Celebrate the good times, and keep working

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Well, it seems a lot of gelling happened on defense between Messrs. Devin Lloyd, Jaelan Phillips, and Bobby Okereke, to name just a few, this past week. Guess those old coaches knew what they were talking about after all, with the biggest improvement taking place between Weeks 1 and 2. Admittedly, no one is going to confuse the Falcons with the Bears, but aside from the QB, they still had pretty much a full complement of starters. The Panthers D did a good job of neutralizing one of the best backs in the league. Kudos to the Black and Blue. Now on to the Browns. Given the way the Panthers are coming together, I like our chances “by the lake” this coming Sunday.

My question, with Jonathon Brooks‘ latest injury, is there sufficient depth in the RB room to cover an extended absence, given Trevor Etienne is already on the shelf?

Appreciate all you do. You’ve got a great team too. Keep Pounding! — Chuck, West Jefferson, NC

Thanks, Chuck. We do it for the people.

Brooks aggravating that groin injury that bothered him between training camp and the start of the regular season was disappointing, and it’s hard to know at the moment how long he’ll be out. AJ Dillon is more than ready to step in as a supplement to Chuba Hubbard, and he’s more of a like-for-like. Since they’re still without Etienne for at least a couple more weeks, they might take a look at one of the guys on the practice squad, like Anthony Tyus III, who is a big and physical runner who had a good preseason. That’s the danger of keeping three on the roster, but they can adjust.

And yes, the defense was on a heater this week. That’s a lot more like what we’re expecting from that group, after they spent a lot of intention (and money) to bring Phillips and Lloyd in on the first day of free agency.

As we’ve mentioned in the past, Lloyd is a force multiplier, and more in line with the linebacker tradition this place is known for. While it’s going to take more than one game to prove it, the difference he can make in the entire defense was evident Sunday in Atlanta.

His coverage ability changes how they can deploy others and lets them do other things with the people behind him. His ability as a blitzer allows them to do other things with the people in front of him. That kind of versatility is rare, and special.

Now, for Dave Canales to call it one of the best linebacker games he’s seen in 17 years of coaching is a lot, because a lot of those years were spent in Seattle when Luke Kuechly was in his prime here. Now, Kuechly only had two interceptions in a game once (against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving 2015), and had 18 in his eight seasons. Lloyd has 11 in his four seasons plus two games here. So I’m not saying he won’t get there, the old person with one hand on the park brake just thinks we might need to slow down a little.

But Canales was excited, and the point stands, it was a really good game.

He also has help. When he’s running with an Okereke, and there’s an experienced reserve on the bench who has 43 starts in the league (in Tyrel Dodson), the margin of error gets wider if anyone misses time.