4 instant takeaways from Panthers’ win vs. Cardinals

A dominant display from the Carolina Panthers’ defense

It’s hard not to love the way things are developing on the defensive side of the ball. This is a young and relatively inexperienced group who is learning as they go, but they have come on a significant amount in a short space of time.

If their performance at the Chargers in Week 3 was encouraging, then this sort of standard is now the benchmark. They were exceptional in every department to restrict Kyler Murray from anything more than short yardage gains and one big run late in the game.

That is as good as it gets. They got some big plays from their key contributors such as Derrick Brown, Donte Jackson, and Shaq Thompson. Other rotational players also came in and make an impression, which was highlighted by the first strip-sack of the season from second-round pick Yetur Gross-Matos.

Rasul Douglas was at his brilliant best once again. He was tasked with going up against DeAndre Hopkins for the most part and although the All-Pro was clearly hampered by an injury, this does not detract from what a superb job the cornerback did in limiting his production.

This is another huge shot in the arm for the Panthers, who seem to be improving much quicker than anybody anticipated. There is plenty more football still to play, but the outlook is incredibly promising at this juncture.