Carolina Duo Pushing Each Other To Get To The Quarterback

Jordan and Pippen, Stockton and Malone, Montana and Rice...Burns and Reddick. The least familiar duo, teammates on the Carolina Panthers, are seeking to become household names by participating in a 'sack competition' this fall. Defensive end Brian Burns, one half of the duo, is daring opposing teams to "pick their poison" when scheming against Carolina.

Burns, who tallied nine sacks a season ago, was a guest on NFL Network's Good Morning Football and couldn't contain his excitement over sharing the field with free agent acquisition Haasan Reddick, who registered 12.5 sacks last fall: "He's gonna add a lot of versatility, honestly. He can do a lot of things -- so can I -- but having both of us on the edge, they're going to have to pick their poison.

"They can't double-team both of us or the guys in the middle. We added a lot of great additions to this defense and to this team in general, and I really do think he's going to do great things for us. We're also gonna have a like little sack competition, so y'all be ready for that."

Adding Reddick, who joined the Panthers after four years in Arizona, to the defense should make both players more impactful. "I already know he's gonna push me," Burns said. "So, having him on the other side of me -- he's gets a sack, he's gonna push me and make me want to get a sack. I can already tell our competitive nature is going to come out. It's going to be a sack competition. I'm going to try and beat him every game and he already knows that."

A successful sack competition would go a long way in helping Burns and Reddick become a more recognizable duo, and would aid the Panthers in improving upon consecutive 5-11 seasons.