During the 37-day duration of their torturous winless streak, the Carolina Panthers figured out they didn’t have what they wanted in its passing game and, in particular, quarterback Sam Darnold. So, they had to then figure out what to do with the offense as a whole.
Well, they got something right in their Week 8 victory over the Atlanta Falcons and an integral part of that solution came courtesy of a guy who wasn’t even on the roster when their four-game skid started.
Following Sunday’s win, head coach Matt Rhule made sure—multiple times, in fact—to credit the performance of running back Ameer Abdullah. Abdullah, who started the season with the Minnesota Vikings and actually played against the Panthers just days prior to joining them, provided a little extra push in his first set of offensive snaps in Carolina.
“First time since I’ve been here we ran for 200 yards. So that’s a step in the right direction.” Rhule said in his postgame presser. “Let me say this, I’m sorry, I thought Ameer Abdullah was just an absolute jolt of energy for us today. He was excellent.”
Two weeks after Rhule indicated that he wanted his team to establish the run more effectively, the Panthers rushed for a season-high 203 yards on 47 tries. Abdullah, who signed on with the team prior to the Week 7 outing against the New York Giants, accounted for 31 of those yards while also adding in another 35 on three receptions.
The seventh-year back may be squeezing himself into a role with Carolina, one that may even last with the return of Christian McCaffrey. Rhule would, again, gush over the immediate impact Abdullah had on the group.
“I have no idea,” Rhule said of where McCaffrey will be at in terms of health this week. “You guys know, kinda wait ’til Wednesday and see where he’s at Wednesday. Practice is Wednesday, he’ll be out there Thursday. But I will say, I thought Chuba [Hubbard] ran hard, Royce [Freeman] did some really good things and Ameer, like I said, he was a jolt for us today.
“And it’s a shame that one third down that got called back, ’cause I think he’s got something to him. Even the third-down conversion. Those are the routes we usually run with Christian. And I think Sam’s developing a really nice rapport with Ameer. So whenever Christian comes back, he’s a premier talent to go along with a bunch of other guys who are figuring it out.”