Seltzer

You can tell with Matt Rhule's mentality, he wants the team to be able to pound the rock on the goal line, but we simply don't have the horses to do it yet. Glad to see Brady get creative last night. Unfortunately, until we can improve the offensive line, especially the interior, we are going to need creativity to mask the lack of execution.

That call on the Tremble TD was perfect. We can all nitpick the playcalling, especially in the redzone, but the truth remains Joe Brady's system has helped Sam look like a legitimate NFL QB, something few outside the Panthers brass thought possible, myself included. And the offensive line is still really bad by any objective measure. The task gets harder with CMC out, but the bottom line is that Joe Brady is the OC on a 3-0 team and has unlocked Darnold's potential... hard for me to be too critical

Me too, but more so than anything, the team needs to err on the side of caution to ensure his long-term health. This sucks, but glad it wasn't his Achilles

Makes what Darnold has done even more remarkable. This narrative that he has better coaching and weapons is true, but in all honesty our offensive line is no better than what Sam had in NY or any better than the offensive lines the Panthers have trotted out the last few years. Sam has been tough as nails behind suspect protection

GTFOH... we're 3-0. Anybody who thought we weren't going to have major adversity this year must not actually watch the NFL... Injuries happen every week... we've been on the good end of the injury bug until last night. No one is going to feel sorry for us just like we haven't felt sorry for the teams we've played with some guys out. CMC will be back at some point. Hopefully Horn will be. But the other players got to step up until then. Sam Darnold was the story last night. He could have folded once CMC went down and the offensive line stopped doing their jobs. He didn't, and he came out and led us to victory last night. This is the first time I have confidence in our QB since before Cam got hurt in 2018. That cannot and should not be understated. Outside of that, this defense is simply incredible. I don't care who it is, shutting down three NFL offenses in 3 weeks in the modern NFL just doesn't happen. Haason Reddick and Morgan Fox were outstanding signings. You can choose to focus on the positives or negatives. Losing CMC and Horn sucks... no doubt But discovering we may have found a long term QB and having arguably the best pass rush duo in the entire NFL with Burns & Reddick means way more to me

They would lead us back to the Dark Ages if they could. Even as a proud Southern, I want nothing more than to separate myself 180 degrees from this backwards nonsense.

Exactly. Fair to say the entire roster overall is perhaps better, but even that is way too soon. Certainly 2015 had a better offensive line and (at least for now) much better QB... Cam will never get the credit he fully deserves for carrying that team to a Super Bowl

It is. Total waste of alcohol consumption

Ah, the feel of Fall... pumpkin spiced-lattes, Oktoberfest, cooler weather... it's the perfect time of year... Unfortunately, Fall just doesn't last.. and winter weather can arrive when you least expect it. Houston knows this well. Back in February, a once-a-century snow storm wrecked their city, leaving millions without power and wondering where in the world this came from... Well, history doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. Tonight, a localized storm of equal magnitude is going to strike NRG stadium. The power may not go out, but all hope generated by the Texans unexpected 1-1 start will be vanquished. To start with, Davis Mills is going to need to take a separate insurance policy out for this neck... Lovie Smith must have Mike Glennon flashback PTSD every time he looks at that monstrosity... It may as well be a strike zone for the 2 most electric pass rushers in the NFL, Brian Burns and Haason Reddick. This is not just a game about victory... this is about imposing our will on an inferior opponent and planting the Panthers flag on the national stage. We have all dealt with the long and torturous slog of these last 3 years in the wilderness, waiting for our Moses to come down from the mountainside... Who knew it would be in the form of a 65-year old grizzled football man who looks like a Sopranos extra that the players affectionately call "Yoda" Phil Snow has gotten his well-deserved flowers this week. This franchise hasn't seen a defensive innovation like this since Dom Capers 25 years ago. But now it's time to bring on the full force of this Panthers rebirth. I want to see Joe Brady & Sam Darnold bring it tonight along with this incredible defense. I want a kicker that can make a freaking kick and special teams that can cover. I want to see a Panthers team that cannot be denied on the national stage any longer. I want to see the ice-cold killer instinct that will send these Texans back to the wintry shadowlands of NFL exile. I want complete victory and unconditional surrender. Here's to being 3-0 for the first time since 2015!! Panthers 37, Texans 9

It was. The was the last play he was on the field

Just to clarify, QB's making their first start are 6-0 against the spread, not in terms of winning the game. Makes sense b/c the line is going to be inflated against a first time QB... That being said, 5 of them did win. This game may present more challenges than we think CBS Sports HQ QBs to make their first NFL start on Thursday Night Football are 6-0 against the spread in the past 10 seasons. Davis Mills makes his first start tonight and the Texans are 8-point home underdogs.

I understand your point, but it's all about resource allocation per position. Many teams have 2 high-priced receivers... that shouldn't cripple a well-managed cap. We can dispute the amount paid to Robby, but locking him up for another 2 years was a good GM move. Solidifies that position and allows you to develop 2 drafted guys (Terrace Marshall & Shi Smith) on rookie deals. Doing this will allow us to sustainably build a good WR corp. The biggest thing missing with Hurney was the bad drafting that forced the team to sign many FA's for higher money (even if they weren't that good) to fill roster spots. Better-ran teams fill those spots with draft picks, which allows them to pay their core elite talent guys and occasionally splurge on a big-ticket FA. With Hurney, too many times we overspent to fill positions that should have been filled through better drafting, and then we compounded the issue b/c the FA's we signed to fill those roles sucked and then we cut them and had to eat dead cap. That's not to say we never had any success under Hurney, but I do think it was a major factor in why the Panthers have never been able to sustain success via back-to-back winning seasons.

Panthers can afford to franchise Reddick if necessary next year. We will have him and Burns together for at least this year and next. After that, a lot more hard decisions will have to be made concerning how to allocate money bc we will have to pay Burns, Donte, DJ, etc along with potentially extending Darnold That being said, let tomorrow worry about tomorrow and just enjoy today. It's been a while since we've had a lot to get excited about as Panthers fans. I'm trying to remind myself to just enjoy this moment for now

Pound for pound he looks like one of the strongest guys in the league. It's amazing what him and Burns both can do not only from a speed perspective but also having the strength to take on offensive linemen when they are giving up 50+ or pounds to these guys on a consistent basis

I think the 2013 Defense doesn't get enough credit bc we didn't have any playoff success, but that still remains arguably the very best Front 7 we've ever had. Other than Mitchell, we had straight JAG's (at best) in the secondary. And they still dominated bc the pass rush was just so dominant. And teams weren't running on prime Luke & TD. Hardy and CJ were straight prototypical 4-3 monsters. Burns and Reddick are speed personified and can be every bit as effective, but they are smaller guys, more like Lamar Lathon and Kevin Greene. If 2021 Defense is speed personified, the 2013 defense was violence personified.

I hope so and believe the current management is setting the team up for sustained success, but objectively speaking, it's hard to find a team in the modern NFL that competes perennially that doesn't have a true franchise QB. Injuries are too much of an unknown on otherwise good teams. A franchise QB can cover for a lot of other deficiencies... exhibit A was Cam in 2015 elevating the offense mostly on his own. I'm excited about this team and the culture Rhule is creating, but that alone can't elevate this team without an above-average to elite level QB play. Sam has surprised me by how well he has looked, but it's simply too small of a sample size to make any pronouncements. If anything, it may take the whole year. If Sam can be that guy, I certainly think Rhule can create a perennial contender. Otherwise it's back to drawing board again. But, I do think Rhule is smart enough to know all of this, hence why we got rid of Teddy so fast. Nothing, not even great coaching and personnel, can ultimately substitute for a truly elite QB

You're right of course, but maybe after so many things going against us for the last 3 years the football gods took pity

Aaron Wilson @AaronWilson_NFL Texans ruled out Danny Amendola (hamstring), Deshaun Watson (non-injury reasons), Terrance Mitchell (concussion). Kamu Grugier-Hill (knee) questionable. Justin Reid (sprained knee) is questionable and not expected to play against the Panthers, according to a league source This is on top of Tyrod being out... absolutely no excuses not to show out in this game

Absolutely. Our whole schedule early on is shaping up to be quite manageable. But everyone should look at the 4 games we end with... We are going to need every bit of luck and staying healthy to put us in a position for those games, and hopefully we are still in the hunt. I look at it as basically the playoffs starting 4 weeks early, b/c those games are really going to show where this team is at the end of the year relative to 3 of the very best. If we can compete in those games, it will prove this time is on our way to being a true contender.

Exactly... we are going to have a 4-week gauntlet at the end of the year with the Bills in Buffalo, The Bucs in Charlotte, the Saints in New Orleans, and finishing with the Bucs in Tampa. We will have a chance to show where we fit in the league hierarchy then... until then... This is a young team that needs to continue to get better and more confident. Being able to stack wins, regardless of the circumstances, is the best thing for now.

Yep... maybe Phil Snow was secretly plotting the end of Phil Leotardo... In the end, there can be only one Phil... long live King Snow!!

Literally no one... what a play call!!

At the game... what's so bad about it?

Couldn't tell a difference from the stands (at least from the upper deck) unless someone slid and kicked stuff up... that looked different from normal grass but otherwise it looked the same. As far as speed, turf is supposed to be faster but TBH I didn't see a difference Biggest thing is I hope we don't see a major rise in injuries from it... week 1 was a success in that regard. Hartsfield was hurt but not bc of turf. Don't think any of the Jets injuries were due to it either.

No just that they would have made him leave the game to be checked and miss plays