CHARLOTTE, N.C. — They may or may not have a kicker, still look lost in the red zone and may run Christian McCaffrey into the ground before Halloween, but the Carolina Panthers have a defense.
A capable, legitimate NFL defense, with an honest-to-God pass rush that poor Zach Wilson may remember for a long time, no matter what kind of career he goes on to have.
"The strategy was to hit him a lot, be in his face a lot, disguise, cut, try to confuse him," Panthers lineman Brian Burns said. "Make his first game hell, that's pretty much what we had coming in."
And yes, it was just the New York Jets, the perpetual training wheels of the NFL, but it was a defensive performance Sunday that would have been more than adequate to give the Panthers a chance to win against better opposition.
Perhaps even, two seasons after the Panthers used their entire draft on defense, a year earlier than might have been expected.
"It's a young defense, but we're going to be a young, fast, physical defense and we're not going to take nothing from nobody," Shaq Thompson said.
In this case, it was more than good enough to punish a rookie quarterback for every mistake and make a bad offense look worse. It took a late Jets touchdown to make the final 19-14, closer on the scoreboard than it felt on the field.
The one-two punch of Burns and Reddick left Wilson constantly under siege even when they weren't left completely unblocked, and Wilson may remember all 320 pounds of Derrick Brown landing on him after a bull rush up the middle longer than the touchdown pass on the next play.
"I didn't think he was going to get up," Panthers coach Matt Rhule said.
And Thompson was all over the place, sacking Wilson, tipping and intercepting a pass over the middle, stopping the run. He led the Panthers in tackles and passes defensed, as good wearing the No. 7 he wore in college as he had been in No. 54, one of two jersey switches (Jermaine Carter from 56 to 4 was the other) announced at the very last minute. Not gamesmanship, everyone insisted, but it worked as such.
The defense was so good it played into Rhule's most curious decision of the day, the give-up punt on fourth-and-6 from the Jets' 33-yard-line while scoreless in the first quarter. The thinking, with trust lacking in new kicker Ryan Santoso, was to pin the Jets deep and let the defense go to work rather than try a long field goal. The execution was comical, with an 18-yard punt leaving the Jets plenty of breathing room.
"We felt like our defense was going to play well early," Rhule said. "We were moving the ball and not getting the points. We kept saying, 'Let's play complementary football, let's pin them down.' Eventually, our offense will break through and they did."
Those 16 points late in the second quarter gave the Panthers a little breathing room of their own, and they would need it. The Panthers started the second half with two straight short offensive possessions that went nowhere, but unlike the struggles to start the game, there was no sense of angst or anxiety. Two scores seemed like more than enough of a cushion the way the defense was playing.
That can change, and quickly. Eventually, it did. But there was almost a sense of palpable relief that the Panthers weren't living and dying with every play on offense, at least for a while. And with a new quarterback and new faces on the offensive line — Sam Darnold made some nice throws under pressure, but he was under pressure a lot, as better teams than the Jets will surely note — that's a welcome safety net.
The Panthers may even be able to rest McCaffrey at some point. They did not Sunday.
There's more than enough work to be done between now and when the New Orleans Saints arrive next week, but the burden lies far more heavily on the offensive side of the ball. The defense, if anything, looks capable of keeping the Panthers in the fight. Even if only measured against the Jets.
