CHARLOTTE — Something clearly was different for the Panthers in the second half Sunday, especially on defense.
But when team captain and voice of authority Derrick Brown was asked about it in the locker room after the game, he mostly shrugged.
"Nothing," Brown replied Sunday when asked what changed at halftime. "We just settled in, as simple as that. Just like 1-2-3.
Of course, it wasn't everybody saying anything, or just anybody, which triggered a second-half lockdown.
As it turns out, it was Brown who said something, and he said it in a way that no one would misunderstand his intention.
"I think we just have a lot of good leaders on this defense and people know when to speak up," linebacker Christian Rozeboom said. "And, obviously, whatever DB says, people are going to do.
"It's coming from a place of, he's putting in a lot of work himself, and just the hard work he puts in, and just the guy he is in this locker room, people are going to respect that and take it to heart for sure."
Derrick Brown is not much for talking, though he's gotten more and more comfortable in that role as one of the faces of the team, especially after signing a massive contract extension following his Pro Bowl season in 2023. And because of his status and his stature, when those words come from on high, they resonate with everyone in the room.
"Yes sir, it's powerful," rookie outside linebacker Nic Scourton said on Tuesday. "I mean, he's our captain. He's our leader, and you know he expects all of us to play up to the same standard as him.
"So when he's calling all of us out, it's not out of any challenging any of us individually or anything like that. It's just that he expects that of us because of how he plays and respects the game."
Again, this is not the role Brown signed up for when he came here, and he's generally a man of few words. But they're well-chosen.
"When he does talk, it's at the right time, it's warranted, and it's always going to be thoughtful and not emotional coming from him," Rozeboom said. "And people respect that for sure.
"When he talks, it's not going to be a fly-off-the-wall type of thing or anything like that. It's always going to be something that's never directed at anybody in particular. It's always a collective like, hey, we need to be better, hey, we need to do this, we need to do that."
The message was obviously received, because the difference in the second half was stark.
The Falcons had 257 yards at halftime, when they led 21-10. They had six plays of 15 yards or more, and Drake London had five catches for 108 yards, while Bijan Robinson had 16 carries for 93 yards (5.8 per carry).
In the second half, the entire Falcons team managed just 91 yards and six points, and didn't have a play longer than 12 yards.
Message received.
"We were all eyes, all ears, everything," defensive end LaBryan Ray said. "That's somebody that, you know, just comes in and works, and man, he's just a hell of a leader. And it worked."
"You know it's on when Derrick starts talking," defensive tackle Bobby Brown III said. "We've had a decent season, but that doesn't mean we haven't had our ups and downs, our bumps and bruises. Guys speak up and say things when they feel like it needs to be said."
And clearly, Brown felt like something needed to be said.
Scourton's a rookie, and he's new to this bunch of people. But he said he figured out soon after arriving that Brown was one of those people whose words should be heeded, but also someone whose actions should be followed.
"He's the blueprint," Scourton said. "When it's my time to be where he is, he's the blueprint. He's been a great role model for me to learn from, and how he leads and how he goes about his business and things like that.
"He's just the blueprint for how you're supposed to do it."
Of course, it wasn't that they were so inspired by Brown's words — "We'll keep that part in here," Bobby Brown said — but that they began to play the way they had at points previously in the season.
After last year ended with the wrong kind of records, the Panthers have stabilized on defense, much of it having to do with Brown and the reinvented defensive front playing solidly. They're 15th in the league in total defense entering Week 12, and 17th against the run. Considering they were 32nd in the league in those categories a year ago, that progress is clear. They've had some games when they allowed big numbers, but for the most part, the work has been good.
Likewise, the product they put on the field in the first half was something they didn't recognize, and after the break, they were back to who they've generally been this year.
"I think it was a little bit of maybe not who we were in the first half, and then just getting to who we were in the second half," Rozeboom said. "I think just getting the chance to finally like take a breath, reset, and be like, all right. We've been here before, we know what to do, and kind of go from there."
And with the appropriate encouragement from their leader, they went there.
Check out some of the best shots from the Panthers' Week 11 game against the Falcons.
