If you watched Monday Night Football between the 49ers and the Browns, one thing that should have stood out was San Francisco’s defensive line play. Former Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart saw the game and came away very impressed by the group. Stewart compared them to the Monstars on Twitter.
The Panthers will have to face that same front line in three weeks after they return from their bye, so it’s worth taking notice.
Stewart may be a little biased since both DeForest Buckner and Arik Armstead went to Oregon like him. However, that doesn’t take anything away from what the Niners have accomplished in the trenches. They dominated Cleveland up front, posting four sacks and eight quarterback hits on Baker Mayfield. They were also able to contain Nick Chubb, at least relatively speaking. Take out Chubb’s one long 37-yard run and he’d have averaged just 3.33 yards per carry.
The strength of their line is their edge rotation. Nick Bosa, Buckner, Armstead, Dee Ford, Ronald Blair and Solomon Thomas have produced 12 of the team’s 13 sacks. They completely overwhelmed Cleveland’s offensive line last night en roue to a 31-3 win.
Carolina’s offensive tackles will have to fare much better if they’re going to defeat the Niners, who are now 4-0 on the season.
The Panthers have one of the better run blocking units in the league (more on that later) but their pass protection has been a mess. Carolina ranks among the worst teams in pass block win rate this year. Injuries to Trai Turner and Greg Little have not made it easier.
There is one ray of hope, though. Rookie Dennis Daley was an unexpected smash success at left tackle this past week. If Little’s concussion symptoms don’t subside, Carolina will need Daley to continue stepping up like we saw against Jacksonville.
