Panthers vs Giants defensive preview: The Panthers defense gets their first taste

Mike Shula as an opposing coordinator Mike Shula was the Panthers offensive coordinator for five wildly inconsistent seasons. Even after an 11-5 season and postseason berth Authentic Da'Norris Searcy Jersey , Ron Rivera and Marty Hurney saw it fit to set their offensive coordinator free to find greener pastures. It didn’t take long for Don Shula’s son to find work, as he was quickly snatched up by his old boss Dave Gettleman, now the general manager of the New York Giants. This may surprise you, but Mike Shula’s offense hasn’t been good this season. The Giants rank 25th in the NFL in yards per game and 29th in scoring. Eli Manning is in the twilight of his career, but this is an offense rife with weapons. An offense with Odell Beckham Jr. and Sterling Shepard out wide with Evan Engram at tight end and Saquon Barkley in the backfield shouldn’t be a bottom ten offense, no matter the quarterback. But here we are. The Panthers will welcome those struggling Giants into Bank of America with open arms after back to back games against potent offenses. Eric Washington’s defense has come back down to Earth after a stellar Week 1 performance, ceding at least 6.5 yards per play in consecutive weeks for the first time since Weeks 6 and 7 of the 2014 season. A similar performance against this Giants team is simply unacceptable. To ensure that doesn’t happen, here’s what the Panthers need to do:Tackle Saquon Barkley. The rookie has been the only light able to escape the Giants black hole of an offense. I’ll let these Tweets explain it for me.The second Tweet doesn’t account for Week 4 Youth Mike Adams Jersey , but the point remains the same. Barkley is difficult to tackle, and he has explosive potential both as a runner and a receiver. Devote as much attention as possible to Odell Beckham Jr. Sterling Shepard is a good young wide receiver, but he’s not Beckham. Beckham is a threat to take a simple crossing route or quick slant to the house on every play. It hasn’t happened yet this season, but we know the potential is there. Thankfully the Giants have shown little interest in throwing the ball down the field (Eli’s 6.3 air yards per attempt is the sixth lowest mark in the league), so this is more about swarming to OBJ and making the tackle once he has the ball rather than accounting for him deep. Get close to Eli Manning so he’ll sack himself. Eli has been sacked 15 times this season, fourth most in the NFL. The reasons for that are twofold. One, the Giants have a leaky offensive line; Football Outsiders has them ranked as the seventh worst pass blocking offensive line in the league. Compounding that problem is Manning’s propensity to sack himself. He’s like an anti-Cam Newton. If he sees a defender shed a block or feels a defender’s hand on his shoulder pads, he collapses into a puddle. It’s a prime opportunity for Efe Obada to build off Week 3’s breakout performance and for Mario Addison to continue adding sacks to his tally.The Panthers defense should be able to handle the Giants offense with relative ease. Their are fearsome play makers littered throughout the offense Cheap Trai Turner Jersey , but offensive line, quarterback, and offensive coordinator problems are hamstringing that talent. The Panthers catch a break with Evan Engram out for the contest with a knee injury, which makes an already juicy match-up even more enticing. To put it bluntly, the Carolina Panthers played like garbage today. Washington outplayed them for four straight quarters, and came away with a 23-17 win that shouldn’t surprise anyone. The Panthers were simply outplayed and outcoached by an inferior team... again.This routine is getting old, but yet here we are. The Panthers will continue to wallow in mediocrity as long as they continue to let this incompetent coaching staff poison the deep well of talent on the roster, and fans will continue to drink the water being offered by the front office and ask for more despite the fact that the water tastes funny. C’est la vie Cheap Donte Jackson Jersey , I guess.Here are three winners and five loser’s from today’s clown show.WinnersDevin Funchess: Funchess went off today. Five catches on eight targets for 74 yards and an impressive touchdown where he looked like Randy Moss. It’s a shame that his efforts couldn’t give the Panthers a win, because if anyone deserved to win the game today it was Funch. Torrey Smith: Smith showed up big today for the Panthers, hauling in several key receptions late in the 4th quarter when the Panthers were trying to come back and steal a victory. He caught the Panthers’ second touchdown and the two-point conversion that brought the Panthers back within three points late, and that’s all we can really hope for from our No. 3 option at receiver.Thomas Davis: It was a breath of fresh air to see Davis back on the field today, and he made up for lost time with six tackles and two passes defensed. He did admirable work covering Washington tight end Jordan Reed today as well. I hope we see more quality play from Davis going forward.Honorable mention: Cam Newton. Newton had a good day despite the terrible decisions made by the coaching staff that handicapped him. He ended up completing 27-of-40 passes (67.5 percent completion) for 275 yards, two touchdowns and one interception and ended the day with a 93.2 quarterback rating. He also added 43 yards rushing on nine carries. The more I type this, the angrier I get. We really shouldn’t have lost this game.