Greg Cosell’s Week 13 Review: Creative Panthers offense is tough to defend
The Carolina Panthers have become a very difficult offense to defend, for a number of reasons.
The Panthers use a lot of multiple run game concepts. They have expansive pass game concepts. And quarterback Cam Newton makes it all work, thanks to his unique skill set.
Newton’s ability to run off designed misdirection and deception elements in the running game is a bedrock foundation of the offense. And his ability to make tough throws from the pocket allows the Panthers to attack the intermediate and vertical levels in the passing game.
The Panthers scored 41 points, had 497 yards and stayed undefeated with a win Sunday against the New Orleans Saints. Newton was again outstanding in the fourth quarter, hitting 9-of-13 passes for 149 yards and two touchdowns. And he was good against the blitz too, hitting 10-of-15 passes for 117 yards and two touchdowns. Newton has 11 touchdowns against the blitz this season, tied with the Oakland Raiders’ Derek Carr for the NFL lead.
We could see in the win against the Saints how everything in the Panthers’ offense works together.
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Let’s start with the game-winning throw to Jerricho Cotchery. Corey Brown and Cotchery were stacked with minus splits to the boundary, on Newton’s right, and Ted Ginn was the “X iso” to the field in a minus split, close to the formation. Newton immediately looked left to Ginn, which moved the single-high safety Jairus Byrd. Cotchery ran a stick-nod-go route to beat the slot corner, and Byrd had been moved out of the way by Newton’s eyes. It was a great job by Newton to manipulate the safety and open up the throw for Cotchery.
The Panthers’ run game, which is the closest to a college-based run game in the NFL with its diverse looks based off Newton’s ability to run, sets up a lot of opportunities.
Here’s Jonathan Stewart’s 5-yard touchdown in the first half. Out of the pistol, Newton faked the inside zone off read-option to Mike Tolbert, then it was a triple-option action with the pitch to Stewart. What was interesting was that the unblocked defender in the read-option element was not the last man on the line of scrimmage, which is the common approach, but rather the next man inside.
Here’s a different look off the option. In the third quarter, in a full-house backfield with a pistol look, read-option and triple-option action held the back side defense. But it was a straight zone lead with tight end Ed Dickson lead blocking for Tolbert. You can see the hesitation in stacked linebackers James Anderson (42) and Stephone Anthony (50). Tolbert gained 29 yards and the inside linebackers aren’t a factor because of their hesitation.
Here’s a touchdown pass in which the read and triple-option element was in play based on the formation. Brown shifted into the backfield, and the defense had to wonder about the option run play. Ginn ran deep against an inverted “Cover 2” zone, and Anthony ran with him. The deep player on the back side, cornerback Kyle Wilson, had no awareness that Ginn was coming from the other side of the formation, and Ginn had a 45-yard score.
Newton also has a power arm that opens up the Panthers passing game downfield. Early in the fourth quarter, on a first and 20, Newton made a great throw to Greg Olsen. The Saints had a “Cover 2” zone with Anthony opening to Olsen. As the coverage developed it became Olsen one-on-one against Anthony so Newton turned it loose, and it was a great pass away from Anthony.
The Saints showed Newton and the Panthers a lot of different coverage looks, with multiple man and zone concepts, and the Panthers figured out ways to beat them all. With all the various looks the Panthers present in the pass game and the run game, and with a multi-talented quarterback running them, Carolina is presenting many challenges to opposing defenses.
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NFL analyst and NFL Films senior producer Greg Cosell watches as much NFL game film as anyone. Throughout the season, Cosell will join Shutdown Corner to share his observations on the teams, schemes and personnel from around the league.
