I don’t mean to be “that guy” and trying to bend everything to support my personal argument, and I realize this is a small sample size, but…
Barrett played the entire first half. The Panthers had 27 plays for 180 yards. They had two sacks…one of them, credited to Barrett, wasn’t a real sack but more of a running play as Newton tried to scramble and held the ball forever. He also had a terrible offsides penalty on 3rd and 8.
Barrett didn’t olay in the second half. Before garbage time (taking out the last drive), the Panthers had 29 plays for 31 yards. The team had five sacks. That was without Winfield.
I’m telling you the defense is better with Barrett out…maybe not on obvious passing plays, but overall he hurts them more than he helps them. It’s why Belichick doesn’t want edge rusher-only players like Collins or Winovich on the field much of the time...they’re easy to figure out, have one skill, and often get exploited for their overaggressiveness.