4 glaring stats that cost the Carolina Panthers in Week 6 vs. Vikings
By Dean Jones
Carolina Panthers generated pressure on 8% of dropbacks
The vaunted Carolina Panthers’ defensive front were unable to continue their recent positive momentum against the Minnesota Vikings, who’ve had some trouble with their offensive line in recent years but appear to have finally found the right formula for success moving forward.
Rookie first-round pick Christian Darrisaw more than held his own during a long-awaited first start. This was matched by every other member of the protection to make things extremely difficult for Carolina to accumulate any sort of consistent pressure throughout the clash.
Again, this might come down to tiredness, especially late on. But the Panthers managed to pressure Kirk Cousins on four of 49 of his dropbacks, which equates to a measly eight percent according to ESPN Stats.
This allowed Cousins to go through his reads effectively and with Carolina’s secondary under heavy fire in overtime, they finally gave up the game-winning score when the Michigan State product found K.J. Osborn for the walk-off touchdown.
Hopefully, this is just a bump in the road. But the last three games have been a far cry from the havoc Phil Snow’s defensive front was causing earlier in the campaign.
The talent is there with the likes of Haason Reddick and Brian Burns flying off the edge. They just need to execute a little better as teams now know the threat each player possesses if given enough space.