Worries about Arizona

[Verge]

I have not been particularly threatened by a team this year, I felt we could beat anyone without much pressure because no one matched up with us well. However, Arizona does a list of things that make me very nervous about the matchup.

- Deone Bucannon: Here is one of maybe three guys in the nfl that can actually spy Cam Newton successfully. Arizona used to have a guy like that, Daryl Washington, the last time we played a healthy Washington, he spied Cam all day and basically shut him down. Bucannon has that ability and we need to be able to put him on his ass and have Cam make some moves to get away, or else they will eliminate a huge part of our offense.

-Their interior o-line: The strength of our defense is very clearly Short and Star, they both demand a double team which leaves our edge rushers free as well as our linebackers to come up the middle. Their interior o-line is pretty damn outstanding and does not allow a ton of pressure up the middle, the only weakness on that line is their right side, which is not exactly our strength by any means.

-Patrick Peterson: Pretty simply put, this dude is going to cap Ginn, eliminating a deep threat.

-John Brown, JJ Nelson, and Larry Fitz vs McClain, Finnegan, and Coleman: This one is obvious, Norman is going to take away Floyd, which is very important, but we are going to have to take these guys vertically almost every play, and make sure we have additional mid field coverage for Fitz going across the middle. Do we have the speed with McClain and Coleman to cover the electric Brown and Nelson? I don't really think so. Can we contain Fitz with Finnegan and LB help? Probably. Either way it's a huge question mark, even if we do get massive pressure.

 

Of course, this doesn't make me think this is a loss by any means, but certainly a concern. We do things well that is their weakness as well. We can eliminate their best defensive trait which is their interior pass rush, we can beat their secondary with Greg Olsen, and we can most certainly run it on them. So all in all, it's just my thoughts. What is your biggest worry against Arizona? 

[Paa Langfart]

Cam having a Tommy Jone kind of game.  Hes been great this year - just dont want to see a let down from him or we are in big trouble.

[chknwing]

7 minutes ago, Paa Langfart said:

Cam having a Tommy Jone kind of game.  Hes been great this year - just dont want to see a let down from him or we are in big trouble.

roll back to 2013 http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013100608/2013/REG5/panthers@cardinals#menu=gameinfo|contentId%3A0ap2000000258638&tab=videos

[pantherking15]

Quote

Their interior o-line is pretty damn outstanding and does not allow a ton of pressure up the middle, the only weakness on that line is their right side, which is not exactly our strength by any means.

Are you sure about this? This PFF stat says otherwise. Green Bay has an above-average front 7 and got a ton of pressure on Palmer. And this was with Palmer at home in his comfy dome.

[truthjuice]

Worry warts. 

[Verge]

8 minutes ago, chknwing said:

roll back to 2013 http://www.nfl.com/gamecenter/2013100608/2013/REG5/panthers@cardinals#menu=gameinfo|contentId%3A0ap2000000258638&tab=videos

 

This happened because of Washington and Dansby, athletic and rangy, they were able to seal off Cam.

[cgarsmoker]

Baldwin, Lockett, and Kearse weren't a bunch of bums last week and we negated a lot of what they did (in the first half before we went conservative) with pressure up front.  Arizona's WR core is bigger but talent is talent and I don't think Palmer can pull plays out of his ass like RW.  Thieves Ave will be in the house and ready for the challenge.   

[Verge]

6 minutes ago, pantherking15 said:

Are you sure about this? This PFF stat says otherwise. Green Bay has an above-average front 7 and got a ton of pressure on Palmer. And this was with Palmer at home in his comfy dome.

 

That surprises me, I know GB blitzed pretty much the whole game though.

[jamos14]

I have seen JJ Nelson's name mentioned several times.  I don't understand why.  Sure, he's fast.  But not even close to the only fast WR we've played against.  He only has 11 catches ALL YEAR.

[theBartmann]

Our interior is a little weak, LG is Iupati, who is good, but RG is Larsen and C is Sendlein - not terrible but they can get pushed around. Fortunately, they both play angry and are consistent, so they will lose some, but not all day long. But if you can contain the run game and nullify play action by not having to bring up your LBs too much, then that removes part of our effectiveness.

[CRA]

My only real worry is Floyd and Brown deep vs McClain.  

I am comfortable everywhere else.  

Yes, Peterson will shutdown a WR but based on how we play it doesn't matter.  Look at any monster game by Cam and you see he always spreads it around. The one advantage of not having a great WR corp is our QB treats everyone is an equal.

I like our odds on O overall and think defensively it just comes down to our pass rush not letting Carson get comfortable. Our DTs should be able to have an impact.  No question they will make some plays in the pass game.  Just can't let them hit the haymakers (which is their thing with Brown and Floyd) Also got to be mindful Johnson is a very good receiving RB.  But we have the talent to stop it with the best LBs in the NFL.   Fitz of course brings his playoff magic but I think the key to beating them is stopping the other 2 from having a big day.

If we are who we have been all year, we should win.....but that means like always you gotta win the turnover battle.  Always easier said than done and AZ is the 2 seed bc they ain't to shabby at it either.

[fitty76]

I honestly think the Panther crush them.  I wouldn't be surprised if the score was 45-10.  I'm dead serious.  

[CRA]

19 minutes ago, Verge said:

 

That surprises me, I know GB blitzed pretty much the whole game though.

GB used a lot of the standard Davis/Luke gap blitzes we use  if I recall correctly 

[The Lobo]

Good post and great points. Every team has worries, they can be negated it all depends on preparation and game planning. We had a bunch of worries against Seattle, but had a solid gameplay the first half. I'm sure the coaches know the mismatch at wr/db. They are going to come up with exotic blitzes and different line stunts. Our d ends need to be huge this game. That's the key put pressure on Palmer and we got it. Give him time, it's over. He's a great qb. I expect our d to be physical against their o. Especially our db's. Lots of press coverage I see in our future. Also, lots of underneath help