Carolina gives up 47 points in Week 1. Do we have a laughingstock defense on our hands? Is this one of those defenses that everyone should be looking to load up against every week?
They made it look awfully easy on Sunday, with Derek Carr hitting open receivers and running backs exploding through big holes.
At the same time, they’ll be at home in Week 2, and against an offense that’s looked pretty anemic thus far in the afternoon window. The Chargers managed 2 first downs in the first half against the Raiders. At home.
One school of thought is that when a defense is outclassed, it can help motivate everyone to play better he following week, trying to prove they actually aren’t that bad.
Or is this team so bad that the locker room is quickly lost.
Below is the list of the last 15 teams that allowed at least 40 points in Week 1. These teams actually went 7-8 in their Week 2 games.
Of those 15 previous sieve-like defenses, eight again allowed 28-plus points the next week. But five allowed fewer than 20. As a group, those 15 defenses allowed an average of 24.1 points in their next games.
It’s early (Carolina’s next opponent hasn’t even finished its opening game) but I would think the Chargers in Week 2 would be more likely to punch out a lower-scoring, field-goal driven game.
| DEFENSES ALLOWING FORTY-BURGERS IN OPENERS | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Wk 1 | Score | Wk 2 | Score |
| 2015 | Buccaneers | Ten. | L 14-42 | at N.O. | W 26-19 |
| 2016 | Colts | Det. | L 35-39 | at Den. | L 20-34 |
| 2017 | Patriots | K.C. | L 27-42 | at N.O. | W 26-20 |
| 2017 | Colts | at LAR | L 9-46 | Ari. | L 13-16 |
| 2018 | Bills | at Balt. | L 3-47 | LAC | L 20-31 |
| 2018 | Lions | NYJ | L 17-48 | at S.F. | L 27-30 |
| 2018 | Buccaneers | at N.O. | W 48-40 | Phil. | W 27-21 |
| 2018 | Saints | T.B. | L 40-48 | Cle. | W 21-18 |
| 2019 | Dolphins | Balt. | L 10-59 | N.E. | L 0-43 |
| 2019 | Jaguars | K.C. | L 26-40 | at Hou. | L 12-13 |
| 2019 | Browns | Ten. | L 13-43 | at NYJ | W 23-3 |
| 2020 | Vikings | G.B. | L 34-43 | at Ind. | L 11-28 |
| 2021 | Lions | S.F. | L 33-41 | at G.B. | L 17-35 |
| 2022 | Cardinals | K.C. | L 21-44 | at L.V. | W 29-23 |
| 2023 | Giants | Dall. | L 0-40 | at Ari. | W 31-28 |
| 2024 | Panthers | at N.O. | L 10-47 | LAC | ? |
—Ian Allan