The Panthers are not close to the same pass defense that they were in their Super Bowl Appearance run last year. In 2015 they were 11th in yards allowed per game (234.5), 7th in completion percentage allowed (60.0), 2nd in Y/A (6.2), and 1st in Passer Rating allowed (73.5). In comparison, they are 25th in yards allowed per game (282), 18th in completion percentage allowed (64.6), 30th in Y/A (8.6), and 25th in Passer Rating allowed (100.6) in 2016. While three out of the four starters from the super bowl run are gone (Josh Norman, Charles Tillman, and Roman Harper), only Norman was considered a huge loss and you could argue going into the season that Ben Benwikere or rookie James Bradberry could be an upgrade over Tillman at CB and Tre Boston would be better than Roman Harper at safety. This has not panned out though and the secondary is extremely vulnerable. It is easy to blame the injuries to Bradberry and Robert McClain for the issues on defense and your wouldn’t be wrong. The Saints did take advantage of the inexperience on the outside and the Panther inability to play anything but a 4-3 for big plays. But the Panthers are really struggling to not bite on the play-action fake or double moves, the pass rush was lacking for long stretches of the game, and Luke Kuechly is trying to do too much to make up for the deficiencies elsewhere.

Pass #1

Situation: 1st and 10 at CAR 41

Description: Q1 – (12:47) D. Brees Pass Short Middle to T. Lewis to CAR 26 for 15 Yards (T. Davis)

Coverage: Cover 3 Zone

The first issue on this play for the Panthers is that all the LBs bite on the play action fake. This creates a void in the coverage between the safeties and the linebackers and WR Tommylee Lewis (#87) gets into that void with his dig route. The second issue is there is a miscue in who has which zone. Both MLB Luke Kuechly (#59) and SS Kurt Coleman (#20) are at the same area of the field laterally. One of the two defenders should have pushed to the defenses right in their zone coverage. Without seeing the play sheet I can’t say who is at fault here but one of these two players blew their coverage. Coleman is moving in the opposite direction of Lewis’s cut to the middle of the field in his zone drop and this allows Lewis to beat him to the inside and get into the void in the zone. This is exactly what the Saints wanted to see on the play action pass and QB Drew Brees (#9) throws the ball to Lewis for a first down

Pass #2

Situation: 3rd and 4 at NO 13

Description: Q1 – (2:43) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Deep Right to B. Cooks for 87 Yards, Touchdown

Coverage: Cover 4 Zone Blitz

There is a reason why CB Zack Sanchez (#31) was on the practice squad going into the season. Sanchez has deep outside quarter coverage and he should have never bitten on WR Brandin Cooks’ (#10) double move. If Cooks is running an out route, Sanchez can rally up to make the tackle or OLB Shaq Thompson (#54) will get underneath the route well enough to prevent the throw. Once Sanchez jumps the out route, there is no one behind him to make up for his mistake and no one is going to catch Cooks from behind once he is going at full speed.

Pass #3

Situation: 1st and Goal at CAR 9

Description: Q2 – (13:52) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Short Middle to M. Thomas for 9 Yards, Touchdown

Coverage: Cover 1 Man w/ SS Edge Blitz

I don’t understand why CB Daryl Worley (#26) isn’t trying to play press coverage here. WR Michael Thomas (#13) is a big WR at 6’3″ 214 lbs but Worley is 6’01” and 204 lbs and his strength as a CB coming out of college was his ability to redirect and beat up receivers. This would have likely been effective against Thomas since the scouting support says Thomas tends to dance too much when pressed. Asking him to play off (even if just slightly) in his man coverage is asking for trouble as his agility is a weak point and Thomas is very quick out of his breaks. This is either poor coaching or a player not playing to his strengths and the Panthers are burned because of it. Thomas predictably uses his quickness to get inside leverage (with maybe a little help from TE Josh Hill (#89)) on Worley and Worley is left diving at his feet trying to prevent a touchdown

Pass #4

Situation: 2nd and 5 at NO 25

Description: Q2 – (7:54) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Deep Middle to W. Snead to NO 41 for 16 Yards (K. Ealy)

Coverage: Cover 3 Zone Blitz

The Panthers are in a Cover 3 Zone with a Zone Blitz. Kuechly (#59) is usually an excellent pass defender but he messes up here. He is responsible for the middle of the field but for some reason he leaves his responsibility to chase Cooks (#10) on the arrow route. FS Tre Boston (#33) is responsible for the short right outside zone and Keuchly should have passed Cooks off to Boston. This miscue leaves DE Kony Ealy (#94) to cover 1/2 of the field and he has little to no chance to locate WR Willie Snead (#83) on the dig route and get underneath it with his skill set. This play could have been even worst if it wasn’t for the pass rush. DE Wes Horton (#96) rips through RG Jahri Evans (#73) on the pass rush and forces Brees (#9) to move to his left. This forces Brees to throw across his body to make the throw to Snead and the pass ends up behind Snead which makes him fall down.

Pass #5

Situation: 2nd and 15 at NO 13

Description: Q2 – (2:53) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Incomplete Deep Left to B. Cooks

Coverage: Cover 2 Zone

Boston (#33) is a lucky man on this play. He has the deep left half of the field and his responsibility is Cooks (#10) on the post-corner route. Boston makes the fatal error of stopping his backward momentum and moving laterally once Cooks makes his first break to the inside. Once Cooks cuts back outside, Boston has to start moving downfield again with no initial speed and Cooks runs right by him. Boston is lucky that Brees (#9) overthrows Cooks or else the Saints have another 87-yard touchdown.

Pass #6

Situation: 2nd and 5 at CAR 42

Description: Q2 – (0:38) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Short Right to W. Snead Ran Out of Bounds at CAR 21 for 21 Yards (T. Williams)

Coverage: Cover 4 Zone

Thompson (#54) is a crazy athlete for an OLB but most NFL WRs are going to be a mismatch for him. Snead (#83) is not a great athlete for a WR but he is going to beat an OLB in coverage nine out of ten times. Thompson has a third of the field to cover underneath because of the coverage so he can’t just bail to the flat zone to take away Snead on the out route and has to play more centrally. Once Snead breaks to the outside on the deep out, Thompson has little chance to keep up with Snead and Brees (#9) takes advantage of the mismatch for a big gain.

Pass #7

Situation: 2nd and 4 at NO 31

Description: Q3 – (6:19) D. Brees Pass Deep Middle to M. Thomas to CAR 46 for 23 Yards (K. Coleman)

Coverage: Cover 3 Zone

Everyone but the deep three defenders and Thompson (#54) bite on the play action fake. As mentioned before, this biting on the fake creates a void in the zone coverage between the deep coverage and the underneath coverage. The Saints take advantage of this again by running Thomas (#13) on a dig route through the void created by Coleman (#20) and OLB Thomas Davis (#58) biting on the fake. This leaves Sanchez (#31) responsible for covering Thomas and with his initial deep third outside coverage, he has no chance to keep up with Thomas. Bress (#9) fits the pass into the void and beats the Panthers again for a big gain.

Pass #8

Situation: 3rd and 14 at 50

Description: Q3 – (5:04) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Deep Middle to C. Fleener for 50 Yards, Touchdown

Coverage: Tampa 2

(Disclaimer: This is one of the most bizarre plays I’ve watched for film review so I may be completely wrong here)

I really want to ask Kuechly (#59) what was going through his head on this play. Kuechly looks like he is initially in a great position to take way TE Colby Fleener (#82) on the seam route but acts like he isn’t even aware of Fleener as he is trying to get over the top of Snead’s (#83) post route. Even Fleener bumping into him doesn’t take away from his focus. This is bizarre because Kuechly is one of the most aware LBs in coverage and you would think he would give a half second look to Fleener. Most QBs wouldn’t dare to try to throw this pass to Fleener because of where Kuechly is but Brees (#9) is one of the best in the league and takes advantage of Kuchley’s focus on Snead to try to hit Fleener on the seam route. You can argue that Davis (#58) should have been under the seam route but his first responsibility was to get under Sneed’s post route first and the fact that he was even close to making a play on the ball is remarkable on its own. After the catch, Fleener should have been tackled. Coleman (#20) like Kuechly thinks that the ball is going to Snead and decides to go for the big hit on Snead. He looks extremely silly though as he misses Snead and run right by Fleener. Combine that with Kuechly trying to tackle Snead instead of Fleener and Fleener walks in untouched for a touchdown.

Pass #9

Situation: 3rd and 15 at NO 10

Description: Q3 – (2:04) (Shotgun) T. Lelito Reported in as Eligible. D. Brees Pass Deep Middle to M. Thomas to NO 31 for 21 Yards (T. Davis). Penalty on NO – T. Hills, Ineligible Reciever Downfield, 5 Yards, Enforced at NO 10 – No Play

Coverage: Cover 4 Zone

I don’t know what Kuechly (#59) is thinking on this play. It is 3rd and 15, even if Ingram (#22) catches the ball on the flare route there is plenty of time for the defense to rally and tackle him before the first down. Kuechly for some reason decides the flare route needs to be taken away like his life depended on it and he leaves his assigned zone completely empty. Both Cooks (#10) and Thomas (#13) get into the hole in the zone and Brees (#9) hits Thomas for the first down if not for the penalty. You could argue that Thompson (#54) should have done a better job seeing Thomas cutting inside and running with it but it’s not his fault for the hole in the zone created by Kuechly jumping the flare route and Cooks would have been the target instead.

Pass #10

Situation: 1st and 10 at NO 13

Description: Q4 – (14:45) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Short Left to B. Cooks Pushed Out of Bounds at NO 24 for 11 Yards (Z. Sanchez)

Coverage: Cover 4 Zone

The Panthers throughout the game lined up in a double A-gap blitz look to try to fool the Saints offense and help out their secondary. By the second half, the Saints started making the Panthers pay for lining up in this look with quick hitting out routes. Davis (#58) is lined up on the line of scrimmage at the snap and has no chance to get into the flat to cover Cooks (#10) on the quick out route, even if he starts bailing into the flat zone immediately. Brees (#9) has a very easy pass to Cooks and the Saints pick up another good chunk of yards.

Pass #11

Situation: 2nd and 10 at NO 36

Description: Q4 – (7:49) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Deep Left to B. Cooks Pushed Out of Bounds at CAR 15 for 49 Yards (K. Coleman)

Coverage: Cover 3 Zone Blitz

The Panthers rarely brought more than four men on the pass rush and never more than five all game. This gave Brees (#9) plenty of time to survey the field throughout the game and this play exemplifies this. Saying this, Sanchez (#31) commits a fatal error by trying to jump Cadet’s (#38) curl route. Thompson (#54) is a good position to take this route away and Sanchez is responsible for cover the deep outside third of the field. Once Sanchez jumps the route, Cooks (#10) breaks deep on the scramble drill and Thompson has no chance to keep up with Cooks going deep. This is the second time Sanchez has tried to jump a route in deep coverage and both times he has been burnt badly

Pass #12

Situation: 3rd and 3 at CAR 8

Description: Q4 – (6:10) (Shotgun) D. Brees Pass Short Left to J. Hill for 8 Yards, Touchdown [K. Short]. Penalty CAR – K. Short, Roughing the Passer, 15 Yards, Enforced Between Downs.

Coverage: Cover 2 Zone

The lack of pass rush strikes again as Brees has all day to throw the ball again. Sanchez (#31) needs to more aware and be less twitchy in trying to jump a route. He has the flat zone coverage and gets in a good position initially on the Hill’s (#89) flare route. He has no clue that Hill did a wheel route behind him on the scramble drill and Sanchez steps upfield when Hill is heading to the end zone. Brees (#9) knows he has Hill open in the end zone once Sanchez steps up and throws it over Sanchez’s head. Sanchez tries to break up the pass (and almost does) but Hill has six inches on Sanchez and Brees throws the pass high for Hill to take advantage of his height for the touchdown.

Conclusions

The Panthers have a ton of issues to deal with in the secondary. The first is they need to get James Bradberry and Robert McClain back from injury. The Panthers have a bye week this week and hopefully, both of them will be back when they play the Cardinals. This will allow them to play something other than their 4-3 base defense and prevent OLB on WR mismatches. It will also allow the Panthers to get Sanchez into the slot as his want to jump routes will be more of an asset than a liability that was seen against the Saints. But getting back personnel will only help so much. The Panthers are biting on almost on every fake (route running or play action) the offense throws at them and the pass rush is predictable and ineffective for long stretches. These factors are leading to Luke Kuechly pressing too much and he is trying to do everything at once to make up the Panthers faults.

The coaching staff reacted to all these issues by playing really conservatively. They rarely brought the blitz and when they did, it was a zone blitz to prevent one on one situations on the outside. Almost all of the coverages were zone coverage and safe. This wasn’t necessarily the wrong the decision with the personnel available, but even with these safe coverages, the Panthers were still getting beat on intermediate and deep routes over and over throughout the games. The Saints in the Superdome are able to tear apart pretty much every defense to be fair, but playing super conservative will give Brees all the time in the world to tear a defense apart. I would argue the coaches are coaching too scared and need to be more aggressive. Sanchez was at his best in college when he was allowed to be aggressive and the Panthers coaches didn’t allow him to do that al that much. Worley is better as a press corner but that rarely happened before he got knocked out with a concussion. The only CB who looked comfortable in the safer zone coverage was Teddy Williams and he isn’t a long-term solution. Sometimes a coaching staff needs to play to its player’s strength and the Panthers coaches did not do that. If the Panthers coaches don’t do this in the future, results like this will continue to happen throughout the season.