The Panthers have had their fair share of issues on the defensive side of the football through the first six games of the season. Some of those issues are depth/injury related as Carolina has been without starting linebacker Shaq Thompson since Week 2 and starting cornerback Jaycee Horn since the season opener.
Carolina's biggest issue, in my opinion, has been fitting the run game. Too often, certain parts of the front seven are playing with poor technique and gap discipline isn't nearly good enough. Again, not having Thompson in the second level plays a big factor in the inability to slow down the ground game.
Getting the right bodies and skill sets to fit the Evero 3-4 will help but that help won't arrive until 2024 at the earliest. In the meantime, it's about the development of the frontline guys and trying to find a couple of other pieces outside of Brian Burns, Derrick Brown, Frankie Luvu, and Jaycee Horn who can be a key part of this rebuild.
Really the one area the Panthers have performed well has been getting off the field on third down. They're holding their opponents to a 34.2% conversion rate. The problem is they're not getting to third down enough. Carolina has only defended 70 third down attempts on the season which is the fifth-fewest in the league.
PANTHERS TEAM DEFENSE STATS + NFL RANK
Yards per game allowed - 342.2 (19th)
Yards per play allowed - 5.7 (26th)
Third down conversions allowed per game - 4 (3rd)
Opponent third down conversion percentage - 34.2% (6th)
Opponent average time of possession - 28:26 (9th)
Points allowed in the first half - 13.5 (25th)
Points allowed in the second half - 17.5 (32nd)
Rushing yards allowed per game - 144.3 (30th)
Rushing yards allowed per attempt - 4.9 (28th)
Opponent completion percentage - 66.4% (19th)
Opponent yards per completion - 10.5 (23rd)
Sack percentage - 7.6% (16th)
Opponent red zone scoring percentage (TD only) - 75% (30th)
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