5 huge positives from Carolina Panthers dominant Week 7 win vs. Bucs
By Luke Gray
Carolina Panthers’ rushing attack
If either D’Onta Foreman or Chuba Hubbard turned on the sports news since Thursday they’d have been under the impression that the Carolina Panthers’ only had one running back capable of being effective.
When the news broke that Christian McCaffrey had been dealt to the San Francisco 49ers for a haul of draft picks, fans and media alike wrote off not only the Panthers’ season but any hope of them having an effective running game. It seems from the performance on Sunday that both Foreman and Hubbard heard the noise.
In the trenches Carolina was completely dominant, rushing for 173 yards as a team. The impressive duo of Foreman and Hubbard rushed for 181 yards on just 24 carries, averaging over 7.5 yards per touch.
This was the first extended opportunity for both players this season to show what they can do as the running attack had been all McCaffrey through six weeks thanks in no small part to the inconsistent quarterback play from Baker Mayfield.
Foreman was someone fans were excited to see. After showing in 2021 that he was an adequate replacement for All-Pro running back Derrick Henry on the Tennessee Titans, the former Texas Longhorn was expected to provide a 1-2 punch with McCaffrey, especially in short-yardage situations.
Despite his checkered injury history McCaffrey was given little rest and became the main bell-cow, leaving Hubbard and Foreman as afterthoughts. With the Stanford product now gone, the Panthers could have an effective running-back duo.