What were some critical observations to emerge from the Carolina Panthers’ triumph against the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football?
The Carolina Panthers’ sole appearance on primetime in 2022 was a successful one. Anchored by a dominant run game, Steve Wilks’ men came out on top against the Atlanta Falcons to win an impressive third divisional game and avenge the heartbreaking loss a fortnight ago.
As has been the case with most Thursday Night Football games, this was hardly a classic. The arrival of tropical storm Nicole meant wet and windy conditions, which didn’t lend itself to either team finding much consistency in the passing game.
Instead, what we saw was an old-school game with both Carolina and Atlanta rushing for 370 yards between them. Something that suited the Panthers down to the ground after such a disappointing display in Week 9 at the Cincinnati Bengals.
Carolina managed to win the battle in the trenches, racking up 232 rushing yards to Atlanta’s 138. Considering the Bengals gassed the Panthers for a season-high 241 yards on the ground last weekend, it was impressive to see the defensive line led by the imperious Derrick Brown respond well in front of the glaring national spotlight.
What comes next for the Panthers is unclear, but a slight window of opportunity to finish the season strongly is now emerging. With this in mind, here are four critical observations from Carolina’s eye-catching win over the Falcons in Week 10.
Carolina Panthers must extend D’Onta Foreman
When the Carolina Panthers traded Christian McCaffrey following Week 6, fans were excited to finally see what free agent signing D’Onta Foreman could do in a more prominent role. While there was optimism, I doubt even the most confident fan would have predicted what the former Texas Longhorn has done.
In his four starts since the McCaffrey trade, Foreman has rushed for an incredible 389 yards. Considering carried the ball just seven times for 23 yards at the Cincinnati Bengals, in three contests he has 366 yards on the ground and four touchdowns.
Impressive work for a guy who seemed to be an afterthought under the previous head coach. This further puts the ridiculous contract the Panthers gave McCaffrey firmly in the spotlight.
Foreman signed a one-year, $2 million deal in free agency. A far cry from the $64 million deal that Marty Hurney gave McCaffrey.
What we’ve seen this season is a vastly improved offensive line and a running back who fits the downhill running style Carolina wants to deploy. Something that ensured Foreman will be in strong contention for a new contract to prevent him from leaving next spring.
General manager Scott Fitterer should look to extend Foreman if his production continues. Depending on what the Panthers wish to do with Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear, the team may use one of its 2023 draft selections on running back, with Bijan Robinson and Jahmyr Gibbs two names to watch.
Carolina Panthers defense bounced back
The last two weeks have been rather gloomy for this Carolina Panthers’ defense and interim defensive coordinator Al Holcomb. In Weeks 8 and 9, this talented unit gave up 37 and 42 points to go along with 464 and 406 yards, so a huge bounce-back contest was demanded by the fanbase.
So with the national cameras in town, fans were keen to see how this defense would respond. And they got off to the fast start we had come accustomed to.
Shaq Thompson set the tone early, and despite a score line of 25-15 indicating a close game, it always felt Carolina was the dominant side. The Panthers also limited a strong Atlanta Falcons running attack, restricting them to 138 yards on the ground.
We saw another stellar performance from Derrick Brown. The former Auburn man was a menace all night long, causing serious problems to the Falcons’ offensive line as the Panthers ended the game with five sacks.
Helped by some interesting throws from Marcus Mariota, the Panthers should have had more than a single interception courtesy of Jaycee Horn. And I am once again asking Xavier Woods to hit the jug machine.
One sour note was another injury to Donte Jackson, which seems to be a weekly occurrence now. The former LSU man left late with what turned out to be a torn Achillies that will keep him out this season and potentially next depending on the severity.
Carolina Panthers played undisciplined
Despite coming away with a win on Thursday, it wasn’t all positive for the Carolina Panthers.
Interim head coach Steve Wilks was no doubt frustrated with the undisciplined display from his team. Something that has to change in the coming weeks if they want to build on this positive result.
In the second half, Carolina’s offense struggled with penalties. It was particularly rough for rookie Ikem Ekwonu who had four penalties on the night for holding, which took away from another outstanding showcase of edge protection from the North Carolina State product.
The Panthers ended the day with 10 penalties for 89 yards. Frankly, this is unacceptable.
Carolina’s offensive unit doesn’t perform well when they are in second or third and long situations. Starting drives with penalties leading to first and 15 or 20 is a surefire way to kill momentum, which was evident to start the second half with the Panthers ending up on the goal line with back-to-back holding penalties from Ekwonu.
Luckily for the Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons aren’t a very good team and were unable to punish these mistakes by Ben McAdoo’s unit. But moving forward when the Panthers face higher-quality teams, a string of penalties is something they must tidy up in order to stay in games.
Carolina Panthers are still in the NFC South race, for now
Incredibly, the Carolina Panthers are somehow still in contention to win the division at 3-7. Purely down to the fact the NFC South is the worst division in the NFL.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers currently sit 1.5 games ahead of Carolina. But they face a tough test against the Seattle Seahawks in Munich, Germany on Sunday.
This leaves the real possibility that once Week 10 is over, the Panthers will find themselves just a game back from the divisional lead. Making that crushing loss in Week 8 at the Atlanta Falcons all the more heartbreaking.
The Panthers are now impressively 3-1 in the division, which is the first time Carolina has won three division games since the 2017 season. It begs this question if this team could win encounters outside the NFC South, they’d probably have a clear advantage.
Carolina still has winnable games left on the schedule, including home games against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Denver Broncos, and Detroit Lions. Within the division, the Panthers have trips to the New Orleans Saints and Tampa Bay to close out their campaign.
Due to the struggling nature of the NFC South, the Panthers may find themselves playing meaningful football in December. It’s been a long time since fans have enjoyed that and who knows, this alone could be enough for interim head coach Steve Wilks to win the job beyond 2022.