The Carolina Panthers lost their first game of the 2020 season against the Las Vegas Raiders today, falling at home by a score of 34-30.
Here are seven takeaways from the game.
Teddy Bridgewater was hit-and-miss
The Panthers got the full Teddy Bridgewater experience today. In the first half he showed good poise and mobility outside the pocket. However, he missed too many open receivers on deep routes and seemed very-much out of sync with some of his new teammates. He came through when it counted, though, throwing huge 75-yard touchdown to Robby Anderson in the fourth quarter. Bridgewater finished the afternoon 22/34 for 270 yards, one score, no interceptions and a 98.9 passer rating.
Christian McCaffrey couldn’t be held down long
The Raiders defense came into this game with a clear strategy: load up the box to stop No. 22 and force Bridgewater to beat them with the pass. Early in the game it worked, as they bottled up McCaffrey for just 31 rushing yards at halftime. McCaffrey got going in the fourth quarter, though. In the end, he finished with 134 yards from scrimmage and scored two touchdowns.
Joe Brady’s offense has potential
Despite the hiccups and miscues in the passing game, it’s not hard to see that offensive coordinator Joe Brady’s scheme has a lot of potential. The ball was spread around well to the team’s skill players and there were plenty of opportunties to score more points. The decision to not give McCaffrey the ball on fourth and one late was questionable, but we don’t hate the fullback dive call. This offense can develop into something respectable eventually.
Carolina’s run defense has a long way to go
This team’s great Achilles’ heel last season was their inability to stop the run. Today, we saw more of the same. Raiders running back Josh Jacobs had his way with Carolina’s defense, rushing for 93 yards and three touchdowns. He also chipped in 46 more yards on four catches. Clearly, there’s still a ton of work to do in this area of the game.
Derrick Brown’s strong NFL debut
One bright spot we saw from this young and inexperienced defensive unit was the performance of the team’s top draft pick this year, defensive tackle Derrick Brown. He finished his first NFL game with three tackles and a pass breakup. Brown did get eaten up by a double team on a touchdown run for Jacobs. This was a strong debut, though.
The Panthers have a Tahir Whitehead problem
The most significant downgrade of the offseason for this Panthers defense was going from future Hall of Fame middle linebacker Luke Kuechly to former Raider Tahir Whitehead. That dropoff became abundantly clear in the second half. Whitehead committed two critical defensive pass interference penalties and took a bad angle on one of Jacobs’ three touchdown runs. If he’s going to continue starting at MLB, he’ll have to do better than this.
They found their return specialist
Coming into the season, Football Outsiders had Carolina’s special teams unit ranked last in the league. We saw some flashes of why, especially in punt coverage. However, at the very least the Panthers have found their return specialist. Pharoh Cooper had a great game, totaling 109 yards on four kickoffs and 29 more on two punts.
