Bryce Young and the Panthers try to bounce back from a disastrous outing against the Cowboys.
All of the positive momentum that the Carolina Panthers had been building on offense came crashing to a screeching halt when Bryce Young fumbled that ball on the opening drive against the Dallas Cowboys. The Panthers looked poised to put points on the board after a long series the first time they touched the ball. Young made a great play to avoid Micah Parsons, but he ended up losing the ball, and with it, seemingly any hope for a good game. It ended up being the first of four turnovers on a day that looked like it belonged in the 2023 season.
If there’s any solace to be taken in that defeat, it’s that the Cowboys have actually been pretty not terrible defensively. We can chalk it up as a bad day against a good defense if the Panthers can right the ship this Sunday. And if we’re talking recent trends, the Cardinals are a good remedy for whatever ailed the Panthers last weekend.
After boasting a pretty good defense for much of the season, the Cardinals have started struggling with the season’s end drawing near. In their last two games, they’ve allowed 6.7 and 6.3 yards per paly to the Seahawks and Patriots respectively. For context, the worst defense in the NFL, the Jaguars, allows 6.1 yards per play for the season.
The Panthers also have the time zone advantage. The Cardinals will be playing at 10am on their body clocks, which many people have told me matters.
There’s a chance the Panthers recapture the little bit of offensive mojo they found in recent weeks. Here are some things they need to do to help with that.
- Keep drives alive on third down. The one saving grace for the Cardinals defense during their struggles has been their ability to get off the field on third downs. They stopped the Patriots on all six of their third down plays last week, and prior to a ho-hum performance against the Seahawks in that area, held the high powered Vikings to 1-of-8 on third down. One thing you might find interesting is the low number of third downs the Cardinals are facing. One way to make sure you don’t get stopped on third down is to never get to third down in the first place.
- Attack the Cardinals linebackers in pass coverage. The Panthers struggled to get Ja’Tavion Sanders and Tommy Tremble involved in the passing game this week. It might be a good week to renew the focus on the tight ends. According to PFF, out of 177 linebackers, Mack Wilson and Kyzir White rank 128th and 166th respectively in pass coverage. The middle of the field should be wide open for the passing game. Adam Thielen could thrive here as well.
- Chuba Hubbard up the gut. The Panthers have had a tendency to get away from the run game at times this year, including in last week’s loss. The Cardinals are not good on the interior of their line, so there’s a good opportunity to flex the interior offensive line and get some push in the run game. For as bad as the Cardinals linebackers have been in coverage, they have been pretty good against the run, but there should still be room for Hubbard to pick up some solid gains on the ground provided the Panthers give him a chance.