The Carolina Panthers have had a fairly abominable 2010 season and one can look at their offense to see their numerous problems. The team ranks last in the NFL in total yards of offense and are 26th in rushing and last in passing. If we look at Football Outsiders stats, shockingly enough they also rank dead last in total offense. FO ranks them last in passing and second to last in rushing.
The Panthers have looked to build their offense around the running back duo of Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams. The problem this year is that their more or less inept passing attack has led to teams loading up the box against the run and daring the Panthers to attack them through the air.
Given the 49ers struggles at times in the secondary, could this backfire on the 49ers defense? I realize the Panthers are 0-5, but I remain a bit gun-shy given the 49ers own poor start and just start to think the Panthers will find the gear they've been looking for all season long. I suppose it might be over-thinking this, but given the athletic nature of the Panthers running backs, if they are able to get going it could mean bad things for the 49ers defense.
To date the Panthers haven't had any explosive offensive performances, peaking with 18 points in their opener. It all comes back to the incredibly weak passing attack. Of course, as mentioned earlier in the week, the return of Matt Moore as starter does leave the door open for the team to potentially find some success. It's possible I'm just being paranoid, but given the 49ers 1-5 start I think I have some justification for feeling this way. Until they provide consistent efforts I suppose I'll fear the worst.