NFL Power Rankings, Week 9: 49ers embarrass Panthers, Eagles shock Bills
By Dan Parzych
16. Carolina Panthers (12)
Despite previously winning four games in a row, the Carolina Panthers knew the San Francisco 49ers would be their toughest challenge to date during Week 8 since there’s a reason why Kyle Shanahan’s squad was the only remaining undefeated team left in the NFC.
Unfortunately, the Panthers realized fast just how great of a team the 49ers have, and it would be one thing if Carolina came up just short, but the fact that San Francisco won 51-13 shows just how brutal of a loss this really was.
From Kyle Allen throwing three interceptions after failing to record a single one over the last four contests to the Panthers having zero answers to stop Nick Bosa, this Carolina team received one of the biggest wake-up calls from the weekend in regards to facing a top contender.
Even the best of teams suffer an embarrassing loss every once in a while, but it will be interesting to see how the Panthers respond after this one.
Most importantly, after Allen appeared to be in great position to keep the starting job over Cam Newton once the former No. 1 pick returned to full strength, it looks like Ron Rivera may not have that difficult of a decision after all.