Week 9 Recap:

This past Sunday marked what should have been a joyous occasion for Panthers fans as we saw Christian McCaffrey return to the field.  In the first three weeks of the season, we saw this offense operate at somewhat optimal levels with McCaffrey in the backfield, but a deeper dive reveals this offense was plagued with the same struggles even when CMC was in the backfield.  The inability to move the ball downfield in large part is due to the lack of big time plays by this offense.  This Sunday it was clear that CMC won’t be saving this offense.  A familiar story played out against the New England Patriots; one that Panthers fans have unfortunately seen unfold almost every Sunday this football season.  The only points that the offense could manage on the day came by way of Zane Gonzalez’s leg in two field goals.   The offensive could not break free of its current trend in the second half of games.  This was clear as the offense was unable to manage a single point in the second half.  This is beyond unacceptable and is downright depressing.  It is worth noting that McCaffrey was not used in the typical workhorse fashion that we had come to know from this coaching staff, but this could be due to him seeing his first action back since the hamstring injury.  CMC was able to tally 52 yards in the rush game, but seemed absent from 3rd down snaps.  Darnold targeted McCaffrey 5 times in the passing game, but the RB back position has been by far his favorite target this year.  The position saw 12 targets in total and a telling sign of what this offense is designed to do.  The longest complete pass on the day was a 33-yard connection with Chuba Hubbard and as guessed it began as a short pass.  Darnold was Darnold with three interceptions on the day; one being a pick-six by J.C. Jackson.  

The defense maintained its stout and nasty demeanor for most of the game but this could not counteract the lack of offensive production.  This has been a consistent theme to season; defense performs and performs well, forces turnovers, Gilmore with another interception, his second in two weeks, and possibly a bit sweeter coming against Gilmore’s former team, but fatigue is an opponent that can only be beaten back for so long.  With that being said the Carolina Panthers defense has still operated as one of the top units in the NFL.  When you look at the metrics you see Carolina in the top third of the league if not the top 10 in many of these categories.  Coming into this season Brian Burns and Haason Reddick were expected to be the leaders in this pass rush and they have not disappointed.  Sunday was another example of that as both men sacked the quarterback and the bonus of a strip fumble on the Burns sack.  Somehow that is not the biggest takeaway from this specific play, after the sack rookie New England Patriots quarterback Mac Jones was visible latching onto Brian Burns’ foot, preventing a pursuit from the ball, and causing the edge rusher to go down awkwardly.

The pair have been monsters coming off opposite edges and both players have dominated week in and week out.  Reddick leads the pair in their personal bet of who finishes the season with more sacks with 8.5 but Burns is not far behind with 5.5 sacks.  IT will be an exciting race to see who finishes with more when there have been missed sacks by both players.  That’s right; these men could have even more sack than what they do.  I don’t say this in the sense that it was a bad play, simply that both players have been inches away from gathering even more sacks.

Taco Tuesday Can Wait

If you were fortunate enough to catch the Cam Newton introductory press conference you heard correctly.  In the Newton household, they were celebrating one of the most cherished traditions, “Taco Tuesday”.  It was during this hallowed time that Cam learned of a missed call from head coach Matt Rhule.  At which point even Cam pondered if this was a call prompted by a divine force.  Taco Tuesday would have to wait because the Panthers and Rhule were calling to inquire about Cam Newton’s desire to be the Panthers quarterback once again.  A point in many of Cam’s answers to reporter questions was that the past would stay that, the past, and it will be left there.  In life, there are moments where the most important thing a person can do is embrace the moment and present.  This was echoed by Cam throughout the presser.  In that fashion I will not harp over the ugly departure of Cam Newton; all that matters is Superman is back.  Is Cam the same player that we remember watching, the answer is likely no, but what Cam can bring to this team is something it lost when they cut Cam.  When David Tepper and Matt Rhule originally cut Cam Newton after failing to find a trade partner they cut out the heart of this team.  It was no secret that Cam was the soul of the locker room and that died when he left.  Now we get a chance to see if that can be revived.  We also get a chance to see a healthy Cam Newton play with a healthy Christian McCaffrey; something Panthers fans would have taken a 2nd mortgage out for.  Unlike in the past, Cam Newton is not without weapons when he lines up under center.  Unfortunately that likely won’t be this Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals, a team Cam had a rather memorable play against.  Cam will likely suit up for the game but barring any sort of injury to PJ Walker I would highly doubt that Cam sees the field.  If there is a devil’s advocate in all of this that would be I was wrong about both CMC and Darnold playing this past Sunday.

Looking ahead on the schedule just one week and to Panthers fans’ delight, we have the dream matchup.  On November 21 in Bank of America Stadium, the Panthers will take on the Washington Football Team coached by Ron Rivera.  There is no scenario I see taking place that does not involve Cam Newton being under center for this game.  It will have given him over a full week to learn the offense and prepare for the game with the same person that coached Cam through the first nine years of his career.  There has been a lot said about the fan turnout at Panthers home games, come Sunday week 11, expect to hear the roar of a packed house filled with fans anxious to display their fandom in full force.  As someone that has been present at every home game this season I can say for a fact that something has been missing.  From opening day on it was present that fans were losing their passion for the team.  Signing Cam Newton has the potential to put wins on the board and turn this season around, but Cam Newton “Will” turn this locker room around.  “Keep Pounding” is engrained into a player, many of the players of this team are not veterans, still finding their way, and now they will experience a head on collision with what it means to Keep Pounding.  One thing is for sure, for the rest of the season this Panthers team will be a different team than the one we saw through the first nine weeks of the season.