New DC Ron Meeks really seems to be making sweeping changes to John Fox’s defense. Latest sign is word from CB Chris Gamble that the coverages will be much more basic, and by implication, ball-hawking.
It sounds like Meeks is not much interested in tricking or fooling teams into mistakes. Rather he intends to get in the backfield and pursue the ball. Sounds simple in concept, but hard to execute — unless you have a couple things. One, is team speed. Although upgraded much the past couple years, we’ll just have to see if the Panthers have enough.
The other is tackling. If your defense is basically predicated on making one-on-one plays, tackling is a major part of that, the difference between getting off the field on 3rd down and giving up points. Right now we know that Jon Beason and Richard Marshall will sit a guy down every time. Need that from every starter.
And now The Mooney Suzuki.
