Panthers mailbag: Does success of Mike Davis mean Christian McCaffrey was overpaid? (No!)

The Panthers weren’t perfect in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals, but it was certainly enough to win a second straight games and get to .500 four weeks into the season.

There were encouraging signs from the offensive and defensive lines as the team has improved each week. With the team’s second NFC South matchup coming this weekend against the Falcons, the Panthers need to clean up penalties — coming off a season-high 10 — to get a win in Atlanta for the first time since 2014.

But before we get too far ahead to Sunday’s game, let’s open up The Observer’s mailbag and answer some of your questions.

Joseph Hullen asks: The Panthers haven’t yet won against any good passing quarterbacks. Isn’t what we’re seeing from this defense misleading?

Not necessarily. The Panthers held Kyler Murray to just 133 passing yards, his lowest total of the season and third-lowest passing game of his career. Against rookie quarterback Justin Herbert in Week 3, the Panthers gave up 330 passing yards, but didn’t allow the Chargers to capitalize despite going up and down the field multiple times. Herbert is averaging 310 passing yards per start and threw 3 touchdown passes against the Bucs on Sunday.

Tom Brady didn’t put up that great of numbers in the Panthers’ Week 2 loss to the Buccaneers (completing 65.7% of his passes for 217 yards with one touchdown and one interception).

The Panthers’ defense will have big tests on the horizon with three NFC south matchups in the next four games (at Falcons, at Saints, vs. Falcons). Atlanta is off to an 0-4 start, but Matt Ryan has given Carolina trouble in the past. The Panthers have not beaten the Falcons since Week 9 of 2017 — a streak of five straight losses.

For a variety of reasons, including the health of the team, the Falcons have had trouble putting together a complete winning effort.

Outside of whoever the Panthers’ opponent is, however, this defense has shown improvements each week. Against the Cardinals, there was much to be encouraged by. Defensive coordinator Phil Snow had a great game plan for Murray and players like defensive end Brian Burns, cornerback Rasul Douglas and safety Juston Burris had solid performances.

The Panthers’ defense ranks 10th in the league allowing 352.3 yards per game and has seven takeaways (tied for fifth-most). This group continues to flash signs of its potential. Tests against Ryan and Drew Brees will be a good way to see how far this defense can go. — A.G.

@teerain062 asks: What are they going to do with R. Bonafon? It seems like they risk losing him if he goes back to the practice squad.

(Update: The Panthers announced Tuesday that they were placing running back Reggie Bonnafon on the practice squad injured reserve list after he suffered a high ankle sprain in Sunday’s win over the Cardinals. He will miss at least three weeks).

I think it’s likely the Panthers sign Reggie Bonnafon to their 53-man roster when the time comes.

According to the new collective bargaining agreement, a player can be brought up from the practice squad twice in a year. That includes playoff games.

The Panthers brought Bonnafon up from the practice squad for the second consecutive game Sunday to spell Mike Davis, who is starting in place of Christian McCaffrey while he rehabs a high ankle sprain.

McCaffrey will be out for at least another week because of IR requirements — and likely longer. If the Panthers want to bring Bonnafon up a third time, which they probably will at some point, they’ll have to sign him.

The Panthers have shown they value Bonnafon. He was one of the four players the Panthers chose to protect on their practice squad during the first two weeks. That protection prevents other teams from signing him.

Bonnafon got more touches against the Cardinals than he did against the Chargers and took advantage of it. He finished with 53 yards rushing on 10 carries. He also had two catches for 18 yards and a touchdown. He complimented Davis well.

The two running backs combined for 182 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns last Sunday. Because Bonnafon will miss at least three weeks, the Panthers won’t have to sign him right away.

However, when the time comes, they should. He’s shown his potential.— JMA

@MingaFCB asks: Which jersey/pants combo are we going to wear in the Super Bowl?

Super Bowl?

When? Certainly not this year.

But I’ll play along.

To be honest, the only jersey combination the Panthers should be rocking is the black tops with the black pants. If they could create black helmets, that would be so fire. — JMA

Twitter asks: How was Alaina’s first Bojangles experience?

During Sunday’s game against the Cardinals, I had my first experience eating a meal from Bojangles. Sharing that information got quite a response from Twitter.

I’ve lived in Charlotte for 11 months and have never previously lived in a city with this many Bojangles locations. But there is one less than 5 minutes from my apartment, so I don’t have a good excuse for not having tried it.

In the press box Sunday at Bank of America Stadium, one of the options was Bojangles’ chicken tenders with BBQ sauce. No other sauce was available, not even ketchup!

The chicken tenders were fine, but I didn’t feel they were something I had been missing out on or needed to grab again from the location near my place. It has been explained to me that I did not get a proper Bojangles’ experience and that I should go to a real store and make sure to try the biscuits. The press box experience didn’t ruin my hope in Bojangles entirely, so I’ll report back once I give it a second shot. — A.G.

George Brown asks: Doesn’t Mike Davis’ success make paying Christian McCaffrey all of that money this offseason look bad?

I don’t think so. Both Davis and Bonnafon had good games against the Cardinals. The Panthers combined for 168 rushing yards in Week 4, which was a season high. As the starter the past two games, Davis has rushed for 130 yards on 29 carries and caught 13 passes for 72 yards. He has two touchdowns in those games.

Davis has proven he can be a starter as McCaffrey deals with the high-ankle sprain he suffered against the Buccaneers. This Panthers team is coming together after losing the first two games of the year and has gone 2-0 without McCaffrey. But that doesn’t mean paying the All-Pro back was a mistake.

McCaffrey is a game changer on the field. Even though the Panthers are running a similar offense to what they would with him, defenses have to give McCaffrey attention in way that isn’t needed with Davis or Bonnafon back there. He means so much to this offfense and team, especially since he has become one of the team’s core leaders.

“Christian’s attacking rehab every day, and it was good to have him on the sideline with us yesterday,” Panthers coach Matt Rhule said Monday. “He’s much more than just a player, he’s a key component to the team. So to have him with us was awesome.”

It will take some time before we know how the four-year, $64 million extension given to McCaffery in April pans out long-term, but two wins without him don’t mean he’s replaceable. — A.G.

This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 1:09 PM.