Offensive Line Improvement
With Trai Turner likely out another week at least and Daryl Williams and Matt Kalil looking to be much longer term injuries, the Panthers will once again be posting something of a makeshift line against the Bengals. However, the one positive from that is that at least it is the same offensive line as last Sunday, and even this slight sliver of continuity should allow the offensive line group to continue to grow, something Ron Rivera touched on in his press conference on Thursday. A lot has already been written about how Chris Clark was being assigned defenders by Van Roten as they broke the huddle, and while he wasn’t perfect, given his lack of time in the offense, he certainly didn’t do a poor job. With another week of practice, he can hopefully continue to grow into the role.
As well as Clark, Larsen was forced to play out of position at guard with Greg Van Roten and Taylor Moton still adjusting to their newfound starting roles; this is not a group without talent, and last week’s showing was genuinely very promising, but hopefully with some time this is a group that can grow from being ‘not a disaster’ to one that can actually help the Panthers in games. This is unlikely to happen overnight, but the continued growth of this grouping should help all aspects of the offense.
Coverage Capability
The Panthers pass defense against the Falcons on Sunday was very much a mixed bag, as while they did a good job of limiting the impact of Julio Jones – 64 yards on 9 targets – they allowed Calvin Ridley and Austin Hooper to combine for 123 yards and two touchdowns on just ten targets. Some of this can certainly be attributed to the lack of pass rush and the defense playing on its heels following struggles in the rushing game, but there also appeared to be some issues with the coverage itself.
Some of this can also be put down to assignment, as while Mike Adams is a decent safety, matching him up against a receiver is always going to be an issue. However, the issue went well beyond Adams and the Panthers will want to show that they can’t be torched by any team with receiving depth. While much of the attention will understandably be on AJ Green, James Bradberry has looked every bit the #1 corner so far this season.
Of course, this doesn’t mean that a game where AJ Green torches the Panthers’ secondary can be brushed under the carpet, but given last week’s performance, a big week from one of more of Eifert, Ross or Boyd will likely cause alarm bells to start to ring; this is not a defense without coverage talent on the back end, but talent isn’t worth anything without production and – young and inexperienced or not – the Panthers’ pass defense needs to have a better game this Sunday; hopefully aided by a pass rush.
