Column: Victories mask ills for Panthers
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October 20, 2008 - 8:43PM
Steve Reed
http://www.gastongazette.com/sports/panthers_26229___article.html/win_potential.html
When you're winning big games by big margins, it's easy to overlook some little problems.
After Sunday's game, Carolina Panthers middle linebacker Jon Beason stood in front of his locker and peered down to see teammate safety Chris Harris and shouted, "Hey, Chris, I need an I-N-T, man!"
Harris shook his head and responded "Me, too. I need one, too!"
A little while later, wide receiver Steve Smith gave the guys he goes against every day in practice a little good-natured ribbing about their inability to come up with some easy interceptions this year.
"I joke around with (them), but the honest truth is that all secondary players are offensive rejects," Smith said.
It's funny stuff.
And it makes for good copy.
And yes, the Panthers certainly earned the right to enjoy their 30-7 win over the New Orleans Saints. They played great. They shut down the league's most prolific passing attack, limiting Drew Brees to just 104 yards passing through three quarters (and 231 for the game) and no touchdowns.
But at the risk of nitpicking an outstanding win - yeah, I can hear you now, "Negative media!" - it might be a mistake to overlook what has become a growing problem.
While cornerback Ken Lucas grabbed one interception on Sunday, the reality is Beason and Harris both dropped potential interceptions. It hardly matters when you win by 23, but it's becoming a bit of a problem for the Panthers - by my count they've dropped nine potential INTs this season - and could come back to haunt them in closer games.
The Panthers have just four INTs on the season, two of those by Lucas. Each one that is dropped represents a potential game-changing play.
"After a win that's a lot easier to joke about. It's the same with me," coach John Fox said. "It's liked blocked punts and you still find a way to win versus when you don't.
"But being on defense it's better to be known as ‘ricochet' than ‘toast.' The pass breakups are still a positive play, so let's not lose the concept that those are still good plays defensively - just maybe not as great as they could have been."
True.
And to dwell on one shortcoming would be a mistake, especially with so many positive things happening with the pass defense.
The Panthers have found a pass rush that was missing a year ago behind a revamped defensive line. While they only sacked Brees once, the Panthers deflected a handful of passes and left him flustered for most of the day.
After seven games, the Panthers rank No. 2 in the league in pass defense behind only Pittsburgh, allowing only 168.7 yards per game through the air and five passing touchdowns.
"We feel like we get no respect at all from our media or our fans," Lucas said. "We say all we have is ourselves, so we just want to go out there and perform well and hopefully if we continue to perform at a high level people will start to notice us."
A few more interceptions might help that cause (there's that negative side again!).
The Panthers will get plenty of opportunities this Sunday. Like the Saints, the Arizona Cardinals are known for their passing, not their running.
Former league MVP Kurt Warner is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, completing 64 percent of his passes for 1,708 yards with 12 touchdowns and five interceptions. His quarterback rating of 102.8 is third-best in the league.
"When he was in St. Louis he was making those fast decisions and very accurate; and he's kind of had a resurgence of that and he looks to be playing outstanding," Fox said. "I think at one time he was doing that as well as anybody and I'm seeing flashes of that now. But he is a very quick decision maker and a very accurate passer."
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