Sir Purr
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- Mar 16, 2019
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Kamara vs. CMC
Speaking of Kamara… while we won’t be seeing him and Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey go head to head literally (Can you imagine?), it’s impossible to talk Panthers-Saints without comparing the two.
Kamara has 472 yards and one touchdown on the ground this season, plus another touchdown and 373 yards on 51 receptions. McCaffrey, on the other hand, leads the NFL in rushing yards (1,059) and is tied for first in rushing touchdowns (11), in addition to 59 catches for 517 yards and three touchdowns. However, it’s their skillsets more so than their statistics that draw comparisons between the two.
“He’s almost like 22 here,” defensive tackle Gerald McCoy explained. “‘He can’t run between the tackles, likes to stay on the outside’ or whatever, but anybody who knows football, you watch Alvin Kamara, he don’t go down on the first hit and it’s hard to bring him to the ground.”
“He’s like another McCaffrey,” Boston added. “They’re going to try to get the ball out to him as much as possible. He’s one of the best running backs in the league, great on contact. You know what he’s going to do with the ball in his hands.”
McCaffrey definitely appreciates the comparisons, because he’s a big fan of Kamara, too.
“I think he’s obviously a heck of a back,” McCaffrey said. “I have a lot of fun watching him on tape. He’s so dynamic and a lot of the stuff that he’s able to do is pretty impressive, so I respect his game a lot.”
On the defensive side of the locker room, players repeatedly emphasized one major key to stopping Kamara: prevent the leaky yardage.
Kamara is known for being slippery, and that allows him to fall forward with nearly every tackle, and those yards can add up. The way to stop that is simple – more hats to the ball.
“The thing about him is, he might not get 60 yards each play,” Boston explained. “But those five, six falling forward do add up, so we’ve got to make sure we stop that.”