Pink Panthers 2
Posted: Thu Nov 13, 2003 4:32 pm
http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlo...ers/7249524.htm
COMMENTARY
Panthers' secondary knows it will be tested
SCOTT FOWLER
Scott Fowler
Each week, you're a target.
Every coach, every quarterback, every offensive coordinator -- they all go after you and the other members of the Carolina Panthers' secondary.
Think about how that feels. You're playing on a 7-2 team, one with Super Bowl aspirations, and you're supposed to be the weak link.
You have to chase around some of the fastest men in America. But they know where they are going and you don't.
Plus, you're running backwards.
That's the job description for the Panthers' four starting defensive backs -- cornerbacks Terry Cousin and Reggie Howard, along with safeties Mike Minter and Deon Grant. They will be tested again Sunday by Steve Spurrier's Washington offense.
"When you play against a Spurrier team," said Grant, who at Tennessee used to face Spurrier's Florida squads every season, "you have to be ready for him to pull anything out of his bag at any time."
The Redskins (4-5) know Carolina ranks 25th out of 32 NFL teams in pass defense. They will have studied Tampa Bay's two fourth-quarter TD passes. They will understand that Carolina's two starting cornerbacks were so thoroughly dismissed coming out of college that neither was drafted.
And they will throw it. Deep.
"They love the vertical passing game," said Cousin, who will be matched up on Washington's top deep threat, Laveranues Coles. "That poses some problems."
Cousin, if you remember, was the cornerback who kept getting toasted in Carolina's season opener against Jacksonville.
But Cousin is still here and still starting.
For his performance last week against Tampa Bay, Cousin got a team T-shirt. The Panthers hand out those T-shirts to players who played very well but didn't get a game ball -- Minter and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins earned the defensive game balls against the Bucs.
"In this league, everybody's good," Cousin said. "So they are going to catch a touchdown pass on you. That doesn't mean you're sorry, but it means you have to have a short-term memory. Like in life, 10 percent of it all is what happens and 90 percent is how you react to it."
That sounds pretty philosophical. Defensive backs often are, for they must learn to live with failure in front of thousands of people.
Said Grant: "Even the great ones -- the Deion Sanders, the Rod Woodsons -- they get beat. It shows that you belong in the NFL if you can come back that next play and forget about it."
Washington was totally shut down by the Dallas defense 11 days ago when the Cowboys constantly blitzed and hammered quarterback Patrick Ramsey. But such a style leaves the cornerback in man-to-man coverage all over the field, and the Panthers aren't a high-risk team.
"We won't be doing what Dallas did -- no way," Minter said.
Carolina will try to beat Washington mostly without blitzing, the same way Seattle tried to last week but failed.
But the Panthers' front four is a lot better than Seattle's. Carolina's secondary?
That's a matter open to debate -- a debate reopened every week when the ball starts zipping through the air.
We will beat them again!!!
COMMENTARY
Panthers' secondary knows it will be tested
SCOTT FOWLER
Scott Fowler
Each week, you're a target.
Every coach, every quarterback, every offensive coordinator -- they all go after you and the other members of the Carolina Panthers' secondary.
Think about how that feels. You're playing on a 7-2 team, one with Super Bowl aspirations, and you're supposed to be the weak link.
You have to chase around some of the fastest men in America. But they know where they are going and you don't.
Plus, you're running backwards.
That's the job description for the Panthers' four starting defensive backs -- cornerbacks Terry Cousin and Reggie Howard, along with safeties Mike Minter and Deon Grant. They will be tested again Sunday by Steve Spurrier's Washington offense.
"When you play against a Spurrier team," said Grant, who at Tennessee used to face Spurrier's Florida squads every season, "you have to be ready for him to pull anything out of his bag at any time."
The Redskins (4-5) know Carolina ranks 25th out of 32 NFL teams in pass defense. They will have studied Tampa Bay's two fourth-quarter TD passes. They will understand that Carolina's two starting cornerbacks were so thoroughly dismissed coming out of college that neither was drafted.
And they will throw it. Deep.
"They love the vertical passing game," said Cousin, who will be matched up on Washington's top deep threat, Laveranues Coles. "That poses some problems."
Cousin, if you remember, was the cornerback who kept getting toasted in Carolina's season opener against Jacksonville.
But Cousin is still here and still starting.
For his performance last week against Tampa Bay, Cousin got a team T-shirt. The Panthers hand out those T-shirts to players who played very well but didn't get a game ball -- Minter and defensive tackle Kris Jenkins earned the defensive game balls against the Bucs.
"In this league, everybody's good," Cousin said. "So they are going to catch a touchdown pass on you. That doesn't mean you're sorry, but it means you have to have a short-term memory. Like in life, 10 percent of it all is what happens and 90 percent is how you react to it."
That sounds pretty philosophical. Defensive backs often are, for they must learn to live with failure in front of thousands of people.
Said Grant: "Even the great ones -- the Deion Sanders, the Rod Woodsons -- they get beat. It shows that you belong in the NFL if you can come back that next play and forget about it."
Washington was totally shut down by the Dallas defense 11 days ago when the Cowboys constantly blitzed and hammered quarterback Patrick Ramsey. But such a style leaves the cornerback in man-to-man coverage all over the field, and the Panthers aren't a high-risk team.
"We won't be doing what Dallas did -- no way," Minter said.
Carolina will try to beat Washington mostly without blitzing, the same way Seattle tried to last week but failed.
But the Panthers' front four is a lot better than Seattle's. Carolina's secondary?
That's a matter open to debate -- a debate reopened every week when the ball starts zipping through the air.
We will beat them again!!!
