49ers in rush to figure out Panthers ‘D’
THERE HAVE BEEN very few teams over the last two seasons that have completely shut down Colin Kaepernick and turned him into a complete non-factor. The Carolina Panthers are one of them.
And to the 49ers, it’s no mystery why.
“As I stand here today, I really believe that they are the most talented front seven that we have played,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said Wednesday of his team’s opponent in Sunday’s divisional playoff game in Charlotte. “And that’s in large part a great share of what makes them so effective.”
Added Kaepernick: “They have a great front seven. They’re very athletic, very fast, very strong. It was something that the first game we didn’t play very well. We didn’t execute the way we should’ve.”
That is a big understatement of how bad Kaepernick and the 49ers offense were on Nov. 10 in San Francisco, when the Niners came off their bye and lost at home to the Panthers, 10-9. That victory showed the league that Carolina had truly arrived as a contender. And it happened because its defense held Kaepernick to 91 yards on 11 of 22 passing and just 16 yards on four carries.
The Panthers also sacked the usually elusive quarterback six times.
Kaepernick said he just “didn’t perform well enough,” but most of that had to do with a relentless front seven that kept him under pressure throughout the game and hit him nine times. The Panthers got two sacks from reserve lineman Dwan Edwards and 1½ from
starting end Charles Johnson. The sacks came from five different players in all.
And Harbaugh said no one should have been surprised.
“Putting pressure on the quarterback, stopping the run — you look across the categories that they measure defensive success, and they’re in the top five, top six,” Harbaugh said. “I’m not saying it’s just pure talent. It’s a share. Definitely their scheme and their understanding of it, how it’s coached, how they play together as a unit. All those things are a part of that share that makes them extremely effective.”
The Panthers had the NFL’s second-ranked defense this season and allowed only 15.1 points per game, also second in the league. They also had the league’s best pass rush with 60 sacks, led by a combined 26 from Johnson and Greg Hardy, their starting defensive ends.
The only bright side for the 49ers is that they hope to be more prepared this time around. They still didn’t have receiver Michael Crabtree back for that game, and tight end Vernon Davis left early with a concussion. So Kaepernick should have more weapons to look for if the pass rush is quickly in his face.
Asked if that would help, Kaepernick would only say, “It’s really going to depend on what their game plan is and what they’re trying to do.”
But what they’re trying to do should be no mystery. They’re going to be coming after him.