4 crucial matchups to watch during Panthers at Cardinals in Week 10

Stout defense vs. Carolina Panthers’ knack for being 3rd and long

This has been a problem all year and that didn’t change in Week 9. Only two of the Carolina Panthers’ 10 third downs on Sunday had less than five yards to go and one of those two had four yards to gain.

That is nowhere near a winning brand of football and it showed.

On the other side, the Arizona Cardinals have only given up a staggering 31.73 percent third-down conversion rate, which is one of the best in the league in 2021. Put those two facts together and things start to look a bit sour for Panthers fans.

It’s hard enough in the NFL to convert in short-yardage let alone from 10 or even 15 out. A situation that has become all too common in recent weeks for this team.

When you get into those positions it severely limits the playbook and makes it that much easier for the defense. You aren’t going to run for a third and 15, after all. That simple fact lets the opposition pin its ears back for the pass play everyone knows is coming.

Now, a lot of factors play into bringing those long third downs about. However, whatever the cause, it’s happening far too often and it is a major factor in scoreless drives or ones that should have ended in a touchdown ending in a field goal instead.

This is a sign that the Panthers are consistently beating themselves with penalties or just bad decisions on early downs by both the players and coaches.

Be conservative and execute on first down so that you can in turn be creative and catch the defense off guard on the later downs with a shorter distance to work with.

Again, if Cam Newton plays, he helps. But asking a player who signed on Thursday to completely move the needle in such a short space of time is too much.

It’s going to be a slog either way, but keeping those third downs to a more manageable distance will go a long way to making that percentage tick up a bit and give the Panthers the slimmest of chances at a true shocker.