The Carolina Panthers allowed the Pittsburgh Steelers to mount an offensive onslaught on Thursday, but the concern comes within the run defense.
The Carolina Panthers were riding a wave of momentum heading into last Thursday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but that came to a screeching halt when the home team put a 52-21 beating on Carolina. Carolina didn’t have an answer for one of the league’s best offenses.
Looking back at this game, it will be interesting to see what adjustments the Panthers make as they prepare for NFC South play in the coming weeks against teams that have strong offenses.
From a defensive standpoint, the Panthers struggled in every area of the game. One of the most glaring stats is that the Steelers completed 8-of-11 third-down conversion attempts. Getting off the field on third down has been an issue for the Panthers all season, but never was it more obvious than Thursday’s game. This was the third time this season that the Panthers opponent converted 50 percent or more of third-down opportunities.
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This struggle correlates to how well protected Ben Roethlisberger was throughout the game. He was sacked once but had a lot of time to pick apart the Panthers’ secondary. Steelers receivers averaged 14.1 yards per reception while the Panthers gave up 14 passing first downs. This was the third time that the Panthers defense gave up at least 300 passing yards, but only the first time this season that they’ve lost when doing so.
One may look at how well Carolina played against the run, despite giving up so many passing yards. In a rare occurrence, the Panthers defense allowed more than 100 yards on the ground, giving up 138 yards on 30 attempts to Pittsburgh. Regardless of how well an opponent’s passing game is performing, the Panthers have played well against the run.
Even in those two games in which the Cincinnati Bengals and New York Giants earned more than 300 yards passing, neither team cracked 70 yards rushing. Carolina was unable to corral the Steelers rushing attack, which opened the big scoring night and the Panthers taking their third defeat this season.
It will be interesting to see if Carolina can continue this trend in their play as they work for an NFC South title. Only the New Orleans Saints average more than 100 rushing yards per game, and they currently sit at the top of the divisional rankings. Carolina has two games against the Saints and one more versus the Falcons and Buccaneers each (with a 1-1 split currently).
Carolina has shown that they can pick up a win when facing teams with powerful passing attacks by keeping the run game in check. But with this offensive outburst by Pittsburgh last week, the strategy to beat Carolina has become clearer.
While the Panthers vastly under performed against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team has overcome similar defensive performances to pull out a victory. Where they failed was holding the Steelers in check on the ground and if they are going to win the NFC South in 2018, they will face a similar challenge from the New Orleans Saints.