5 harsh lessons the Carolina Panthers must learn heading into Week 4 vs. Vikngs

Carolina Panthers must continue to take shots downfield

Through the first two weeks, the Carolina Panthers had attempted just one pass that traveled more than 20 yards in the air. In Week 3, Andy Dalton threw five.

All five, funnily enough, went to D.J. Chark - one resulting in a 47-yard touchdown. This is exactly why the Panthers brought in the speedy wideout this offseason, to stretch the field and open things up underneath.

Those deep attempts weren’t because of an overwhelming amount of separation that was created by the receiver or the offensive scheme - except for the Chark touchdown, as he was able to find a pasture of open turf - but were calculated decisions to afford the wideout an opportunity to make a play.

That’s an element of this offense that needs to continue when rookie signal-caller Bryce Young is back on the field. This was Chark’s second game back from a hamstring injury suffered in the preseason, so it’s also encouraging to see his snap count go from 37 (62 percent) in Week 2 to 74 (94%) in Week 3.

With Jonathan Mingo still in concussion protocol as of Wednesday's injury report, it’s likely we’ll see an influx of Terrace Marshall Jr. as well on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings. I’d like to see some opportunities thrown to No. 88 along with Chark.