After four games the Carolina Panthers defense (156.8 ypg) leads the NFL in passing yards surrendered per game, and it isn’t even close. The second place New England Patriots are averaging 181.8 yards per game. Major hit tip to the secondary for locking down the quarterback’s first and second reads. That has allowed our much improved pass rush to get pressure. The Panthers are tied for the NFL lead in sacks at 18 with the Patriots. Mario Addison is leading the way with 5.5 sacks, third in the NFL. Linebackers Luke Kuechly and Shaq Thompson are fourth and sixth respectively in tackles (45/40). Cornerback Donte Jackson is tenth with five passes defensed.
Looking at the individual player grades on Pro Football Focus I see an overall improvement throughout the line up with one exception.
I’m not going to give Eric Reid any crap at this point since he does also make good plays in addition to the missed tackles. The secondary is missing Donte Jackson at the moment, who carried a 70 grade through three games.
I must add I think Ross Cockrell played better than his grade indicates. I know he had an obvious penalty but hey I like my defensive backs to push the limits (but never more than once a game).
The defense is likewise missing defensive tackle Kawann Short up front. Short carries the highest grade on the defensive interior.
It was nice to see Vernon Butler finally contribute in a meaningful way. His strip sack of Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson late in the fourth quarter ended the Texans final effort to pull out a win. I’m hopeful the youngster is finally starting to emerge. It doesn’t hurt that he is surrounded by Pro Bowlers but I have the respect the effort I am seeing out of Butler to get pressure on the quarterback.
Speaking of pressure, it was fun to see the Panthers use the blitz more than they have all season. While they did appear to be getting pressure with just a four man rush, Ron Rivera still brought the heat from different spots and different players. I can’t say enough about the way the defense played in Houston. So while the Panthers pass defense is the top ranked unit in the league they could actually get even better when healthy.