Carolina/Arizona by the Numbers

[Shadow]

Carolina Panthers, 2 time defending NFC South Champions will take on the Arizona Cardinals, Saturday January 3rd @ 4:20 p.m.  I wanted to take a look at our season and see what could be taken away that would help Carolina beat Arizona.  If you are a diehard Panther fan most of this will be old news to you, but if you are new here hopefully this will be useful for learning about our Panthers.  I also included some information about a few under the radar Cardinals that Carolina fans should know about.  I hope you enjoy the information.

Sacks/League Rank/Team

1.  1  21   Tampa Bay 

2.  4  8    Detroit 

3.  3  26   Pittsburgh 

4.  2  2    Baltimore 

5.  2  16   Chicago 

6.  0  32   Cincinnati 

7.  3  9    Green Bay 

8.  3  20   Seattle 

9.  4  25   New Orleans 

10. 9  2    Philadelphia 

11. 2  30   Atlanta 

12. 4  9    Minnesota 

13. 0  25   New Orleans 

14. 3  21   Tampa Bay 

15. 1  27   Cleveland 

16. 1  30   Atlanta 

T.  42 13th   

P.  X  Carolina 13 (40)

P.  X  Arizona 24 (35)

-Arizona's sack leaders

Alex Okafor OLB 8.0

Calais Campbell DE 7.0

Frostee Rucker DE 5.0

 

About Alex Okafor-GLENDALE, Ariz. -- That's the Alex Okafor the Cardinals thought they drafted. That's the Alex Okafor the Cardinals needed.

The second-year pro out of Texas got the start Sunday against the Washington Redskins in place of the injured Matt Shaughnessy, and he responded by collecting four tackles, two sacks and two QB hits in Arizona's 30-20 victory.

"That's the type of player we thought we had all along, and I was really happy to see it," Arians said. "We'll watch the film, but he stood out because of the sacks, but he got close a couple more times. He started commanding chips, and it's good to see a young guy do that."

With Shaughnessy on the injured reserve/designated to return list, he's going to be out for a while. That means Okafor, if he can stay healthy, should continue to get opportunities to establish himself in the NFL.

http://arizonasports.com/40/1774093/Alex-Okafor-steps-in-steps-up-for-Arizona-Cardinals-in-win-over-Redskins

Interceptions/League Rank/Fumbles Recovered/League Rank Fumble Recovered/Team

1.  0   14   0   10  Tampa Bay

2.  0   3    0   22  Detroit

3.  0   25   2   15  Pittsburgh

4.  0   25   1   10  Baltimore

5.  1   14   2   15  Chicago

6.  1   3    0   27  Cincinnati

7.  1   7    0   18  Green Bay

8.  1   18   1   15  Seattle

9.  1   21   1   30  New Orleans

10. 3   25   2   1   Philadelphia

11. 2   12   0   6   Atlanta

12. 1   18   0   27  Minnesota

13. 0   21   0   30  New Orleans

14. 0   14   1   10  Tampa Bay

15. 1   2    1   20  Cleveland

16. 0   12   0   6   Atlanta

T.  12  8th  11  20th

P.  X   14   X   6   Carolina

P.  X   7    X   22  Arizona

-Arizona's interception leaders

Rashad Johnson FS 4 (2TD)

Antonio Cromartie CB 3

Patrick Peterson CB 3 (1TD)

Jerraud Powers CB 3

-Arizona's fumble recovery leaders

Frostee Rucker DE 2

7 Others tied with 1

 

About Frostee Rucker- When Frostee Rucker was a kid, this was the season to be miserable. His given first name brought out the natural jibes. Deck the halls? How about decking the kid with the big mouth.

 "No, I didn't like it," Rucker said of the Christmas season. "Kids were the worst ones with the teasing. They used to get under my skin with the 'Frosty the Snowman' all the time."

 Frostee grew -- he is now 6-foot-3, 280 -- and the taunting became muted. He is known as the Snowman in the Cardinals' locker room, and he embraces the nickname.

 The Cardinals also know him as someone else -- Frostee the Sackman.

 At age 31, Rucker is having what could be considered his best NFL season as an integral part of a defensive line that ranks No. 6 in the league against the run and has more sacks than teams such as Green Bay, San Francisco and Houston.

 One of the Cardinals' original "next men up" this season, Rucker has a career-high five sacks, all in the second half of the season and three in the last two games. A preseason injury to defensive tackle Darnell Dockett helped create more playing time, and while Rucker has started only seven games, only Calais Campbell and Tommy Kelly have taken more snaps than Rucker among Cardinals' defensive linemen.

 "Frostee has always been kind of the 'dirty' player for us," Cardinals defensive coordinator Todd Bowles said. "Calais and Dockett and Dan (Williams) get all the credit, but Frostee does a lot of things in there. He does all the right things. He is not a flashy player, but he's tough. He's gritty. He makes plays."

http://www.foxsports.com/arizona/story/frostee-rucker-arizona-cardinals-sackman-121814

 

 

Time of Possession (excluding OT)/Carolina Rushing Yards/Opponent Rushing Yards

1.  35:12  113   102   Tampa Bay

2.  30:41  62    70    Detroit 

3.  25:21  42    264   Pittsburgh 

4.  29:36  67    127   Baltimore 

5.  27:01  91    85    Chicago 

6.  39:30  147   193   Cincinnati 

7.  30:11  108   122   Green Bay 

8.  31:00  114   119   Seattle 

9.  24:42  109   105   New Orleans 

10. 38:05  102   37    Philadelphia 

11. 28:02  106   86    Atlanta 

12. 35:48  178   92    Minnesota 

13. 36:00  271   92    New Orleans 

14. 37:23  123   151   Tampa Bay 

15. 38:03  209   84    Cleveland 

16. 31:13  194   63    Atlanta 

P.  31:53 5th  31:13(Last 1) 35:35(Last 3) 30:07(Home) 127yds/game Carolina 

P.  29:48 20th 30:36(Last 1) 30:39(Last 3) 29:08(Away) 82yds/game  Arizona 

http://www.teamrankings.com/nfl/stat/average-time-of-possession-net-of-ot

 

Conclusion:  Weather reports call for rain and 48 degrees at Bank of America Stadium.  This should favor Carolina as they rush for 45 yards more per game than the Cardinals.  Arizona as a team does not force many fumbles, ranking 22nd in the league.  I feel Carolina should try to exploit this by focusing and keeping Arizona off balance with their rushing attack.  Arizona has fantastic defensive back play so to be successful Cam will have to be as accurate as possible and make the passing attempts count.  Even though Arizona ranks 24th in sacks, Carolina will have to watch for Alex Okafor to make sure that he doesn't get free runs at Cam.  As long as Carolina takes care of the football and plays smart I like our chances to win.  Let's go Panthers!

[Dunn]

I might be the only one, but holy hell thats confusing to read for us non-sophisticates. 

[firefox1234]

I might be the only one, but holy hell thats confusing to read for us non-sophisticates.

I'll join you in humbleness, I had no clue how to interpret them either....

[Jeremy Igo]

What, no beer prices in the stadium?

[Nick_81]

I'll join you in humbleness, I had no clue how to interpret them either....

It would have been a success for me, had he only posted the conclusion...

[Soul Rebel]

Yeah, not trying to be an a$$ to the OP, but a few times, I thought I was solving for (x)  and forgot the formula.

[AviationMX]

I think the last chart was my blood alcohol level during each game