Tthe Carolina Panthers defeated the division rival Atlanta Falcons, 19-13, and finally snapped their four-game losing streak here in Week 8. Controlled offensive drives and flashy defensive plays combined for the team’s rise to an even 4-4 record on the season.
Here are our studs and duds from that well-balanced effort on Sunday.
Stud: Panthers’ rushing attack
A big part of Carolina’s win came thanks to their refurbished rushing attack. Their 47 rushing attempts—their most since 2013—were split between four runners that gathered at least six touches each.
Chuba Hubbard led the pack with 82 yards off 24 carries and a touchdown, followed by quarterback Sam Darnold, who amassed 66 yards off a career-high eight rushes. Ameer Abdullah and Royce Freeman also played a role in the attack, combining for an extra 56 yards off 14 carries.
A solid performance by a previously shaky Panthers offensive line allowed the team to run all over the Falcons for 203 yards and that score, which is a promising step for the rest of the season for this group.
Dud: Sam Darnold’s injury
Through the first three quarters, Darnold seemed to be bouncing back in from being benched last week. With at least one target to nine different receivers on the team, Darnold went 13-for-24 for 129 yards through the air.
The fourth-year quarterback’s completion rate and yardage total should have been even higher, too, considering all the drops by Panthers receivers that have plagued the team nearly every week thus far. He made an equally big impact on the ground, though, rushing for 66 yards off eight carries, including multiple third-down conversions to extend drives.
Late in the fourth quarter, though, Darnold took a hard hit from Falcons linebacker Foyesade Oluokun, sending him into the locker room with a possible concussion. We’ll continue to monitor Darnold’s status heading into Carolina’s Week 9 contest versus the New England Patriots.
Stud: Shaq Thompson
The Panthers missed their stud middle linebacker with injury for the last three weeks, but the veteran linebacker made his return to action with a momentum-shifting interception in Carolina territory.
Late in the second quarter, Thompson read Matt Ryan’s eyes to pick off a pass intended for Hayden Hurst. Even in the third quarter, Thompson continued to break up the Ryan-Hurst connection with a crucial tackle for a 3-yard loss in Atlanta territory.
By the end of the contest, Thompson totaled 10 tackles and an interception while also helping to limit Atlanta’s Kyle Pitts to just two receptions for 13 yards. By comparison, Pitts had 16 receptions for 282 yards in his previous two games.
Dud: Drops
DJ Moore technically “dropped” a touchdown pass early in the game as he couldn’t maintain control to the ground. But other drops by Panthers receivers were far more obvious.
From Hubbard to tight end Tommy Tremble, the players around Darnold made his job that much harder with all of their catchable drops. That part of the offense had been a major issue for the team leading up to this game, too, with the Panthers totaling the most team drops by any team in the league and not appearing to easily give up that title today.
Stud: Stephon Gilmore
In his first game with the Panthers following their trade for him while he was on the physically-unable-to-perform list, Gilmore made the play that all-but-sealed the game for the Panthers.
With 1:53 left in the fourth quarter and a nine-point lead for Carolina, Gilmore picked off a pass by Matt Ryan intended for Pitts at the Carolina 15-yard line. Gilmore also added a couple tackles and helped to limit Ryan to a 67.8 passer rating on the day, further justifying Fitterer’s move after losing Jaycee Horn to a devastating foot injury.
Dud: Robby Anderson
The Panthers haven’t really been able to get Anderson involved in the passing game all season long. Today, he had a single target, where Darnold led him directly into a massive hit by safety Erik Harris.
Anderson’s biggest play of the game came on special teams, not offense, as he covered the onside kick to seal the Panthers’ win at the end of the game. So at least there’s that.
Stud: Zane Gonzalez
Gonzalez was the sole source of points for the Panthers in the first half, going a perfect three-for-three on kicks. Following successes from 29 and 51 yards, the kicker also banged in a career-long 57-yarder as time expired to bring the Panthers within one point heading into halftime.
On the day, the fifth-year kicker was four-for-four on field goals and one-for-one on extra points, scoring 13 of Carolina’s 19 points. After instability at the position for the first bit of the Panthers’ season, Gonzalez has emerged as a dependable kicker with impressive range thus far.
Dud: Brian Burns’ penalties
Burns was on the receiving end of two roughing the passer calls Sunday, both of which did not come without controversy.
The first came as he appeared to try to swat the ball out of Ryan’s hand, but caught a piece of his helmet instead. The second call was just as questionable, although both were technically justified by the NFL’s rules and referee discretion. Being 15 yards each, the penalties granted the Falcons 30 total yards, just 14 less than their leading rusher’s yardage total.
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