Last year’s rookie already saw snaps as a pass rusher, linebacker, slot cornerback, strong safety and free safety.Įdge rushers Brian Burns and Hasson Reddick contributed a combined 24 pressures and seven and a half sacks. Jeremy Chinn offers the position flexibility needed to get creative. Linebacker Shaq Thompson is emerging as a tackle machine under Snow and is taking a big step forward in pass coverage. The exotic defensive designs are causing the star players in the Panthers defence to flourish. Our communication and handling of the exotic defensive schemes we faced has to improve,” he acknowledged after the game. Payton has a reputation as one of the best offensive play-callers in the league and is known for his smart plays, but he was checkmated against the Panthers. Exclamation point against the SaintsĪfter the Saints-Panthers game, a visibly upset Sean Payton appeared before the press. 14 different players were already putting pressure on the quarterback. He creates confusion with a lot of pre-snap and post-snap movement quarterbacks have a hard time immediately identifying which defensive players are chasing quarterbacks and which are dropping into coverage. On nearly 60 percent of the snaps, the Panthers play a nickel defense, meaning they use another cornerback for a linebacker.įrom that scheme, Snow blitzes a lot, on just under 40 percent of the snaps, one of the highest numbers in the league. However, Snow does not cling to a “base defence”, but sometimes has four defensive linemen defend from a 4-3 defence, sometimes with three defensive linemen from a 3-4 or 3-3-5 defence.
The 3-3-5 formation, a formation that is very popular in college but rarely used in the NFL, serves as the basis. Snow designs his defensive scheme for variability. The 65-year-old may come across as an old school coach with his work methods and fairly unemotional press conferences, but he relies on innovation instead of “old school” in his defensive scheme. Maybe it’s those extra hours that give Snow the upper hand and make his defense look so good. The next morning, head coach Matt Rhule had to remind him to leave the building and re-enter for the weekly Corona test. When the Panthers beat the New Orleans Saints on the second day of the game, Snow disappeared into his office after the game, worked for a few more hours before sleeping on the sofa bed. Snow, the architect behind the defensive colossus, is paving the way for success with his scheme, tweaking the smallest details day and night. Carolina is allowing an average of just 45 rushing yards, an all-time high. No opposing team has managed to accumulate over 50 rushing yards. In league comparisons, the Panthers finish second with 30 points allowed, first with 3.8 yards per play and 14 sacks. Phil Snow and his defence have played a big part in that. After three days of play, the Panthers are at the top of the NFC South standings with an unblemished record. Phil Snow, defensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers, makes use of the bluff and, thanks to his innovative scheme, runs the best defence in the NFL at the moment.Ī scheme built on deception, confusion and irritation for the opponent, in this case the offensive line and the quarterback. By deliberately deceiving the opponent, the player gains an advantage. Munich – The bluff is one of the oldest tricks in the world of card games. Defensive coordinator Phil Snow, the brains behind the success, is tweaking his defense day and night – literally. The Carolina Panthers’ defence is one of the best in the league after three games and is walking on a historically good path.