5. Panthers vs. Bengals
Through the first two games, Cam Newton has been the leading rusher for the Panthers, despite the fact that Christian McCaffrey, who has come up big as a receiver, was expected to make more of an impact in the backfield. As great as it is to see Newton plow through defenders each game, Ron Rivera would prefer to see more from his running backs in the rushing department so there’s less risk of the Panthers quarterback suffering some sort of injury.
Only time will tell when it comes to seeing whether McCaffrey finally leads the team in rushing over Newton, but it’s certainly not going to be easy when facing one of the biggest surprises of September to date in the Bengals. Missing out on the playoffs in each of the last two seasons has been beyond frustrating for Marvin Lewis and company, but this Bengals team has been off to quite the hot start in 2018.
Cincinnati’s Week 2 win over the Baltimore Ravens was a statement when it comes to showing they can compete with some of the NFL’s best. Facing the Panthers on the road won’t be easy, but also this will be another great test for the Bengals to show they are in fact contenders.