Panthers Defensive Game Plan Predictions

Here’s an upbeat article about the Panthers defensive match-up with the high powered Colts offense. It starts with a review of how our D-line will match-up with the Colts O-line.

Colts right offensive tackle Ryan Diem will have his hands full on Sunday and may need assistance from Dallas Clark, Kenton Keith, or Joseph Addai  -- as long as Indianapolis does not roll protection over to left tackle Tony Ugoh's side of the field to give him help with right end Mike Rucker.

I doubt they will try to double Mike Rucker so one of the keys is for Ruck to produce against the Rook. Jacksonville was able to get a little pressure but not enough. The Panthers will have to continue to run stunts and blitzes to keep the pressure on Manning if they are going to hold them under 30 points.

Moving now to the LB’s:

Where the Panthers have felt the void left by Dan Morgan, however, is at weakside linebacker, where both former Packer Na'il Diggs and second-year pro James Anderson have seen playing time.  If Indianapolis is able to motion the receiver or tight end to their side of field or get Addai or Keith the ball in space on the weak side, they should be able to pile up the yards.

It doesn’t look like Morgan will be ready for the Colts so expect Diggs to start at WLB. Diggs has been playing well so I’m not so concerned about this match-up. Dallas Clark worries me the most:

While Thomas Davis did not have the necessary tools to play safety, he still runs better and is more adept in pass coverage than any linebacker Clark has faced this season.

TD is going to have to have a monster game against the run and against Clark at the line of scrimmage. Clark is one of the best at finding the seams down field so that’s where our safeties will have to stay awake.

Overall, the secondary is extremely aggressive.  The cornerbacks have a tendency to jump routes and get fooled by play-action and pump fakes.  The safeties are too concerned with their run support duties and can be caught out of position.  Given time, Peyton Manning can make them pay for their mistakes with big plays to his receivers over the top.

The Panthers have given up a lot of yards in the middle of the field. This fact is what keeps me from getting too psyched up about the Panthers possibly beating the Colts. If we should keep Harrison, Wayne and Clark in check then we still have the rookie to worry about:

Additionally, this could be a big game for rookie Anthony Gonzalez.  Injuries at the position have left the Panthers perilously thin at cornerback.  After Gamble and Lucas there is a precipitous drop in talent.  Gonzalez still has a great deal to learn before he can be counted on as a starter (blocking and blitz recognition being at the top of the list), but Sunday's game could be a huge step in his development.

Thin at CB? Injuries? Not sure what he’s talking about since we have Richard Marshall at the nickel.

Overall I’m at a bit of a loss in pointing to a few key things and being able to say "If we do this, this and this, then we’ll be in the game at the end." I can make that statement about one thing: if we forced 3+ turnovers then we will have a chance. If we get two defensive scores then we’ll be in this game. That’s not a high probably thing to bank on but it’s about the only thing that would guarantee the Panthers a chance. I wish I could say more but it would be false optimism. I only have so much of that so I need to save up for the rest of the year!