If we wanted to be extra cheeky, we’d put down “80 percent of this game” as a dud for the Carolina Panthers in their 34-28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings. But we’ll be a tad more astute in our observations than that.
So here are the actual studs and duds from a largely dispiriting performance from the home team in Week 6.
Stud: Keith Taylor
Taylor’s play over the past two weeks has him emerging as yet another promising corner on this roster. The rookie racked up a team-high 10 tackles with three pass deflections on the day.
He also did a fine job matching up with Vikings wideout Justin Jefferson.
Dud: Sam Darnold
Darnold didn’t get much help from his receivers, who were charged with six combined drops. But Sam didn’t help his case much either.
The erratic side of him prevailed once again, as he completed 17 of his 41 attempts for 207 yards, one touchdown, an interception and a lost fumble. He also, in a different kind of brain fart, tried to call two timeouts in a row on a single snap.
Over his last two games, Darnold has connected on just 48.7 percent of his passes for 384 yards alongside four interceptions.
Stud: Chuba Hubbard
The only bright spot for the offense, at least in the box score, was the rookie back. Hubbard is looking more comfortable by the week, which is great news for a team that’ll be without Christian McCaffrey for at least two more games.
He, again, ran with patience, hit the right holes with burst and generated extra yardage with his strong footwork throughout. Chuba finished his outing with 61 yards and his first career touchdown on 16 carries.
Dud: Robby Anderson
For what seems like a few reasons, this is not the same Robby we’re used to seeing. Anderson caught just three passes on 11 targets for, sheesh, 11 yards.
One of those was the touchdown on the late game-tying drive, but that was hardly a consolation for his poor outing. The sixth-year pass catcher had a hard time with his hands and a hard time getting the attention of his buddy Sam.
Anderson has failed to at least hit the 60-yard mark in each of the season’s six games.
Stud: Haason Reddick
If crowning a team MVP after six games is a thing, Reddick would take that thing in a landslide. The 2021 free-agent addition continued his phenomenal campaign, racking up eight tackles with three of them going for a loss.
Dud: Matt Rhule
The Panthers have fallen into a rut. And, yeah, that’s easy to say when you’ve lost three straight games.
But much of this team’s edge has seemingly softened. The defense is being overwhelmed and the offense has to go back to the drawing board to find its identity moving forward.
That, of course, falls on the head coach. Carolina’s planning, game management and execution must sharpen up.
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