3 reasons the Carolina Panthers should beat the Texans in Week 3

The Carolina Panthers’ young talent is developing into a complete roster

Year 1 of the Matt Rhule era came with plenty of criticism for the then-rookie head coach and his staff. However, the fast start to 2021 has changed the minds of many of those doubters.

The Carolina Panthers are of course only two games into Rhule’s second season, but the team truly appears to be gelling in a way that they didn’t last year.

Several players showed flashes of potential in 2020, but the team never became a completely cohesive unit, especially on the defensive side of the ball.

We knew Brian Burns was going to be a force, and we knew Donte Jackson had a chance to step up, but the impact the team received from Derrick Brown and Jeremy Chinn was a bit of a pleasant surprise.

A year later, those players seem to have gone from being a handful of talented young individuals to a complementary talented young defense.

Their tenacity is already paying huge dividends for the Panthers this season, as they currently lead the league in both passing and rushing yards allowed, points allowed, sacks, and third-down conversion percentage.

According to Rhule, much of the credit belongs to defensive coordinator, Phil Snow.

Rhule described Snow as the best football coach he’s ever been around and has repeatedly made note that he has never been the head coach of any team without the 65-year-old on his staff.

Snow faced a lot of heat after last year, so it’s good to see him getting some much-deserved love after a very impressive start this season.

When Rhule and his staff were hired during the last offseason, they were brought in with the intention of developing a competitive roster with the talent that was already there.

Rhule has continually proved himself as a program builder. Two games into Year 2, it seems as though that label has followed him to the NFL as well.