Just a season ago, the Carolina Panthers' defense could quite frankly not stop a sneeze. Fast forward to Week 5 at Bank of America Stadium, with the offense stuttering, it was the stoutness of Ejiro Evero’s unit that allowed them to claw their way back into the game slowly.
This unit, much maligned by fans and media alike, forced five straight Miami Dolphins punts. They held offensive guru Mike McDaniel to under 250 total yards, and, incredibly, just 19 yards rushing. This is the same team that recently had a multi-game streak of allowing 200 yards rushing per contest.
General manager Dan Morgan deserves immense credit for the way he has revamped the defensive line. The key has been the return of Derrick Brown, after missing the entire 2024 season with a knee injury. The No. 7 selection in 2020 has picked up exactly where he left off. He is currently the third-ranked defensive lineman according to Pro Football Focus with a staggering 89.6 grade.
Carolina Panthers' defense is showing improvements after historically bad 2024
While the Panthers' defensive unit still has its issues, not least at the linebacker position, Evero deserves praise for fielding a much more competitive unit than the one fans saw in 2024. This also included pitching a shutout against the Atlanta Falcons in Week 3.
For the first time in recent history, we’ve seen immediate contributions from all of the Panthers' draft picks. Much was expected of this rookie class. Given the defense's struggles in 2024, immediate contributions were paramount. We’ve seen Princely Umanmielen has notched his first NFL sack, with Lathan Ransom notching a forced fumble.
But it’s edge rusher Nic Scourton who has impressed the most. While the No. 51 overall pick is yet to notch a sack this season, he has been disruptive. That showed up against the Dolphins, as his 89.6 PFF grade was the highest league-wide amongst rookies.
This will be tested again when Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys visit Charlotte. Despite missing his All-Pro wide receiver CeeDee Lamb, the quarterback has still been dicing up defenses this season, with his 1,365 passing yards ranking second in the league.
After restricting the Dolphins' ground attack, they will face a revitalised Javonte Williams in Week 6. It seemed the player was fizzling out after suffering an ACL injury with the Denver Broncos. But the former North Carolina Tarheel has 447 rushing yards and five touchdowns through five weeks.
Everything points to an offensive shootout. The Cowboys boast one of the league’s most potent offenses and one of its weakest defenses. With the firepower Dallas possesses, Carolina can not allow themselves to go down three scores for the fifth game this season.
If Dave Canales wants his team to reach .500, he will look to his defensive coordinator and hope his unit shows more of the toughness they’ve displayed in the early stages of the season.