No excuses: Sack deprived Panthers DEs ‘going to work’ vs. Seattle

Carolina Panthers defensive end Jared Allen hasn’t had a sack since the first week of November.

Charles Johnson, the other starting end, has been sack-less since coming off short-term injured reserve Thanksgiving week.

Complicating matters: They’ll try to end their droughts Sunday in the divisional round against Seattle against arguably the most elusive quarterback in the league.

Regardless of how slippery Russell Wilson can be in the pocket, Allen and Johnson are looking forward to a fresh start in the postseason.

“It’s playoffs now. The regular season’s the regular season,” Allen said. “Yeah, I wish I had 20 (sacks) again, 22. It didn’t happen. I never make excuses. I’m just going to work.

“Now the whole slate’s clear and whatever I’ve got to do to help our team win, that’s all I care about.”

Despite the paltry production from the ends, the Panthers still finished the regular season with 44 sacks, the league’s sixth-highest total.

But that total included only three from Johnson and Allen, who is tied with former Panther Julius Peppers as the NFL’s active sacks leader with 136.

Allen, acquired in a trade with Chicago after Johnson reinjured his hamstring, had single sacks against Philadelphia and Indianapolis in consecutive weeks but none since.

Johnson, the Panthers’ second-highest paid player behind Cam Newton, picked up his only sack against Jacksonville’s Blake Bortles in Week 1. Johnson missed seven games while on temporary IR, and believes he’s on the verge of breaking through. He was credited with three pressures on Tampa Bay rookie quarterback Jameis Winston in Week 17, and several times disrupted the pocket by pushing his blocker nearly into Winston.

“I feel like I’m close to exploding,” Johnson said Wednesday.

This would be a good week to do so, although Panthers coach Ron Rivera doesn’t want his edge rushers to be so concerned with hitting Wilson that they allow him to break containment.

Rivera pointed to Wilson’s highlight-reel escape in the wild-card round at Minnesota – where the former N.C. State star turned a botched snap into a 30-yard pass that set up the Seahawks’ only touchdown – as what can happen when Wilson gets out of the pocket.

“Quite honestly, it doesn’t matter who’s playing defensive end. The thing we’ve got to understand is that if you’ve got to contain or you’ve got the outside rush, you’ve got to make sure you’re in position to keep him on your inside,” Rivera said. “You can’t allow a guy like that to escape.”

Johnson and Allen were both sidelined for the Panthers’ Week 6 victory at Seattle. Johnson was on IR with the hamstring issue, and Allen was out with a pinched nerve in his back.

Wes Horton and Kony Ealy started in their place, with Horton accounting for one of the Panthers’ four sacks. Even with his knack for great escapes, Wilson was sacked 45 times during the regular season, tied for third-most.

Allen and Johnson both say while sacks are great, there are other ways to be disruptive.

“Are they huge plays? Absolutely. But (tackle for loss) is the same difference,” Allen said. “How you dominate up front, the pressure you put on a guy. That’s the cool part about the playoffs, too. All the stuff you get judged by in the regular season? It’s about winning football games. It’s what it’s truly about.”

“My focus is not on the sacks. My focus is just getting after the quarterback,” Johnson said. “Whatever I can do to affect the quarterback, that’s what I’m going to do.”

Johnson, 29, finished with his fewest sacks since his rookie year of 2007 when he appeared in only three games.

Allen, 33, began the season with an 8.5-sack lead over Peppers among active players and ended the year tied with him. But Allen, tied with Peppers for No. 9 on the career sacks list, says everyone starts anew in the playoffs.

“I think I’ll be all right,” he said. “I’ve hit enough quarterbacks, I haven’t forgotten how to do it.”

This story was originally published January 13, 2016 at 6:42 PM with the headline "No excuses: Sack deprived Panthers DEs ‘going to work’ vs. Seattle."