The Carolina Panthers have only used second-year defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos in doses this season. But with the team a bit shorthanded along its front on Sunday, the dosage was upped.
And Gross-Matos responded to the increase, chalking up five tackles (one for a loss) with a game-high 2.5 sacks against the Buffalo Bills in Week 15. That performance also matched his entire sack total of his rookie campaign in 2020.
About 24 hours prior to kickoff, the Panthers placed starting defensive tackle Derrick Brown on the reserve/COVID-19 list. His absence in the middle led to more burn for last year’s second-rounder, who had not played in 50 percent of the defense’s snaps in any of his prior 11 games.
Gross-Matos paced a four-sack outing of Bills quarterback Josh Allen, in which the fourth-year standout passer was limited to 210 yards on a 55.9-percent completion rate. Fellow ends and pass-rushing menaces Brian Burns (1.0) and Haason Reddick (0.5) accounted for the rest of that output.
