Carolina Panthers: Will Season Hang on Benwikere?
When the Carolina Panthers take the field tomorrow they will present a defensive front of good players. Of all those players, one will be tested more than the others in the upcoming games. It is not because he is bad or lacks talent. It is just the way of things right now. His name is Bene Benwikere.
Benwikere emerged as a pleasant surprise at cornerback last year when the Panthers dumped their veteran free agents in favor of faster players in the secondary. Benwikere became a starter then opposite Josh Norman. Tre Boston moved in to the starting safety spot. Several games later the Panthers were in the playoffs.
This year Benwikere has been the starter from the word go. He moves to nickelback in those situations in favor of Charles Tillman, but he is on the field more often than not and he is being tested. He is being tested simply because he is not Josh Norman, who has emerged as an elite cover guy this year. Teams won’t throw at Norman, so they have to throw at Benwikere.
Aaron Rodgers and the Packers did it last week when they ignored James Jones and tried to get Randall Cobb to beat Benwikere. The Colts did it when they threw to receivers not named T.Y. Hilton. There are others of course. So teams will try to beat the Panthers by beating Benwikere, as if he was the weak link in the chain.
Teams thought something similar when facing the Dallas Cowboys in 1995. That was the year that Jerry Jones signed Deion Sanders to do what he had just done for the San Francisco 49ers, win the Super Bowl. Teams refused to throw at Sanders too, and instead threw at Kevin Smith and Larry Brown, the other corners. Smith and Brown weren’t slouches either, but teams picked on them just the same.
This was no clearer than in the Super Bowl where Dallas faced Pittsburgh that year. Neil O’Donnell threw two picks in that game, and they were to Brown. Brown became the MVP of that game. This was a week after doing something similar to Green Bay, who also decided to throw in his direction. Brown showed that teams really could not beat him either.
Next: Carolina Panthers: 1st Half Report
If Benwikere’s level of play can hold up, then the Panthers will go a long way. He does have the benefit of working with Tillman. Let’s see if he can find a little Larry Brown inside him too.
The Carolina Panthers play the Tennessee Titans tomorrow at 1:00 PM in Nashville.