4 positives from the Panthers’ Week 1 loss to the Raiders
By Dean Jones
Teddy Bridgewater showed promise
Teddy Bridgewater appeared locked-in right from the start of his first game under center for the Carolina Panthers. The free-agent signing wasted no time in making his presence felt by leading three consecutive scoring drives to start the game. But this was not enough to get what would have been a huge victory for this new-look roster.
Bridgewater has a monumental job on his hands in Carolina as he looks to fill the void left by Cam Newton. Seeing the 2015 NFL MVP hit the headlines on his New England Patriots debut has only increased the pressure on his shoulders. But there were plenty of reasons to be encouraged regarding his production in Week 1.
The former first-round pick was commanding at the line of scrimmage and managed to read the defense well for the most part. There were some opportunities missed in terms of third-down conversions and mistiming on throws to the likes of D.J. Moore and Curtis Samuel. But overall it was a positive start from Bridgewater and one he can definitely build on.
Carolina’s offense was pretty good at moving the chains consistently. Things might have been different had there not been a most productive play-call on fourth-and-one other than to hand the ball off to fullback Alex Armah and Bridgewater might feel aggrieved he wasn’t given more responsibility on that crucial drive given how well he played previously.
Bridgewater eventually finished with a QBR of 75.5, 270 passing yards, one touchdown, no interceptions, and a 64.7 pass completion percentage. This is a solid foundation from which to build a successful season and he should get plenty of looks against a suspect Bucs’ secondary next weekend.