Carolina's No. 1-ranked pass defense faces stiff challenge ahead vs. Cardinals 
Written by Steve Reed Saturday, October 31, 2009 12:07 am
Stopping Larry Fitzgerald will be a priority for the Panthers on Sunday. (AP photo)
CHARLOTTE – While Jake Delhomme was raked over the coals for his performance in last year's NFC divisional playoff loss to Arizona, he wasn't the only one who had a rough day. The fact is Carolina’s pass defense was pretty pathetic, too.
Most Carolina fans can still remember the leggy Larry Fitzgerald galloping through the secondary, ripping off huge chunks of yardage.
Fitzgerald had six catches for 151 yards and a touchdown – and that was just in the first half -- as the Cardinals staked to a 27-7 lead and rolled to a shockingly easy 33-13 win over the Panthers.
After the game, coach John Fox and his defensive staff drew criticism for not putting Chris Gamble, the team’s top-flight cornerback (not to mention the guy the team had just given a $50 million contract extension to a few weeks before), exclusively on Fitzgerald. It seemed fairly logical, especially considering Arizona other star receiver Anquan Boldin was out with an injury.
Instead, the Panthers kept Gamble sequestered to the left side of the field and primarily stuck with a zone defense, which Kurt Warner chewed up and spit out for the second time in 2008 season.
The Cardinals simply ran Fitzgerald in motion and got him matched up on Ken Lucas, who was struggling at the time with his confidence, or the inexperienced Richard Marshall. The Panthers did nothing to adjust until it was too late.
Gamble said this past off-season he wishes the coaching staff had lined him up one-on-one against Fitzgerald and had him shadow him wherever he went on the field. Ironically, that was a strategy the Panthers used with Lucas in 2005 when he was in his prime and Gamble was playing on a bad ankle. That halftime move enabled the Panthers to shut down Fitzgerald and salvage a big win.
These days, Gamble is still politicking for a chance to play "man up" on Fitzgerald.
“Like I said last year, I want to get on Larry Fitzgerald,” Gamble said. “That’s their go-to guy, and I just want to compete with that guy. I know he’s one of the great receivers in the league, so I feel like I want to get my name out there and play my best against him.”
That said, it seems highly unlikely Fox will change his game plan.
He rarely does.
At the very least, Gamble would like to see the Panthers play more man-to-man this week on the Cardinals.
“I think we’ve just got to play a lot more man, get tight on them, and not play too much zone,” Gamble said. “They can just dump it off in the zone... I think last year we played more zone, so it hurt us. I think we should play more man, to get closer and compete with those guys.”
This year the Panthers rank first in the league against the pass, allowing just 149.7 yards per game.
But numbers can be misleading.
Carolina’s first three opponents found more success on the ground -- averaging nearly 190 yards per game on the ground -- and didn’t need to throw as much. And the last three quarterbacks the Panthers have faced were Ryan Fitzpatrick, Josh Johnson and Jason Campbell, not exactly guys who consistently light it up.
Also, while the Panthers aren’t giving up a lot of yards, they have surrendered seven passing touchdowns and have just three interceptions. Meanwhile, Fitzgerald's game hasn't declined. He ranks second in the NFC in receptions with 41 and has five touchdowns, although some would argue he still hasn’t hit his stride this season.
Marshall this week called him the best receiver he’s ever played against.
“He’s fast. He goes after the ball when the ball is in the air and he times his jump real well,” Marshall said. “You have to time your jump. If you don’t, it’s a catch all of the time. He’s so good that the quarterback will throw the ball whether you’re on him or not and he just goes up and gets it.”
The Cardinals should also have Boldin this week, as well as Steve Breaston, both of whom joined Fitzgerald in going over 1,000 yards receiving last year.
“It’s going to be real challenging for us,” Marshall said. “We have to come in and play our technique and don’t worry about what they do. If we play our technique and play hard and just compete, we’ll win our share and they will win their share. But we just have to win more than they win.”
In two games last year against the Panthers, Warner was stellar.
He completed more than 70 percent of his passes and threw for more than 600 yards with four touchdowns and two interceptions.
The teams that have had success against Warner have gotten pressure on him, which is exactly what the Panthers hope to do.
Defensive end Julius Peppers said sacking Warner isn’t a necessity, but pressuring him to throw early is.
“We’ve got to try to affect him, get him off the spot,” Peppers said. “Try to get a little pressure on him and make him move his feet. That’s about the only thing you can do to a guy who gets the ball out pretty quick.”
But that won’t be easy.
Warner admitted this week the Cardinals are playing their best football right now.
“You just got to try to contain him the best you can,” outside linebacker Thomas Davis said of Warner. “They’re high-powered, they have a lot of great athletes over there, and their receivers are some of the best in the league. You see it, Kurt Warner’s doing a great job of getting them the ball, and their running game is picking up. Whenever you have a team that’s clicking on all cylinders offensively like they are, you know it’s going to be tough to stop them, so we’ve got a big challenge this game.”
And if the Cardinals aren't a big enough challenge for Carolina's top-ranked pass defense, then wait until they get a load of Drew Brees and the New Orleans Saints next week.
