Cat Crave
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Carolina Panthers defense puts six sack stamp on Week 1 victory

By Glenn Shorkey

CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 09: Wes Horton #96 of the Carolina Panthers sacks Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers won 16-8. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NC - SEPTEMBER 09: Wes Horton #96 of the Carolina Panthers sacks Dak Prescott #4 of the Dallas Cowboys during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 9, 2018 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers won 16-8. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /
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The Carolina Panthers defense enjoys impressive showing in season debut.

Between Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton’s early 29-yard gallop and Mario Addison’s beauty of a strip-sack with 1:28 left in the game there was a lot of what some Midwesterners might call ‘ooftah’, which the Urban Dictionary defines as an understanding of a negative situation, surprise or wonder.

The 16-8 defensive victory over Dallas paled in comparison to the 48-40 shootout Tampa Bay and New Orleans produced, but the new era of David Tepper’s ownership is atop the NFC South and unbeaten, so on with the rest of 2018 season.

The best news wasn’t that Bank of America Stadium finally has a team logo emblazoned at midfield, more that Luke Kuechly (13 tackles) returned from a possible knee injury with 1:51 remaining. An audible sigh of relief from the crowd didn’t come through on the TV, but there’s no doubt it happened. The Panthers and fans will keep their collective fingers crossed about Greg Olsen (2/33 yds.) departing after a 19-yard first quarter catch and appearing with a boot on the same injured foot that cost him nine games last year. Three players injured in the preseason (TE Chris Manhertz, RT Daryl Williams, S Da’Norris Searcy) all played, but Williams was carted off late in the game after taking a hit on the same injured knee during the fourth quarter.

Fans might be disappointed about the lack of fireworks offensively, and to quote former head coach John Fox’s “It is what it is” line, this was a win in the bigger picture.

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Newton had 59 yards rushing in the first quarter and finished with 58 on 13 carries (those kneel downs at the end kill stats) plus a touchdown while completing 17 of 26 passes for 161 yards. For all the hype about running back Christian McCaffrey taking on a huge workload, he had 16 touches for 95 total yards- six receptions for 45 yards, 10 runs for 50 and a fumble at the five-yard line that ended the Panthers first possession was unfortunately his first since the opener last year. Wide receiver Devin Funchess had three catches for 41 yards and fullback Alex Armah scored on a one-yard run after C.J. Anderson lugged it to the goal line.

D.J. Moore had only one catch that registered officially as a carry, and his lack of production here and last two preseason games has been a puzzle. Slot receiver Jarius Wright (free agent from Minnesota) was as advertised, including a down-away throw that he caught while on his back. More will certainly be heard from Anderson.

Yes, it was a six-sack defensive win- Kawann Short had two, Shaq Thompson had nine tackles- for coordinator Eric Washington’s crew, which looked to be in control all afternoon. Cowboys running back Ezekiel Elliott was held to 69 yards on 15 carries and a score, Dak Prescott was 19 of 29 for 170 yards and while neither team covered itself in glory, the fans in Dallas aren’t going to be as pleased with the fractured and inconsistent offense that Panthers fans will consider a dynamic defensive effort.

Although the first game ball went to owner David Tepper, the fact that Dallas didn’t run a play on the Panthers side of mid-field in the first half or find the end zone until 8:42 left in the game was certainly worthy of one.

LOOSE ENDS

  • The offense was almost perfectly balanced: 147 rushing, 146 (net) passing. The Panthers are now one game over .500 for their history: 193-192-1.
  • Rookie tight end Ian Thomas got his first pro catch (eight yards) on the initial drive. Torrey Smith had his first catch as a Panther with 1:24 left in first half. Expect the Panthers to be very careful with Olsen’s injured foot.
  • Damiere Byrd had a 30-yard punt return at in 12:18 second quarter to set up Panthers offense at Cowboys 35, then Carolina inexplicably had Moore on return duty.
  • McCaffrey had a ‘big boy’ 13-yard gain on first drive, putting a shoulder into Cowboys linebacker Sean Lee and not going down until three players tackled him. For those who now think he’s been de-emphasized as a receiver, there’s a long season ahead.
  • Newton zipped two throws to Funchess along the way, but never put anything up top in red zone to take advantage of Funchess and Moore’s ability on jump balls.

dark. Next. CAR vs. DAL - Grades (Offense)

  • Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan had a 21/43, 251 yard/1 INT/4 sack outing in an 18-12 Thursday night loss vs. the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Panthers defense will look forward to continuing his misery next week. Julio Jones had a 10 catch/169 yard night. Drew Brees was 37/45 for 439 yards/3 TDs against the Buccaneers and Carolina can afford to wait until end of season to see him twice.
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