Defense

NFL.com this morning shows Keekly as the league leader in tackles, so I guess he finally got past Greenway.

On the DE side, Hardy (54 tackles, 9.5 sacks ) has better numbers than Johnson (35 tackles, 9 sacks) across the board. This year, the argument could certainly be made that he's outplaying Johnson, especially with the way that Hardy moves inside and is still effective.

Teamwise, the Panthers are an astonishing 12th against the run (as terrible as they've been, apparently most of the league is worse), and 15th overall (14th DVOA).

 

I dunno. CJ commands attention, and he does have those 6 forced fumbles (tied for first amongst all NFL DE's)

It's a stout tandem, both pretty versatile.

 

You have to love Hardys passion though! He gets after it. Talks the talk and walks the walk. As long as he's not getting penalties for the trash talk then I'm good with it! CJ quitely racks up his stats though it never fails 12 weeks into the season he has like 8 or 9 sacks... like you said tho great tandem for years to come hopefully

 

Hardy's playing well, certainly much better than I was expecting him to.

 

What's the ultimate identity of our 'attacking' defense?

What's the most important position of need this year?

Ideally, how much man-to-man coverage are we trying to play?

 

attacking, I guess. I mean, it's one gap, and the back end is more zone than I was expecting. It's really not the same D as intended, but it's working allright and probably fits the personnel better. Oddly enough, the old tendencies from last year arose a bit more with the DB injuries this week. It's mostly that they're not blitzing much this year on average than anything else, it seems.

 

Breaking it down a little more detailed (The Defense)

2012 health issues aside, and I havent checked the FA status of any one

DE: CJ, and Hardy fine there for the Starters? even a few growing pieces on depth.

DT: Ron and Dwan, between them a started and a decent back-up. I'd go here personally in round 1 seeing as it looks like a position of strength in the top end of the draft.

LB: Anderson, Keeks, Davis... probably pretty solid there with Beason and a few other peices to play with.. solid unit.

CB: Gamble and a pile of shit.. add a free agent here.

S: I guess I have to put Godrey in, then another pile of shit.

agree so far?

 

CB is still a need. It's also annoying how our pass rush evaporates against two-minute/no huddle offenses. If I was playing the Panthers, I'd go no huddle all game.

 

Personal opinion aside on Gamble, I think he's done as a Panther. I don't' know the cap hit cutting Beason, but he could also be on his way to another team if he's not willing to redo his contract.

GM, HC, DT, CB, OL seem to be our biggest needs… in that order

Any needs we can address in FA, I think we should go for it… trade down and get more picks in the draft and just take the best player off the board no matter what they play…. LB, WR, KR, ST's.. don't care, we're not deep at any position, we're only good at a few

 

I dont think Beason is cuttable at all. Not so sure about Gamble. Where is that thread we had earlier in the season?

Seems earily similar to last year with some alright scrub CR play late in the season.

Read this earlier today, pretty good stuff here

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blog/2012/12/11/refo-falcons-panthers-week-14/