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How to Beat the Panthers?

5. The Saints have to have a run game and several clock killing drives.

We don\'t win this game with 3 and outs. Keeping Davis off the field is good for us, lets our defense rest and wears them out. We need Duece to just plug away with a whole lot of 3-4 yard runs. If Duece runs for 170 yards and Brooks throws for 150, we could win this game. We just can\'t let Carolina get on the field. I think Davis and Foster will be too much for our defense if they have to stay on the field 35 minutes or more. We need to control the clock and like Gator says, we simply MUST score on every trip into the redzone.

We also need to avoid letting this game come down to a field goal. I don\'t think our special teams beat their special teams.

How to Beat the Panthers?

Quote:

\"We wanted to score first and see if they could come from behind,\" McNair said. \"They couldn\'t.\"

And the game exposed many of Carolina\'s weaknesses.

The Panthers\' vaunted defense struggled to stop the pass, allowing McNair to go 12-of-22 for 190 yards, including a 22-yard touchdown pass to Drew Bennett. It also had difficulty containing a mobile quarterback: McNair scrambled for 30 yards, with a 7-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.

\"He\'s tough when he\'s scrambling around. You\'ve got to make him stay in the pocket,\" safety Mike Minter said. \"We couldn\'t do that and it cost us because he makes too many plays.\"

Also glaringly evident is that when Carolina\'s running game doesn\'t work — and it never did against Tennessee — the Panthers have little to fall back on.

Stephen Davis, who entered the game with 641 yards rushing and four 100-yard games, was held to just 20 yards on 11 carries. Carolina, which came in averaging 172 yards on the ground, finished with 44.

\"We wanted to come in and stop their run and make them try to throw the ball,\" defensive end Jevon Kearse said. \"Then we wanted to knock Jake Delhomme out of the game and get some of (backup) Rodney Peete.\"

The Titans never knocked Delhomme out, but they forced him to abandon the running game and try to pass the ball. It was next to impossible against Tennessee\'s stifling defense, which sacked him four times.

Although Delhomme finished with two touchdown passes and a career-high 362 yards, much of it came long after the outcome was decided. His 67-yard touchdown pass to Steve Smith in the fourth quarter made it 30-10.

\"We have to be able to run the football,\" Delhomme said. \"We\'re not a team that wants to throw it.\"

The Titans showed us the blue print on how to beat the Titans. The Titans DIDN\'T stop Carolina\'s running game with their defense. They shut down the running game with their offense. Well, actually they forced them to abandon the running game by scoring early and often. This game was over at halftime.

The Titans were able to score because they threw the ball. One of the reasons they were effective throwing the ball is because McNair is a MOBILE QB. He was able to avoid the pressure with his feet and hit his receivers. The other reason that the Titans were successful throwing the ball is because the Panthers secondary can\'t cover very long. They are slow and are dependant on the front four to apply pressure to the QB. If the front 4 doesn\'t get pressure on the QB they are vulnerable.

So, what it all comes down to is our offense throwing the ball. If we get up early -- It should be over. Of course it\'s much easier said than done.

[Edited on 21/10/2003 by BillyCarpenter1]

How to Beat the Panthers?

If they beat Carolina I believe there could be a nice momentum shift for sure. I\'m just worried about the defense at this point.
If they show up as the team they should be with their talent pool they can take the next 3 games hands down. That\'s what we need.

How to Beat the Panthers?

I like Gatorman\'s assessment except for one thing. If the Panthers are smart, they don\'t change their offensive game plan until they\'re behind by at least three scores (meaning 17 points or more) and the game is well into the second half. Remember how Davis wore down the Saints defense by the end of last game? They couldn\'t stop him at all in the 4th quarter. As long as they\'re down by 16 or less, I think they continue to pound Davis and Foster and trust their defense to hold AB and Co. I didn\'t see the game last week, but how big of a lead did the Titans have before Carolina went to pass-happy catchup mode? I don\'t think a lead of 10 or even 14 points would be enough to force the game onto Delhomme\'s shoulders.

Bottom line: AB & Co. will need to score at least 3 touchdowns in the first half, while the defense gives up one TD or less, or else Carolina won\'t be forced to abandon their running game and this one will stay close until the end. (We don\'t need a halftime lead that big to win the game, but we do need it to take away the Carolina running game.)

Of course, I\'d settle for a game in which Carolina rushes for 250 yards and we win 34-31. Either way, the Saints offense will have to execute close to how well they executed last week.

Go Saints!