Welcome ladies and gentlemen to the Hog Molly Report, where winning in the trenches is all that matters. Before we begin, we open with the reciting of our usual motto:
In the spirit of Mr. Gettleman’s words (regardless of him having moved on) and the philosophy of building a team from the inside out, my goal will be to watch the hog mollies each game during the season and give them a grade based on their performance.
This week we will look at the anemic loss to Washington where the Panthers failed to overcome a couple early turnovers, and fell to 3-2 on the season. This game continued the trend we saw last week for the two lines. The offensive line continues to play at a higher level than expected, while the defensive line (and defense in general) are decidedly underwhelming.
Offensive Hog Mollies
Yards per Carry: 4.5, season: 5.0 (T-5th, NFL)
Yards per Play: 6.0, season: 5.7 (19th, NFL)
Sacks allowed: 1, season: 8 (T-2nd, NFL)
Third downs converted: 3 of 9 or 33%, season: 38% (21st, NFL)
Rating: 4 out of 5 Porcine Pulverizers
The Carolina Panthers offensive line has been stronger than expected, and other than Chris Clark, that trend continued this week. Clark gave up five pressures on the day, with two coming on the final drive. The other linemen had one a piece, with Ryan Kalil turning in a perfect day with zero. The pressures given up by Greg Van Roten and Trai Turner were inopportune however, as they resulted in the sack/fumble (recovered) and the Cam Newton interception.
Just finished re-watching the #CARvsWAS game. @Panthers offensive line took a step back from last week, Chris Clark had a terrible game. Pressure counts:
— Erik Sommers (@Tater596) October 15, 2018
Clark: 5@GVR64 : 1 (sack)@ryankalil : 0@trai_turner : 1 (INT)@tmoton72 : 1
Clark has been OK, this was a bad week.
Here’s a brief sack report:
1st Sack: Q1 0:45, 1st & 10, WAS 47 - Washington sends six guys on a well timed blitz against play action, Panthers have six in to block. Chris Manhertz loses bad on the right side, Greg Van Roten follows suit on the left. Cam Newton avoids both rushers by stepping up, but as he steps up, D.J. Swearinger is there to meet him on a late blitz. Ball comes out right into Greg Van Roten’s hands, Carolina keeps, but it is a sack. Sack should be credited to Greg Van Roten, as him getting beat pushed Cam right into Swearinger.
The Panthers however continue to be one of the best teams in the league at keeping their quarterback clean, combining better than expected pass protection with more quick passes. That said, the team went downfield more often in this game than they have in many others, helped by a return of Greg Olsen. Despite a decent yards per carry average, the team didn’t find much room to run consistently as Washington really tightened the reins in stopping that attack. Most of those runs upping the average were improvisations by Cam Newton. Fans are starting to get impatient with the situational play-calling, and I would say that complaint right now is warranted.
Defensive Hog Mollies
Yards per Carry: 4.7, season: 4.6 (T-23rd, NFL)
Yards per Play: 4.5, season: 6.5 (24th, NFL)
Sacks given: 3, season: 12 (T-22nd, NFL)
Third down allowed %: 7 of 16 or 44%, season: 34% (9th, NFL)
Rating: 3 out of 5 Perplexing Piggies
Despite a lot of complaining by fans during the game, the defensive line did a really good job pressuring Alex Smith this week than they have in other games this season. Mario Addison had a great day in this regard, and it was the week in the rotation for Vernon Butler and Kyle Love to play well, so they did. Those suggesting that Dontari Poe has been ineffective should look at his work when he draws a one on one and rethink their stance, but I would like to see him make more impact even when double teamed.
However, the real problem on this defense right now is stopping the run, reflected by our bottom ten ranking in yards per carry. This is very unusual for a Carolina defense, and right now it seems to be breaking everything. We just made Adrian Peterson look about five years younger, and if we had more success our offense probably would have had a few more drives and pulled this game out. Julius Peppers has not been holding up his end of the bargain in this part of the game, and despite his first sack of the season, it’s clear that we must invest in the defensive end position early next year in the draft.
Hog Molly of the Week: Mario Addison
Mario Addison turned in a performance that, like Josh Norman, made his former team cringe about the fact they ever let him walk. Four tackles, one sack, and another three quarterback pressures was a very good day from him and was instrumental in deflating Alex Smith’s numbers to his lowest single game total by far this season. The Panthers will absolutely need to find him a new running mate next year, and I don’t think that person is currently on the roster.
Poll
What is the greatest issue facing the Carolina Panthers Hog Mollies so far this season?
This poll is closed
-
2%
Pass Blocking
-
41%
Run Defense
-
25%
Pass Rush
-
31%
Defensive Coaching