After season of expectations, what comes next for the Panthers’ defense?
This offseason, Panthers pass-rusher Bruce Irvin said the 2019 Panthers’ defensive front “kind of compared” to the historic 2013 Seahawks unit that won the Super Bowl.
With Seattle heading east for a Week 15 game that matters very much to the Seahawks (and not at all to the Panthers) in the playoff hunt, and as Carolina prepares to go into an offseason filled with questions surrounding which defensive players will remain, it’s a good time to reflect on where this defense went astray.
Hindsight is what it is. Looking back on what could have been is a wasted exercise. But after injuries and up and down play this year, Carolina is left looking back at a defense that played well at times and not so well at others. This was the unit’s first season switching from a 4-3 to a hybrid 3-4 alignment, and a group that featured a lot of newcomers, including Tre Boston, who joined the team during training camp.
Unlike the 2013 Seahawks defense, which was nicknamed the “Legion of Boom,” the Panthers won’t finish first in yards or points allowed (in fact, they have given up the most points in the NFL over the last eight games). Their lead in sacks has been surpassed, at least temporarily (they are one behind the Steelers with 47). That they lost defensive lineman Kawann Short before the season began didn’t help, but the issues, especially against the run, piled up in the second half of the season. Since Week 8, they have allowed the most rushing touchdowns (17), tied for the most yards allowed per carry (5.7) and have given up the second-most rushing yards per game (156.4).
Simply put, this defensive group as a whole is playing its last three games together. It won’t be remembered for years to come. Many core pieces will remain, such as Shaq Thompson, who was just signed to a four-year extension Saturday. But some will go, with a long list of players on the last year of their contracts (per Spotrac), including Irvin, Boston, James Bradberry, Ross Cockrell, Gerald McCoy, Mario Addison, Vernon Butler and Kyle Love.
Some will be re-signed. Bradberry, a cornerback, especially is a priority after a strong season facing opposing teams’ number one receivers. But others, like Irvin, Boston and Love are more up in the air. The Panthers have a history of signing veteran defensive players to short-term contracts, which it’s done with this group.
Irvin, playing on a one-year, $4 million deal, is one of the players with an especially interesting offseason to come. In his first season in Carolina, the 32-year old has accumulated 5.5 sacks (tied for second on the team), 11 quarterback hits and 27 tackles in 10 games. He played with the Seahawks from 2012 (as the No. 15 overall draft pick, out of West Virginia) to 2015.
“He was a terrific player for us,” Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll said this week. “As (the Panthers) are playing him at linebacker and a primary rush guy in the nickel packages — that’s what he did for us too. Terrific all-around athlete and a terrific competitor. He was always a really big part of what we were doing.”
Defensive coordinator Eric Washington said that during the preparation for this week’s game, even he had to stop and remember just how long Irvin had spent on the Seahawks.
“From a mindset standpoint, the approach has been the same as it’s always been. I think Bruce is just excited about going out and competing again,” Washington said. “It just hasn’t come up, he’s been focused and I’m excited about watching him play.”
In terms of sacks, Irvin was correct in this defense front’s ability to match the 2013 Seahawks, who only finished with 44. (The Panthers, in fact, finished 2013 with a league-high 60 sacks).
The biggest difference, at least statistically, was Seattle’s ability to force turnovers. They had at least one takeaway in every game that season, while the Panthers have struggled to sustain pressure and create turnovers, including just one takeaway in the last five games.
“We haven’t rushed the quarterback the last couple of weeks the way I thought we did toward the middle portion of the season,” Washington said of the team’s takeaway struggles.
Irvin is one of the team’s silent leaders, someone who leads by example. That can be seen everywhere from the locker room to his play on the field. He is a leader of this defensive front for at least three more games, including one against his former team.
After that, there’s a lot of questions to be answered.
Other Panthers’ notes:
- Panthers CB Donte Jackson said he was “very apologetic” to interim head coach Perry Fewell about comments he made about the playcalling after last week’s loss to Atlanta. He called his own comments “out of line” Thursday and said they had been out of frustration. Fewell said that the situation was handled internally.
- Tight end Greg Olsen is still in the concussion protocol and was limited at practice for a second straight day.
This story was originally published December 12, 2019 at 6:35 PM.
