Panthers place focus on stopping the run vs. Broncos following defensive coordinator change
Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales offered one overriding requisition to Todd Wash after promoting him to interim defensive coordinator last week: "Stop the run."
Game
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Carolina Panthers coach Dave Canales offered one overriding requisition to Todd Wash after promoting him to interim defensive coordinator last week: "Stop the run."
That's something the Panthers struggled to do under Ejiro Evero, and it ultimately cost him his job.
The Panthers (3-4) enter Sunday's game against the surging Denver Broncos (6-2) ranked 30th in the league against the run, while allowing the fifth-most points in the league.
It's now up to Wash to fix it.
Canales made the change at coordinator just hours after the Panthers suffered their second straight loss last Thursday night to the Green Packers, 27-19. The timing of the move gave Wash a few extra days to make changes.
Just how dramatically different the Panthers will look on Sunday remains to be seen, as players and coaches alike have been predictably coy when it comes to the game plan.
“I guess we will have to see Sunday,” defensive lineman Derrick Brown said with a grin.
There's speculation the Panthers could begin to transition away from Evero's 3-4 base scheme to the 4-3 scheme Wash used during his previous stint as an NFL defensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2016-2020).
But Brown said that's easier said than done in the middle of an NFL season.
“I don’t think that’s what we’re doing,” Brown said the idea of shifting to a base 4-3 defense, “So it’s one of those things where we just got a few different tweaks here and there, but for the most part we’re going to do what we did.”
Wash seemed to echo that sentiment, while still leaving the door open to change.
“We are who we are,” Wash said in reference to the team's defensive personnel which is made up heavily of outside linebackers. “(But) we will try to throw some wrinkles in.”
The Broncos enter the game on a four-game win streak despite an offense that ranks 30th in the league overall and 26th in rushing.
However, Bo Nix and company seem to be hitting their stride.
Denver has scored 58 points over the past two weeks.
Jonah Coleman took on a bigger role in the backfield in the Broncos' 28-24 come-from-behind win over Kansas City, rushing 11 times for 41 yards and a touchdown while catching four passes for 63 yards.