Can the Panthers’ developing defense stand up to Dallas?

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

The Carolina Panthers' defense will take on a Dallas Cowboys offense missing quarterback Dak Prescott Sunday at Bank of America Stadium.

It was getting late, in terms of an off-season program workday, and Ejiro Evero prepared to depart Bank of America Stadium.

As the Carolina Panthers’ defensive coordinator walked by an office door, he heard a familiar voice. Evero paused for a moment to peek in and saw rookie defensive back Chau Smith-Wade organizing a sit-down with other rookies and prospects.

“I think it was early June shortly after we got him; it was 6 or 7 at night and he’s in there running a meeting,” Ejiro said during Thursday. “It was cool to see.”

Depending on the health of top cornerback Jaycee Horn (groin), Smith-Wade could see a more significant role Sunday against the Dak Prescott-less Dallas Cowboys at Bank of America Stadium.

Following Wednesday’s practice, Smith-Wade indicated he would patrol his usual nickelback position. But “say I do go to corner, it’s just another day,” he said. “I played corner in college so it’s nothing to me. Go there and handle my business and do my job and make plays.

“Right now, I’m at nickel until further notice.”

‘We want other teams to match our caliber’

Since getting blown out 40-7 by Washington on Oct. 27 and taking a 14-point loss to Denver Broncos the following week, the Panthers, who rank last several NFL defensive metrics, have improved the past five outings, which included back-to-back wins against New Orleans and the New York Giants. They may have dropped three straight games, but they were by a combined 12 points against playoff contenders Kansas City, NFC South-leading Tampa Bay and Philadelphia, the No. 2-ranked NFC squad.

Could the Panthers (3-10) play down to the Cowboys (5-8), who have compiled just two wins since Oct. 13?  

Smith-Wade remained confident in the “standard” Carolina is trying to forge.

“We go out with a standard we set for ourselves,” he said. “We don’t look at the competition and say, ‘these guys are this caliber’ and ‘these guys are that caliber.’  

“We set a standard and we hold ourselves to it. When a team comes in, no matter what caliber, we are going to match it. We want other teams to match our caliber.”

That includes the Panthers’ fledgling pass rush that features a recent series of effective blitz packages. One such call came on the first series against Philadelphia. On first down, linebacker Josey Jewel blitzed and sacked quarterback Jalen Hurts for an 8-yard loss. Two plays later, the Eagles were forced to punt.

Jewel has recorded a sack in three consecutive starts and over the span the Panthers collected 13 sacks, a stark contrast to opening the season with just 12 through Week 11.

“Coach Evero sees a lot of things on film that not a lot of guys see,” Smith-Wade said. “If he sees an opportunity for us to dial up a blitz, he’ll certainly call it. We have all types of funky packages of blitzes.”

Can Panthers handle Cowboys at home?

Carolina coach Dave Canales was asked if the rising sack trend was a result of the defensive scheme or player effort.

“It’s both,” he said. “It’s the guys buying into what we’re doing, being disciplined with the rush plan. All those things take a lot of work as you can imagine. It’s the carryover and the consistency of guys working together.”

Against the Cowboys, the Panthers will not face one of the league’s top quarterbacks, like Kansas City’s Patrick Mahomes, or a running back who is in position to break the NFL’s single-season rushing mark like Philadelphia’s Saquon Barkley.

The Cowboys will play without Prescott, who is sidelined for the season with a hamstring injury, and their rushing attack is led by Rico Dowdle’s 731 yards. Ezekial Elliott has just 193 yards and a 3.2 yards per carry average.    

Before what’s expected to be a large contingent of Cowboys fans, creating a quasi-home-game environment for the visitors, the Panthers enter Sunday yielding an NFL-high average of 29.8 points per game and 170.1 rushing yards per game.

But unlike the past three weeks, Carolina isn’t facing one of the league’s elite clubs. The Panthers entered the week as a sports-betting favorite for the first time since December 2022, a span of 33 games.

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