Carolina Panthers linebacker Thomas Davis scooped up a Carson Palmer fumble and took it to the house for six points.
Amidst the struggles of the Carolina Panthers to open the 2016 NFL season, the most surprising development has been the struggles of their defense. While it’s not been much on their front seven and more an issue in the secondary, the linebackers have been less effective than expected because of the secondary problems. However, Thomas Davis made an impact right away in Week 8 against the Arizona Cardinals.
On the Cardinals first drive of the game, the Panthers were getting great pressure on Carson Palmer. On third down, the Arizona quarterback tried to hit David Johnson with a quick shovel pass. Before he could even get it off, though, he was stripped and the ball tumbled to the turf. That’s where the veteran and opportunistic Davis scooped it up.
Davis got the rock and kicked out to the right sideline, stiff-arming David Johnson in the process. Despite not being known as a speedster, the Cardinals had all but given up on the play thinking it was an incompletion. The play wasn’t dead, though, and the veteran linebacker ran uncontested into the end zone for the return touchdown:
TD for TD!@ThomasDavisSDTM scoops and SCORES. #AZvsCAR https://t.co/HDgYU0p5KB
— NFL (@NFL) October 30, 2016
That’s certainly an iffy call at best that Palmer fumbled the ball. However, you have to give props to Davis for recognizing that the play hadn’t been blown dead and seizing the opportunity in front of him.
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For a Panthers team sitting at 1-5 coming out of the bye week, this is certainly a great way to go about jump-starting your efforts. Carolina then stopped the Cardinals again before driving and scoring to take a 14-0 first-quarter lead.