What Week 1 taught us about the rest of the Tennessee Titans schedule
By Will Lomas
Week 9: Carolina Panthers
What a weird game for the Panthers this weekend. Cam Newton was sacked 3 times, threw an interception and no TDs but Carolina nearly won the game anyway.
The reason why it was even close was because one man willed it so: Christian McCaffrey.
One of the most dynamic RBs in the NFL, McCaffrey had 209 combined rushing and receiving yards as well as two TDs.
Despite being so good, the Panthers have said that they want to get away from relying so much on him. They are probably doing this because you should never be so dependent on one player, but for the last three years he has been the only part of that offense that works.
Defensively, Luke Keuchly is great as always but outside of him and rookie EDGE Brian Burns, there aren’t too many people I would be afraid of. Even Gerald McCoy failed to make any sort of tangible difference in the game with no real pressures and with the Rams running at will.
I would be more concerned if the Titans had to play the Panthers next week, but with all the wear and tear on Cam Newton, I need to see how he holds up. Also, if the Panthers try to take the ball away from McCaffrey or if they run him too much and he does get worn down, then either way that makes the day easier for the Titans defense.
The Panthers are one of the biggest question marks in the league right now and everytime I look back at that Rams score I just don’t understand how it could be that close.