The Panthers won their second straight game of the season yesterday when they beat the Cardinals 31-21 in front of a limited number of fans at Bank of America Stadium in Week 4. It was another solid team effort from start to finish, and as a result this week’s column will only focus on the players who deserve a shout out for being ‘winners’. There are ten such players this week, so let’s talk about them.
Winners
Teddy Bridgewater
Bridgewater played about as well as we could expect him to yesterday. He was 26-of-37 for 276 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He also tacked on a rushing touchdown with a gorgeous 18-yard run where he weaved his way through the defense. (Side note: it was his longest touchdown run since his terrible knee injury in 2016.) His QBR was 93.6 and his traditional quarterback rating was 98.5, which are both pretty good. He was more efficient in the red zone, which was a vast improvement over what we saw in Week 3. (The Panthers were 4-for-5 in red zone attempts yesterday.) His interception could have been avoided if he made a better throw, but the Panthers were up 14-0 at the time and the interception didn’t have any influence on the game’s final result. I do like that Teddy started taking some risks down the field yesterday though, and I hope that seeing some positive results from taking those risks will encourage him to do that more often.
Mike Davis
Davis had another good outing as Christian McCaffrey’s replacement, rushing for 84 yards and a touchdown on 16 carries (5.3 yards per carry), and adding 27 more yards on five receptions. He ran hard all day and looked impossible to bring down at times, and he has shown that he deserves playing time even when McCaffrey returns to the lineup in a few weeks.
Reggie Bonnafon
If it were up to me, Bonnafon played his way onto the 53-man roster yesterday. He picked up 53 yards on 10 carries and also grabbed two passes for 18 yards and a touchdown as the No. 2 running back behind Davis. He has shown flashes of being a capable backup running back and gadget player, and hopefully the coaching staff recognizes the work he’s put in by giving him the roster spot he’s clearly earned.
Robby Anderson
Anderson didn’t find the end zone yesterday, but he did catch eight passes for 99 yards and helped keep the chains moving on several occasions which is almost as important as scoring points. I was leery of how well Anderson would fit in our offense due to Bridgewater’s reputation of being hesitant to throw deep, but the Panthers’ coaching staff have found a way to scheme him open and it’s paying dividends. Hopefully that continues to be a thing every week.
Greg Little
He won’t show up on the stat sheet but I have to give a shout out to Little after he played well yesterday. Little showed flashes of what we expected to see from him after Marty Hurney traded up in the second round to draft him in 2019. He absolutely demolished a poor soul on a block that sprung a big gain, which was one of the most exciting plays that happened in the game yesterday. A special shoutout goes to the rest of the offensive line as well, who joined together and allowed zero sacks on Bridgewater. You can’t ask for much more than that from your offensive line.
Jeremy Chinn
The FOX broadcast crew made the following statement in the first half: ‘Jeremy Chinn is what the Cardinals want Isaiah Simmons to be’. After watching him play yesterday I can see why they would make such a claim. Chinn was everywhere on the field, and he led the team in tackles with eight (five solo). Friendly reminder that we selected Chinn in the second round of the draft as opposed to No. 8 overall.
Juston Burris
Burris was also all over the place yesterday. He ended up with six tackles (five solo), a tackle for loss and a pass defensed. He doesn’t jump off the screen at you, but Burris has been a solid free agent pickup for the Panthers this year. Hopefully he continues to play as well as he did yesterday.
Yetur Gross-Matos
Gross-Matos almost missed yesterday’s game after suffering from an illness throughout the week, but fortunately he was able to play, and boy did he ever make the most of his time out there. He tallied three tackles (all solo), a strip-sack and a quarterback hit. The sack-fumble came at an opportune time as the Cardinals were driving into Panthers territory when it happened, and the Panthers scored on their ensuing drive to extend their lead to 21 points in the third quarter. If that play didn’t happen, this column could have a completely different tone than it does, so kudos to Gross-Matos for making a big play when it counted.
Brian Burns
Burns only had two tackles (one solo) but he also had three quarterback hits, and there were several times where he ‘just missed’ a big play. He generated pressure on almost every play he was involved in, and sometimes that doesn’t show up in the stat sheet but it deserves to be appreciated. It’s amazing that the previous regime felt that he didn’t deserve more playing time last year (and it’s probably part of the reason why they’re the previous regime and not the current one).
Jermaine Carter
Carter played well when he was out there, and he had two tackles (one solo) and a tackle for loss. He’s better than Tahir Whitehead right now, and honestly he should be the linebacker that’s paired with Shaq Thompson most of the time, and Whitehead should be the guy who mostly plays special teams and only comes out on defense occasionally to give players a break. I’m not trying to harp on Whitehead too much, but he was mostly responsible for Kyler Murray’s 48-yard run in the third quarter because he over-pursued the play. It’s something that he does more than he should, and Carter should see more playing time for that reason alone.
Honorable mention
I have to give a shout-out to defensive tackle Zach Kerr for being a savvy veteran on two separate occasions yesterday. There were two instances when the Cardinals made substitutions after breaking the huddle, which by rule gives the defense an opportunity to do the same before the ball can be snapped. Kerr — who was under no obligation to get to the line of scrimmage quickly — took his sweet time walking to his teammates on defense. The first time this happened the Cardinals were forced to waste a timeout because the play clock continues to run during substitutions. The Cardinals didn’t have to use a timeout the second time it happened, but it was great (and hilarious) to see Kerr use veteran gamesmanship like that. Kerr may not have registered any stats in the box score, but forcing the other team to waste a timeout has to count for something, right?
Who stood out to you yesterday, Panthers fans? Are there any other winners you believe deserve a shout out? Let’s hear about them.