METAIRIE, La. (BRPROUD) — Despite having more than 300 passing yards in week 1, the Saints felt the passing game could have been even better, especially in pass protection.
Saints quarterback Derek Carr was sacked 4 times in the first half against the Titans and was pressured on half of his throws. Although the pass protection improved in the second half, the Saints know they have to be even better when they go up against a versatile Carolina defensive line.
“Unacceptable. Not up to our standard,” Saints starting left guard James Hurst said. “Now we can see, you know, it’s out there. We can see, everyone else can see, but we have to work on. So we have to make sure that we attack that in practice this week. I know our offensive line coaches are going to do a really good job making sure we get those looks and putting us in challenging situations on the practice field that we’re in front of that way on Sunday it’s better than it was this past week.”
“We know going into this game they have a great, great rush,” Carr said. “They have guys who can perform inside on both edges, you know, everywhere. You know, the Blitz is a great scheme, a great defensive coordinator. And we know the problems that you know, present to us. But there’s still things that, again, in-house that, you know, we know we want to clean up and do certain things.”
Carolina sacked Falcons quarterback Desmond Ridder four times in Week 1. Panthers defensive tackle Derrick Brown led the team in Week 1 with 9 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, and a sack. Brown had the most tackles among all defensive lines last week.
Carolina linebacker Brian Burns led the Panthers with 2 sacks against the Falcons, while defensive tackle Shy Tuttle and linebacker Frankie Luvu had a half sack each.
The Panthers also had 6 tackles for loss and six quarterback hits in Week 1 against the Falcons.
