Initial Reactions: Panthers Defense Wins the Day

Defense was the story of this game. In fact, the Panthers' defense had more touchdowns (1) than both offenses combined until 12:31 left in the fourth quarter when Mark Ingram scored the first offensive touchdown of the game for either team. 

While the Panthers' offense struggled to consistently piece together sustained drives, the Carolina defense came out absolutely ferocious. The unit, which entered the game as the only defense in the NFL not to force a turnover yet this season, turned up three of them as part of a performance where the confidence appeared to be dialed up to 11. 

The first turnover was in the first quarter, as Frankie Luvu forced a fumble, which was recovered by Marquis Haynes and subsequently returned for a touchdown. That touchdown helped set the tone for a defense that was making life difficult for the injured Jameis Winston all day long. 

The second turnover came in the fourth quarter, as a tipped pass by Jaycee Horn allowed teammate Derrick Brown to dive for an incredible interception. Horn then sealed the game in the fourth quarter with an interception of his own.

Between the turnovers forced, the consistent pressure on the quarterback and other opportune playmaking like Henry Anderson's blocked field goal, and a 3rd down sack by Jeremy Chinn that led to a missed field goal, the Panthers were able to consistently find ways to keep momentum in their favor. 

I said in my "Keys to the Game" article yesterday that the Panthers needed to take the opportunity today to be more aggressive than we've seen thus far that we've seen defensively as to prepare for better teams coming to town later in the season. I would say the team more than accomplished that today.

This type of defense is going to have to show up week over week to support the output we've seen from the offense thus far. With young players stepping up left and right to make an impact though, defensive coordinator Phil Snow's young defense is in a great position to keep getting better and doing just that.

If there was a nit to pick against the Panthers' defense today, it was that they were only able to finish one sack. While there were plenty of pressures that led to plays in their favor, being able to finish plays as healthier- and more talented- quarterbacks come to town will be paramount to replicating these types of performances.

When it comes to the offense, we saw a lot of the same from weeks 1 & 2. The connection between Baker Mayfield and his receivers seemed once again to be non-existent. So much so, in fact, that DJ Moore's most important contribution to the win came in the form of recovering an on-side kick attempt by the Saints late in the game, which allowed the Panthers to run out more of the clock.

The only receiver the Panthers offense that seemed to have any sort of connection with Mayfield was Laviska Shenault Jr., who was playing in his first game of the season after a later off-season trade arrival from Jacksonville. 

Shenault's 90 receiving yards while catching both of his targets not only led the Panthers but was more than all other Carolina pass-catching options combined. If he and Mayfield can continue to build off of that connection, Shenault's versatility could be a welcome addition to an offense still looking for more consistent playmaking.

The biggest issue for the Panthers offense today seemed to be that man coverage from the Saints was more than enough to neutralize the passing game as a whole. Baker Mayfield had only 76 passing yards through three quarters and constantly found himself getting rid of the ball under pressure because nobody was beating their guy. Offensive Coordinator Ben McAdoo is going to have to get more crafty if secondaries are going to be able to lock up his guys like that.

McCaffrey, who had seen a lighter workload than usual through two weeks, saw a much heavier workload in Week 3. His 25 rushing attempts were as many as seen in Weeks 1 + 2 combined. The 108 yards that came from those attempts were not the most efficient of his career but were very necessary for a team who was trying to shorten the length of a game in which Carolina never trailed.

We still have not seen much of McCaffrey, the pass catcher, this season. Recording only two catches for 7 yards today, he now totals 10 receptions for 57 yards on the season. I suspect if the Panthers are to become capable of moving the ball on a more consistent basis, McCaffrey getting those high percentage receptions in space will be a large reason why.

The Panthers, now 1-2 on the season, have snapped a 9-game losing streak with this win over the Saints and will look to get back to .500 in the record column next week as the Arizona Cardinals visit Bank of America Stadium.

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