CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The Carolina Panthers will host former Defensive Coordinator Sean McDermott in his second game as the head coach of the Buffalo Bills on Sunday.
Sean McDermott is as familiar with the Panthers’ personnel as any coach in the league. McDermott was the Panthers’ Defensive Coordinator from 2011-2016 and was the architect of the defense that led Carolina to the Superbowl in 2015.
In a conference call with reporters, McDermott says making the trip to Carolina and seeing friends and familiar faces will be “pretty cool” but emphasized that this weekend’s game is a business trip saying, “we’ve got a job to do.”
Both teams will enter the game 1-0, as the Panthers dispatched the San Francisco 49ers 23-3 and the Bills defeated the Jets 21-12.
Each team’s defense looked strong against teams expected to finish at the bottom of the league. Buffalo held the Jets to 214 total yards, while Carolina only yielded 217 yards to San Francisco.
The Panthers are still trying to incorporate a philosophy predicated on quick reads by Cam Newton and accurate delivery of the football to the bevy of play makers on Carolina’s offense.
While it was exciting to see Christian McCaffrey heavily involved in the Carolina offense, the Bills will still have to be aware of the hard running Jonathan Stewart, who had 65 yards rushing on 18 carries and caught a touchdown pass.
The strength of the Buffalo defense is up the middle with the presence of defensive tackles Kyle William and Marcel Darius. They will look to stuff the run and will also demand attention from multiple blockers in the passing game to give the edge rushers more opportunities to disrupt Cam Newton’s rhythm.
Outside linebacker Lorenzo Alexander had 12.5 sacks in 2016 and former Clemson defensive end Shaq Lawson is looking to establish a presence after being limited in 2016 to two sacks in 10 games, by shoulder surgery prior to his rookie season.
Carolina’s offensive line did not allow a sack of Newton in week 1, which is a great sign, but Cam will have to be more accurate against a stout Buffalo defense, than he was against San Francisco.
It will be interesting to see how McDermott’s knowledge of Carolina’s tendencies will translate into performance by his Buffalo defense.
On Offense, the Bills feature the versatile and explosive running back LeSean McCoy and a mobile quarterback in Tyrod Taylor.
Carolina has arguably the best starting linebacker group in the league with Luke Kuechly, Thomas Davis and Shaq Thompson. Buffalo likes to establish McCoy on the ground, but also involve him in the passing game out of the backfield. Tyrod Taylor also targets tight end Charles Clay frequently on intermediate pass routes, so the Panthers’ linebackers should be very busy on Sunday.
McDermott brought in several former Panthers in his transition to Buffalo, including fullback Mike Tolbert and quarterback Joe Webb and said his process was similar to Ron Rivera’s when he came from San Diego to be the head coach in Carolina.
“Very similar transition plan as far as that goes where you bring some guys that you know can play, I knew could play, and I knew they were wired the right way as in terms of the DNA and the culture we’re trying to create in Buffalo.”
When questioned about Joe Webb specifically, McDermott said, “I was kind of a little bit surprised that he became available and when he did it was just a natural fit for us with respect to the different positions he plays (and) the energy he brings.”
Carolina and Buffalo are fairly similar in styles and both would like to rely on strong defenses to win games early in the season.
The Panthers have more firepower on offense and understandably more continuity as a team, than the Bills in McDermott’s first year.
If Carolina’s defense can contain LeSean McCoy and not surrender big plays and Cam Newton can continue to shake off the rust, then Carolina’s superior talent should overwhelm the Bills and spoil Sean McDermott’s emotional return.
