Inside the Numbers: Panthers vs 49ers Game Preview
The good vibes around 800 S Mint St didn't last long as the Panthers reverted back to their losing ways last Sunday, falling to the Arizona Cardinals 26-16. Now sitting at 1-3, this feels like a must-win scenario once again for head coach Matt Rhule.
Earlier in the week, Rhule mentioned that he hasn't had any discussions in regard to his job security with team owner David Tepper.
"Nah, he didn't talk to me about that. He talked to me about beating the Saints and then this week, it was just kind of - this week. I'm not going to talk a lot about my conversations with Dave, but he wants to win just like everybody else wants to win. He's a really good owner and good man and I'm going to keep doing the best I can for him," Rhule said in response to a question regarding his job security. "I usually talk to Dave [Tepper] on Mondays in the afternoon and then on Tuesdays. I haven't had anything with that."
Cooling the temperature of that seat won't be easy as the league's best defense strolls into town, the San Francisco 49ers. Can Carolina's offense finally start to click? Or will we see much of what is to be expected? Let's dive into it.
Batted balls at the line of scrimmage have become problematic for quarterback Baker Mayfield and this Carolina offense. Last week, the Cardinals got their hands on three passes, bumping Mayfield's season total of batted balls to 11. Yes, that leads the league.
"We've been watching them as a staff and taking a look at them, and really, they happen for a variety of reasons," said offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. "When you look at them, each play tells its own story. You'd like to sit here and say it's this one thing that's showing that's leading to a batted ball but that's not the case. So that's something we're diving into, we're studying. Each one has its own reason for it happening."
The Panthers only snapped the ball 52 times last week and when you combine three balls swatted at the line and three turnovers, you're not giving yourself much of a chance.
As McAdoo stated, every play has its own story, meaning some of those plays are on Baker and some are on the offensive line.
"When things go well, quarterbacks get too much credit probably and when things go well they get a little too much blame. Baker doesn't get enough credit for what he's been able to do. He comes in training camp and has half the reps with the ones, learned a new system that he's never been involved in. He keeps getting better in practice, so we just need to keep working and carry that over into the games. The guy is a fighter and I believe in him. I'm looking forward for it to start clicking."
Unfortunately, that issue may rear its ugly head once again this Sunday when they square off against arguably the best defensive line in the National Football League. Nick Bosa recorded 14 QB pressures in Monday's win over the Rams and he'll be flanked by a rock-solid interior duo of Arik Armstead and Javon Kinlaw.
"It's going to be a challenge for us," said McAdoo. "First and foremost, I have a ton of confidence in our guys up front. Those guys are going to battle. It's going to be a tough, hard-fought game. [Nick] Bosa is a really good player. There's a combination of things you can do whether you try to help or try to spin the ball out. There's things you can do to change it up but he is a good player and he's not the only one. They're deep. It's not just their starting line. They've got a lot of depth up there that you have to account for."
In order for the Panthers to have success, they're going to have to find ways to get Christian McCaffrey the ball. He had eight carries in the loss to Arizona and that's not a winning formula, especially for this offense.
Eye candy.
That's the term that's been thrown around the building all week when describing the 49ers' offense. All of the pre-snap motions along with misdirections and linemen pulling during the play can create quite the foggy picture for a defense.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow was very complimentary of Kyle Shanahan's scheme but it's not something he's overly concerned about.
"He does a great job offensively. Not only running the ball but throwing the ball. The whole offense is tough to defend. He's had great success over the years. There's a lot of shifting and motioning, but we're pros and we see that every week so hopefully we've matured enough that most of that stuff won't bother us."
To get the players' perspective of the 49er offense, I caught up with defensive end Brian Burns and linebacker Shaq Thompson.
"They get you going and they run the other way. At the end of the day, it either turns into a two-by-two formation or a three-by-one formation," Thompson explained. "You just got to understand the offense and the Shanahan family and all of the stuff that they like to do. They do all these jets and motions to get you going and get you bumping and then they'll run you the other way. You got to get to your gap fast, you got to line up, and you got to play ball."
"It's tough with all the movements," said Burns. "They move before and during the play so it's a lot of things going on. It's tough but you can't ignore it because you could be out of position. If they see that you're not going back with something then they'll expose you, so you kind of have to honor it."
On top of the eye candy, the 49ers do a really good job of moving around their top three offensive weapons - WR Deebo Samuel, TE George Kittle, and FB Kyle Juszczyk. Each of them has the ability to be the go-to man on any given drive for Jimmy Garoppolo.
"Those guys are all over the place, you don't know where they're going to be," said Snow. "And obviously, their tight end. Those three guys do a lot of different things for them and they're just all three really tough to defend. And Kittle's getting healthy now so I think we'll see more of him."
In a week where the Panthers face the most versatile weapon in the game, Deebo Samuel, they'll be without their own Swiss Army Knife in Jeremy Chinn who was placed on injured reserve on Wednesday with a hamstring injury.
"You don't replace really good players," Snow stated. "But we have guys that will go in and play and play well. That's just the way this league is. You're going to have injuries and guys got to step up and play. Jeremy brings a special set of skills and you don't have that, so you just have to adjust."
The Panthers signed safety Juston Burris off the practice squad, who started 18 games for Carolina over the past two seasons. Myles Hartsfield and Sean Chandler will also be in the mix at safety.
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