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Ron Meeks thinks he's got the Carolina Panthers playing defense like he wants them to.
"They're playing fast, they're playing aggressively; they're playing with a lot of confidence," said Meeks, the Panthers' first-year defensive coordinator.
"And never at one point did they stop believing in themselves."
Meeks' defense is a major reason why the Panthers are finishing the season with a flourish - despite being out of playoff contention for three weeks:
The defense has allowed five touchdowns in five games. That included one stretch of seven consecutive quarters that the defense didn't allow a touchdown.
The Panthers have become one of the NFL's more opportunistic defenses; their 34 take-aways rank fourth in the league. Seventeen of those turnovers have come in the past five games.
They've allowed season-low rushing totals in the past two games against two of the NFL's best running teams - the Minnesota Vikings (41 yards) and New York Giants (60 yards).
The Panthers - who will finish the season Sunday against the high-powered New Orleans Saints at Bank of America Stadium - have done this during a season in which they have had to deal with a nearly constant stream of injuries.
They've done it after finally getting the hang of Meeks' newly instituted defensive scheme.
"We've just been grinding it out," said tackle Damione Lewis. "(Meeks) has told us to stay with it, stay focused and for nobody to get discouraged. It's a great testament to this team."
Meeks' system, known as the Tampa 2, depends a lot on speed, which Carolina has in abundance in players such as defensive end Julius Peppers and linebackers Jon Beason and Thomas Davis (who is out for the season with a knee injury).
Safeties generally play a deep zone in which they're both responsible for covering each half of the field.
It took a while for the system to sink in. But Meeks kept at it.
"The thing about a team is you have to believe what a coach is preaching to you," said tackle Hollis Thomas, who was signed on Oct. 1 to help shore up an injury-ravaged line. "By the time I got here, I think guys were getting it. But the thing about a new system, it's going to take some time before it becomes second nature."
While the players were becoming comfortable with the Tampa 2, injuries were forcing Meeks to constantly juggle his personnel. Through the first 14 games, he had to come up with 14 starting lineups.
Only Lewis, Beason and cornerbacks Chris Gamble and Richard Marshall have started every game. Nose tackle Maake Kemoeatu, tackle Louis Leonard and Davis are on injured reserve, as is Davis' replacement for two games, Landon Johnson.
Starters such as strongside linebacker Na'il Diggs, safeties Chris Harris and Charles Godfrey, and end Tyler Brayton have missed games because of injury. Peppers (10.5 sacks) played with a broken hand that limited his effectiveness for a few games.
Meeks merely saw the injuries as a way for the defense to get better.
"That just let us get some backup guys in there and they played a lot," he said. "They really contributed and got a better understanding of what we're doing."
Meeks was talking mostly about rookie end Everette Brown, rookie safety Sherrod Martin and fourth-year linebacker James Anderson.
Although Brown has been in the line's rotation for much of the season, his playing time increased during Peppers' and Brayton's injuries. He has 2.5 sacks and 14 quarterback pressures.
Martin intercepted two passes in the five games he started in Godfrey's place.
Anderson has had double-digit tackles in two games - 12 against the New York Jets and 11 against the Minnesota Vikings.
Anderson replaced Davis, who was having an all-pro caliber season before injuring his knee against the Saints on Nov. 8.
When Davis went out, Meeks said Beason responded in a big way.
"He really came on in the second half of the season," Meeks said of Beason, who's a second alternate for the Pro Bowl and again leads the team in tackles with 156, four off his team record of 160 set in 2007. He's also got three sacks and three interceptions.
"He got more comfortable with what we're trying to do," said Meeks. "He had a better understanding of things and his commitment to detail and accountability really went up."
When that happens with a player like Beason - the defense's signal caller and emotional center - others usually fall in behind him.
"You get everybody following his lead," said Meeks. "You're in a situation where a lot of guys are going in and out of the lineup with the injuries, but he still makes sure he remains a focal point of where things start for us."
Meeks thinks Beason personifies what the defense ultimately has been able to accomplish.
"The players never gave up," he said. "They had a sense of urgency of not just wanting to get better, but to come in every day and just do their jobs.
"You don't necessarily have to do things correctly every time, but you have to pinpoint what you have to do to improve. It's about personal pride."
Although the Panthers still have to deal Sunday with the NFL's best offense - the Saints average a league-best 33.3 points - Meeks is looking ahead to training camp next summer.
"The biggest thing is to continue to make progress," he said. "But we'll have the injured guys back. We'll be working within our system from Day One.
"Now that we have an idea of what we can be, there should be a lot of carryover from the last half of this season."
