Panthers need to straighten out their defense heading down the stretch
Carolina's defense has allowed 91 points in last 3 games
Written by Steve Reed
12/3/2008 1:46:23 PM
http://www.carolinagrowl.com/Read.aspx?Story=896
CHARLOTTE – For only the second time in franchise history, the Carolina Panthers enter the final quarter of the season with a 9-3 record.
And yet, questions still persist about this team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball where they’ve surrendered an average of 30.3 points per game over the past three weeks (and that’s excluding the punt return the special teams allowed for a touchdown two weeks ago).
That’s a dramatic increase over the first nine games of the season where the Panthers allowed just 18.7 points per game, the second best in the league.
“Yeah, it’s been frustrating,” safety Chris Harris said Wednesday. “It’s something we need to correct. Playing in December, giving up 31 points is going to get you beat.
“So it’s something we’re definitely focusing on this week. We’ve got to get that total down, and we’ve got to get back to playing like we were playing the first eight weeks of the season.”
And how do they do that?
“We’ve just got to go back and refocus and revisit the little things we were doing right that we aren’t doing now,” Harris said.
Added linebacker Jon Beason: “Well we’re going back and watching the film, and we’re making a lot of mistakes, things we didn’t do the beginning of the season. Just got to go out and communicate more, just focus a little more on small attention-to-detail things and we’ll be fine.”
When peppered with questions from reporters at Monday’s press conference, coach John Fox said downplayed any issues with his defense, reminding everyone the Panthers are good enough to be 9-3.
"Again, I think people want to throw it 49 or 50 times a game, it can look more like that," Fox said. "A few of those situations were like that. I just look at (if) we score more than they score. I don't look at yards. I wish (Green Bay) wouldn't have scored quite as many. Our first half was better than our second half defensively, but they adjusted. They threw it a lot more in that second half, it just ended up not being enough."
Of course, yards don’t address the whole the problem in Carolina.
The 91 points surrendered over the last three weeks suggest Carolina’s defense is headed in the wrong direction.
When asked about the rash of points allowed by his defense, Fox bristled, “I don't know where you're really going with this, but all I'd say is we're in the top third in the league in defense. We're 9-3 and it's a team game. Yards don't win games, points do. I hope that answered all your questions in one."
Prior to last week, the primary questions surrounded the team's struggles stopping the run. The Panthers have allowed at least 135 rushing yards in four straight games.
But on Sunday the pass defense sprung a leak, allowing Aaron Rodgers threw for 298 yards and three scores.
So now there are further questions about the linebackers and the secondary entering Monday night’s crucial game against Tampa Bay.
Bucs quarterback Jeff Garcia has won his last five starts against the Panthers (although not all with Tampa Bay), including a workmanlike effort in a 27-3 win earlier in the season at Raymond James Stadium.
“He's a good quarterback,” Fox said. “He's played in the West Coast offense for some time. He makes quick decisions; he's got good mobility; he buys time – all of the same things that the Steve Youngs and some of the quarterbacks, the Donovan McNabbs, that have operated in the West Coast offense over the years.”
One of the biggest issues of late for the Panthers has been their inability to get off the field on third down.
This past week, for instance, the Packers converted half of their 16 third-down conversions while putting together five drives of longer than 50 yards, including three of longer than 75 yards.
“To get a team to third down is good, but when it’s third-and-4, third-and-5, it’s manageable (for the offense) to pick it up,” Beason said. “They have the option to run and throw. If we can force Tampa into some third-and-longs, we can get off the field.”
The Panthers know it will take another total team effort to beat Tampa Bay, which has scored 92 points during their current four-game win streak.
“The good thing is the effort’s there,” Beason said. “The offense bailed us out of some games this year, and we’ve got them too. Good thing our special teams has come along, because it’s really helping us.”
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