The Carolina Panthers were without Bryce Young last Sunday and instead had to roll with Andy Dalton. Recent history would have told you that the drop off from Young to Dalton wasn’t all that significant,
and if the Panthers were going to compete with Young, they could do just about the same with his backup. That did not hold true against the Bills. Dalton looked old. He couldn’t evade or break away from any sort of pressure, and he might have had as many pump fakes as he did completions. He was hesitant and flustered, and the offense was completely neutered because of it.
Young is trending towards playing this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers after fully participating in the first official practice of the week. That’ll be a welcome sight for Panthers fans. Unfortunately, the line blocking for him isn’t looking as welcome. Brady Christensen is out for the year after tearing his Achilles, and Cade Mays looks like he’s going to be out this weekend as well. Taylor Moton might play, but he didn’t practice on Wednesday. We’re going to potentially see a center through right tackle grouping of Austin Corbett, Chandler Zavala, and Yosh Nijman. Not exactly confidence inspiring.
To add insult to injury, this weekend’s opponent is arguably better than the one that just shellacked the Panthers at home this past weekend. The Packers are 5-1-1, the best in the NFC and are top 10 in both offensive and defensive DVOA. On defense specifically, they’re top 10 defending both the run and the pass. There are no clear weaknesses on paper. They’ve been even better at home, where they’ve held the Lions, Jayden Daniels-led Commanders, and Joe Flacco-led Bengals all under 20 points. Carolina is probably the easiest offensive opponent they’ve faced at home, at least on paper.
All that to say that the Panthers offense needs to step up and play over their heads to give themselves a fighting chance in Lambeau. Here are three things that can make that happen.
- Lean on Rico Dowdle. The Panthers offense has been at its best this season when Dowdle is rushing for 200 yards. The coaching staff tried to reintegrate Chuba Hubbard after he missed time with a calf injury, but it just hasn’t worked for Chuba this year. He’s averaging just 3.6 yards per carry to Dowdle’s 5.7. His longest run is 14 yards. Dowdle has matched or exceeded that on seven different carries. Dave Canales seemed to suggest that the offense was going to go away from the committee approach and lean on Dowdle more, which seems sensible and should give the Panthers at least a small chance at controlling the clock and limiting the possessions in the game.
- Stay patient in the passing game. Packers opponents are averaging 8.0 yards per completion this season, far and away the lowest mark in the league. That’s a whole yard better than the next best team, and that gap is the same as the one between the second worst team and the league average. Bryce Young isn’t exactly Mr. Aggressive when it comes to attacking the deep and intermediate parts of the field, and he’s probably going to have to stay that way for at least another week. There should be room for the backs and tight ends as checkdowns, and Young is going to have to keep taking them if they’re there.
- Score at least 28 points. The Packers have scored exactly 27 points in all three of their home games. If that trend holds true and my math is correct, 28 points should be enough to win this game.
