Carolina Panthers: Injuries poison studs and duds from win over Texans

The Carolina Panthers earned a decisive victory over the Texans but the win was marred a bit by injuries to key players on either side of the ball. 

Both expected and not simultaneously, the Carolina Panthers picked up a comfortable road victory on Thursday Night Football against the Houston Texans, winning 24-9. Yet, it wasn’t necessarily the game many people expected, largely due to key injuries for Carolina and some relatively shocking poor performances on the Panthers roster.

Still, it’s a win and the Carolina Panthers are now undefeated through three weeks of the 2021 NFL season, something many people didn’t see coming. Yet this team has largely performed as the best defense in the league to start the season and they’ve been getting a nice jolt of life from a new-look offense as well.

Carolina now has 10 days before they go on the road next week to face the high-octane Cowboys. But before we look ahead to that, let’s dive into the Week 3 win over the Texans and highlight the studs and duds for the Panthers.

Biggest Carolina Panthers Dud vs. Texans: Key injuries

Even in the win, it was a tough night for the Panthers in how their long-term outlook could be affected because of the key players that were forced out of the game due to injuries.

The first big loss was seeing dynamic running back Christian McCaffrey exit the game after a strong start to the night with a hamstring injury. He pulled up on what ended up being his final run of the night and then went directly to the medical tent before being ruled out for the rest of the game.

A bit later, the Panthers also saw rookie first-round pick Jaycee Horn left on the turf and have to be carted off the field. Reports indicate that the cornerback, who had performed extremely well in the first games of his career, suffered a broken foot.

Both McCaffrey and Horn are critical components to the early-season success of Carolina. If either player misses a substantial amount of time, the adverse effects could be felt immediately.