In what equates to the Final Four of the NFL, Championship Sunday saw the Cardinals and the Panthers face off for the right to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Now Cam Newton and the Panthers finds themselves in a similar position to the Cardinals as both are dwelling in the bottom half of their divisions.
The Panthers’ D Doing the Old 180
Last season the Panthers defense looked like a unit even the greatest of offenses wouldn’t be able to score on. Only giving up 35 touchdowns in 16 games while attaining an outstanding +20 in the turnover ratio made life an absolute nightmare for opposing offenses when they went against last year’s NFC champion. This year they’ve already surrendered 20 touchdowns in just six games and are -8 in turnovers, with their passing defense perhaps being the most noticeable flaw. Earlier this year they lost the ability to corral Julio Jones who went off for 300 yards receiving and Matt Ryan threw for over 500 yards in the game total. That contest against the Falcons almost equals a third of the total amount of passing yards the Panthers have given up this season in 1692 thus far. Going up against three rookies in the top four corners in the depth chart for Carolina, the deep wide receiver corp in Arizona will look to try and find the open holes that the Panthers will surely be giving up throughout the game.
Cam Still Running, Now For His Life
Newton is a big quarterback. The sixth year player from Auburn is 6′ 5” and weighs over 240 pounds on the team brochure. The quarterback loves to utilize his size to dominate smaller linebackers and shake linemen that try to bring him down. He was excellent in that last season as he only was sacked 33 times and still amassed over 600 yards rushing with 10 touchdowns on the year. This year seems to be a year where Newton has to run rather than wants to because his offensive line has been dreadful to start the year. Already being sacked 15 times in just 5 games, he may have to do a lot of running this week as Chandler Jones has made the off season acquisition the Cardinals made of him pay off tremendously. Not only is he dominating quarterbacks with his five sacks on the year, but he has helped Markus Golden emerge as a premier pass rusher with the attention he is getting every game. Golden actually leads the team in sacks with 6, making the two one of the deadliest pass rushing duos in the NFL today.
Diversity To the Offense
The surprise emergence of David Johnson into the mainstream of the NFL has been a surprise. He leads the team in rushing yards and is second in receiving, making him perhaps the best dual threat back in the NFC. Yet the expectation that Johnson will maintain his ability to dominate the game every week will eventually run dry. This season the passing game has struggled to make a big difference overall with only 9 passing touchdowns on the season, while Johnson has 8 on the ground by himself. Fifteen teams have more passing touchdowns than the Cardinals do, with the Saints and Steelers almost doubling their total at 17 a piece. The organization put a lot of time into the receiver position outside of Larry Fitzgerald with the biggest disappointment being Michael Floyd. Long time Arizona Cardinal fans look at Floyd and get immediate flashbacks to David Boston, both were talented and strong big receivers that seemed to be able to stretch out and get the ball wherever it happened to be. Both of their problems though is their lack of reliable hands. He has been targeted 43 times this year, caught 19 and dropped 2 passes. It isn’t clear just how out of sync he is with Carson Palmer, but eventually he has to provide another huge target for Palmer to lean on it tough points in the game.
Prediction: Cardinals – 17 Panthers – 21
The game will kick off at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC. Tune in to FOX at 10:00 AM this Sunday to watch the game.