Leonard Floyd could be in for a big day

Leonard Floyd has a plus matchup and could be in for a big week against the Carolina Panthers

While the Panthers currently have a better record than the Bears, the Panthers are a flawed team. They are also an injured team, with recent news that Luke Kuechly is out. On the other side of the ball, Cam Newton is always a threat, but the Bears can keep him in check. The Panthers offensive line has not been great this season, and the Bears should have big advantages on the edges.

This should particularly be true with Leonard Floyd against right tackle Daryl Williams. Williams was a backup last season for the Panthers who had to come in due to injuries. The team is expecting rookie Taylor Moton to eventually take over in that

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role. However, he has yet to win the spot over Williams. This has to be concerning because Williams has been one of the weak spots of the line this season. In fact, of the 17 times, Cam Newton was brought down, seven were directly correlated to a miss by Williams. Derek Barnett, Anthony Zettel, Donta Hightower, Alex Okafor, Eddie Yarbrough have all beaten Williams and Jerry Hughes got him twice for sacks.

Williams is a sub-par athlete who made it to the NFL with the right size and arm length to play the position. He is a backup caliber player thrust into a starting role. Take the play below, for example, a quick shimmy off of the ball and a swipe pushed Williams to the ground and gives the Bills an easy sack.

Floyd, an elite athlete with great quickness, should be able to get around Williams with ease. This should be a good chance for Floyd to get into the backfield, keep Cam Newton in the pocket, and potentially get himself a sack or two against a player that is not near his caliber of athleticism.

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