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Super
Bowl's
Broncos,
Panthers
excel at
defense
differently
By
Howard
Fendrich
Associated
Press
SANTA
CLARA,
CA -
Sometime
late
last
season
or early
this
season -
depends
on whom
you ask
- Josh
Norman
and the
Carolina
Panthers'
other
defensive
backs
were
heading
toward a
drill as
part of
their
weekly
"Turnover
Circuit,"
when
assistant
coach
Eric
Washington
yelled
out a
spur-of-the-moment
greeting.
"Hey,
here
come the
thieves!"
It was
meant to
be
funny,
using
that
word to
refer to
a group
of guys
whose
job
description
includes
trying
to steal
the
ball. It
stuck,
and the
members
of the
secondary
now own
gray
T-shirts,
courtesy
of
safety
Roman
Harper,
that
refer to
"Thieves
Avenue,"
the name
they
adopted
for
their
section
of the
locker
room.
"The
next
time
they
came
over, I
didn't
say it,
and one
of the
guys was
like,
'Hey,
what's
the
deal?'
And so
it just
kind of
caught
on,"
said
Washington,
who
coaches
Carolina's
defensive
line.
"It took
on a
life of
its own
and it's
a big
part of
our
identity
in terms
of
creating
turnovers
and
trying
to take
the
football
away."
That
identity
helped
NFL MVP
Cam
Newton
and the
rest of
the
Panthers
make it
all the
way to
the
Super
Bowl
against
Peyton
Manning
and the
Denver
Broncos
on
Sunday,
a
matchup
between
two
elite
defenses
that
dominate
in
divergent
ways.
If rules
changes
and
offensive
innovations
have
made pro
football
a
decidedly
"Who can
score
more?"
sport,
it's
noteworthy
that a
pair of
clubs
boasting
such
capable
defenses
made it
to the
season's
final
game.
It's the
first
time in
50 Super
Bowls
that the
team
that led
the
league
in
takeaways
(Carolina,
39) met
the team
that
allowed
the
fewest
yards
(Denver,
283.1
per
game),
according
to
STATS.
"Their
defense
is built
a little
different,
and the
way they
end up
doing
stuff is
different.
But it
all
turns
out to
be the
same:
You
always
want to
get as
many
turnovers
as you
can and
hold the
opponent
to as
few
first
downs as
you
can,"
Broncos
defensive
line
coach
Bill
Kollar
said.
"And
these
are two
really
good
defenses
that do
both of
those
things."
The
Panthers
use a
4-3
formation,
blitz on
only
about a
quarter
of
opponents'
passing
downs
but do
so
effectively,
and -
here's
the key
stat -
thrive
on
takeaways,
leading
the NFL
with 39
in the
regular
season
before
tacking
on
another
nine in
the
postseason.
The
Broncos
use a
3-4
formation,
blitz on
about 40
percent
of
passing
downs,
had a
league-best
52
sacks,
and -
here's
the key
stat -
led the
NFL in
opponents'
yards
per rush
(3.3)
and
yards
per pass
attempt
(6.2,
tied
with -
guess
who? -
Carolina).
Denver
is only
the
fifth
team in
the past
half-century
to rank
No. 1 in
both of
those
categories
over a
full
season,
according
to
STATS,
and they
shut
down
two-time
Super
Bowl
champion
Ben
Roethlisberger's
Pittsburgh
Steelers
and
four-time
champ
Tom
Brady's
New
England
Patriots
en route
to the
AFC
title.
They
really
knocked
Brady
around,
sacking
and
harassing
him
throughout
the game
two
weeks
ago.
"Denver's
got a
great
defense.
They're
fun to
watch.
They fly
around.
They're
physical.
They get
after
the
passer,"
said
Panthers
middle
linebacker
Luke
Kuechly,
who
returned
an
interception
for a
touchdown
in each
of the
NFC
champions'
two
playoff
games.
"And we
try to
do the
same
thing.
We've
got guys
on every
level of
our
defense
that
take a
lot of
pride in
what
they
do."
Both
secondaries
carry
colorful
nicknames
(the
Broncos'
unit
goes by
"No Fly
Zone"),
and both
rosters
are
stacked
with
All-Pros
and
established
stars.
The
Panthers
have
Norman
at
cornerback,
Kuechly
and
Thomas
Davis at
linebacker,
and
Kawann
Short at
defensive
tackle.
Any
discussion
of the
Broncos
begins
with
pass
rushers
Von
Miller
and
DeMarcus
Ware.
Their
lockdown
secondary
includes
Aqib
Talib
and
Chris
Harris
Jr. at
cornerback,
and T.J.
Ward at
safety.
The two
defensive
coordinators
are
talented,
too:
Denver's
Wade
Phillips
and
Carolina's
Sean
McDermott.
"They'll
pressure
you.
They'll
play a
lot of
(zone).
They'll
do a lot
of
things.
But the
bottom
line is
they're
good
across
the
board.
Their
front is
very
physical,"
Broncos
head
coach
Gary
Kubiak
said
about
the
Panthers.
"We'll
have our
hands
full."
Panthers
center
Ryan
Kalil,
among
the
offensive
linemen
charged
with
providing
time for
Newton,
said
preparing
for
Denver's
defense
"makes
for a
tough
film
week."
"Different
defenses
that you
scheme
against
sometimes
have
incredible
talent,
but the
scheme
is very
bland.
Other
teams,
they
don't
quite
have the
(same)
talent
as other
teams
and they
have
incredible
schemes
and
exotic
looks
and
things
that
really
make you
work all
week
long,"
Kalil
said.
"This is
a team
that has
both of
those
things,
and I
think
it's why
they're
so
dangerous."
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