Lombardi talks Panthers on NFP today

[Fireball77]

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Diner-morning-news-Panthers-risky-move.html

With Ron Meeks coming in to be the new defensive coordinator, the Panthers hope to accomplish two things under his guidance. The first will be to cut down on mental mistakes that killed them last year, and the second will be to find a way to play well in the red zone. Their red zone defense was poor as they allowed 28 points per game the final seven games of the season. It’s tough to win playoff games when you allow that many points. As bad as the Panthers were on defense in the red zone, they were that good on offense. They were like money when they moved the ball inside the 20, finishing as the second-best team in red zone production. For all that’s wrong with the Panthers on offense, they’re a big-play team, run or pass, and when you can make big plays on offense, you’re going to score points. The other area they’re good is in short yardage; they were the best team in the NFL on third and one, converting at an 89-percent rate, which is amazing.

........

On Wednesday, I talked about the lines being an indicator for a team making the final four. The Panthers’ offensive line improved last year, which was the reason they were effective running the ball. Their offensive line is a strong point -- it allows them to make big plays in both running and passing. They’re not a pretty offense, but they’re a very effective offense. They lived and died last year on the big play. They finished first in the NFL in plays of more than 20 yards and 28th in 10-play drives. It was feast or famine for the Panthers’ offense last year.

[Scrumtrilescent]

Those last two stats are usually mutually exclusive if you are scoring points, which they did.

[HSCBandit07]

I never thought I would see a panthers team that could boast the best third down offense. Anybody else remember how awful we used to be on third down? haha

[bleys]

The other area they’re good is in short yardage; they were the best team in the NFL on third and one, converting at an 89-percent rate, which is amazing.

Damn, and the year before we were near last.

[neverlosethefeeling]

Damn, and the year before we were near last.

That's on third and one, not all third downs. I don't know what our third down conversion rate was last year

[SCpanther]

The other area they’re good is in short yardage; they were the best team in the NFL on third and one, converting at an 89-percent rate, which is amazing.

It wasn't too long ago that 3rd and 1 was the signal for the punter to get warmed up. Ah, it's great to have an O-line that can move the pile.

[carpanfan96]

Last season we were ranked 18th In 3rd down conversion Percentage at 40%.

[Fireball77]

Those last two stats are usually mutually exclusive if you are scoring points, which they did.

I agree to a point. The O did more than it's fair share. Problem was the defense couldn't usually hold up despite the amount of scoring by the O which could be related in small part to the O's lack of long drives. Granted had they made more big plays and caused more turnovers by being more aggressive while having the lead, this wouldn't have affected them this much I believe. Meeks' defense, provided he is still more Indylike, is built to take advantage of having a quick strike type scoring offense. We shall see.

[QuasiYoda]

http://www.nationalfootballpost.com/Diner-morning-news-Panthers-risky-move.html

His point is the Panthers whole season is a gamble on Peppers having a great year.

I disagree. He is talking about the defense as if without Peppers all is lost or if he has an average year. Bull Scheiss Panthers have multiple options. An organization like the Panthers can feed off of adversity and perform better than expected. Like last years first 2 games without Steve Smith

[Rong Fo]

Meeks' defense, provided he is still more Indylike, is built to take advantage of having a quick strike type scoring offense. We shall see.

Very good point. If so, all the focus Meeks has put on running for the defensive linemen makes a lot of sense. Keep the schemes simple and the players conditioned to the same high-energy tempo all game. I imagine Indy's D-linemen were on the field a lot in a number of quick-scoring shootout type games, though admittedly I haven't checked the stats to back that up.

Whether it works or not, as you say, we shall see.

Very interesting article, btw. Lombardi's analysis always seems very informative and interesting to me.

[Urrymonster]

Last season we were ranked 18th In 3rd down conversion Percentage at 40%.

That just shows that we have some serious work to do in third down situations beyond a yard. IF we were so good from 1 yard out, we must have been pretty bad to drag the average down so much from beyond.

[Fireball77]

40 isn't horrible, but a few more % would be nice.

[Brandon]

Last season we were ranked 18th In 3rd down conversion Percentage at 40%.

Well we also had the third fewest 3rd down attempts in the NFL, and the 5th highest yds/play. So basically if they did manage to stop us on 1st and 2nd they probably stopped us on 3rd, but that didn't happen very often.

[bleys]

That's on third and one, not all third downs. I don't know what our third down conversion rate was last year

You're right, I misread that... I just remember Fox saying we were going back on 3rd and 1 instead of forward, and that it had to be fixed. Glad to see it was.