Where+it+started

The Dying Panther The Carolina Panthers defensive line has changed drastically from the team that went to the super bowl to the struggling team it is now. There have been many people who left the team and many people to replace them but overall the Carolina Panthers defensive line has suffered. There are many factors that may have led to the demise in their defensive strength but I believe that the main reasons are the loss of key defensive line players, a new coaching staff, and the increase of other team’s offense skills in the Carolina Panthers division. With advancement in the Carolina Panthers defensive line the team as a whole will become better and a more worthy opponent on the football field. One of the factors that bring me to believe that the Carolina Panthers defensive line needs improvement is the drastic drop in their defensive ranking between there 2003 and 2011 ranking. During the 2003 season they had a defensive ranking of 9th in the NFL. Their defense allowed only 3,003 yards. This may be because there pass rush defensive gave them 40 sacks. The pressure coming from their defensive line allowed them to receive 16 interceptions. The defensive line allowed only 1,722 yards rushing. They also had a turnover rate negative five. During the 2011 season they had a defensive ranking of 28th in the NFL. Their defense allowed 4,069 yards. That is a 1,066 yard difference! There defensive line allowed for 2,093 rushing yards. Their defense had a total of 31 sacks and only 14 interceptions. During the 2011 season they had a turnover rate of positive one. Another reason to the weakness and need for the improvement of the Carolina Panthers defensive line may be the relatively young age of the line. The Carolina Panther defensive linemen with the most experience are R. Fields with seven years pro. Many of the current defensive line players are in their first or second year pro for instance G. Hardy, E. Norwood, T. McClain, S. Fua, and A. Neblett. In fact, six of the eight line men are in their second or first year pro. The only other lineman I have not mentioned is C. Johnson, who is in his 5th year pro. Total they have 21 years pro. Averaged out each player has approx. 17.75 tackles and 1 sack each. During the 2003 season the Carolina Panther Defensive linemen with the most years pro was B. Buckner with 10 years pro. Many of the linemen had been playing for at least 5 years. These players were J. Peppers, K. Pittman, M. Rucker, A. Wallace, S. Burton, and B. Buckner. The only two remaining members of the line are K. Rasmussen with 4 years pro and K. Moorehead in his rookie year. Total they have 51 years pro. Averaged out each player has approx. 22.5 tackles and 3.5 sacks. The final reason that the Carolina Panther defensive line needs the most improvement is because there offense is doing superb. With their rookie quarterback, Cam Newton, who had 3,289 throwing yards and there running backs brought in 2,408 rushing yards. Cam Newton broke many rookie records and only threw 17 interceptions. The Carolina Panthers offense is ranked 13th in pass yards and 3rd rushing yards. During the 2003 season, it was Jake Delhomme’s first year as a Carolina Panther. He was able to bring the Carolina Panthers to the Super bowl with the help of Steve Smith a third year wide receiver. The Carolina Panthers in 2003 had 3,219 throwing yards and 2,070 rushing yards. This season stats are clearly much better than the team that went to the super bowl. The Carolina Panthers failure in its defensive line is the reason of their failure as a team in the past years. The better your defense plays, the easier it is for the offense to score as well as allowing the defense to potentially score its own points. The defensive line is an important factor to the defense because they are responsible for stopping a team’s chances for rushing; they pressure the quarterback into throwing a bad pass, and can sack the quarterback. That is why the Carolina Panthers defensive line needs the most improvement.