4 big takeaways from Panthers’ Week 1 loss to the Raiders
By Dean Jones
The offensive line play was a nice surprise
There were plenty of doubts surrounding the Carolina Panthers’ offensive line ahead of their opening game. But it was one of the more pleasant surprises on an otherwise disappointing afternoon.
The new-look group looked assured throughout against a formidable defensive Raiders’ defensive front. They kept the pocket clean consistently for Teddy Bridgewater and gave Christian McCaffrey some line running lanes to work in during the second half.
Bridgewater was sacked just once, which was a massive bonus. If they can keep this up throughout the season then it is going to do their chances of proving the doubters wrong an enormous amount of good.
They were unable to get the push needed when Alex Armah was handed the ball on a fourth-and-one late in the game. But that should not detract from what an outstanding job this unit did to give the offense a fighting chance of clawing back the deficit in the fourth quarter.
Taylor Moton and Russell Okung were assured on the edge and center Matt Paradis’ display was another pleasing factor despite the loss.
Hopefully, this is a trend that can continue long into the future. It would be hard to pin this loss on the offense and especially those occupying positions at the line of scrimmage.