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Carolina Panthers: Denver Should Look Familiar

By John Woodcock

Aug 26, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) sits on the bench with wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (13) during the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Bank of America Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Panthers 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 26, 2016; Charlotte, NC, USA; Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) sits on the bench with wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin (13) during the fourth quarter against the New England Patriots at Bank of America Stadium. The Patriots defeated the Panthers 19-17. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-USA TODAY Sports /
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If the Carolina Panthers want to avoid a repeat of the Super Bowl, they need to grab hold of the little things that have changed.

Tonight the Carolina Panthers open their regular season on the road against the Super Bowl Champion Denver Broncos. The last time these two teams played, the Broncos were victorious behind turnovers and defensive pressure. The question has to be asked, what exactly has changed over these months of waiting?

A first sign to point to would be the quarterback. Peyton Manning is gone and retired. His replacement is Trevor Siemian, a second year man who was a seventh round draft pick. That sounds like a downgrade except for one thing. The Broncos did not ask Manning to do all that much in the Super Bowl, and they will likely not ask Siemian to do all that much here in the first game. The Gary Kubiak offense is run first, so that is where the Broncos will try to set tempo.

Siemian’s role may mean that the Panthers’ youth at cornerback will not be fully explored in this game. It would make some sense for the Broncos to take some shots at Demaryius Thomas against either rookie corner.

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A negative for the Broncos is the amount of turnover that happened on their offensive line. If the Panthers can generate more pressure on Siemian, then perhaps the young quarterback will make mistakes. This assumes that he will be doing more than handing the ball off.

The run game did not really work against the Panthers in the Super Bowl, and the Broncos offense was not really the key to that game anyway. It was the defense that provided the ball in spots where the offense did not have to do much work. How much has the matchup between the Panthers offense and the Broncos defense changed?

In the Super Bowl, the Broncos were comfortable leaving their secondary alone with the Panthers wideouts. That never hurt them too badly since the pass rush shortened the coverage time in certain situations. Enter Kelvin Benjamin. The Panthers’ big threat did not play in the Super Bowl and his presence will attract the attention of the coverage. That may force the Broncos to change their coverage concepts since Cam Newton could throw at Benjamin’s big body at any point in time.

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The Panthers offensive line has not changed. The outside backers of the Broncos gave Mike Remmers and Michael Oher more trouble than any other team the Panthers played last year. Von Miller is back and well paid and Demarcus Ware is still around to maximize the Wade Phillips defense. That could be troubling if the Panthers can’t find a scheme answer.

The three man Broncos defensive line still has former North Carolina Tar Heel Sylvester Williams at the nose tackle and Derek Wolfe at end. The Broncos replaced Malik Jackson with Texans veteran Jared Crick. That should not be too much of a drop off if any for the front line group.

Next: QB issues rule first quarter

In short, not much has really changed since the Super Bowl. With that in mind, the Panthers will have to take advantage of the small things that have. They will need to force Siemian into mistakes by attacking the offensive line. They will need to make Benjamin a key aspect of their own offense. Otherwise we are watching the same show we saw before.

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