4 positives from the Carolina Panthers’ Week 9 loss at the Chiefs
By Dean Jones
Clock control
Teddy Bridgewater had a big job on his hands at the Chiefs. The Carolina Panthers were counting on their signal-caller going toe-to-toe with 2018 NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes and it is something he did well on the whole without doing quite enough to emerge victoriously.
Bridgewater looked comfortable under center from the outset. Having Christian McCaffrey alongside him sure helped. But his distribution was once again efficient and allowed the Panthers to control the clock for the majority of the game.
There were some times when Carolina’s offensive coordinator Joe Brady could’ve taken the shackles off with shots downfield. This was especially evident when the Panthers had the lead and might have been wise to go for the throat. But it could have gone away from what they were trying to achieve from a game plan perspective.
This will be another game where Bridgewater will be criticized for not getting his team over the line. However, this was a more than creditable effort from a quarterback that completed 73.4 percent of his passes for 310 passing yards, two touchdowns, and no interceptions.
It also gave the Panthers a clear advantage in the time of possession battle, which was 38:01 to 21:59 in their favor. This wasn’t enough to get what would have been a morale-boosting success, but it was an eye-catching feature of their progression nonetheless.