The Elevator: Analyzing The Panthers' Preseason Loss To the Ravens

For all intents and purposes, the preseason is over for the Carolina Panthers' starters.  The third game is known as the final dress rehearsal for the starting units around the NFL, and is used to gague the progress or lack thereof that any given team has made.

For the third game in a row, the Panthers took the loss and left the field with questions flying around the team as to what happened to last year's 12-4 squad that took the NFC South title.

However, the Panthers are looking better.  From the first preseason game to Saturday night's contest, they have made improvements in nearly every area to some degree.  That doesn't fully answer the questions facing this team but it doesn't leave fans void of hope that, come September 13th, this team will remain a contender.

DeAngelo Williams sat out after tweaking his knee earlier in the week during practice, but Mike Goodson filled in nicely.  Jon Beason is still sidelined with a sprained MCL, but said after the game that he is optimistic about his chances of playing in the team's regular season opener.

Let's take a ride on the elevator to see just what went down on Saturday night.

Going Up...

/\  Backup running backs.  Mike Goodson and DeCori Birmingham looked like a formidable duo as they filled in for Double Trouble.  Goodson had 11 carries for 52 yards to go along with three catches for 26 yards.  He often made the Ravens defenders miss after changing directions, and blocked well in the passing game.  Birmingham racked up 27 yards on three carries and scored the Panthers' only touchdown of the game, a one-yard plunge on fourth-and-one.

/\  Downfield receptions.  Four 25+ yard receptions by four different Panthers on Saturday night.  Dante Rosario, Jeff King, Steve Smith, and Muhsin Muhammad all found space to create big plays for the offense.  What makes this stat more impressive is that two of these catches are credited to tight ends.  That leads us to...

/\  Jake Delhomme.  Being the game manager he is supposed to be.  In his return to the site of the worst day of his career, Delhomme was much better.  He completed 10 of his 16 passes for 180 yards.  To date, Jake has yet to throw an interception in the preseason, and has looked much more aware in the pocket.

/\  Defensive line.  Now, before you jump all over me, consider this:  Before Saturday night, the defensive line looked like that of a Pop Warner All Star team.  Nick Hayden has been used and abused all preseason, but he did a good job of pretty much holding his own against the Ravens running game.  Tyler Brayton notched a sack on a play that worked perfectly for the Panthers.  Julius Peppers brought pressure from his old left side of the line, freezing Joe Flacco with a huge leap just long enough to give Brayton enough time to bring Flacco down from behind.  Peppers also made a nice hit on Flacco, garnering a polite response from the fans.  Everette Brown was again able to put pressure on the quarterback as well.  After pretty much resting on the ground floor all preseason, the defensive line made a budge up the elevator.

/\  Turnover margin.  For the first time this preseason, the Panthers won the turnover margin.  Carolina managed to hold onto the ball and forced an interception from Ravens backup quarterback Troy Smith. 

Going Down...

\/  Penalties.  The Panthers amassed 70 yards of bad behavior, having the laundry tossed their way nine times.  To make matters worse, most of these involved our first team, meaning the loose ends that should be tied up by the third preseason game are still dangling in the wind.  The outcome of this game would have likely been different if the Panthers could have lowered this number, and also if they could have capitalized on...

\/  Third-down conversions.  The Panthers were 0-for-7 on the night in these critical situations, which explains the measly 13 points on the board.  Not ONCE did the offense find a way to extend the drive when they faced third down.  That is cause for concern at any level of football, and should never happen in the NFL.

\/  Secondary.  If the secondary was a pair of your favorite boxer shorts, your girlfriend would be nagging you to throw them away.  You could drive a pickup truck through some of the holes that were present in the Panthers' secondary on Saturday night.  Lucky for the Ravens, all they had to do was run players through them, which explains Flacco's stat line of 23-of-28 for 247 yards and a touchdown.  Whenever a receiver has time to catch the ball, turn up field, square his body, take a bite of his sandwich, check his watch, and start to head up field before he realizes there are guys trying to tackle him, its time to figure something out defensively.  Ron Meeks' new defense is supposed to play to the strengths of our defenders, but so far it has embarrased them.  None more than...

\/  Chris Gamble.  In the words of the prophetic Charlie Brown..."Good grief."  Gamble was beat like he stole something on Saturday, and claims his efforts were the result of poor technique.  If that's the case, Gamble's technique needs to file for bankruptcy.  Perhaps the intricacies of the new defensive scheme have not yet been revealed to the public, or perhaps the personnel we have doesn't have the skills that the playbook is based on.  Whatever the case, the Eagles won't have any qualms about exposing the weaknesses when they come to town, so the defense better take a long look in the mirror in the little bit of time left before the opener.

The Panthers will host the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night and will then have until Saturday to trim their roster down to the 53-man limit.  Expect to see a series, MAYBE two from the starters, but mostly a final tryout for the bottom dwellers on the depth chart.  For the casual football fan the last preseason game is nearly unwatchable, but for the diehard, its the most interesting.