HOUSTON _ What more could have been asked of the Panthers' defense?
In a turnover-filled slop of a contest against the Houston Texans, they were the driving force keeping Carolina in the game. For most of the game they were the only force. They had timely _ and vicious _ sacks of Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, and blindside hits where he sprawled like a rag doll. They had a key interception on a sniffed-out trick play, and countless third-down stops, severely limiting a Houston team that came in converting 50% of those plays.
If not for them, Sunday could've gotten ugly. Instead, the Panthers won, 16-10.
No defensive play was more critical than the game-clincher. With less than five minutes remaining in the game, Vernon Butler Jr. sacked Watson, and the ball popped loose. Safety Eric Reid, who came on a blitz, then sprang on the loose ball. Carolina led 13-10 at the time, and that turnover _ Houston's second of the game _ allowed the Panthers to bleed valuable clock.
Carolina quarterback Kyle Allen _ whose magic looked lost after three lost fumbles in the first three quarters _ then somehow avoided a J.J. Watt sack plays later and found Jarius Wright on third down to keep the drive alive. By the time Joey Slye kicked his third field goal of the afternoon from 26 yards out, Houston got the ball back with 28 seconds and no timeouts.
Houston got to midfield, but Reid smacked Watson's Hail Mary to the ground while Burns hit him.
Other than that one escape, Allen was out of sync all afternoon. He sprayed the ball too long and too wide and too short, especially on his deep attempts to Curtis Samuel, and lost three fumbles where he was stripped. Allen has lost five fumbles in his two-game stint as Cam Newton's fill-in, despite not throwing an interception.
Allen finished 24-of-34 for 232 yards and no touchdowns, and it was the offensive talent around him that even enabled him to have the success he did. Christian McCaffrey again proved why he is one of the NFL's best running backs, accounting for 179 total yards and a touchdown. He's averaging more than 150 scrimmage yards and a score per game through a quarter of the season. McCaffrey also had one of the game's best plays, a falling-down, twice-tipped double catch that extended a Panthers fourth-quarter drive.
To be fair to Allen, his offensive line struggled with the Texans' pass-rush, too. Allen was sacked three times, and rookie left tackle Greg Little especially had difficulty slowing Whitney Mercilus in his first career start.
But none of that mattered, not with the way coach Ron Rivera's defense played.
Against a high-powered offense like Houston's, featuring Watson and superstar receiver DeAndre Hopkins, you'd think it would take more than 16 points to win.
But Carolina's game plan, specifically to shut down Hopkins and Watson's other pass-catchers, worked to a tee. Hopkins finished with only five catches for 41 yards, one of his worst games since the Texans drafted Watson in 2017. There were opportunities for he and Will Fuller to break out deep passes, but Watson just overthrew both heaves, which proved to be costly.
Part of the reason Carolina's defense was so dominant was because of the pressure it got on Watson. With Houston's offensive line still much a work in progress, the Panthers sacked Watson six times and hit him plenty others. Butler's late takedown was the most critical, but all were drive-killers. Mario Addison had two sacks, giving him five in the team's last two games.
Then there was Ross Cockrell's timely interception of Hopkins, whose misguided throw off a Texans trick play went straight to him. Considering the Texans had stolen the ball _ and momentum _ from Carolina on a turnover just plays earlier, it couldn't have come at a better time.
Slye did his part with his leg, and McCaffrey did enough on offense to get Carolina some points, but there's only one way to assess Sunday's result from NRG Stadium:
The defense done did what it had to.
