Crunching the Numbers: Carolina Panthers Edition

So we are through three weeks of the NFL regular season and have enough stats to at least make a few assumptions about most NFL teams, including the Carolina Panthers. As we know, the Panthers are 1-2 on the season after picking up their first win of the season this past Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Hopefully every few weeks I will check back in on the stats and give you a good update on where the Panthers stand compared to the rest of the NFL.

So lets take a look at some of the Panthers stats so far, courtesy of NFLdata.com :

–First off the Panthers are tied for 17th in the league averaging 20 points per game. The top’s in the league are the Buffalo Bills, New England Patriots and the New Orleans Saints with 34.7 points per game. The Jaguars and Chiefs are at the bottom of the league averaging less than 9 points per game.

–The passing attack of the Panthers ranks near the top of the NFL all thanks to Cam Newton. Newton’s week one and two performances have vaulted the Panthers into the top-5 in yards per game as the Panthers have thrown for 965 yards, or 321.7 yards per game. The Panthers are also fifth and third respectively in yards per attempt and completion as Newton is averaging 13.79 yards per completion, less than half a point behind the Dallas Cowboys and Patriots.

–But as good as the passing numbers are, the running game are that dreadful. The Panthers are 24th in the league in rushing, as the team has ran for just 252 yards or 84 yards per game. But there is at least good news, the Panthers offense doesn’t seem to be built around the run. They are in the middle of the pack in terms of rushing attempts with 76. The Jaguars and Houston Texans lead that statistic with 108 and 102 rushing attempts.

— Now on to the defense. The Panthers are actually better than expected. They rank in the middle of the pack once again in points per game, as the are giving up 22.7 points per game. That is actually pretty good based on the fact they have played the Green Bay Packers, who are fifth in the league for points per game. Also, the team has defended the past pretty well. The Panthers are 15th in the league in passing yards, as the team has given up just 719 yards per game.

— The problem lies in the run defense. The Panthers rank 25th in the league in rush defense, as the team has given up 351 yards of offense, that is 117 yards per game. That is a lot and as we know has been the team’s Achilles Heal this season. The Panthers can’t stop the run and that starts up front with the defensive line and the young defensive tackles not being able to get any type of push.

Well, I think I will stop there. I know it is a lot of numbers but hopefully many of you all thought this to be pretty interesting. Based on what I saw, it is about exactly what I thought. The Panthers are actually an average team with Cam Newton at the helm. they rank pretty much directly in the middle of the pack in most statistics and that should even out this season in wins.

The Panthers are much better than 1-2 and if they are able to continue to play at this level and gain more and more experience the Panthers could easily finish 7-9 or 8-8, which in my book would be a great start to the new chapter in the Carolina Panthers history.