Carolina Panthers Report Card: How did Carolina do in Week 2 of the NFL season?
Quarterback Baker Mayfield and the Panthers nearly won their Week 2 game on Sunday against the New York Giants. Carolina took a seven-point lead early in the third quarter and later tied the game with 10:46 to play. It was not enough.
The Giants made a go-ahead field goal from 56 yards out via a Graham Gano kick with 3:34 to play. Carolina got the ball back, but the offense punted after left tackle Ikem Ekwonu allowed a third-down sack. The Giants were then able to run the clock out.
Similar to the opener, the Panthers (0-2) put a lot of good football on tape.
According to Elias Sports, Carolina is the first team in NFL history to allow (and lose on) a go-ahead, 55-plus yard kick in the fourth quarter or overtime in consecutive games.
Here are the grades:
Rushing offense
A: The Panthers can run the football.
New offensive line coach James Campen is deploying a diverse running game predicated on inside runs and RPOs. The interior (from left to right) of Brady Christensen, Pat Elflein and Austin Corbett are consistently pushing opposing defensive lines backward.
Christian McCaffrey eclipsed 100 yards for the first time since 2019 on Sunday. He did so on 15 carries, largely because of an inside-hitting gap run that popped for 49 yards.
Even backup running back D’Onta Foreman looked punishing on just two carries. He had a long run of seven yards.
The Panthers just need to run more plays, which equates to sustaining drives (converting on third down). More plays equal more opportunities for CMC, Foreman and the Panthers’ downhill running game.
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Passing offense
C+: Running more plays would theoretically help the Panthers’ passing offense.
Through two weeks, the Panthers rank 30th in plays per drive (5) and 28th in yards per drive (25.5).
The team’s opening drive of the second half vs. New York encapsulated those numbers. Carolina marched 67 yards on three plays (took one minute of play time) and scored on a 16-yard pass from Baker Mayfield to D.J. Moore.
Moore accounted for 45 of the team’s 67 yards on that drive.
Mayfield said the reason that drive worked and others did not came down to early-down efficiency.
Getting McCaffrey the ball would help, too. Excluding games CMC did not finish, the last time he was held under 30 receiving yards in consecutive games was in 2017.
Giants safeties Julian Love and Xavier McKinney played well in coverage on McCaffrey and the Panthers’ tight ends. But there were some check-down opportunities Mayfield bypassed in favor of deep incompletions.
As for receivers Shi Smith and Robbie Anderson, both have a lot to prove this week in practice and on Sunday. Smith is playing small, and that is not necessarily because he stands at 5 foot 10. Tyreek Hill is 5-9 and repeatedly plucks balls out of the air at the highest point. Smith is not Hill, but he needs to make contended catches, as well as the easy ones. Thus far he’s accomplished neither.
Anderson should be fine, but his third-and-long fumble (which set up a Giants field goal) is inexcusable. The goal there is to pick up a few yards and punt the ball, not turn it over on your 36-yard line.
Coach Matt Rhule on Monday said he thinks more receivers should play.
Perhaps Panthers fans will see both Terrace Marshall and/or Rashard Higgins catch their first regular-season passes of 2022 on Sunday.
Passing defense
B+: The Panthers’ defense is indirectly being asked to play perfectly.
Brian Burns had two sacks (despite dropping into coverage 15 times). Frankie Luvu had a career game, notching 10 solo tackles and four tackles for losses. Donte Jackson, C.J. Henderson and Jaycee Horn did not allow an explosive play. Safeties Xaiver Woods and Jeremy Chinn had some communication errors dealing with crossing Giants tight ends, but that is easy to correct.
Defensively, Phil Snow’s unit is picking up where it left off last season. The Panthers just need to force a few turnovers soon.
Rushing defense
A: Carolina proved it can defend the run.
After allowing Browns running backs Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt to run for nearly a zillion yards after contact, the Panthers held Pro Bowler Saquon Barkley to 72 rushing yards on 21 carries.
That’s a huge win for the Panthers’ defense after it spent all week hearing about how they couldn’t defend the run. Barkley averaged 3.4 yards per carry and was repeatedly gang-tackled.
His long run went for just 16 yards.
Special teams
C: Carolina has a kicker it can trust.
Eddy Pineiro accounted for 10 of the Panthers’ 16 points. He made all his field goal tries and lone extra point.
Then why only a “C” grade?
Chubba Hubbard fumbled the game’s opening kickoff return. That’s high school-level disappointment and, in hindsight, probably cost Carolina the game.
This story was originally published September 20, 2022 at 3:13 PM.
