After one of the worst quarterback performances of the season from the Arizona Cardinals Ryan Lindley, the Carolina Panthers won their Wild Card round matchup and the NFC South champions set up a meeting with the NFC’s best Seattle Seahawks.
The Panthers are feeling good this week, and should be confident heading into the weekend’s matchup. Their defense played amazingly, and made sure that Lindley was never fully comfortable and that he did not settle into the game. Lindley was held to only 82 passing yards and threw two interceptions. The Cardinals were held to only 78 yards of total offense.
Their defense proved that they belong in the playoffs and they have a chance to win it all, but there is still one huge question mark.
The offense.
Carolina’s defense set them up many times to score, but the offense could not convert. The Arizona offense had trouble moving down the field, but the Panthers could not hold onto the ball themselves. They matched Arizona’s three turnovers, and only converted five of their 15 third down attempts.
27 points is great scoring output, and the Panthers scored the second most points of any team on Wild Card weekend. But on many occasions on Saturday, the Panthers offense looked stagnant, and unless their defense had set them up with great field position, they would not be able to score.
This has worked out for the Panthers for the majority of the season, leading to them making the playoffs in the first place, but the 8-8-1 team needs their offense to get going to pass their next test.
The Seattle Seahawks, their divisional round foes, have the NFL’s best defense. Their secondary is chock full of players who can shut down the Panthers main receivers, and their front seven is equally capable of making Jonathan Stewart on the Carolina run game ineffective.
So yet again a bulk of the work will be on the defense. Against Arizona this worked out perfectly for them. The Cardinals have an offense that has struggled heavily with injuries, and were missing both their starting quarterback and running back.
The Seahawks are a team with a much stronger offense, led by the explosive Russell Wilson who can punish teams through the air and with his feet. Wilson also has great targets to throw to, including Doug Baldwin and Jermaine Kearse who have stepped up in the absence of last year’s top receiver Golden Tate.
But their main threat is Marshawn Lynch and the NFL’s top ranked rushing offense. Lynch is known for running straight through tackles and can push piles far down field. He is one of the hardest guys to tackle in the NFL, and it won’t be any different this Sunday.
However good Carolina’s defense is, they won’t be able to shut the Seahawks down. A lot of the burden will be on their offense, which has been inefficient at best this season.
If Carolina wants to win, quarterback Cam Newton has to bring his A-game. Newton is criticized often for not correctly reading defenses, leading to him throwing into coverage and even being intercepted. The Seahawks secondary will be all over his receivers and their pass rush will not give him much time to make a decision.
Newton is excellent at using his feet to extend plays, and his ability to do so will be crucial. Expect Newton to often call his own number and take off down the field himself to make something happen.
In the end, though, the Panthers will most likely be overwhelmed. Their defense cannot shut down the versatile attack of the Seahawks, and their offense does not have the tools needed to drive down field on the Seahawks top-rated defense.
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