What were some key observations from Carolina Panthers running back Christian McCaffrey’s performance in Week 2 at the New York Giants?
How the Carolina Panthers deployed Christian McCaffrey during their opening day loss to the Cleveland Browns was scrutinized heavily. While there is a real need for those in power to keep their best offensive weapon on the field, giving the former first-round pick 14 combined touches throughout the contest was perhaps erring too much on the side of caution in the grand scheme of things.
When McCaffrey came to life, so did the Panthers. Something that needed to continue during a tricky fixture at the New York Giants, who came into the clash on the back of a hugely impressive road triumph against the Tennessee Titans.
McCaffrey was widely anticipated to feature more in Week 2. While this turned out to be the case, it was not enough to prevent the Panthers from falling to another demoralizing defeat.
With this in mind, here are four key observations from McCaffrey’s performance at the Giants in Week 2.
Key Observation No. 1
Christian McCaffrey was more involved
After so much debate about his ball allocation, the Carolina Panthers gave Christian McCaffrey more involvement in Week 2. It might have been 19 combined touches, but it was an increase from opening day, and long may it continue.
McCaffrey will be needed more than ever in the coming weeks. The Panthers already find themselves in a big-time hole just two games into the season, so this might result in Carolina going back to old habits in pursuit of improved fortunes.
Christian McCaffrey kept the Giants’ defense honest
It was a tough slog for Christian McCaffrey early in the game. The New York Giants set their stall out to restrict the All-Pro as expected, which resulted in some decent gains but never quite breaking one off for significant yardage.
McCaffrey had a lot of four-to-five-yard efforts throughout the first half. This put the Carolina Panthers in some manageable third-down situations, but poor efficiency in converting these opportunities played a big role in their eventual downfall.
This has got to be incredibly frustrating for McCaffrey, even though he’d never admit it publicly. There is just something amiss with the Panthers offensively right now, with the Giants holding them to one touchdown despite missing several influential figures on the defensive front and within their secondary.
In fairness to McCaffrey, his work ethic and elusiveness kept New York’s defense honest, if nothing else. And when one examines the wreckage of another poor loss, he was far from the biggest problem for a team that cannot buy a win right now.
McCaffrey also came through the game unscathed and seems to be in solid form. But the sooner other areas step up, the better considering how difficult things look over the next five weeks.
Christian McCaffrey looked like his old self
After securing 128 all-purpose yards and more than 100 on the ground, it appears as if Christian McCaffrey is back to the player of old. A welcome change of pace for someone that’s endured terrible luck on the injury front since signing his lucrative contract extension.
McCaffrey was explosive, and patient, taking advantage of seams when they arrived. His huge gain in the second half was further proof of what a special player he is, even if it didn’t have an impact on the overall outcome.
The Stanford product averaged 6.8 yards per carry, which is outstanding. If there was one criticism where McCaffrey is concerned, it would be making a bigger impression in the passing game with just four receptions for 26 receiving yards from five targets.
This is all positive for McCaffrey. It’s not going according to plan for the Panthers, but they’d be far worse off if the team didn’t have the benefit of the league’s best dual-threat running back or if the player was suffering from his long layoff in any way.
Carolina has their backs against the wall in no uncertain terms after attaining a 2-14 record over their last 16 games. McCaffrey was solid if not spectacular in Week 2, but he emerged as the best of a below-average bunch once again.
Something is holding this team back. And it doesn’t take a genius to figure out what that is.
Christian McCaffrey is being let down
The Carolina Panthers are wasting Christian McCaffrey’s prime years. He might have suffered some major complications on the health front over the last two seasons, but the running back has far too much talent to be languishing in such a torrid organization devoid of any confidence or ambition.
McCaffrey is being let down. It’s that simple.
This is out of his control, to a certain extent. He cannot be responsible for everything, but there are clear deficiencies that constantly keep coming up for a franchise that extended the league’s longest losing streak in Week 2 at the New York Giants.
Just what the Panthers can expect from their fixtures over the next month or so is anyone’s guess. They might have four of their next five at home, but the schedule is littered with potential playoff hopefuls and the last two Super Bowl champions in the Los Angeles Rams and Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Not ideal. But this is exactly why the first two contests against under-strength opposition were so important.
There was no reason why the Panthers should have lost on Sunday and in Week 1 to a team led by veteran journeyman Jacoby Brissett. McCaffrey can only do so much, but this falls on coaching when it’s all said and done.