There’s a lot of work yet to be done but so far this young Carolina Panthers defense is not the historically-awful, worst-in-the-NFL unit that we were led to believe they would be this offseason.
Carolina held the Los Angeles Chargers to 16 points in Sunday’s victory, their first of the 2020 season. While rookie quarterback Justin Herbert’s mistakes didn’t hurt, the defense took some promising steps forward in several key areas of the game. Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury has taken notice. In his conference call with local media today, Kingsbury said the Panthers defense has “improved dramatically” from Week 1 to Week 3.
KLIFF KINGSBURY, AZ Cardinals coach on Panthers defense: They have improved dramatically from week-1 to week-3. First & foremost the effort, they are fast & physical on defense.
— Jim Szoke (@jimszoke) September 30, 2020
The progress is good to see, but when you’re starting at the bottom there’s nowhere to go but up. This is still a well-below average defense.
Despite their breakout performance against the Chargers offensive line, Carolina still ranks dead last in sacks, pressures and QB hits. They’re also struggling in the red zone, missing too many tackles and failing to get off the field on third down. To top it off, they are allowing the NFL’s most rushing touchdowns for the second-straight season.
That all being said, with no preseason to prepare they are exceeding expectations. We will learn a lot about this group based on how they do against Kingsbury’s Cardinals.
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