It’s almost time to prepare for a tougher than advertised match up against a Minnesota Vikings team who held the Packers to disturbingly low numbers Sunday night. But first, here’s a run down of what happened in week 2 to get you caught up.
J-Stew: Injured, not-injured, injured again. It’s the same carousel we’ve been riding for 8 years now. It’s not a Jonathan Stewart season if he doesn’t spend at least two weeks on IR. Hopefully he gets this out of his system early and comes back ready for our trio of divisional match ups prior to the bye week. The good news is that at least this gives us a long look at the guy who will sooner or later be taking over Stewart’s touches in the backfield. Cameron Artis-Payne will actually be active against Minnesota and likely take the lion’s share of carries with Fozzy to pace him.
Waka-Waka: Fozzy proves himself capable as a backup with a respectable day. Whittaker in his own right made sure the drop off between from Stewart’s exit was minimal and short lived. Fozzy went for 100 yards on 16 attempts and another 31 on 3 receptions. Aside from an unfortunate fumble, Fozzy showed that against an average defense, he has what it takes to get the job done.
Greg Olsen: Greg made the longest reception of his career pulling in a 78 yard touchdown to re-establish Carolina dominance with an outside fake that tripped up Pro Bowler Antoine Bethea. An impressive moment that Olsen would love to have to himself, Sunday marked the first time in NFL history that 2 Tight Ends went for 75+ yard touchdowns.
Kelvin Benjamin: 7 receptions, 108 yards and 2 touchdowns. Kelvin Benjamin is back and he’s picking up right where he left off. At 199 yards, currently number 9 in the league ahead of superstars like Julio Jones and Antonio Brown, Benjamin takes an already explosive offense to a new level. Kelvin’s juggling insane concentration leveled reception in spite of excellent coverage brings to mind a similar reception against two of the best defenders in the league at Seattle in his rookie season. Benjamin hasn’t lost a step. With Greg Olsen close behind at 11th overall in reception yards, it looks like another high octane offensive season for the Panthers.
Self Inflicted Adversity: Panthers overcome yet another collapse to yet another misleading score. Up 31 to 10 before a strip sack that evoked PTSD style flashbacks from February and a missed KO that Ted Ginn completely muffed setting up the 49ers at the one yard line it looked like San Francisco had found life. Now 20 - 31 there was a lot left to play in the fourth. Not one to let Cam and Olsen have all the fun, Gabbert also threw a 75 yard plus touchdown to his own Tight End making the score 27 - 31. Carolina then got its act together and put the game away, scoring 15 more points, ending the game with a Bradberry interception and an Insta-Graham field goal. . These little miscues are a common symptom of early Panthers football but put pressure on a team to get disciplined fast. Better teams capitalize on those mistakes. All in all I’d have to say:
Silly Hats and Super Models: It’s no secret that Cam has a predisposition to fashion of the more avant garde persuasion. As fans we’ve learned that Cam’s extravagance is part of his nature. A part that you can’t change without diminishing what makes him Cam. If you’d like to see what the reigning MVP does with his time off, check out this video of Mr. Newton and super cute model Karlie Gloss goofing off in New York with Vogue magazine: