CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -When the Panthers gave Chris Gamble a $54.5 million contract near the end of last season and released Ken Lucas a couple of months later, it was clear who was Carolina’s top cornerback.
In the last preseason game, Gamble instead looked like the weak link in an already leaky defense.
“I can play way better than that. I just came out and had a bad game,” Gamble said of being a target of Baltimore quarterback Joe Flacco Saturday. “I missed a couple of tackles, gave up a deep ball.”
In a preseason where the Panthers are collecting defensive headaches, Gamble’s missteps are a surprise. The 2004 first-round pick has been a starter since his rookie year. When Lucas struggled last season, Gamble had a career-high 20 passes defended and tied for the team lead with three interceptions.
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Instead, Gamble has had a rough preseason. He was run over by Ahmad Bradshaw on his 19-yard touchdown run in a loss to the New York Giants in the exhibition opener. Miami fooled Gamble and Carolina with a trick play a week later, resulting in a 35-yard pass play that set up a field goal.
The missed tackles continued against the Ravens, when he allowed Derrick Mason to turn a short pass into a 26-yard gain. He also was beaten on a 42-yard pass to Kelley Washington and was called for an illegal hands to the face penalty.
The Ravens, a running team who came in with numerous questions at receiver, picked apart Carolina’s secondary in their 17-13 win. Flacco was 23 of 28 for 247 yards, one touchdown and no interceptions.
“I don’t think we were as crisp tackling as I’d like to see defensively,” coach John Fox said.
Gamble blamed his performance Saturday on “bad technique.”
“Not getting a good jam to force them inside,” Gamble said. “Make him reroute his feet. When you press, you can reroute his feet. Stuff like that.”
Meeks’ Cover-2 defense also has changed the way the Panthers secondary defends. Gamble said it depends more on zone coverage and less on man-to-man, leading to some coverage mistakes in games.
“Last year, we did more man,” Gamble said. “It’s more zone read, man. You’ve got to read you man, the quarterback and then break on the ball.”
turning starting safeties Chris Harris and Charles Godfrey and Richard Marshall, promoted to starting cornerback to replace Lucas, the Panthers figured to be solid in the secondary. The bigger problems are on the defensive line, where the run defense took a hit following Maake Kemoeatu’s season-ending Achilles’ tendon injury.
But poor tackling and coverage miscues have plagued the back four in Carolina’s winless preseason. It’s been a carry-over from the Panthers’ ugly playoff loss to Arizona, when Larry Fitzgerald caught six passes for 151 yards and a touchdown – in the first half.
The final exhibition game Thursday usually features little, if any, work by the starters. But as poorly as the Panthers’ defense has played, Gamble is hoping to get some time against the Super Bowl champion Pittsburgh Steelers.
“I want to bounce back and go out there, make a couple plays and have fun,” Gamble said. “But you’ve got to be smart. It’s the last preseason game and we’ve got the Eagles coming in, so you’ve got to get ready for those guys.”
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