5 emerging positives from the Panthers win vs. Falcons in Week 10
By Luke Gray
What emerging positives continued to catch the eye during an impressive win for the Carolina Panthers in Week 10 against the Atlanta Falcons?
It was going to be interesting to see how the Carolina Panthers bounced back. Coming off a short week and a drubbing at the Cincinnati Bengals, interim head coach Steve Wilks was demanding a response from his players with the entire NFL watching on.
Wilks certainly got one as the Panthers dominated both lines of scrimmage to come away with a comfortable victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday Night Football.
Despite a 3-7 record, the Panthers incredibly remain in the hunt for the NFC South, just 1.5 games back from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. This season has a slight feel of 2014 when Carolina’s 7-8-1 record was enough to secure playoff football, where they even won a postseason game.
The Panthers’ effort – which was non-existent in their Week 9 – was back for this clash as the defense came out very strong. The Falcons had the league’s eighth-best rushing attack when it came to yards per game before the contest, but a fantastic effort from Carolina restricted them to just 33 rushing yards in the first half.
On the other side of the ball, we saw a clear game plan from offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. This was to feed D’Onta Foreman and the former Texas standout had 31 carries for 130 rushing yards and a touchdown to further cement his status as the team’s No. 1 running back.
It was a winning formula all around But what were the emerging positives from Carolina’s success in Week 10?