4 keys to victory for the Carolina Panthers at Dolphins in Week 12

Carolina Panthers must stop the run

This topic has become a bit repetitive recently.

The Carolina Panthers gave up more than 190 yards on the ground to the Washington Football Team on Sunday and that was with their starter benched the majority of the game after a red-zone fumble.

That doesn’t win games.

The Buffalo Bills learned that well enough in their mauling by the Indianapolis Colts where Jonathan Taylor ran for 185 yards – 79 more than Carson Wentz threw for – and scored five times.

Even in an era where the passing game is the main focus of every team in the league by a large margin, winning the ground game is still essential. Having an effecting rushing attack frees up the pass if nothing else and a dominant one can actively win a game as most teams are not built or coached to stop them anymore.

Not a whole lot went well for the Panthers on defense against Washington. But stopping the run is the only thing that has become a trend – the rest could very well be a blip on the radar.

The first of the two big issues here is the fact that Carolina has been unable to get off a block. In fact, there was one play on Sunday where Jermaine Carter and Shaq Thompson ran into them in perfect unison and did nothing to affect the play from then on.

The other is a complete lack of any kind of gap discipline. Leaving running lanes wide open in favor of penetration is just asking for a big gain either by the running back or even the most immobile of quarterbacks.

Even if the Miami Dolphins aren’t known as a running football team, this level of play can make any back look good and it has on many occasions this season. Phil Snow needs to drill gap discipline and block shedding into his defenders this week or it will be another long day for the Panthers.