Assess the Panthers defense this far

[Tbe]

The secondary is better but the D line is not worth the money paid.

[rippadonn]

The big boys will be thankful for games where the temperature isn't 98+ degrees. Last two home games have been brutally hot for players and fans. The Rams game was a stalemate until the big boys got gassed, then both teams were running. The pass defense has been above average. Goff was stymied.

[rippadonn]

Burns is the truth!

[Black&BlueBubba]

I have a little different take.  I don’t think we know.  I rewatched the first half of that game and I would put most of TB not moving the ball on the fact they had consistent stupid penalties.  False starts, Holding, 12 men in the huddle, and a ton of other that put them in tough situations.  It’s easy to play when 3rd downs are 3rd and 15.  

I think we have looked OK but the jury is still out. 

[Icege]

DJax and Tre Boston have been incredibly disappointing.

Boston is what he is, but DJax is better than what he was in wk 2.

[CarolinaNCSU]

They're good...but to be great they have to more consistently get sacks and force some turnovers.  Winston holding onto the ball for 5 or 6 seconds and gifting us a sack is great for our secondary, but this vaunted front 7 needs to wreak havoc. 

If the offense can sustain a couple drives, put up 3 TDs a game with ease, and let the defense rest?  Could be really good. 

[RenoCarolina]

So we did not see the "true" 3-4 against the Rams because of their 3 WR sets (per Aikman)

Against Tampa overall I would give the defense a "B" but that in and of itself is disappointing because I expected A+ (my fault)

Surprised to see our third down conversions allowed go way down, did not feel that way.  Maybe all the arm-tackling in the secondary made it seem that way.  

Overall, the D carried the team, again.  Getting old.

 

[the butch]

They're in year 1 of a re-tooling. Ram's offense was somewhat tempered and the Patriots didn't move the ball much in the preseason game. Small sample size but shows me the pieces are there. The question mark is whether players can keep up with the new assignments and handle the fatigue down the line. To that point, I noticed Burns looking slow off the line by the end of the first quarter (gassed or overthinking?). I foresee a lot of growing pains for a new defense in a year where the offense isn't going to do them any favors but long-term success as the system matures and gets reps against these swiss-army-knife  offenses.

[PanthersBigD]

Our defense is borderline elite until our offense leaves them on the field for an entire quarter. Even elite defenses get tired. Norv has failed us. It’s up to the players to execute, but if they are unable to execute your plays, it’s up to the OC to come up with plays that capitalize on what they’re able to do. Where is Scarlett? Where is Bonnafon? Why are we not trying things early in the game so that we don’t have to make so many desperation plays late in the game? fug Norv, right in his pock-marked face.

[Shocker]

Luke had a monster game the other night...Donte was abysmal 

[Mr. Scot]

I never really liked the idea of putting Luke Kuechly in a 3-4. Still don't. Yeah, he's great, but this isn't ideal (same as when we had him playing OLB his rookie season).

As to how we're doing, it's kind of hard to say so far because both of our games have been against not so great quarterbacks.

I'm kind of wondering what happens when we face a good one.

[TheSpecialJuan]

6 hours ago, Tbe said:

The secondary is better but the D line is not worth the money paid.

agree

[Cpt slay a ho]

Pass rush is still and issue, I’m showing more coverage sacks than actually d linemen beating there man 

[mc52beast]

They look pretty good so far, run defense needs to stiffen up and pressure needs to get home. Secondary is actually a strength.

I would say put Cam in the hurry-up because that’s where he excels, maybe they get early leads and can run the ball the second half, helping to rest the D... 

but then I remembered Ron looks at the H/U like people look at the Black Plague