Panthers Defense vs the NFC South Offenses.

[Ivan The Awesome]

Hola fellow huddlers.  

 

Seeing how this defense has evolved through experience, (two rookies that started out shaky nut finished strong) through acquisitions via free agency and the draft. Getting savvy veterans in Adams, Munnerlynn,  and of course the return of Peppers. 

They bring stability, guidance and leadership.  Something this team was lacking last year. 

 

Even the additions to the offense of speed. Which will no doubt benefit the defense immensely.  It brings the question of, which NFC South offense will be troublesome for the Panthers Defense?

I won't go into an in depth analysis of each team since that's not my forté, I'll leave that to the pros like Saca and KB_Fan,  but I'll brush up on them a bit. 

Last year you can safely say the Falcons offense was the answer. Julio Jones putting up a 300 yard performance on this defense last year. (Cringe)

 

The Falcons have basically the same offense. Only huge difference is their coordinator.  Shanahan left for San Francisco but the pieces are still there. They have Matt Ryan, Julio, Freeman, etc.  The word is that the offense will implement the same fast paced tempo as they did last year but that will be determined once the season starts. 

 

The Saints are a bit of an enigma. They still have their franchise QB.  They traded Brandin Cooks away getting rid of their #1 WR.  The added Ginn to replace him (lol), they still have the RB by committee Mark Ingram with the addition of Adrian Peterson. The TE is Coby Fleener,  which has potential but hasn't really reached it. Wide outs Willie Snead, Michael Thomas, and Ginn. Speed all around the table. The key here would be Brees and that O line. No matter how you slice it that offense is Brees and Payton.

 

Now on to the Bucs.

They have a franchise QB as well. Winston is getting better each year. As far as weapons they have Evans, The addition of Jackson who brings what they sorely missed, speed. Also they get the best TE in the draft in O.J. Howard and have Cameron Brake.  The RB are Martin and Rogers.  

 

Personally.  I think it's between the Bucs and Falcons. I lean more towards the Bucs. 

The trio of Evans, Jackson and Howard on paper are formidable.  Not saying the other offenses aren't but I believe this offense, if Jackson and Howard pay off can become a problem. Especially if Jackson blows the top off. 

What are your thoughts huddle? 

[Udogg]

If Julio Jones wasn't in the equation, then I would say Tampa, bu as long as Julio Jones is healthy then it's Atlanta. He is as close to unguard-able  as you can get.  He makes everything for Atlanta go.  The short passes they run underneath his routes because he clears out coverage.  The safety he takes out of the play because you almost always have to have safety help over the top.  The fear he puts in everyone because he turns 5 yard slants into touchdowns. Everyone else you mentioned is good, but we have personnel that somewhat match up.  We have no one that can match up with Julio (as of right now).  Bradberry is impressive, but JJ is a freak of nature. 

The reason Josh Norman got eleventy million bijillion dollars was his ability to compete with Julio.  Everyone who saw that said, if he can guard that guy he can guard pretty much anyone.   So until he isn't there it's Atlanta.  That being said, the key is getting to Ryan.  I feel like we have the line and the secondary is good enough to make him hold the ball just long enough for us to get to him. 

[Saca312]

The Buccaneers potentially have the deadliest offense, but that solely depends on Winston and whether his accuracy improves. They have Mike Evans and DeSean Jackson, who both could be WR1s for other teams, and Godwin is a pretty promising rookie. Not buying the OJ Howard hype, but Brate isn't half bad either. 

Their weakness is surprisingly their running game. Doug Martin dropped off really bad last year, and everyone else isn't exactly inspiring confidence. Nevertheless, I think they're still the toughest

Falcons offense was actually elevated by Shanahan. Don't be surprised to see a slight drop-off if Sarkistan can't scheme or gameplan like Shanny has. They really only have their runningbacks and Julio with everyone else elevated solely by scheme. 

But they still have potential to be really good if Sark does have the job Shanahan did. I don't think they're above the Buccaneers, but their run game gives them an edge in that category.

Saints lol. They got Brees and Peyton. Always going to be tough, but I don't know if they jump anyone else. Maybe the Falcons if Sarkiston's scheme is a flop.

[Saca312]

11 minutes ago, Udogg said:

We have no one that can match up with Julio (as of right now)

I disagree.

Actually thought Bradberry did pretty well the last time they faced off.

 

Julio looked unstoppable as Shanahan turned everyone else into a weapon in Atlanta, meaning the defense has to focus on more than one thing.

Without Shanahan, I don't think they have the same scary offense they did last year. I don't know how Sarkistan will operate, but I doubt he'll be able to replicate the same success Shanny did.

Quote

That being said, the key is getting to Ryan.  I feel like we have the line and the secondary is good enough to make him hold the ball just long enough for us to get to him. 

I think we have to force him to try and make the decisions himself. Don't give him the easy passes and force him to make the decision. When you do that, you'll have a lot of success in getting him to be erratic.

Shanahan's scheme allowed Ryan to not make as many hard decisions because Ryan's not good at that stuff. But when you force Ryan to make the choice himself in tough situations, he will fold down.

He also was insanely lucky last season. There were a ton of passes that could've (and should've) changed their season outlook.

 

[Hotsauce]

Teddy Ginn tho

[Nails]

None.

The Bucs hype is just that-hype.  Jameis may even take a step up from his ground zero decision making and still be sunk-he's simply not very athletic and has a horribly long windup.  That, behind an OL "anchored" by LT Donovan Smith=Queen's Feast for our front 7 and two comfortable wins for the good guys.

[Carolina Cajun]

Saints because drew brees always seems to have otherworldly type games against us.

[Ball4life]

22 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

I disagree.

Actually thought Bradberry did pretty well the last time they faced off.

 

Julio looked unstoppable as Shanahan turned everyone else into a weapon in Atlanta, meaning the defense has to focus on more than one thing.

Without Shanahan, I don't think they have the same scary offense they did last year. I don't know how Sarkistan will operate, but I doubt he'll be able to replicate the same success Shanny did.

I think we have to force him to try and make the decisions himself. Don't give him the easy passes and force him to make the decision. When you do that, you'll have a lot of success in getting him to be erratic.

Shanahan's scheme allowed Ryan to not make as many hard decisions because Ryan's not good at that stuff. But when you force Ryan to make the choice himself in tough situations, he will fold down.

He also was insanely lucky last season. There were a ton of passes that could've (and should've) changed their season outlook.

 

You do realize you can say that about every QB in the league right? Did you think Ryan was going to not make any mistakes all season throwing 534 pass attempts? Even Brady had bad passes that he was lucky that did not get picked off. 

[Hogmolliesmaht]

19 minutes ago, Carolina Cajun said:

Saints because drew brees always seems to have otherworldly type games against us.

You're probably right. It seems like Tampa is getting all the hype but it's mostly because of their draft picks who may or may not pan out the way everybody expects them to. I'm hoping our pass rush will be the equalizer against all of these offenses. 

[t96]

Saints are the only one. Falcons will be easy. Ryan will regress, Julio is their only real other weapon, Shanahan is gone. Bucs are held back by Jameis having an Andrew Luck like development, as well as a poor line and OC. DeSean overrated, Evans terribly inconsistent, and Howard won't have a huge impact his rookie year (though I'm worried about him in the future). Saints always give us fits, have a good running game, receivers and line, but mainly Payton's offens with Brees is just great. Good thing their D is consistently trash.

[shaqattaq]

44 minutes ago, Saca312 said:

He also was insanely lucky last season. There were a ton of passes that could've (and should've) changed their season outlook.

holy crap, he must of sold his soul to get away with all of that.

[Ball4life]

3 minutes ago, thomas96 said:

Saints are the only one. Falcons will be easy. Ryan will regress, Julio is their only real other weapon, Shanahan is gone. Bucs are held back by Jameis having an Andrew Luck like development, as well as a poor line and OC. DeSean overrated, Evans terribly inconsistent, and Howard won't have a huge impact his rookie year (though I'm worried about him in the future). Saints always give us fits, have a good running game, receivers and line, but mainly Payton's offens with Brees is just great. Good thing their D is consistently trash.

Never heard of Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman huh? 

[t96]

7 minutes ago, Ball4life said:

Never heard of Devonta Freeman or Tevin Coleman huh? 

Not that impressed with either. Freeman is extremely inefficient, he has just had large workloads. Coleman's year last year was a product of Shanahan designing plays for him in space, particularly as a receiver. I hope to god you guys do get that megadeal done with Freeman. It'll be like us with D-Will and Stew all over again except Freeman isn't even good or worth even top 15 RB money. Oh, and they are both terrible in pass protection. Maybe Freeman should focus more on improving in that important area than on trying to get top 5 RB money, which you guys just may be stupid enough to give him.

[KSpan]

55 minutes ago, Carolina Cajun said:

Saints because drew brees always seems to have otherworldly type games against us.

I was genuinely surprised at how inept their offense looked in the second game last year. Hopefully a sign of things to come this year.