In Week 1, the Carolina Panthers' listless offense turned the ball over twice, gave up three sacks, and registered a grand total of 10 - yes, 10 - Yards rushing. Last week against the Saints, Carolina exploded for 35 points and 219 Yards on the ground while Cam Newton averaged an amazing 12.7 Yards per pass attempt. The Panthers looked like the offense it was for much of last season, and they did it by getting back to what is, for them, basics - the read-option running game.
Newton is a one-of-kind offensive weapon, and his Ability to both be a threat to run the ball and make accurate reads run-game make everyone on the Panthers offense better, including his wide receivers. Steve Smith had Carolina's biggest play of the day - a 66-yard catch in Which no one on New Orleans's defense was within 20 Yards of him. As Newton explained after the game, Smith was the Direct Beneficiary of Carolina's dynamic rushing attack: "Of all of the people on this field to be wide open, you would think Smitty would be the last person," Newton said. "But That is what type of pressure the zone read give us. "
That's the beauty of the Panthers' offense when it's rolling. Newton led the Panthers in rushing, but Jonathan Stewart and DeAngelo Williams Each added more than 50 on the ground, and Smith, Brandon LaFell, and even Mike Tolbert were dangerous receiving options. "You do not read option, read option, read option, and then get them to play seven or eight in the box and you've got so many variations of plays and passes you can run off of That," Newton said.
The most exciting part about the diversity of the Panthers' attack, though, is not the mix of traditional and spread offense, or the number of players who touch the ball. It's the diversity within Their read-option package.
The most well-known read-option run play is the "zone read" - a traditional zone-blocked running play coupled with the Quarterback making a read of a back-side defender. The purpose of the zone read is really nothing more than this to keep from attacking the defender running back, otherwise it's just an old-fashioned run play.
Ron Rivera's Panthers had good success with under these basic zone-read plays against the Saints, but they've also started to Incorporate more advanced read-option scheme, the Ones That can better keep Defenses off-balance and Incorporate a Wider diversity of blocking schemes and best utilize Carolina's weapons. These are the plays New Orleans had no answer for on Sunday.
One of them is a play made famous Newton at Auburn - the "Inverted Veer" or "dash read the play. Unlike a typical zone read Where The Quarterback reads a back-side defender, the Inverted Veer reads a player on the front side - the Quarterback and running back head in the SAME direction. Coupled with the "power" run blocking with a pulling guard, the defense is outnumbered to the play side, blocking and lines up nicely.
Against the Saints, Panthers offensive coordinator Rod Chudziński took Cam's old Inverted Veer one step further Top by running an outside run coupled with a read of an interior defender - a "sweep read." Carolina ran this play several times against the Saints, but the best example came in the third quarter and resulted in DeAngelo Williams Bursting around the left end for a 27-yard gain.
