Having to play Drew Brees twice a year is always going to present a challenge to the Panthers’ defense, but for a second consecutive year, the first 2017 outing against Brees was more about what the Panthers didn’t do than what Brees did. While sometimes the Saints’ offense is simply too good to be contained, this article will look at times during Sunday’s game where the Panthers either put themselves in bad positions, failed to perform to the required standard, or simply made errors which cost them dearly.
Keep It Simple, Stupid
“One thing we didn’t do is play smart. When you dont play smart, things like that will happen.”
-Defensive End Mario Addison
While one of the strengths of the McDermott, and now Wilks, defenses is complexity, there are times when it feels as though the Panthers are trying to be too clever, and in so doing, create problems for themselves. An obvious example of this came late in the first quarter when the Saints went to a five wide formation. Usually in this empty set, the Panthers would keep at most one linebacker on the field, but here they look to keep both Davis and Kuechly on the field. Where this creates an issue is that is forces Davis into coverage over Michael Thomas; ideally, the zone coverage would limit the vulnerability of this personnel grouping, but Thomas’ cut is far sharper than that of a tight end and Davis simply can’t get over fast enough to break the pass up.
Thomas is an elite receiver in the NFL and in many cases Davis would be able to cover the inside receiver, but with a bit of awareness the Panthers could have easily put him outside on a better matchup. Further to this point, some of the Panthers’ issues were created by how they looked to use the personnel they did have in coverage. On the following play, the Panthers look to run what can only be described as a variable cover two with the following result:
Rather than having the outside corner bail deep into the second deep zone, the Panthers instead look to have Thompson bail out from the outside linebacker spot. When Bradberry then bites on the underneath route, Thompson is simply unable to get across in time. Wilks and Rivera might argue; and possibly correctly; that this is a calculated risk where, on average, the quarterback will fail to recognize the unusual overage and throw to the underneath receiver with a cornerback breaking on the ball. However, given the ease with which Brees seems able to pick this coverage apart, this might well be a play to put back on the shelf.
Calling a defensive game well is possibly the hardest thing to do in football. After all, the offense has a decided advantage on nearly every play, so it should not be expected that Wilks or Rivera will be able to call a game in which there is no play where the quarterback is able to pick apart the coverage. On the above plays and some others, the Panthers possibly made things a little too easy for Brees.
Third Down Syndrome
“They were 6-for-12, but probably 4 out of the 6 that they converted on, whether it be a communication error, a guy just not dropping deep enough or missing a tackle, if we can do that, then we’re off the field.”
-Safety Kurt Coleman
One of the major reasons why the Panthers conceded so many points on Sunday was their inability to get off the field on third down. On several occasions, they managed to back Brees up but then gave up seemingly easy completions to move the chains. This a real problem for a team running a zone blitz defense, as the ability to pressure the passer on third and long and generate turnovers is a key part of the game plan.
A major issue on both of these plays was the Panthers’ inability to pressure Brees. In any coverage, the inability to get pressure will be a major issue, but in zone blitz defenses in particular it allows the quarterback to simply sit back and find the open man. What is especially worrisome is that on the first play, the Panthers have a rusher for every blocker and yet are still unable to get to Brees. More than anything else, it is hard to explain why Kyle Love is in the game on third-and-long. While Love is a highly valuable part of the defense, he is hardly an adept pass rusher. Even so, for a team with so much invested in the defensive line, it is paramount to be able to pressure the quarterback; something they really struggled with on Sunday.
Another reason why the Panthers were so vulnerable on third down was the space they gave receivers in zone coverage. It was pointed out several times before the game how Worley’s soft coverage had been picked upon by the Bills late in the game; and yet early in the first quarter he was still allowing a large cushion, such as on the following play:
Worley was not alone in this, on the following third down which we referenced earlier, Davis was slow to react to Thomas sitting down outside of him, allowing for the easy completion:
These might seem like small quibbles, but on this drive that play turned a potential filed goal into a touchdown. There is no value in executing well for two downs only to surrender on the third. Facing Tom Brady this coming weekend, the Panthers’ defense will be forced to compete on every single down, with a failure to get off the field on third down almost certainly leading to another defeat. This team was able to get to 2-0 through excellent defense, and hopefully the Saints game was a blip; unless the offense takes a big step forward the defense will need to get back on track quickly if the Panthers are to have a successful season.
Do Your Job, Again
“As a defense we made mistakes we don’t make. It was a lot of self-inflicted wounds on things that we could have controlled. That was the hard part of it all.”
-Safety Mike Adams
As with the my analysis on the run defense earlier in the week, the final piece of the puzzle for the Panthers’ pass defense is to execute when they are in position. Some of these errors are simple mental mistakes, a common theme on Sunday, though others seem to be particular issues with a given player’s ability to defend the run after catch.
In terms of mental mistakes, a corner biting on a run fake can only be described as greedy. These plays are meant to trick safeties and linebackers, not the outside corners. However, on the red zone play above, Worley did just that. What is so frustrating about this play is that the linebackers and safeties were more than adequately positioned to stop any run. The two possibilities here are that the Saints ran this play hoping to get the central safety to bite and just got lucky or, more worryingly, saw a tendency to go this from Worley on tape. If this is the case, then this is something that will need to be fixed quickly, as other teams will not be slow in catching on.
The second major mental error by a Panthers’ defender was, surprisingly, by the veteran Mike Adams. On the play above, the Panthers have two safeties deep but Coleman is forced outside to cover the wheel route. While Brees does fake the pass to the tight end, he is well covered and there is no need for Adams to bite on this play. Bradberry covers Ginn about as well as possible on this play, but there is no way he can cover him without help over the top, which Adams fails to provide. As soon as Coleman breaks outside, Adams should switch onto the Ginn route but fails to do so in time and so allows the long touchdown. This is likely another mental error on the day, but plays like this really shouldn’t be happening to a veteran safety.
The final area where the Panthers made mistakes on Sunday was in allowing run after catch. On a pair of plays, Munnerlyn’s ability to tackle his man in space was put in question with the following results:
On the first play, Munnerlyn simply takes a very poor angle to the ball carrier, allowing him to easily avoid the tackle. On the second, he failed to wrap up properly and is easily blown by. It is highly unlikely that Munnerlyn has managed to survive this long in the league if he has consistently been this poor in space, but that is what makes this all the more frustrating. Nothing that has been shown in this article has been due to a lack of talent on the Panthers’ roster, but rather a string of mental errors and slips in judgement by both players and coaches. All of these issues are fixable, and the Panthers’ defense is still one of the best in the league, but poor performances such as that on Sunday are going to cost this team dearly.
Fan of zone coverage, knee bend and running backs running routes. Twitter: @vrichardson444
