5 things learned in Panthers’ overtime win vs. Cardinals: Hubbard, Young run wild at home
The Carolina Panthers (4-11) doubled their win total from last season Sunday as quarterback Bryce Young — with his right arm and both of his legs — led the host squad to a 36-30 overtime victory against the Arizona Cardinals (7-8) at Bank of America Stadium.
In the team’s home finale, the Panthers built an early 20-3 lead and carried the torch throughout the matchup, even as the Cardinals staged a worthwhile comeback attempt. Young was electric on the ground as he ran for a career-high 68 rushing yards and a touchdown against Arizona. He also tossed a pair of touchdowns passes, while also avoiding turnovers.
Young and the offense were aided by the dependable legs of running back Chuba Hubbard, who churned out 152 rushing yards and two touchdowns of his own against the visiting NFC West squad.
While the run defense continued to be consistently porous, Carolina won the turnover battle. The passing defense also limited Cardinals QB Kyler Murray to just 202 passing yards, a touchdown and interception on a 62.5% completion percentage.
Here are five takeaways from the Panthers’ home finale win:
1. Bryce Young has some wheels
The Panthers’ second-year QB had an epic performance on the ground — for him — against the Cardinals.
During the Panthers’ second touchdown-scoring drive of the first half, Young picked up 57 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown on two carries during the series. His first run of the drive, a 34-yard tote, was a career-high run. His second, a touchdown-scoring run, went for 23 yards. It was his fourth rushing touchdown of the season. He didn’t have a rushing touchdown during his rookie year.
Young finished the game with 68 rushing yards and a touchdown on five carries. His ground brilliance complemented his arm efficiency, as Young was no slouch at throwing the ball, either. Young connected on 17 of 26 targets for 158 passing yards and two touchdowns against Arizona. He spread out the ball to six different receivers on a 65.4% completion percentage.
Young bounced back after a forgettable performance in the Week 15 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He got back to creating off improvisation and trusting his weapons. That benefited the boys in process blue, as Young led six scoring drives on the afternoon.
Wide receiver Adam Thielen caught five passes for 43 yards and a touchdown as Young’s top target on the day.
2. Chuba Hubbard continues to be the guiding light
While he’s had a couple of tough fumbles this season, running back Chuba Hubbard has ultimately been a successful bell-cow back for the Panthers.
His 28-yard run in overtime essentially wrapped up the game for the Panthers. His follow-up 21-yard jaunt to the end zone actually ended it.
Overall, Hubbard ran wild against the Cardinals on Sunday, finishing with 152 rushing yards and two touchdowns. While Young chipped in 68 rushing yards and a touchdown on five totes, Hubbard accounted for all but four carries by the running back position in the game.
On the season, Hubbard has 1,195 rushing yards, 171 receiving yards and 11 total touchdowns through 15 games.
3. The Cardinals played like a pretty undisciplined football team early
The Cardinals hurt themselves more than the Panthers did on Sunday.
Arizona notched eight penalties for 68 yards in the first 16 minutes of the game. The Cardinals also turned the ball over in their own territory midway through the second quarter.
Quarterback Kyler Murray fumbled the ball away with a little more than nine minutes left in the first half. Defensive end Jonathan Harris fell on the ball and recovered it for Carolina at the Arizona 30-yard line. The turnover led to another touchdown for the Panthers, who immediately attacked the Cardinals’ defense off the stolen possession.
The Panthers took a 20-3 lead with 7:55 left in the first half. While Carolina was executing well, the Cardinals did them a ton of favors on the way to that early lead.
The Cardinals eventually came back with 14 consecutive points to end the first half, but the early damage kept the Panthers in front at intermission.
By the way, the Panthers weren’t particularly clean on the penalty front. Carolina was charged with nine penalties for a loss of 64 yards in the game. Arizona finished with 11 penalties for a loss of 82 yards.
4. Several veteran players step up at home
While Thielen routinely gets his flowers locally, his dependability as a pass-catcher really can’t be overstated. He made a trio of impressive grabs — including one for a touchdown — on Sunday.
On defense, lineman A’Shawn Robinson added to his career-high sack total in the first half. He now has 5.5 sacks on the year and leads the defense with that total. Also, fellow defensive lineman Jonathan Harris made the heads-up play to jump on the loose ball in the second quarter in Arizona territory.
Backup lineman Brady Christensen was asked to start at center after Cade Mays was ruled out before the game with an illness. Christensen protected well and opened up holes for Hubbard in the run game.
Tight end Tommy Tremble also had a clutch catch-and-run snag for 15 yards to begin the fourth quarter. The play put the Panthers in Arizona territory to help expand a three-point lead. He then made an impressive catch over the middle for a 12-yard gain as Young was nailed in the backfield by a defender.
Tremble’s back-to-back big catches led to an 18-yard touchdown completion for Young and wide receiver David Moore, who caught two passes for 39 yards and the TD in the game.
Cornerback Mike Jackson also had back-to-back pass breakups on defense in overtime. Later in the drive, linebacker Josey Jewell produced a third-down sack on Murray to force a punt in the extra period.
5. Your weekly reminder the run defense is bad
Running against the Panthers is like getting a 10-day vacation getaway for attending a 15-minute presentation on steak knives. Sure, there’s some tough time spent up front, but the payoff is a pretty great deal. As the Cardinals attempted to battle back from their own early buffoonery (the barrage of penalties and the turnover), they leaned on running back James Conner and the running game.
Conner, who eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards on the season in the game, rushed for 117 yards and a touchdown Sunday. The Cardinals finished with 206 rushing yards and two scores on the ground.
Even when Conner left the game, the Cardinals continued to attack the Panthers’ biggest weakness. They picked up a fourth-and-1 conversion in overtime at their own 18-yard line. That was the ultimate insult in this one.
The Panthers came into the game allowing a league-worst 173 rushing yards per matchup. The unit’s reputation preceded itself, and Arizona was able to ride the running game, despite playing from behind all game.
As with pretty much every week, the solution to this problem seems to be nowhere in sight.
This story was originally published December 22, 2024 at 4:47 PM.
