Let’s not mince words here. The Saints defense has not played well during the first two weeks of the 2017 season. Some might say they’ve been downright terrible. Through 120 minutes of football, they’ve allowed 65 points (second worst in the NFL), 1025 passing yards (worst in the NFL), and 248 rushing yards (7th most) to the New England Patriots and the Minnesota Vikings. That means the defense is giving up over 10.6 yards every minute of the game, including when their offense is on the field.
Every time the play clock has run from 35 to 0 the first two weeks, the Saints defense has given up 6.18 yards.
Obviously, the entire defense is to blame for these eye-popping statistics, but so much of the battle is won and lost in the trenches every game. With Nick Fairley missing the season with a heart condition, the Saints have turned to fifth round pick Tyeler Davison to spend time next to Sheldon Rankins and shore up the inside of their defensive line. Davison will match up well with Panthers guards Andrew Norwell and Trai Turner, as they both are strong with great leverage against opponents. While Davison isn’t a great pass rusher (only 1.5 sacks in 16 games last season), he is a competent space eater and can take up blockers on run plays. This will be his role to try to get Cameron Jordan in a one-on-one matchup.
Jordan has been one of the most consistently excellent defensive ends in the league and doesn’t look to have lost a step in his seventh year with his explosive first step and swim move still intact through two games. As long as the two-time Pro Bowler is on the field (Jordan, unlike the Panthers defensive ends, plays 100% of the snaps and lines up all across the line), he will be a handful for tackle Daryl Williams if they are matched up one-on-one. As he is by far the most dangerous weapon on the line, expect Trai Turner to help Williams on the edge to keep Jordan away from Cam Newton. Jordan is one of the best in the league at forcing pressure on the quarterback, so you can bet on seeing #94 in the backfield on multiple occasions Sunday.
While this may seem counterintuitive, the most successful runs this season have been directly at Jordan. This takes away his ability to chase down runners and shed blockers and eliminates many of his strengths as a run stopper. Through two weeks, when runs have gone towards the left tackle (Davison) or end (Jordan), it has resulted in an average of 7.64 yards. When they’ve run towards the right side, it’s been 2.16 yards per carry. That’s a big difference, so expect the Panthers to run behind Daryl Williams and Trai Turner directly at Jordan to mitigate his impact in the ground game.
The duo on the right side of Sheldon Rankins and Alex Okafor have not been as effective this season; Rankins did not make the stat sheet last week against the Patriots (not that a defensive tackle needs to, but the big guy was pushed around pretty easily by Nate Solder) and should be a good matchup for Norwell or Kalil in the middle of the field. Alex Okafor has an extremely diverse technique, and when healthy, can give a tackle fits as he rushes around the edge with his quick get-off and hands. He hasn’t been healthy since 2014, and he appears to be now. He’s already picked up three tackles in the backfield in two games, so running right at him has not been successful; while Okafor is a good defensive end, this is a matchup Matt Kalil should be able to win on a consistent basis to keep Cam Newton upright.
While the true deficiency in the Saints defense has been the pass defense thus far, the defensive line has not been able to stop the run effectively either, allowing over four yards per rush through two weeks to the Patriots and the Vikings. The Panthers should be able to be effective if they follow these teams’ leads and play mistake-free.
