After sifting through the offenses of both the Cardinals and the Panthers, and giving the Panthers the slight edge, it is now time to jump into the defensive side of the ball. However in addition to the defensive side of the ball, there will also be special teams, and coaching breakdown. When looking at their defenses, it is clear both of these teams possess top-notch units that are well coached, but each has slightly different ways of achieving their success.
Defensive Line:
One problem when looking at defenses is that each team plays a different style, and with the Panthers and Cardinals that is true as well. The Cardinals play an attacking brand of defense, with three down defensive lineman, with four linebackers (although Deone Bucannon is built like a safety), and four defensive backs. The difference is the Panthers play with four down defensive lineman, that are all stout in both the run and pass game and rely on their three linebackers to fill the empty gaps, as well as cover tight ends down the field single-handedly.
When comparing just the defensive lines, it is clear the Panthers have the advantage as they possess an All-Pro caliber defensive tackle in Kawann Short, as well as a solid pass rush in the form of defensive end Charles Johnson, defensive tackle Star Lotulelei, and up until his broken foot Jared Allen. The Panthers also love to bring the corner blitz, as well as either Thomas Davis or Luke Kuechly from the inside A gap.
While the Cardinals have a tremendous player in their own right in defensive tackle Calais Campbell, and solid players in Frostee Rucker and nose tackle Rodney Gunter, they do not stack up to the talent level of the Panthers line, nor are they as flexible with their lineman. Campbell is a top-level lineman, but the Panthers possess a better one in Short, as well as a premium level rusher in Johnson when he is healthy.
No doubt here the Panthers win this level.
Advantage:Â Panthers
Linebackers:
This also seems like an easy pick as, despite the fact the Cardinals nailed their draft pick with Markus Golden as a rusher and have the versatile Bucannon, as well as the sturdy Kevin Minter on the inside, the Panthers are flat out loaded at this level.
The Panthers possess a trio of Kuechly, Davis, and rookie first rounder Shaq Thompson, who is extremely versatile and quick in his own right. However, they also possess a super sub in A.J. Klein, who filled in admirably for Kuechly when he struggled earlier in the season with concussion issues. Klein could be a starter on a lot of teams due to his ability to read pulling guards, the quarterbacks eyes, and his instincts allowing him to fill in open gaps.
Nothing against the Cardinals as installing the former college safety Bucannon as a linebacker was genius in today’s pass happy league, and Minter as well as Golden do tremendous jobs, but it is hard to beat a trio that has two players vying for All-Pro spots on a consistent year in and out basis.
Advantage: Panthers
Defensive Backs:
For you Cardinal fans reading this, this is your section because after I gushed about how great the first two levels of the Panthers defense was, this is not the same caliber unit. Sure the Panthers have a shutdown man in Josh Norman, but they also have two guys they signed off the streets playing heavy snaps at corner in Robert McClain and the previously retired Cortland Finnegan. McClain is playing outside, and is much better in the slot, and Finnegan is not fast enough to stay with most receivers that get by his jam. Now Roman Harper at strong safety does a solid job, as does Kurt Coleman, but they pale in comparison to the unit the Cardinals have, even without superstar Tyrann Mathieu.
The Cardinals have a shutdown guy in their own right, and Patrick Peterson did not slip at the end of the year like Norman did (Norman went from being 1st in the Pro Football Focus rankings after 13 weeks, to 13th by the end of the season). The Cardinals also possess solid corners in pro bowl special teamer Justin Bethel in the slot, and Jerraud Powers on the outside, both of whom are markedly better than Finnegan and McClain.
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The safety position also gives the Cardinals a huge advantage as Rashad Johnson is playing at a crazy good level right now, and Tony Jefferson is as good of a blitzer off the edge for a defensive back as you will find in the league right now. This is all without the aforementioned Mathieu, who is on the injured reserve list with another torn ACL.
Yeah, this unit is that good.
Advantage: Cardinals
Special Teams:
Special teams are a tricky one to rate as there are so many people responsible for making it a successful unit, and everyone truly has to do their job to be successful. When factoring in coverage, the Cardinals seem to hold the age as Bethel, their ace special teamer and pro bowler is a superior gunner on the outside when on kicks or punts. Also factor in the fact that according to ESPN stats, the Cardinals did not allow a kick or punt return touchdown this year, while the Panthers allowed one of each and that part seems like a no brainer to give the Cardinals the edge in that regard.
When looking at returners Ted Ginn is certainly an electric return man with his ridiculous speed, but he has questionable hands and does not always catch the ball cleanly. On the other side, Patrick Peterson is one of, if not the most electric return man in the game as whenever he gets his hands on the ball he could take it all the way. Even if just factoring in return skills, I will take Peterson over Ginn.
Looking at kicker Chandler Catanzaro has had a pretty good year, going 28 of 31 in field goal attempts, with two of those misses coming from 50 plus yards away. However, there may not have been a kicker more affected by the longer extra point as Catanzaro missed five this year after not missing a single one last year.
On the other side of the ball, Graham Gano missed six field goal attempts and three extra points. Gano did hit two from over 50 yards, but accuracy is the most important skill for a kicker, so Catanzaro is the choice here.
Lastly, the two punters Drew Butler for Arizona and Brad Nortman for the Panthers both are middle of the road punters who feature net yardage of 35.4 and 39.8 respectively, but the difference is Butler has a higher percentage of punts inside the 20 with 36.7 percent landing inside the 20 while Norman had just 28.6 percent. This is a clean sweep in all four categories for Arizona.
Advantage: Cardinals
Coaches:
The final category belongs to the two coaches. Bruce Arians and Ron Rivera are both success stories as Arians didn’t know if he would coach again after being let go by the Steelers (he actually thought he was getting an extension when he received the call of his termination), and Rivera was on the hot seat coming into the year and had a reputation of being just a good defensive coach.
Both coaches do a solid job of controlling their team, but also letting them be themselves and show their personality. This is probably most true for Bruce Arians who gives some of the most interesting answers a coach could give while also being a truly unique personality.
This could go either way, but Arians likes to take risks while Rivera is more conservative and I think coaches that take risks get rewarded eventually. This paired with his ability to develop quarterbacks and fit people into spots as under the radar contributors gives him the edge for me.
Advantage: Cardinals
Overall: Cardinals win 3-2
After seeing the Panthers win the last offensive breakdown 4-1, the Cardinals grab this portion of the breakdown with superior special teams, coaching, and defensive backs, who should be able to contain the receivers for Carolina. While the Panthers should be able to put pressure on Carson Palmer and make him move around and rush his decisions more than he would like.
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