Beason upset with defense's performance in season opener

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Nobody played better defense in the preseason than the Carolina Panthers.

But then, as we all know, the preseason means nothing.

The Panthers allowed the New York Giants to roll up 376 yards on offense and score four touchdowns, numbers that didn't sit too well with LB Jon Beason, the team's defensive leader.

“It’s not Panther football,” Beason said after Carolina's 31-18 defeat. “We are trying to establish a new level of excellence here and a level of play that’s consistent. We didn’t play 60 minutes of football. The second and third quarters were unacceptable. The good thing about it is we had some big plays and we had four turnovers. We have some things that we can build on.”

FS Charles Godfrey had two interceptions for the Panthers off tipped balls and SLB James Anderson added a third.

“We didn’t play too well,” Godfrey said. “We didn’t play our type of defense. We had some little miscues on defense assignment-wise. Not paying attention to details cost us a couple of touchdowns and that’s not us. That’s not what we do. We have to go back and correct those.

“We played our game in the preseason. But that didn’t roll over to the regular season. But we’ll get back to that defense and we’ll be all right.”

After posting 20 sacks in the preseason, the Panthers only managed one on Sunday and got none from their defensive ends. The lone sack came from MLB Dan Connor on a blitz.

“It was different out there today,” said DE Everette Brown. "They did a good job of mixing things up offensively. We just have to get pressure on the quarterback and get him down. Eli (Manning) was too comfortable out there and he was allowed to make checks and look off receivers. That’s something that's not good for this defense. It starts up front, run or pass.”

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(carolinagrowl.com)