The Panthers didn’t embarrass themselves in a competitive 34-30 loss to the Raiders yesterday. They also did a number of things well, including not turning the ball over and only allowing one sack on quarterback Teddy Bridgewater. However, there are some obvious areas they need to improve on if they’re going to beat the Buccaneers next week.
Here are four to work on as they prepare for Tampa and Tom Brady.
Too many missed tackles
Carolina had the worst run defense in the NFL last year by far. Despite a ton of personnel changes, on Sunday they picked up right where they left off in 2019, allowing Josh Jacobs to run all over them for 93 yards and three touchdowns. Part of the problem was simply bad tackling. Middle linebacker Tahir Whitehead admitted after the game it wasn’t good enough. Arm tackles don’t work on Jacobs and they won’t work on Ronald Jones and Leonard Fournette, either. Head coach Matt Rhule has to make this a point of emphasis in practice this week.
Getting more pressure on the QB
One thing this defense was good at last season was getting to the quarterback, as they ranked second in the league in sacks. The pass rush was nonexistent against the Raiders, though. For the first time since Week 2 of the 2018 season the Panthers didn’t record a sack. They also didn’t get a single hit on Derek Carr. While Las Vegas has a powerful offensive line and a get-the-ball-out-quick gameplan, the pass rushers have to get home more often if they’re going to avoid giving up 30+ points on a regular basis.
More production from the non-Robby Anderson WRs
Robby Anderson was a standout against the Raiders, totaling 115 yards and scoring a clutch 75-yard touchdown. The rest of the receivers didn’t come through, though. It was an uncharacteristically poor performance from No. 1 wide receiver D.J. Moore, who committed a bone-headed penalty and dropped a couple of passes from Bridgewater. Moore only caught four of nine targets for 54 yards. Curtis Samuel also dropped a pass and finished with just 38 yards. Carolina will need more production from Moore and Samuel against a significantly tougher Bucs defense.
A better, more consistent deep ball from Teddy Bridgewater
While Bridgewater was able to connect with Anderson on the big fourth-quarter score, he also missed several other deep passes that could have changed the end result if he’d connected on them. Bridgewater is never going to be a long-ball master like Patrick Mahomes or Russell Wilson, but he’ll need to be a little more consistent throwing deep if the Panthers are going to win some of these shootouts that they’re going to get into.
