4 primary factors behind the Carolina Panthers' success vs. Texans in Week 8

Carolina Panthers WRs got open

A big knock on the Carolina Panthers offense this season has been the wide receivers' inability to get open, but they did create space against the Houston Texans. This allowed for the passing offense to finally work with efficiency with offensive coordinator Thomas Brown calling the shots.

Adam Thielen has had a renaissance season at 33 years old, and he continued his great form on Sunday. Other targets like D.J. Chark and Johnathan Mingo also found themselves open to receive the ball, which is arguably a first in 2023.

The one big change from the first six games to the most recent one was the switch of play-calling duties from Frank Reich to Brown. It does not come as a surprise that guys found themselves more open than they did earlier in the year with more creative schematics.

Despite a better performance all-around by the playmakers of Carolina's offense, there were still a handful of frustrating drops when they were open. Consistency on the outside and at tight end will be key moving forward if the offense wants to continue moving the ball effectively.