Yes...unfortunately being ranked #6 in number of penalties is actually an improvement. The Panthers had a season low 2 penalties for 20 yards two games ago against the Bucs. Last week against the Falcons (5 for 50 yards) they were more in line with their season average (7.5 for 69 yds per game) but still trending downward. So that's nice to see. To think that on average the Panthers cost themselves on average 70 yards a game...talk about sandpapering your own arse, that is the NFL equivalent.

So who needs to tighen up? There are a couple surprising names in the top 3 on both sides of the ball which we will discuss...after the jump...

From the Charlotte Observor post from yesterday:

PENALTY TYPES: MINOR-Min. (offsides, false start, etc); MAJOR-Maj. (holding, pass interference, etc) CONDUCT-Con. (personal foul, unsportsmanlike conduct, etc)

OFFENSE

It is no surprise to see Bell at the top of this list. The kid struggled with the snap and is prone to holding when getting beat. He's a UDFA rookie so this result should not surprise anyone.

I am surprised to see a seasoned veteran like Smitty second on the list though. He doesn't get cheated on his penalties as they are usually painful. If my memory serves me right he gets called for pushing off at times or holding while blocking for the RBs. Hey part of what makes Smitty a great player is his aggressiveness and toughness. I'd still like to this number cut in half but I'm not going to complain about it too much. Smitty has earned that.

Legatron Naanee on the other hand has built up that cred just yet. While we have seen improvement from Naanee these past few games and that includes the penalties he still need to tighten up.

DEFENSE

Another obvious guess tops this chart. CB Captain Munnerlyn has struggled in man coverage this year, being prone getting illegal contact or pass interference calls. We've discussed this a good bit the entire season so I'm not going to belabor it again. We have to remember Captain is still a young player and could rebound from what I hope is a sophomore slump (in his 3rd year).

Surprising me is that our top two defenders round out the top three, DE Charles Johnson and CB Chris Gamble. Like Smitty both have earned some street cred and the associated patience. Johnson's issues are more of the minor variety as he has trouble with jumping the snap at times. Gamble as well anticipates routes so well he can sometimes get called for PI when he can't quite get there fast enough. In both cases, you wouldn't want to dial down their aggressiveness with worries about penalties. It's more about concentration, something a vet should have some level of mastery over.

SPECIAL TEAMS

There are the only two players with two penalties on special teams and I want to say Pugh just got bot of his in the Falcons game. I can write that off as a bad game though I know many at the time wanted to put him on the street immediately.

Kion Wilcon hasn't been around that long so I have some concern about his even if it is only two.