Gulp.
I don’t know how to take an optimistic view of this game. That’s true of either side of the ball, but we’re going to focus our pessimism on the offensive side of the ball since this is the offensive preview. The offense just got done embarrassing themselves on Monday night by squandering away three first half interceptions by the Carolina defense. They mustered just nine points against a wounded, struggling 49ers defense. Now they have to face a Rams team that is absolutely elite across the board.
The Rams are the best team in the league, hands down. They are first in Defensive DVOA, second in pass defense DVOA, and fourth in run defense DVOA. They’re sixth in yards per play allowed, first in points per game allowed, and second in red zone defense. I don’t know if a stat exists that doesn’t have them near the top of the league.
They have a dominant front seven that overwhelms opponents and boosts a secondary that’s not full of household names. They’re so strong from top to bottom that it’s impossible to find any particular area where the Panthers could look to exploit. We can try though.
- Play disciplined football. All of these are going to be “no duhs,” but that’s really all we’ve got. The Panthers are significantly overmatched on paper, so they’re going to have to play close to perfect football to keep pace. They didn’t do that last week against the 49ers, and the Rams probably aren’t going to throw the ball back to Carolina to help cancel that out. It’s going to be nearly impossible to overcome the possession disadvantage that comes with turning the ball over. On top of that, it’s hard enough to move the ball against this Rams defense. The Panthers can’t afford penalties that force them to pick up even more yards to get first downs.
- Generate explosives. Again, it’s going to be very, very hard to move the ball against the Rams. They allow 3.9 yards per run and 6.3 yards per pass. When the Panthers have been successful with Bryce Young against non-Falcons teams, it’s usually via long, sustained drives with lots of small gains. I don’t know how well they’ll be able to sustain drives this weekend, so a more likely path to success seems to be trying to pick up yards in larger chunks. Fewer plays means fewer chances at mistakes or catastrophes, so getting the ball into scoring range as quickly as possible is going to be paramount for offensive success.
- Punch the ball in. The Panthers are going to need to put points on the board, and they probably aren’t going to have lots of opportunities to score those points. They need to convert drives into touchdowns; field goals aren’t going to cut it. The Rams have one of the best red zone defenses in the NFL while the Panthers have been one of the worst offenses at scoring in the red zone....
Cat Scratch Reader
