“Know Thy Enemy” With Tony Dunn From Carolina Cat Chronicles
Adam Warwas
|
Chatting about the Vikings versus Panthers matchup.
We may not know a lot about what our 2016 Minnesota Vikings are going to look like moving forwards after this rash of injuries have dramatically changed how the offense looks, but that won’t stop us from checking in with those that know our opponents best.
Today, we’ve asked Tony Dunn of Carolina Cat Chronicles to answer some questions that will hopefully help all of us better understand what the Vikings are facing this tomorrow in Charlotte.
It sounds like the game in Charlotte will indeed be played in its originally scheduled venue and time slot. With everything that has happened there in the last few days, what can you tell us about how the organization has responded overall?
The situation in Charlotte has reminded football fans of two things. First, NFL football, while a popular game, is just a game. Societal issues and life outside of football supersedes our football fever. Second, professional athletes shoulder an immense responsibility and obligation to be social leaders in these moments.
For a sector of society that covets NFL Football as a 24/7, 365 day enterprise, local sports media has reoriented their focus to the protests, the players have paid close attention and have been vocal about the social tension emerging from violent encounters between African Americans and the police, and the organization has had to speak to these events and consider the safety of their fans in holding the game this Sunday.
The response to these events by the Carolina players has been nothing less than stellar. Cam Newton, one of the league’s most polarizing players, has struggled at times in the past in finding a balance in how to deal with the issue of race and the NFL. He’s tried acknowledging the obvious stereotypes and discriminatory perceptions surrounding the black quarterback and he found a great deal of pushback from those who never liked Cam Newton in the first place. In a recent SI interview, Cam tried an opposite strategy in downplaying the issue of race in America. He was criticized heavily about this as well, both from the African-American community and those who never liked Cam in first place for being naive. He’s spoken to these events eloquently and provided a very compassionate position on the matter. He’s also noted that whatever he does say, someone will find fault an error, but his concern is sincere. Team leaders, Thomas Davis and Greg Olsen, have also stepped to the podium and provided some uplifting and measured commentary on the events. What has come to light from these events about the team itself is that we are fortunate to have a core group of players with the character and intelligence to provide leadership to the Charlotte community in what is a very serious social moment.
To casual observers it might appear that Cam Newton has no weaknesses at all. To people that watch football super closely it might appear that Cam Newton has no weaknesses at all. Does he? Please tell us here does. How can the aggressive Vikings defense best attack Newton?
The only weakness that you’re going to find in Cam’s game is his ability to get in his own head. He can be a momentum player at times. He often starts games so jacked up and excited that you’ll see some errant passes or poor decisions in hopes of trying to force his greatness early. Because he’s never had much experience with adversity, if he struggles early, it can cause him to press a little. He’s becoming more consistent each year, however. His decision making has only improved, his footwork gets better every season, and he’s becoming a more precise passer every day. Add Kelvin Benjamin to the mix, and it’s hard to see how he won’t do what he wills even if he has to generate the running attack himself without a healthy Jonathan Stewart.
Our teams are both dealing with running back injuries that are less than ideal. Can you run us through Carolina’s situation right now and which backs we can expect to see in action on Sunday?
Carolina announced Friday that Cameron Artis-Payne would start against the Vikings. Fans have been optimistic about CAP, but it seems as if he never dresses when Stewart is healthy. He wasn’t active in either the Super Bowl or the opening two games of 2016, so it’s hard to believe Carolina will shoulder him with too much responsibility in his season debut against the one of the league’s best defenses. Expect to see a lot of Fozzie Whitaker and Mike Tolbert as well. The Panthers like Whitaker as a scat back, but he also ran effectively between the tackles when Stewart went down. The Panthers will definitely be a running back by committee led most explosively by Cam Newton.
From a distance, it appears that the loss of Josh Norman is not that big of a deal thanks to the proficiency displayed by rookie corner James Bradberry. What would be your expectations there and will he be shadowing Stefon Diggs?
The Panthers didn’t even like to play Josh Norman as a man-to-man corner, so I don’t see them shadowing any receiver this season. James Bradberry has been a pleasant surprise given nobody knew who he was before Carolina drafted him. I’m still not sure where Samford University is honestly. The Panthers won’t worry about Diggs really. Not because he’s not a threat, but because they don’t like to burden any corner with that responsibility throughout the game. Carolina will be in nickel packages and try to keep all the receivers in front of them. Carolina does this to every offense really, hoping that the front seven can disrupt and the league’s best linebacking core can snub out any of the underneath stuff.
The Vikings offensive line is terrible so far this season. Injuries have most of us believing they could be even worse moving forward. Can you run us through your front seven and tell us who we should be most worried about stuffing the run and getting after Sam Bradford?
Carolina’s power is up the middle. The Panthers have arguably the best defensive tackle rotation supported by what I believe is clearly the league’s best linebacker group in Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis, and Shaq Thompson. The vulnerability in this front seven is at defensive end. Excitement surrounding Kony Ealy going into the season was probably a bit overkill. He’s shown moments where you think he could be one of the league’s best pass-rushers. He had a Super Bowl performance comparable to Von Miller’s and would have perhaps won the MVP if the Panthers had won and Cam Newton wasn’t on the team. He hasn’t done much this season so far, however. On the other side, Charles Johnson is aging, and it seems as if it’s been ages since he’s had a healthy season. After these guys, there really isn’t much. With Matt Kalil out, I expect Ealy to get back on track. It’s going to be tough to stop Carolina’s pass-rush without an effective running game. Throw in a few linebacker blitzes, and I expect the Panthers to get to Sam Bradford a lot.
We would again like to thank Tony Dunn of Carolina Cat Chronicles for stopping by and talking some football with us. For more great information on the Carolina Panthers be sure to visit their website and follow them on Twitter.