by Sharon Thorsland
The Panthers have spent the week working on fundamentals and correcting the mistakes they made in their season opening loss to the Jaguars. Now they’re off to the desert to take on the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday. Kick-off is set for 4:15. This is a rematch of last December’s week 16 game in Charlotte, which the Panthers won in overtime. This version of the Cardinals looks to be even better though, with a bunch of new faces on defense headlined by former Eagles pass rusher Josh Sweat.
Most of the attention will be on Arizona’s offense and quarterback Kyler Murray though. Murray is a dual threat who picked up nearly 4400 combined yards and 26 touchdowns last season. His ability to extend plays with his feet and elusiveness make him incredibly dangerous. “He’s like a magician back there,” said Panthers edge rusher Pat Jones. “He does all sorts of stuff, he’s running around – he makes plays out of nothing.”
Trying to contain Murray will be job number one. Job number two? Slowing down Pro Bowl running back James Conner. The veteran teams with second year player Trey Benson to average 144 rushing yards per game. The Panthers continued their alarming trend of allowing over 200 rushing yards a contest last week against Jacksonville, their 7th straight game to do so dating back to last season. Stopping the run has been a focus in practice this week so we’ll see if that work helps.
The Cardinals defense got a big shot in the arm with the addition of three key players in free agency. Players. Sweat, defensive tackle Dalvin Tomlinson and 6’8 Calais Campbell have made an immediate impact on what was already an aggressive defense. And the Cardinals have one of the best safeties in the league in All-Pro Budda Baker, who was second in the league in tackles last season.
“I think it’s really critical just knowing where he’s at,” says Panthers coach Dave Canales. “He’s so versatile and can cover a lot of ground.. He presents different challenges as you go into the line of scrimmage, whether it’s the run game or the pass game.”
This is the sixth time these teams have met in the past seven years, including that overtime thriller last season. The Panthers lead the overall series 13-5. If they want to add to that win total they’ll need to shore up the defense and clean up the mistakes they made on offense last week. Quarterback Bryce Young says they’ve moved on are are ready for the next challenge. “You don’t go into the next game winning or losing, nothing carries over,” said Young. “It’s going to be a great challenge and I’m excited.”