Phil Snow – Carolina Panthers DC
Phil Snow may not be a player, but his impact on this game might be more important than any individual performance on the field.
Much was said about the Carolina Panthers’ defensive lapses after the first two weeks of the season – especially against the run which has been an ongoing problem. Carolina’s dominant performance has quieted these doubts for the time being and gotten the league thinking twice about how to gameplan for Snow’s unit.
The name of the game in Week 4 is creativity.
Kyler Murray doesn’t do well when teams can disguise looks, keep the quarterback off balance, and do the unexpected. Creativity is what will win this game on the defensive side of the ball for the Panthers and with the basics in place, it’s time to start trying out some new concepts.
Bring some safety blitzes, and keep Frankie Luvu at the line of scrimmage pre-snap whether the improving linebacker rushes or not. Keep Murray guessing and eventually, the young signal-caller will guess wrong.
Snow has an opportunity to cool his seat further this week with some eye-catching play design if the preparation is done to perfection. For his sake and ours, we hope that it is.