Its a tale of two defenses this week. Can you guess which one is the bad one?
The Carolina Panthers travel to Denver to face off against the Broncos this week, yet another 4:00 slate game. The Denver Broncos success this season has mostly come from a strong defense, however the Panthers defense still faces a tall order for their unit; facing off against an NFL offense. And this one is led by old nemesis Sean Payton as the head coach! Let’s dive in.
Mitigate the rushing plays
The Broncos rushing offense currently ranks 13th in the NFL with 124.1 yards per game (per teamrankings.com ), and 10th in the NFL with 4.7 yards per attempt. This has largely come as a combo attack behind running backs Javonte Williams and Jaleel McLaughlin with 452 yards on 113 combined attempts, with a healthy mix of rookie QB Bo Nix logging 255 yards on 47 attempts. The Broncos don’t really focus on any one running back and have given about 20 carries to other backup rushers. This could be a huge problem for the Panthers rushing defense, as they rank dead last in yards per game and 23rd in yards per rushing attempt. Their defense may get some help with LB Josey Jewell practicing on a limited basis as of Wednesday, but their defensive line is still heavily depleted. The Broncos could literally and figuratively run away with this one quick if the Panthers don’t start off fast.
Get some bloody turnovers
The Panthers have 6 total forced turnovers between interceptions and fumble recoveries this season, as they have missed many more chances to get a big momentum shifting play with drops or just bad bounces. The Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix has thrown 5 interceptions and hasn’t coughed up a fumble just yet, so this week is as good a time as any for Ejiro Evero to turn up the heat on Nix and try to get him to make some mistakes. The Panthers will not have EDGE DJ Wonnum back yet, so they’ll once again be tasked with throwing together a pass rush with the duct tape and bandaids they have. Getting some turnovers would help in that regard.
A forgiving matchup for the secondary?
The Panthers beat up secondary might actually have themselves a somewhat decent matchup to draw this week. WR Courtland Sutton is a threat, however he doesn’t even lead the team in receptions as that honor goes to RB Javonte Williams. Sutton is the only receiver on the team to eclipse 200 yards receiving and the only one with more than 1 TD. He will draw Jaycee Horn this week and hopefully they go at it darn near every snap. The Panthers remaining cornerbacks are Mike Jackson, Dane Jackson*, rookie Chau Smith-Wade, and Shemar Bartholemew on the active roster, with a few others waiting in the wings on the practice squad. This will be a great game for someone to step up from the pack and make some plays.
What are you looking for this week, Panthers fans?