Carolina Panthers: Week 6 awards in loss vs. the Bears

Carolina Panthers Week 6 Awards: Christian McCaffrey – MVP

Generally, the Carolina Panthers’ MVP carries the team, but this week’s award goes to a player who was sorely missing from the lineup.

Value can be hard to determine, and during the three-game winning streak, it seemed like Christian McCaffrey’s importance might not be as high as believed.

After four games, though, McCaffrey’s value was easily seen, even by the doubters. The Panthers struggled to run the ball, rushing for only 3.9 yards-per-carry on Sunday, which was the first game they really missed their All-Pro running back.

Most notably, Mike Davis failed to find his rhythm after the past two games rushing for over 80 yards in both contests. The veteran filled in nicely while McCaffrey was out, but the Panthers need their franchise player to continue to win games.

McCaffrey might not have played against the Bears, but value isn’t always determined by who plays. Sometimes, the best way to find out a player’s worth is seeing how they fair in their absence and the former first-round pick’s value was quite viewable against a superb Chicago defense.

It might come as a weird pick for an inactive player, but the need for McCaffrey was glaring on Sunday afternoon. The game could have looked entirely different for the Panthers if their star was on the field, and that’s why he deserves MVP for Week 6.