Panthers 38 Bucs 19: Panthers Top 5 Defensive Plays

by Jaxon on Dec 6, 2011 11:30 PM EST in Sponsored Posts

I've reviewed the game tape and I have what I feel are the top 5 defensive plays of the Panthers 38-19 win over the Tampa Bay Bucs. Given it was a record breaking day for our rookie QB Cam Newton it's easy to overlook this defensive performance. Our top two tacklers were in the secondary in S Charles Godfrey and CB Chris Gamble. that suggest the front 7 struggled to contain. Quite the opposite actually occurred.

The Bucs were held to 78 yards on 27 carries (2.9 ypc) with a long run of 14 yards
The Bucs were 0-1 in the red zone
4 of 5 Bucs drives into Panther territory ended in FGs and only one TD was allowed
The Bucs were 5 for 13 (38%) on 3rd down

Not too shabby for a defense that has struggled most of the season containing even pedestrian RBs.

Play #5: 1st Qtr: On 2nd and 10 from the Carolina 34 Blount goes off the left side only to be nailed by Charles Johnson for a 4 yard loss. The Bucs eventually settled for a FG.

Play #4: 1st Qtr: On 3rd and 13 from the TB 20 DE Thomas Keiser rushes from the left side and essentially falls on QB Josh Johnson who has slipped retreating from the pass rush.

Play #3: 4th Qtr: On 4th and 3 from the Panthers 22 yard line DE Charles Johnson sacked the Bucs QB for a 10 yard loss.

Play #2: 2nd Qtr: On 3rd and 2 from the Panthers 17 the Bucs ran a WR reverse that was snuffed by DE Charles Johnson for a 12 yard loss. Again, the Bucs settled for a FG.

Play #1: 3rd Qtr: On 3rd and * from the Carolina 30 yard line DE Thomas Keiser intercepts a pass that is directed after DE Greg Hardy hits Bucs QB Josh Johnson.

Time to give the defense their due. They stopped a very good RB, a RB who was all over Sports Center two weeks earlier after running over 6 Packers on his way to a TD. Also, Big money earned every dome yet another week. The dude was huge throughout the entire game.

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Its great how one name came up so much...

Charles “Big Money” Johnson…. I’m glad we resigned him

by rscott94 on Dec 6, 2011 11:33 PM EST via mobile reply actions 1 recs

Johnson

Going by your top plays, it pretty obvious C.J. had a monster day. It didn"t matter where he lined up, he was unblockable. Guy was unreal.

by oldpanther on Dec 7, 2011 1:08 PM EST up reply actions

Yep Yep, CJ had a huge day. And we can continue to see the same performance now that Kearse and Neblett are starting, they are a huge upgrade over Fua and Mcclain, especially Fua. simple and plain, its no coincidence that we had by far our best defensive line performance of the season with Fua and Mcclain out (i know mcclain was out the 2nd half but still). Neblett and Kearse are big factors in our stout rund D on Sunday.

I am now looking forward to seeing our defense against Turner on Sunday. If our D continues to play like this the rest of the season and with Edwards and Beason coming back and maybe even Thomas Davis although he is quite a wild card. We might be able to skip drafting D in the 1st round and get a solid O lineman or maybe even a WR if our D keeps up the good work.

by PantherTrain on Dec 6, 2011 11:58 PM EST reply actions

If you're still entertaining the idea we'll take a reciever with our first pick

You’re gonna be let down. It aint happening.

by Smitty89 on Dec 7, 2011 1:34 AM EST up reply actions

mcclain is our best dt

Says a lot about our dt’s but imo its true. Mcclains shown improvement. Like you I’m not sure on fua but don’t you think that if neblett and the kursk were so good that our coaches might have played them instead? Until I’m proved otherwise the kursk is just a bum off the street.

Save us Pilares

by LimeyPanther on Dec 7, 2011 8:09 AM EST via mobile up reply actions 1 recs

Thank you!

I keep seeing everyone saying that Kearse and Neblett are upgrades over McClain and Fua… maybe over Fua as his transition definitely hasn’t been easy… but McClain has shown steady improvement over the course of the year. He plays with a high amount of energy and I’ve seen him make some impressive stops at or behind the line of scrimmage. He also gets a decent amount of penetration when rushing the passer. He’s obviously not a pro bowler but I’ve been having fun watching him grow into this defense. I think McClain’s got a future here.

by Fernando De La Cruz on Dec 7, 2011 8:50 AM EST up reply actions

I think in the future McClain will be the best DT we currently have on the roster (and good god I hope we acquire a few more this offseason!),

but right now he’s being outplayed by Nibbles and Kearse. Fua is just awful.

"Nah, you look like Elijah Wood." - danmerqury

by OldhamA on Dec 7, 2011 9:19 AM EST up reply actions

Rookie wall meets playing from behind

Neblett and Kearse certainly seemed to outplayed Fua and McClain. However, we need to keep in mind both Fua and McClain have been starting as rookies all season long meaning Neblett and Kearse are both working on fresh legs. Not only that but Blount gained 9 yards on 8 carries in the first and 10 yards on 3 carries in the second. If DT play was the factor stopping the run, then McClain playing in the first was better then a combination without him.

I don’t want to take anything away from either Neblett or Kearse these guys came in and kicked ass, however, the fact the run D let up in the second while the Bucs were playing from behind says more about McClain then anyone else.

The real acid test for these guys is Sunday where they will face off with a RB that we’ve already played once this season. If the Neblett/Kearse combo can hold Turner under 100 yards then yes they may be the answer at DT, if not I think there is a solid combination between the 4 guys we have plus either a FA or draft pick in the spring.

And maybe the collective light is going off for the defense, much like it did start of the second quarter of the season for the run game, and we can start expecting this level of play for the rest of the season and beyond. Again Sunday against a team fighting for a playoff berth that we played early in the season will tell us where this team is in all phases of the game.

"I kinda just sling it" -Jake

by bleed_in_blue on Dec 7, 2011 10:15 AM EST up reply actions

Yeah...forget the fact that we had 9 in the box and dared Josh Johnson to throw on us.

That’s why we stopped Blount, not because we had Kearse and Neblett in at DT.

The truth will set you free, but not until it is finished with you. ~David Foster Wallace

I may not always be right, but even a blind nut finds a squirrel every once in a while.

Follow me on Twitter! @bdubsmitty

by BW Smith on Dec 7, 2011 11:25 AM EST up reply actions 1 recs

Def.

When you"re 8th. in scoring off., and our record is 4-8, you still think we need to draft off. Get a clue, man.

by oldpanther on Dec 7, 2011 1:10 PM EST up reply actions

I hope

We find another “diamond in the rough” from one of these DT’s. It would save us so much trouble in the draft.

by brothernick87 on Dec 7, 2011 5:01 AM EST via mobile reply actions

Our D has teased us .

for like the last four years. Injuries have pleagued us on that side of ball everyyear. I think Beason will be back but i belive new blood is comeing in for the injury prone players.
I am all for best athlete on the board, but getting a stud on any level of the d or an o-linman would be tramendous. .

I am a proud supporter of troll hunting---- me.
When I see or hear sports segments dedicated to fantasy sports I want drive a nail in my ear because it is less painful. --also me.

by bigred28655 on Dec 7, 2011 10:02 AM EST reply actions

I know it's been against bad teams, but I feel like our D is starting to turn the corner

I remember hearing Rivera on the radio a couple weeks back talking about our struggles in stopping the run. He thought the primary culprit was that the defensive players were starting to press. They weren’t maintaining their gaps and were instead trying to take it upon themselves to make the play. I think they’re starting to trust the system and trust each other more, which is vital to success on defense.

by JDeLong42 on Dec 7, 2011 10:45 AM EST reply actions