5 major talking points from the Panthers’ victory at Texans in Week 3
By Luke Gray
The Carolina Panthers moved to 3-0 with a prime-time win over the Houston Texans on Thursday Night Football, but what were the main takeaways?
For the first time in his career, Sam Darnold is 3-0 as an NFL quarterback. The Carolina Panthers signal-caller carried the offense to a 24-9 win over the Houston Texans to move to 3-0 on the season.
Darnold finished the game 23 of 34 for 304 passing yards and two rushing scores. The Panthers’ stellar defense was once again lights out, it was a chastening debut for Texans rookie Davis Mills as in his first NFL start he was sacked four times and hit a further 10 times as Carolina moved to 14 sacks through three games.
However, the win was marred by potentially serious injuries to stud running back Christian McCaffrey who left the game in the second quarter with a strained hamstring, and No.8 overall pick Jaycee Horn who more worryingly suffered a broken foot in the third quarter.
Much will depend on the timeline of McCaffrey’s problem. But the Panthers can at least be encouraged by the fact Darnold came through when his team needed him and when things could have gone completely the other way.
With a stiffer test to come next week in the form of Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys what were the main takeaways as the Panthers remained unbeaten.