NFL Power Rankings, Week 3: Cowboys, Ravens silence critics, Saints lose Brees
By Randy Gurzi
22. Carolina Panthers (21)
There was nothing pretty about the Carolina Panthers play on Thursday Night Football against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The field was ugly due to the weather and there was even a weather delay of nearly 30 minutes once lightning approached the Charlotte area.
Even before that break, which came in the first quarter, Carolina looked out of sync. Quarterback Cam Newton doesn’t look anything like the player he was in 2015 when he won the MVP award and his 333 yards on the night is a bit deceiving. Especially when you see he was 25-of-51 passing in order to get those yards.
Of course, if we are being fair, Newton needs to be able to threaten teams with his legs to be efficient and he couldn’t do that on this field. The rain made things difficult as even star running back Christian McCaffrey was a non-factor.
The focal point of their offense in 2018, McCaffrey managed just 37 yards on 16 rushes and 16 yards on two receptions. It was one of the least productive games of his young career.
For Carolina, this now puts them at 0-2 on the season which continues their sad fall from a team that was 6-2 at the midway point in 2018.