Scouting Report: Carolina Panthers

The Carolina Panthers are coming off a disappointing loss to their divisional rival New Orleans Saints, dropping to 2-1 on the season after opening wins in San Franciso and against Buffalo. The Patriots and Panthers are mirror images of each other, with the Pats defense and Panthers offense ranking near the bottom of the league while the Pats offense and Panthers defense both rank near the top of the league.

After losing Greg Olsen to a broken foot and then having Kelvin Benjamin injuring his knee, the Panthers’ offense is extremely shorthanded. They’ll lean heavily on rookie Christian McCaffrey, a shifty and dynamic weapon who can do it all. On defense, Luke Kuechly is once again the man in the middle, with some talented pieces in front of him, but a secondary that was picked on by Drew Brees last week.

The Patriots started to find their stride last weekend against the Texans, but their performance was far from consistent, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Cam Newton and McCaffrey embody a lot of what has given the Patriots problems and despite their poor start to the season, should be a good test.

Here are five quick hits on the Panthers.

1. McCaffrey Makes It Go: McCaffrey is the Panthers most targeted receiver with 23, grabbing 18 receptions while also carrying the ball 25 times through the first three games. He’s the proverbial straw stirring the drink, and without Benjamin he should be a big point of focus this week. How the Pats deal with him — Patrick Chung might be a good bet with limited threats at the tight end spot now as well.
2. Keep Newton Contained: This will be another one of those games where it’s imperative not to over rush the quarterback and allow him to squeak out and pick up yards. The Patriots defense struggled to finish plays against Deshaun Watson last week, they must close in on Newton and finish him off.
3. Find the Short Game: The Patriots have gone vertical on offense this year and the offense has stagnated at times like the three-straight punts they had in both the first and second halves last week. Part of this is needing to find the short passing game, especially with the running backs. The Panthers have similar pieces to the Texans and the Pats’ goal should be to find some consistency because you can expect the Panthers to force Brady to take underneath stuff.
4. Protection Progression: While the offensive line came through in the clutch last week, they sure had their struggles against JJ Watt, JaDaveon Clowney and the rest of the Texan front. That’s not an uncommon problem, but the Panthers cause similar problems and the offensive line must be ready to play more consistently. We’re four games in now, the excuses for rust and miscommunication are running out.
5. Defense Same Page: The Panthers don’t have a ton of healthy threats, but that’s no reason for the Pats defense to relax. What must be stressed is communication and making sure everyone is playing within themselves and doing their job. There are a number of new pieces on the Patriot defense playing significant roles, but like the offensive line, the excuses are running out. It’s time to all get on then same page and play the Patriot defense like it’s meant to be played — BEND DON’T BREAK.