper, as they need to blitz to generate pressure. Against the Bengals, we saw more of what was to be expected, as Joe Burrow had time all day to throw the football. This allowed them to string together 4 straight touchdown drives after their opening drive, which quickly put the Panthers in a bad position. While the Panthers offense is much improved with Dalton at the helm, the defense needs to disrupt drives and force negative plays to help them. Last week, the Panthers only managed 2 QB hits and zero sacks, and it showed as the Bengals efficiently stacked the points on this team. This is a bit of a better situation, as the Panthers will get a shot at a rookie QB who has shown much room for improvement, so scheming up some pass rush opportunities may be a bit easier than against one of the best QBs in the league today.
What are your thoughts, Panthers fans? Who do you want to see step up on the defensive side of the ball?