3 pivotal keys to victory for the Carolina Panthers vs. Saints in Week 2

Carolina Panthers must tackle with conviction

There are few things that are more infuriating as a football fan than seeing a running back dead to rights in the backfield only for the defender to slip off their tackle without affecting anything.

This is a sight that Carolina Panthers fans have become all too accustomed to in recent seasons as nothing seems to fix the glaring issue that is this team's rush defense. Even if the Atlanta Falcons have a pair of truly special running backs, there is no excuse for just how bad this defensive performance was at times. This is something that has to change in Week 2.

The New Orleans Saints' rushing attack didn't get up to much in Week 1, only racking up a measly 69 yards, but they didn't have to with Derek Carr putting in the best quarterback performance of the NFC South by a large margin. However, they would be stupid to not take advantage of the chance to get some momentum in the run game against the Panthers' often porous defense.

Sadly, the Panthers lost their best tackler at the cornerback position when Jaycee Horn went down. Donte Jackson and C.J. Henderson don't instill much confidence that anything will get better. Although newcomer Troy Hill showed some promise on a nice stop of Bijan Robinson behind the line on a screen pass.

With that said, the Panthers have to shore up their tackling and vision in the run. If not for this game then for the future as a whole, because the NFL will take note of this and nothing punishes weakness like an NFL head coach.

A dozen missed tackles in Week 1 is way too many for any professional football team and this needs to be rectified.