\"As a coordinator, there\'s a comfort level knowing that you can count on your four guys getting pressure,\" said Panthers defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac. \"Look at the draft every year. How many defensive linemen go early? It\'s because they\'re so valuable. You can have the best cover guys in the world, but quarterbacks these days are so good they\'ll find somebody open if you don\'t put pressure on them.\"

Rucker, an alternate Pro Bowler, missed two games with a knee injury, and still finished fourth in the NFC with 12 sacks. Peppers, who played basketball and football at North Carolina, was Defensive Rookie of the Year last season. Buckner was on Pittsburgh\'s losing Super Bowl XXX team, and Jenkins, who will be making his second visit to Hawaii as a Pro Bowler, is a tank who had five sacks. He also blocked what would have been the game-winning extra point on the final play of regulation in the Panthers\' second game of the season at Tampa Bay. Carolina went on to win in overtime.