Across Evero’s first three seasons, Carolina is dead last in both run-defense efficiency and pressure rate.

153 of Tampa Bay's 258 rushing yards came off of explosive runs, run plays that result in 10+ yards gained, of which the Bucs had eight of the game's ten. This thread will be looking over those runs in an attempt to better understand where things went wrong, identify any potential patterns to look out for in future games, and see how coaches + players adjust this Thursday against Green Bay.

Explosive Run #1
Q1 14:52 / 2nd & 10 / TB 30
Result: B.Irving right tackle to TB 45 for 15 yards

The second play of the game was unfortunate foreshadowing of the issues to come. TB lines up on the right hash in the shotgun with 11 personnel: TE to the right/boundary side and the RB lined up on the weakside next to the QB. As the ball is snapped, the LG pulls behind the line to meet Princely who goes low to destroy the block. The C takes on DB while the RG engages with Turk before the RT crashes into Turk and moves him over. Prior to the snap, Okereke drifted towards the middle and then came at an angle that the TE was easily able to engage him on to take him out of the play. Nick Scott starts to come downhill as WL3 follows the WR as they come in to block Scott. WL3 gets beat to the outside and is quite literally able to hold on to the RB's pinky just enough to close in and make the tackle. WL3 is the player at fault here as he failed to replace after Princely took out the pulling guard. Looked like it was Okereke's job to read the guard as he drifted to the middle of the field just before the snap but followed them until the TE engaged him. TB across the board seemed to win their matchups on this rep. Turk lost pretty bad, getting hammered literally between DB and Graham Barton while they were engaged. The Panthers' were in big nickel/buffalo personnel on this play with Moehrig up close to the LOS on the slot WR. Wheatley was lined up at FS and Scott as the SS. Looks like TB might have been running an RPO here with a WR screen to the field side should Baker have pulled it.

Explosive Run #2
Q1 00:47 / 1st & 10 / CAR 18
Result: B.Irving right tackle to TB 45 for 15 yards

Bucs line up close to the left hash in 11 personnel again with the TE to the right/field side now while the Panthers are again in big nickel. QB is under center with the RB in the backfield behind him and two of the WRs pinched up close to the strongside of the formation. The TE pulls across the back of the formation while the WR follows. QB fakes the handoff to the RB and then gives it to the WR on the reverse. Both guards engage the interior DL one-on-one, the RT takes on the strongside edge (Gipson), and the C + LT advance to the second level to seal off the LBs. DB beats the RG and would've crushed the RB had he gotten the ball, but since it was going to the WR no dice. PJ2, the weakside edge, over pursues inside and avoids the TE but effectively takes himself out of the play as Tez is already accelerating as PJ2 is attempting to change direction. WL3 and Okereke effectively get far enough to the outside to prevent Tez from going to the boundary while PJ2 chases down, but Okereke misses the tackle. Fortunately, Wheatley was there to lay a good hit on Tez to stop him at the CAR 4. Negative marks for Okereke and PJ2 here, but especially PJ2.

Explosive Run #3
Q2 09:01 / 1st & 10 / TB 41
Result: B.Irving up the middle to CAR 48 for 11 yards

TB lines the QB up under center with the ball on the left hash in 12 personnel. TEs line up on both sides of the line but Otton shifts to the right/field side in a condensed formation like they had on their second explosive run. Baker makes an adjustment at the LOS, TB makes another shift and then sets. Godwin goes in motion and then turns into the FB on the play once he hits the middle of the line as the ball is handed off. The Bucs' OL crashes to the left and Godwin puts a shoulder into Princely's chest. Evans takes a bad angle but fortunately Okereke is able to scrape over the double block on Lloyd to wrap up the ball carrier while Scott also puts a shoulder into them. Not a good rep by Evans here, but Lee Hunter did have himself a decent rep as he beat his block clean, but Princely not being able to bulldoze the WR's block allowed the RB a hole to sprint through. Need to see better there from Princely when matched up vs. a WR who wasn't even in motion anymore.

Explosive Run #4
Q2 06:43 / 1st & 15 / CAR 42
Result: K.Gainwell right tackle to CAR 13 for 29 yards

Bucs send out 11 again and the Panthers respond with their big nickel. Okereke shows blitz and then drifts back a little bit before the snap as Baker gestures for the WR to shift further downfield from the initial stack (looked a lot like the potential RPO with WR screen from the first explosive run). Ball is on the left hash with the TE + RB to the right/field side. WR motions back before the snap to the stack and yup, it is the same RPO concept they ran earlier. The OL crashes to the left and the backup RT marches Turk backwards. Gipson does a good job of preventing Gainwell from taking that hole that was opened up, but Gainwell bounces outside as Turk gets blocked into DB again. Wheatley pulls an WL3 and doesn't fill at the edge, giving up contain and missing the tackle. Scott comes down from the FS spot, takes a bad angle, and misses the tackle. Lloyd is in pursuit and Evans gets stiff armed out of his tackle attempt. WL3 flashes over and then seems to almost jump to avoid contact??? Horrible, horrible rep there for WL3. DB ends up chasing this one down from behind since WL3's pirouette takes Lloyd out of his pursuit. TD saving tackle made by DB nearly 30yds downfield. While he might not be flashing on the stat sheet, his presence is more than apparent on the defense.

Explosive Run #5
Q3 01:08 / 2nd & 8 / TB 8
Result:B.Irving up the middle to TB 20 for 12 yards

At this point, the score is 36 - 6 (the fourth explosive run happened while it was still 19 - 6). Bucs march out their duo personnel and come out in an condensed singleback formation with the ball in between the hashes. Before the snap, Moehrig charges the LOS and shows blitz while Nick Hampton shifts over top the RT. The Panthers DL is in an under front and Turk immediately wins off the ball but the RG recovers enough to keep him from getting to the RB who hits the now open spot where Turk had been. Devin Lloyd gets caught out of position bad, nearly walking up on Moehrig instead of filling where Turk was which is exactly where Irving sprints thru. Barton climbs to the second level and stones Okereke who to his credit recovers enough to try and assist with the tackle (had he been solo on it, Okereke wouldn't have made it at all). Princely does a good job here not over pursuing and instead being able to chase down the RB before he gets too far because the Bucs' WR had WL3 shielded off and there was just Nick Scott left for Irving to beat. Bad rep for Lloyd here as he could've stuffed this run at the line had he executed properly.

Explosive Run #6
Q4 15:00 / 1st & 15 / TB 15
Result: K.Gainwell up the middle to TB 31 for 16 yards

Bucs in duo again between the hashes and the TE on the right motions left and lines up in the backfield to the now-strongside as the FB/H-back. Panthers' DL shifts to adjust and Nick Hampton jogs up to be the new edge setter now that Hall is lined up in the B-gap. Lots of communication by the Panthers' defenders, especially Dodson + Scott, so that's good to see. Godwin motions in towards the line over Hampton's outside shoulder and the ball is snapped. Otton feints to the left before cutting back across the line behind pulling LG. Hampton does a good job not letting Godwin to much of anything and then takes on the pulling LG head on. Dodson is quick to fill the whole but meets Otton in it, but unfortunately the RT has already climbed to stop Okereke after giving Hall's hip a shove to push him further inside. Bad angle by WL3 and the WR shrugged off by Hampton does a good job of disrupting Ransom long enough to keep him out of the play. Scott makes a great open field tackle that prevents a TD because there was no way WL3 was running Gainwell down.

Explosive Run #7
Q4 13:35 / 2nd & 8 / TB 33
Result: K.Gainwell left guard to TB 43 for 10 yards

13 personnel for the Bucs on this one with the ball on the left hash. All three TEs line up to the right/field side of the line before TE3 shifts to the opposite end. The RG and Otton both pull to the left while Okereke comes flying in at the snap. Unfortunately, Okereke gets sonned while the RG stones Princely. Gainwell follows Otton through the hole as Nick Scott gets clamped by the TE3 that had shifted prior. Dodson gets a little too close to the wash and has a bad angle, but Ransom (who initially looked like he took a bad angle) shows some solid acceleration and quickly fills the lane while Dodson gets blocked by one of the TEs. Terrible effort and execution by WL3 who goes outside of the WR and just kind of shuffles to the pile. Would have preferred to see him really drive on this one. It's more and more obvious how important Jaycee and Mike Jack are to the defense not just for their pass defense but perhaps more importantly, their run defense. There's a lot for WL3 to learn and improve upon there. Helps me understand more why EE has been putting Jaycee in as the nickel when the team isn't in big nickel. Terrible effort by Evans too who seemed to just lightly jog throughout the play with no intention of sticking his facemask into an opponent's.

Explosive Run #8
Q4 10:31 / 1st & 10 / CAR 46
Result: S.Tucker left guard for 46 yards, TOUCHDOWN

Thank goodness we've reached the end here. Bucs are in duo on the left hash with both TEs to their right/boundary side. Otton goes in motion and the ball is snapped as he gets to the other side. Bucs OL crashes to their right and the TE2 pulls to take thump Okereke on the hip to keep the run lane open for Tucker. Great execution by the Bucs on doubling Hall and Wirfs waiting to stuff Dodson. Bad angle by Ransom as well who ends up running between Dodson + Hall rather than scraping over top. Scott takes a bad angle as well while WL3 once again goes around the outside shoulder of the WR trying to block him. Those two mistakes there were the backbreaker that allowed Tucker to scamper free and downfield for six.

Really, really bad tape for WL3 in the run game. Lloyd and Turk had their struggles as well. Overall good to great execution by the Bucs with five of their eight explosives happening with DB off of the field. The DL needs to start winning their individual matchups while the back seven stop taking such horrendous angles. Unfortunately, bad angles are one of the cons of rotating safeties like the defense does in order to disguise coverage. Not sure if they needed to be cute like that with Baker's thumb being jacked up and the Bucs clearly committed to running the ball all game long.

Just hoping we can have a little win streak and keep everyone healthy as possible

What are all the panthers fans in Green Bay doing tomorrow? Came from Michigan to go to the game, trying to find a couple groups tailgating/some fun non packers areas to enjoy before the game.

Keep Pounding!

We’ve seen Brick Yamg now it’s time for the reaper

Just got this cool new flag for my dorm

Happy to pay for gas

Jaguars (2020): 4 games Lions (21-22): 7 games Panthers (23-26): 12 games

Obviously Evero still needs to go but I think the entire defensive coaching staff needs to be addressed

The last time the Panthers' defense took the ball away from their opponent was Week 2 against Atlanta, when they logged 3 interceptions and 2 fumble recoveries. Since then, nothing.

The Panthers as a team have only taken the ball away once in that 4-game span, which includes an active streak of 3 games without generating any turnovers other than via downs. The team's only takeaway in the last 4 games came on Special Teams, when Thomas Incoom recovered a fumble on a kickoff to start the 2nd half against the Browns.

The Panthers have forced either 1 or 2 fumbles in this span. Bucky Irving fumbled in the 2nd quarter against the Bucs, obviously recovered by the Bucs. PFR lists the Eagles game as having a fumble, but no player from the Eagles is charged with a fumble and I can't find it in the game logs, so I don't know if that's correct.

i’ve finally figured it out. dave canales has .500 withdrawals, it genuinely explains everything.

That's it, that's the question.

Making history baby

EDIT: Does anyone have access to the All-22 and can share what they see on the Panthers’ sideline?

Has it been clarified what was the cause of the penalty on the blocked FG return? Referee said Panthers sideline. 15 yard penalty forced us to kick from the 20.

Is there a way to watch the game tomorrow. If I'm in NC and don't have prime video?

You’d think Dave had two horrible seasons with the shit you see online about him. People just need to get it through their heads that you aren’t going to get what you want out of Dave’s press conference. He isn’t going to bash anyone and he’s going to give you coach speak. The objective of the pressers isn’t to make you feel better.

Dave took over after a year this franchise should have won 0 games. They won 2 games leading exactly 0:00 minutes of the game on game winning kicks. Took that team and improved them to 5 wins. Then took that team and improved them to 8 wins. People need to step away from the ledge.

The DC? You can go after him. He’s had his chances and he’s failed multiple times. Canales was forced to take him on when he came in so who knows how much say he has in letting him go or not.

Last game was absolutely a wake up call, but one thing I’ve noticed is that this team is able to adapt to those calls. I’m not saying it’ll be easy we will absolutely have to fight for it (and Akaykeb Evans will still be his usual awful self) but I have this gut feeling that this team can stun the word Thursday! KEEP POUNDING! 🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙

(Also as someone who’s second team is the Packers I’ve lost all hope in MLF, and this game would be a double win for me cause it’d be one step closer to him getting fired.)

Lee has been on the field for every defensive snap in Weeks 4, 6 and 7 (we had the bye in Week 5). He has 29 tackles and 7 pass breakups. A rookie impact index I’ve been following has him tied for #1 among all rookies. Hoping he shows out Thursday night.

Progress for Bobby Brown and Jalen Coker; not great news for Damien Lewis and Akayleb Evans.

Last time panthers Defense had a blow out game they bounced back extremely well in week 2. Feel like they will be a sleeper pick week 8.