Barnwell breaks down Panthers woes; spoiler: DBs are terribad

[UNCrules2187]

Quote

 

4. The secondary is struggling mightily. After allowing Julio Jones to go for 300 yards? You don't say! This isn't a one-week problem, though, and while Josh Norman would have helped, the problems go deeper than losing one cornerback. A closer look at the secondary suggests that there are major issues that will need to be worked out sooner rather than later.

The good news for Carolina is that it's still getting a lot of pressure. Last year, the Panthers bothered the opposing quarterback on 28.7 percent of dropbacks. Through four games this year, their pressure rate is at ... 28.7 percent. Not bad. That's the sixth-best rate in the NFL. The problem is when they don't get pressure. Last year, when the Panthers couldn't get pressure on the opposing passer, they were still third in the league in opposing passer rating and 11th in QBR. This year, when they leave the quarterback alone, Carolina is 19th in opposing passer rating and 28th in QBR.

...

Oh boy. The chart has flipped. The Panthers are being carved up by teams attacking them downfield. Last year, on defending throws 11 or more yards in the air (the blue spots in 2015), the Panthers posted the league's best opposing QBR by 10 points (46.0), tied for the league's best passer rating (57.5), and allowed teams to complete only 41.2 percent of their passes while throwing 10 touchdowns against 16 picks.

This year, the Panthers are close to helpless downfield. Only the 49ers have allowed a worse QBR than Carolina's 99.0 mark. Sean McDermott's bunch is allowing a passer rating of 130.3 on those throws, with teams completing 68.3 percent of their passes and tossing up six touchdowns against two picks. Atlanta torched Carolina downfield in Week 4, but it was a problem even before Sunday; the Panthers were allowing a passer rating of 103.5 on those throws over the first three weeks.

 

 

http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/page/barnwellx161003/the-denver-broncos-cruising-carolina-panthers-struggling-long-super-bowl-50-nfl

[Proudiddy]

Buh buh buh, gettleman assured me that norman was a product of our front seven...  i dont know who i am anymore.

[beastson]

Quote

The problem is when they don't get pressure. Last year, when the Panthers couldn't get pressure on the opposing passer, they were still third in the league in opposing passer rating and 11th in QBR. 

That murders the front 4 made Norman. I mean anybody that watched the beginning of last season know it was b.s, but now you have the numbers to argue against

[therealmjl]

2 minutes ago, Proudiddy said:

Buh buh buh, gettleman assured me that norman was a product of our front seven...  i dont know who i am anymore.

Well for starters, annoying.

[therealmjl]

THE sky is falling omgzzzzzz

[Mr. Scot]

The corners aren't "terrible".  Except for Benwikere, they're rookies. 

Anyone who didn't expect rookies to struggle starting early wasn't being realistic.  Heck, for a lot of his first season, people were speculating that Patrick Peterson was gonna bust or needed to be moved to safety.  And that's not at all unusual.  Even high picks have to adjust.

What you can rightly expect from a rookie is 1) early season struggles 2) mid-season improvement 3) late season struggles as they hit the rookie wall.

What we counted on helping us was the pass rush, but Johnson looks like he's lost a step and Ealy hasn't returned to his late 2015 form, so it's not happening.  Offensive struggles aren't helping either.

Can we please stop trying to declare every draft pick a boom or bust by the middle of their rookie year?

Heck, read this from Kalil's book. Maybe it'll help with perspective:

The NFL Rookie Survival Guide

Now if you want to talk about Tre Boston...

 

[UNCrules2187]

The corners aren't "terrible".  Except for Benwikere, they're rookies. 

Anyone who didn't expect rookies to struggle starting early wasn't being realistic.  Heck, for a lot of his first season, people were speculating that Patrick Peterson was gonna bust or needed to be moved to safety.  And that's not at all unusual.  Even high picks have to adjust.

What you can rightly expect from a rookie is 1) early season struggles 2) mid-season improvement 3) late season struggles as they hit the rookie wall.

What we counted on helping us was the pass rush, but Johnson looks like he's lost a step and Ealy hasn't returned to his late 2015 form, so it's not happening.  Offensive struggles aren't helping either.

Can we please stop trying to declare every draft pick a boom or bust by the middle of their rookie year?

Heck, read this from Kalil's book. Maybe it'll help with perspective:

The NFL Rookie Survival Guide

Now if you want to talk about Tre Boston...

 

While we may not be sacking QBs at the same rate, the article shows we're pressuring QBs at the same rate as last season, and 6th best rate in the league so far. Can't lay it all at the feet of the pass rush.


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

[beastson]

2 minutes ago, Mr. Scot said:

The corners aren't "terrible".  Except for Benwikere, they're rookies. 

Anyone who didn't expect rookies to struggle starting early wasn't being realistic.  Heck, for a lot of his first season, people were speculating that Patrick Peterson was gonna bust or needed to be moved to safety.  And that's not at all unusual.  Even high picks have to adjust.

What you can rightly expect from a rookie is 1) early season struggles 2) mid-season improvement 3) late season struggles as they hit the rookie wall.

What we counted on helping us was the pass rush, but Johnson looks like he's lost a step and Ealy hasn't returned to his late 2015 form, so it's not happening.  Offensive struggles aren't helping either.

Can we please stop trying to declare every draft pick a boom or bust by the middle of their rookie year?

Heck, read this from Kalil's book. Maybe it'll help with perspective:

The NFL Rookie Survival Guide

Now if you want to talk about Tre Boston...

 

Gettleman put the pressure on the rookies, not us. It was quite clear in TC, Wilks was on their asses cause they needed to get it quick. We just lost Norman and just lost the SB. He didn't bring in any vet DB's. He's building for the future, when he should be building to win right now

[Bartin]

2 minutes ago, UNCrules2187 said:

 

While we may not be sacking QBs at the same rate, the article shows we're pressuring QBs at the same rate as last season, and 6th best rate in the league so far. Can't lay it all at the feet of the pass rush.


Sent from my iPhone using CarolinaHuddle

 

We are also blitzing 50% more often than last year to get that same pressure rate.

[Growl]

lol Barnwell is about to cement himself at the top of the Huddle's hate list

 

I don't understand how a defense can go from bad to good just by CB play.

 

like I heard those guys don't matter at all.

[frash.exe]

Charles Johnson hasn't been effective since like 2013

[Proudiddy]

The article glances over it, but again, it wasnt just about Norman, it was the impact norman had across the field.  He locked down the side he was on, which allowed us to shade elsewhere and help guys like Bene, and even the safeties were, for a lack of a better term, "safer" over the top.

And as i've replied ad nauseam to those with the canned defense of "but we dont have a pass rush," the pass rush was capable of what it was the last two years because we had an all-pro CB generally lined up on their #1 WR.  It makes a huge difference.

Now, the DBs are sitting ducks.

Rookie or not, theyre the problem and they didn't have to be.  I believe Bradberry is going to be solid, but Worley sucks, and i don't anticipate him getting much better.  And Bene cannot function on the outside.  That's not going to be fixed this season.  I dont have any answers for how to fix it now, other than to probably stop blitzing as much and drop more guys into coverage.  poo, at this point, I wouldnt mind asking Peanut to come back out of retirement lol because they are THAT bad.

[Growl]

welp its time to start moving the goalposts

First it was "guys we'll be fine, Norman was irrelevant, its the system"

 

Now its good ole fashioned "look were rebuilding okay? We knew this would take time. Gettleman is still the greatest executive in league history. Tell it like it is G-Magic! Bup bup!"

[Mr. Scot]

5 minutes ago, UNCrules2187 said:

While we may not be sacking QBs at the same rate, the article shows we're pressuring QBs at the same rate as last season, and 6th best rate in the league so far. Can't lay it all at the feet of the pass rush.

I expected them to struggle even if our pass rush was better than it is now, honestly.

Charles Johnson looks like he's lost a step though.  And frankly, Kawann Short's not showing me a reason why we should break the bank for him.  Plus now we don't have the rotational guy we hoped for in Butler.

Now you can rightly say maybe someone could have anticipated Johnson dropping off given his age, but was there any reasonable cause to think K K Short would be as ineffective as he's been so far?