The Panthers take on their next opponent, who could make things hard for the defense.
The Panthers face an upstart Washington Commanders team that is 4-2 and looking to take the NFC East for a playoff spot. The Panthers, on the other hand, have 1 win as they try to build on some offensive momentum. The defense, however, has been the major weakness of the season, and things aren’t looking much better going into this game. Let’s dive in.
Pass rush, every week
The Panthers continued to frustrate fans with their pass rushing ability (or inability) each week. They may see Jadeveon Clowney return to the lineup for this game, and they brought along reinforcements in Marquis Haynes and Shaq Lawson on the edge over the recent past, but the bottom line is the team isn’t cutting it. Their secondary is battered, their linebackers are battered, so at some point, the pass rush needs to step up. I’m not sure if this will be the week, but at some point they have to figure it out.
Jaycee Horn vs Terry McLaurin
For some strange reason, Ejiro Evero has had Panthers CB Jaycee Horn stay on one side of the field recently, not shadowing opposing teams’ wide receivers. This is something we know he can do, as when healthy even as early as his rookie year he was shadowing targets. While Jayden Daniels has clearly separated himself from this year’s batch of rookie QBs, his best weapon by far has been Scary Terry. This would be an excellent week to bring out a new coverage scheme that has Horn playing press man as much as possible against McLaurin.
Linebacker progression
This will definitely be a season of growth among the Panthers linebacking group. They have gotten the kind of performance you would expect and be proud of from rookie LB Trevin Wallace, as he has amassed 24 total tackles, a forced fumble, and a fumble recovery (those two on the same play) in his two weeks as a starting linebacker. His fellow young buck Claudin Cherelus has shown his own bright spots, however both have been subject to the mental errors you’d reasonably expect from young guys unexpectedly thrust into the starting lineup. A return from injury by veteran LB Josey Jewell would alleviate some of that pressure, however as of this writing he hasn’t practiced this week after dealing with a hamstring and groin injury taking him out two weeks ago.
What are you looking for this week, Panthers fans?