Shula will dial up a running play that mirrors the blocking from an earlier play before twisting it in a totally different direction as you over-pursue. Carolina screws with your run fits, stretches you horizontally and then gashes you vertically.What this all does is paralyze the front seven of the opposing defense. Watch tape of the Panthers this season and you'll see edge rushers who seem to freeze every time Carolina is in the shotgun, trying to tiptoe in three directions at once as they follow the various fakes and motion en route to actually locating the football. When they get too aggressive, the Panthers have enough discipline and ballhandling ability to run into vacated lanes. And when the defense gets too conservative and waits to read and react, Carolina is too quick and plows forward for chunks of yardage.
Ben Muth of Football Outsiders did a great job of
breaking down this very problem when it came to the NFC Championship Game. Poor
Markus Golden seemed to spend the game not knowing what was going to happen next, and that's on a very well-coached, very athletic Arizona defense.
<aside class="inline inline-photo full"><figure><source data-srcset="http://a3.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=%2Fphoto%2F2016%2F0125%2Fbrady012516.jpg&w=570, <a href=" http:="" a3.espncdn.com="" combiner="" i?img="%2Fphoto%2F2016%2F0125%2Fbrady012516.jpg&w=1140&cquality=40"" target="_blank"><img class=" lazyloaded imageLoaded " data-image-container=".inline-photo"><figcaption class="photoCaption">Tom Brady was in some ways a simple matchup for Von Miller and the Broncos because he didn't pose a run threat. <cite>Chris Carlson / AP</cite></figcaption></figure></aside>
You can imagine what this might do to a defense built around its edge rushers. Last time out, Miller and Ware had it relatively easy: They had to make it through a battered Patriots offensive line and attack a stationary target who was almost always going to be inside the pocket. With the Patriots exhibiting little ability or inclination to run the football, the two ends could afford to be aggressive in trying to target Brady. It worked.
This week, things could not be more different. While Newton can be statuesque in the pocket at times as he waits for somebody to get open, the Carolina rushing attack should leave Miller and Ware looking for shadows coming toward them at all times. Oher and Remmers can't block the two star pass-rushers one-on-one, but they won't have to do so, at least on a frequent basis. That's one of the ways Carolina has been able to get by with what looked like one of the worst offensive lines in the league on paper heading into the season, and why Newton has been so effective throwing the ball in the fourth quarter. His sack rate drops and his efficiency rises because opposing rushers must be physically and mentally exhausted by the hoops the Panthers make them run through to make plays in the backfield.
T
he truth is that the Broncos aren't an especially great fit for this Panthers offense. You'd want a defense who can stand up in short-yardage situations, and the Broncos are <a href="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/dl" target="_blank">the second worst short-yardage run defense in the league, ahead of only Carolina. (Remember that when the camera pans over to Riverboat Ron before a fourth-and-short.) If you wanted to construct a defense that was designed to stop Carolina, you'd want penetrating interior linemen who could blow up plays in the backfield, rangy inside linebackers who could run with Newton and tight end <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/10475/greg-olsen" target="_blank">Greg Olsen, and safeties who weren't going to get burned deep.
That isn't Denver.
The Broncos have gotten impressive seasons from ends <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/14964/derek-wolfe" target="_blank">Derek Wolfe and <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15047/malik-jackson" target="_blank">Malik Jackson, the latter of whom was a monster in the victory over the Patriots, but their inside linebackers are closer to liabilities. The Patriots were basically solely down to targeting <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15074/danny-trevathan" target="_blank">Danny Trevathan and <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/15002/brandon-marshall" target="_blank">Brandon Marshall by the fourth quarter of the AFC Championship Game, while the Broncos lost starting safeties <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13304/tj-ward" target="_blank">T.J. Ward and <a href="http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/_/id/13645/darian-stewart" target="_blank">Darian Stewart to injuries. Ward and Stewart are expected to play, but neither is 100 percent.
They were a great pass defense this year, but their weakest spot was clearly against tight ends, where they were <a href="http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/teamdef" target="_blank">eighth in DVOA. That was also the only receiving spot where they allowed more yards per game (61.7) than the league average (55.1), albeit not by much.
