Monday Morning Thoughts: The Panthers Can Win Out
Don't look now, but the Carolina Panthers are catching fire toward the end of the season having won three of their last four games, now sitting just one game behind Tampa Bay for first place in the NFC South.
What's been most impressive about this turnaround is how Carolina has virtually only one way to win games and that's to run the ball upwards of 35 or even 40 times a game. For the opponent to know this, yet still fail to stop D'Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard, and this rushing attack says a lot.
The offensive line is not getting the credit it deserves around the league, but the more games the Panthers win down the stretch, the more respect they'll get. Bradley Bozeman and Austin Corbett have been phenomenal free agent pick ups and add in first-round draft pick Ikem Ekownu, Carolina finally has something building in the trenches.
Rushing for 224 yards on 45 carries and eating up over 39 minutes of game clock is old-fashioned smash-mouth football and man, is it fun to watch. It takes so much pressure off of the quarterback's shoulders but more importantly, it really wears the defense down as the game progresses. That was evident Sunday evening when the Panthers rushed the ball eight times for 69 yards, resulting in a Raheem Blackshear touchdown to go up 27-17.
At some point, though, the Panthers are going to have to air it out to win games. The good news is that Sam Darnold, through two starts, has not turned the ball over or put it in harms way. No, he's not going to singlehandedly win you a game, but he does have the ability to push the ball downfield which is something neither Baker Mayfield or PJ Walker brought to the table.
This formula is sustainable, believe it or not. When you have guys believing and buying in, which this team clearly is, it can become a dangerous thing for opposing teams. They know what needs to be done, they're executing the gameplan, and are playing with a level of confidence that hasn't existed over the past couple of seasons.
"I hope this is something that we can build momentum off of," said interim head coach Steve Wilks. "That's a playoff team that we played today. To be able to get a win like this, on the road, hostile environment, 12th man, I think it's definitely a momentum builder for us and I think we definitely got to continue to build off this and go home and protect the Bank.
"As I stated at the beginning, I don't know what's going to happen but for 13 weeks, I said I was going to do it my way. With players, coaches, and the mentality and culture that I wanted to create. Our mindset doesn't change. It's all about winning the day. We're going to take it one at a time and next up is Pittsburgh. We'll figure out what happens at the end, but right now, we're just worried about the Steelers."
For Wilks, the coaching staff, and the players, he's right. All they can worry about is Pittsburgh. So since they can't look ahead, I will.
When you see Pittsburgh, Detroit, Tampa Bay, and New Orleans as the remaining schedule, it doesn't strike fear or concern. If anything, I wouldn't be shocked if Carolina is favored in three of those four remaining games.
Pittsburgh lost starting quarterback Kenny Pickett to a concussion on Sunday and his status for next week's game is up in the air. Regardless, it's an offense that Carolina's defense stifle.
Six weeks ago, it looked like Detroit would be a surefire win. Now, that's not the case. Dan Campbell has those guys playing just about as well as anyone in the league and just like the Panthers, they're starting to believe they can do something. That said, it is still a very winnable game. The Lions allow, on average, 150 yards on the ground per game and if Carolina can duplicate what they did against Seattle, they'll be on the winning side of that game as well.
Do I believe the Panthers can really sweep Tom Brady? Well, yes I do. This isn't the same Tampa team that has dominated the NFC South over the last two years. They are extremely one dimensional, averaging just 74 rushing yards per game. A one-dimensional offense against Carolina's defense isn't going to have a whole lot of success.
Then there's New Orleans - a team that just can't seem to score points. Over their last five games, the Saints have only been able to muster up 11.2 points per game. That's not going to win many games, regardless of who you're playing.
To run the table and end the regular season on what would be a six-game winning streak sounds improbable, but it's really not. This team is bought into what Steve Wilks is selling and if they continue to run the football and play the defense at the level they have over the past month or so, they will win out and be crowned division champs.
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