With a chance to go into next week's prime-time showcase against the Detroit Lions atop their division at 2-1, the Carolina Panthers fell short. A dogfight against the Cleveland Browns here in Week 3 ended in a bitter 21-18 defeat, giving the reigning NFC South champs their second loss of the campaign.
There were certainly a fair amount of failures from the afternoon. Carolina did not win the war in the trenches, did not take advantage of potential takeaways and did not play the cleanest of games.
But at least the team did come away with a few encouraging performances.
Here are the Panthers' best and worst Pro Football Focus grades from Sunday . . .
Players listed recorded at least 10 offensive snaps or 10 defensive snaps.
Best of the offense
1. LG Damien Lewis: 89.7
2. WR Brycen Tremayne: 77.7
3. TE Mitchell Evans: 71.9
4. TE Tommy Tremble: 71.8
5. QB Bryce Young: 70.0
Lewis was the only Panthers offensive lineman not to allow a pressure. He earned team-best grades in pass blocking (79.1) and run blocking (88.5).
Tremayne, with Jalen Coker and Xavier Legette sidelined, stepped up for a game-high 83 receiving yards on four grabs. Tremble and Evans pitched in with three receptions apiece, as the former went for 41 yards and the latter 36.
Young completed 26 of his 48 throws for 291 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He leads the NFL in passing yards (939) heading into the final game of the Week 3 slate.
Worst of the offense
12. RB AJ Dillon: 53.9
13. RG Robert Hunt: 53.9
14. RT Monroe Freeling: 52.7
15. LT Rasheed Walker: 49.5
16. C Luke Fortner: 45.6
It appears as though most of the offensive line struggled, no?
Hunt, Freeling and Walker each allowed six pressures. The lowest pass-blocking grade of the bunch belonged to Fortner (34.4).
Best of the defense
1. ILB Tyrel Dodson: 83.8
2. DT Derrick Brown: 82.4
3. DT Lee Hunter: 74.8
4. OLB Trevis Gipson: 73.7
5. CB Akayleb Evans: 69.7
Dodson tallied six tackles in his Panthers debut. He was also credited with three stops.
Brown picked up three stops as well to go along with a pair pressures.
Evans filled in quite admirably for Mike Jackson, who departed in the first quarter with a groin injury. He earned a team-best 78.1 grade in coverage.
Worst of the defense
14. S Tre'von Moehrig: 56.3
15. S Zakee Wheatley: 54.0
16. S Lathan Ransom: 50.7
17. OLB Princely Umanmielen: 49.7
18. CB Mike Jackson: 47.5
Oh, well it appears as though the safeties also struggled, no?
Moehrig whiffed on three tackles. Ransom missed on two.
Umanmielen tied for the team-lead in pressures (five) with fellow starting outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips. But his coverage grade of 29.7 was, by far, the lowest on the defense.
Follow @ThePanthersWire on Twitter/X for more Panthers content.
This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Best and worst PFF grades from Panthers' Week 3 loss to Browns
