The Carolina Panthers are coming to town this Sunday, a ball club that is infamous among Cardinals fans. The team’s last shot at getting to a Super Bowl in recent memory was gunned down by Cam Newton’s 15-1 Carolina Panthers in 2016. As Carolina comes to town, both teams have changed drastically since that NFC Championship game.
Here is this week’s game preview:
The Big Headline:
Panthers QB Cam Newton will not be playing Sunday against the Cardinals, as he is sidelined with a foot injury and didn’t practice all week. Newton is the face of the Carolina franchise, but the former league MVP and rookie of the year struggled mightily through two games. He consistently missed receivers and his accuracy looked off. We don’t have a definitive answer as to why, but this could be a result of the shoulder injury that kept him out of the end of the 2018 season.
Enter Kyle Allen, the quarterback who will be taking over in relief of the injured Newton. Allen’s career goes back to Texas A & M, where he beat out a freshman Kyler Murray for the starting quarterback job. He’ll be tasked with taking a desperate Panthers team out of potentially going 0-3.
Allen had a solid outing in week 17 of 2018, where he took over for the injured Cam Newton against the New Orleans Saints. He went 16-27 for 228 yards and two touchdowns in a 33-14 win. New Orleans was resting a good chunk of their starters, but the performance is still noteworthy.
This is a must-win game for the Cardinals. The NFC West is looking better than ever and they can’t fall behind. A win against Carolina would make the team 1-1-1, which can be built upon. Every other team in the division is 2-0, so they’ll need to make sure they keep up.
Arizona’s play against the Ravens is very encouraging, as Baltimore is considered by many a top-five team in the NFL so far. They were a 3rd down stop away from a shot at a game-winning drive by Kyler Murray. If they can clean up on some errors, the Cardinals could really make some noise this season.
With all that said, let’s take a look at the Carolina Panthers.
The Panthers through two weeks
The Carolina Panthers are 0-2, but both losses have been very close. They fell to the Los Angeles Rams 30-27 and then to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-14.
In Week 1, the Rams were in control for the majority of the game until a late Jared Goff interception gave Carolina a chance. That chance was quickly lost as Cam Newton was picked off late in the fourth quarter. Signs of struggle from Newton and the offense were prevalent, but nothing near their loss to the Bucs on Thursday in Week 2.
The Panthers offense was dormant for nearly the entire game. They put on a terrible performance against a Tampa Bay team that is struggling in their own right. Todd Bowles’ defense loaded the box against the Panthers’ rushing attack, which silenced their offense completely.
Carolina is desperate for a win at 0-2, but the same could be said for the Cardinals. Both teams need this victory.
The Panthers offense:
The focal point in every defensive meeting this week for the Cardinals was stopping RB Christian McCaffrey. McCaffrey has established himself as one of the best backs in the league and is the engine that moves the Carolina offense.
Tampa Bay consistently loaded the box, which held him to only 37 rushing yards. With a backup quarterback in, the Panthers will look to use McCaffrey even more than they usually do. In week one, Carolina was able to keep up with Los Angeles because of McCaffrey’s performance in which he ran for 128 yards and two scores. The Cardinals must keep him at bay and give Kyle Allen difficult passing situations.
Tight end Greg Olsen is another name to watch on offense, especially given the Cardinals inability to cover tight ends through two weeks. Olsen is one of the best to ever play the game at his position. He proved he’s still just that with a strong performance on Thursday Night Football. Olsen will likely be the primary target for Kyle Allen so the Cardinals must neutralize him.
The Panthers defense:
Through Carolina’s struggles, their defense has been solid. They still have the great Luke Kuechly, who is arguably the best inside linebacker in the game. They also acquired All-Pro DT Gerald McCoy in free agency to pair with Kawann Short in the interior. Despite their record, this team has playmakers.
The Panthers’ secondary consists of talented cornerbacks James Bradberry and Donte Jackson. On the back end, former Cardinal Tre Boston continues to make plays.
This unit has struggled in stopping the run, giving up nearly 150 yards to both Todd Gurley and Malcolm Brown in week one. The Cardinals will try to get David Johnson going early in the game, as his number was hardly called against the Ravens.
For the Cardinals, they will need to produce on offense far more in the first half. Through two games, Kliff Kingsbury’s offense hasn’t started clicking until late in the game. They didn’t score a touchdown until the fourth quarter against Detroit and Baltimore, which is attributed to failure to score in the red zone. They’ll need to score early and often, forcing backup QB Kyle Allen to play from behind on the road.
Final thoughts:
The strength of the NFC West seemingly makes this a must-win game in only week three. The Cardinals must capitalize on Cam Newton’s absence and secure Kyler Murray’s first NFL win.
Christian McCaffery has to be contained. The Panthers offense goes as far as he does- and he’s not an easy player to slow down. The Cards can’t let Greg Olsen get open as much as T.J. Hockensen and Mark Andrews did in their respective games. On the outside, WR D.J. Moore is the main threat to the Cardinals. Vance Joseph’s new defense has shown reasons to be encouraged, but the absences of Patrick Peterson and Robert Alford are still hurting this team.
Injuries on both sides piled up throughout the week, but the Cardinals seem like they’ll be relatively healthy for this game. LB Jordan Hicks and DT Corey Peters both practiced in full after being listed on Thursday’s injury report.
For the Panthers, Cam Newton isn’t the only key player to miss Sunday’s matchup. LB/DE Bruce Irvin has been ruled out and DT Kawann Short is listed as questionable. TE Greg Olsen is also questionable, but with his track record, he’s likely to play.
See you all next week. Hopefully, we’ll all be talking about a Cardinals victory.
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