Carolina Panthers fans were overjoyed on Sunday afternoon following a dominant showing against the number one defense in the NFL because this is the team fans have been waiting to see since the beginning of the season. The Panthers have been hot and cold for the entire season and now fans are finally starting to see things click. The offense continued their dominant ways with D.J. Moore having an explosive game, the defense forced Joe Flacco to throw two interceptions and the coaches stopped coaching to “not lose” and started coaching to win.
If Carolina can keep these ways up, winning the division shouldn’t be as hard as some would make it seem. This is especially true since the New Orleans Saints will go against the undefeated Los Angeles Rams and the Panthers will go against a struggling Tampa Bay Buccaneers team in Charlotte. This could be the week that the Panthers tie for first place in the NFC South with the Saints.
Hot and Cold: Carolina Panthers vs Baltimore Ravens
Hot
Cam Newton
This was kind of obvious. Cam Newton has been dominating defenses left and right with his arm and his legs. The number one defense in the league had no answers for anything that Cam did. He completed 72 percent of his passes for 219 yards, two touchdowns, and zero interceptions. He also rushed 10 times for 52 yards and a touchdown. His season total numbers are eclipsing the numbers he had around this time during his 2015 MVP year and he’s on pace to have his best season yet.
With Moore’s bigger role in the offense, Greg Olsen’s return and other speedy guys like Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel getting touches, this offense has a chance to do a lot of damage against other great defenses if Newton stays healthy. He’s recently been dealing with some aggravation to his throwing shoulder, which is why he’s been limited in practices recently. This injury is nothing to be concerned about now, but it will still be monitored over time.
Hot Scale: Carolina Reaper Pepper
Kyle Love
If I told you that Kyle Love would outplay free agent signing Dontari Poe, you would’ve called me crazy and dragged me through the mud on Twitter for the world to see. But, he’s been doing just that. Poe has seven tackles on the season. Love had three more against the Ravens along with a pass defended, two forced fumbles and one fumble recovery. He has been all over the field for the Panthers defense. We can only expect to see his playing time increase because of his on-field production. Next week against Tampa, Love should have a great showing that will eventually win him the starting role over lackluster defensive tackles like Poe and Vernon Butler.
Hot Scale: Carolina BBQ Sauce.
D.J. Moore
This comes to the surprise of no one who took time to watch at least 15 minutes of last week’s game. With Torrey Smith out for last Sunday’s game, Moore had a chance to see the field more often and increase the amount of touches he got. With his new workload, Moore cut through the Ravens defense like a hot knife through butter, rushing and receiving. He totaled 129 total scrimmage yards on the day and next week, he should see the same or an increased workload. This was a statement game for Moore because lots of critics saw his early production compared to Falcons wide receiver Calvin Ridley and started to write him off as a bust although both receivers are in entirely different schemes and coaching situations. Moore may be worth a fantasy football start this week against a suspect Tampa Bay secondary.
Hot Scale: Too hot. Like the police and a fireman.
Cold
Damiere Byrd
Byrd has a ton of potential to be a difference maker for the Panthers offense and special teams. Last year, he had Carolina’s first kick return for a touchdown since 2011. The only issue is that Byrd hasn’t been doing a good job staying healthy; which is why his game reps are so limited. The same thing happened earlier this year to Samuel. Upon returning, Ron Rivera likes to ease his wide receivers back into the game to maintain the chemistry that the healthy guys have already established.
Unfortunately, that’s why Byrd hasn’t gotten the football into his hands and he’s unable to make a real difference. Once he gets his rhythm back, he will be worked into the rotation more often. He’s no Moore or Samuel talent-wise, but he possesses speed that would destroy any defense you put him up against. This week, he should be involved more often in the Panthers’ offensive attack.
Cold Scale: A water bottle left in the car overnight in November.
Dontari Poe
As mentioned earlier, Poe has been outshined this season by his teammates Vernon Butler and Kyle Love. So far, he has not played up to the expectations that Panthers fans had of him coming into this season. I’m sure fans thought he would be an upgrade over Star Lotulelei, who the Panthers let walk last season. But that hasn’t been the case. They’re mirror images of one another. Poe will more than likely see a decrease in reps to favor Love. He may be a one and done Panther after this season.
Cold Scale: The fish sticks that have been in the back of the freezer since Star Lotulelei has been a Panther.
C.J. Anderson
He hasn’t produced much with the few reps he gets, but C.J. Anderson being “cold” has nothing to do with his on-field play, but instead his Twitter fingers. Anderson released a tweet on October 30th saying: “Next season will be my [season]. More motivation, more grind, more everything!!!” Apparently, someone needs to remind him that there are still nine games left in this regular season!
This is a poor display of veteran leadership and it comes across as very selfish. Furthermore, he goes on to argue with Panthers fans on Twitter for the next 24 hours. His mind is clearly not in the right place to win football games, much less get on the field. Fortunately for him, he didn’t pull this stunt before the trade deadline. If he keeps this up, there won’t be a “next year” for him in Carolina.
Cold Scale: Alaska
