The Panthers finally won a game against the Falcons in Atlanta — something they haven’t managed to accomplish since December 2014 — in a 23-16 slugfest yesterday afternoon to raise their win-loss record above .500 for the first time since Week 10 last season (when they were 5-4 before losing the next seven games to finish 5-11).
For the third straight week, the winners/losers column will only focus on the winners, because there aren’t enough losers to talk about without being really nitpicky or singling someone out.
Winners
Teddy Bridgewater
The Panthers’ signal caller was solid again yesterday. He went 27-of-37 for 313 yards and two touchdowns (and zero sacks or turnovers!) and carved the Falcons’ defense like a Thanksgiving turkey (or more appropriately for the current month — a Halloween pumpkin). His quarterback rating was 116.2 and his QBR was 85.7, which are both solid numbers. He looked comfortable in the pocket and made sound decisions with the football all afternoon. He did exactly what we want him to do: he managed the offense and didn’t turn the football over, and the Panthers won as a result. I want to see more of this, and as Teddy gets more comfortable with his teammates I believe we will.
Mike Davis
Davis was a beast yesterday, racking up 149 all-purpose yards (89 rushing, 60 receiving) and one touchdown reception against the Falcons’ defense. He ran hard and bulldozed his way to pick up extra yards on nearly every carry, which was great to see. I think it’s safe to say that Davis is worth the money he’s being paid. (Side note: He always has been and the outrage over his contract has always been overblown in my opinion.) Hopefully the Panthers continue to give him carries whenever Christian McCaffrey returns from his ankle injury, and maybe this could be the second coming of Double Trouble (Double Trouble Part Deux?) in Carolina.
Davis was asked after the game why he runs so hard, and his answer was pretty great:
Mike Davis, when asked why he runs so hard:
— Bill Voth (@PanthersBill) October 11, 2020
“I’m just really pissed off when I’m out there.”
Hopefully he stays pissed off every Sunday.
DJ Moore
Moore was only targeted five times yesterday but he made the most of it, catching four of those targets for 93 yards and a touchdown. The 57-yard touchdown was the longest of his young career where he simply outran the defense on a play that should have only gained 8-10 yards. It was the biggest touchdown of the day as it gave the Panthers their first lead (a lead they would never surrender) and sparked the offense to jump out to a 20-7 halftime lead.
Robby Anderson
Anderson snagged eight balls for 112 yards yesterday, and while it took him a few plays to get going he finished the day strong and also added an outstanding one-handed catch for 29 yards in the second quarter. He didn’t find the end zone, but picking up over 100 yards is certainly nothing to sneeze at.
Curtis Samuel
Samuel caught all five of his targets for 36 yards and added another 28 yards on four carries, but his biggest contribution yesterday came on third down. He picked up three key first downs yesterday (two receiving, one rushing) on two scoring drives (both field goals) that kept the Panthers offense on the field. His stats won’t blow you away, but the timing of some of his plays — like his 17-yard carry on third down — as well as his key block to spring Moore’s touchdown make him a winner in my book.
Offensive line
I can’t call each of them out individually, but the Panthers’ offensive line didn’t allow a sack for the second straight week. The fact that they’re doing this while dealing with so many injuries is amazing. They’re rotating left tackles, their starting left guard hasn’t played much (if at all) and they’re still keeping Bridgewater protected and allowing him to make the offense work. You can’t complain about that, and hopefully we see that continue going forward. (Except for the injuries part. Get healthy, guys.)
Shaq Thompson & Jeremy Chinn
Thompson and Chinn were all over the field again yesterday and combined for 19 tackles (10 Thompson, 9 Chinn) and a pass defensed (Chinn). The defense as a whole struggled to contain Todd Gurley and Calvin Ridley, but Thompson and Chinn looked solid. I still can’t believe we got Chinn with the last pick in the second round. We got a steal there, y’all.
Honorable mentions
I wanted to mention Juston Burris in the winners section, but his failed scoop and score in the first half kept him off the list. He made up for it later with a huge interception in the end zone when the Falcons were trying to tie the game late in the fourth quarter, but his failure to just dive on the football ended up getting Brian Burns hurt on the next play. It’s not exactly Burris’ “fault” that Burns got hurt, but that situation could have been avoided entirely if he either executed the scoop and score properly or simply jumped on the football.
Full credit to Burris for owning up to it at halftime:
Burris also said he was going to make a pick to make up for it. Yup. https://t.co/YKDuHSbiEP
— Alaina Getzenberg (@agetzenberg) October 11, 2020
I wanted to mention the secondary as well, because I think they played fairly well except for their inability to contain Calvin Ridley. Granted, Ridley is among the league’s best receivers, but with Julio Jones out of action this was a “you had one job” situation, and the secondary couldn’t contain him. They did manage to keep him out of the end zone (for the first time in his career against the Panthers, mind you) but he also racked up 136 yards as the only real “threat” on offense. That’s not great. They also got lucky that Hayden Hurst didn’t know where the back of the end zone was, because if he would have ran through the route instead of leaping to attempt a catch in the end zone, the Falcons wouldn’t have needed to settle for a field goal and the Panthers could have easily lost the game.
The Panthers won yesterday so I’m trying to keep as much negativity away from this column as possible, but we need to talk about Tahir Whitehead. He’s holding the defense back with his poor angles, lack of coverage skill and bad decisions. The Panthers should move him to special teams and give Jermaine Carter more snaps at linebacker, because the defense would actually be pretty good if Whitehead weren’t costing them yards and/or points. Again, I’m not trying to be too negative, but it’s something that needs to be addressed.
And finally, someone needs to tell Pharoh Cooper that it’s okay if he calls for a fair catch or takes a knee in the end zone. I’m glad that he’s an electric kick/punt returner, and I’m glad that we don’t have to cover our eyes and hope there’s no disaster when we line up to receive a punt, but sometimes it’s best to just not return a kick and I’m not sure Cooper knows that. Just take a knee, Pharoh. Sometimes, that’s all we need.
Who were your winners from yesterday, Panthers fans? Share your thoughts with us!