With the Panthers only a week away from the bye, they’ve already come to a bit of a crossroads – head into their early break with a winning record by sending the Cincinnati Bengals to their first loss or send their coaches into the bye with the stench of two consecutive losses and the worst record in their division.
The Panthers almost survived a patchwork offensive line, a pair of injured wide receivers and a poor defensive performance in Atlanta thanks to the combination of Cam Newton and Christian McCaffrey along with an explosive play by DJ Moore down the stretch – only a couple of ill-timed mistakes and drops prevented their 2-0 start.
Now an undefeated Bengals team with a rejuvenated Andy Dalton and a ballhawking defense that has the second-best turnover differential in the NFL after two weeks comes to town and will be a tough task for the Panthers as they head into their off week. The well-rested Bengals, who will have ten days since having defeated the Ravens, will be harassing Newton all day on the defensive side of the ball, their stout defensive line will be a test for this revamped offensive line of the Panthers, who seem to be on the way to starting the same group that held the Falcons to only two sacks last week in Atlanta.
Our five point preview of this weekend’s game:
Five Players To Watch
Giovanni Bernard, RB
Photo Credit: Andy Doster/USA Today Sports
With Joe Mixon out after arthroscopic knee surgery on Saturday, the Bengals will rely on Bernard, who has made a name for himself in Cincinnati as a pass catcher – he has the second-most receptions and receiving yards for a running back in Bengals history; the last time the Panthers met the Bengals, Bernard sprinted 89 yards for a touchdown, the longest play from scrimmage of his career.
“Obviously the biggest thing is you just want to try to create explosive plays, whether that’s through the air or through the ground,” Bernard said about the key play of the 2014 37-37 tie. “The biggest thing is to just keep your feet going. You can’t really anticipate big plays — they just kind of come.”
The Panthers are hopeful they don’t come on Sunday.
Captain Munnerlyn, CB
Something that AJ Green hinted at before the season was that new offensive coordinator Bill Lazor would be moving Green around a little bit more – and it’s certainly worked thus far as all four of Green’s touchdowns in 2018 have come out of the slot; while Green will mostly be matched up with James Bradberry, there will be plays where the Panthers #1 corner won’t be able to follow Green into the slot.
“Sometimes on third downs when we go man, I’ll be able to go inside,” Bradberry said on Wednesday about covering Green. “It’s kind of hard for the outside corners to go in. There’s a lot of space to cover inside. When Cap is on the field, he likes to be on the inside, so I’ll let him to do that.”
“I’m confident in Cap.”
Munnerlyn will need more than confidence to match up with Green, who has a seven-inch height advantage on the nine-year vet.
Dontari Poe, DT
With the Bengals’ starting center, rookie Billy Price, missing Week 3 with a foot injury, the Panthers will look to their defensive tackles to make an impact in the middle – it was the lack of pressure and gap discipline up front that caused so many problems for the Panthers defense against the Falcons last week – if Poe can help push the pocket by overpowering center Trey Hopkins, it will make for lanes for the linebackers to wreak havoc as well as contain the Bengals run game.
William Jackson, CB
Photo Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
William Jackson is quietly becoming one of the better corners in the NFL, only allowing a passer rating of 36.1 when targeted in 2017 after missing his rookie year with a torn pectoral muscle; the Bengals first-round pick will look to shut down whomever is lined up on the right side of the field – don’t look for Devin Funchess to have a huge day on the outside when he’s matched up one-on-one with Jackson, who limited TY Hilton to only five catches on 11 targets in Week 1.
Geno Atkins, DT
Photo Credit: Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports
Atkins is a nightmare for any interior lineman, but he will be a huge test for backup Tyler Larsen when they’re matched up, as Atkins already has nine tackles and three sacks through two weeks – he’s well on his way to leading all interior linemen in sacks, just as he did in 2017. Only three defensive tackles in NFL history have had more sacks through their first eight seasons – and Atkins missed half of the 2013 season; expect to see Atkins wreaking havoc up the middle, it will only be a question of whether he is able to bring Cam Newton down, not whether or not he’s able to get to him: he will.
Four Matchups That Matter
AJ Green vs. James Bradberry
James Bradberry is in the middle of three-week stretch that may not only define his 2018 season, but may very well define his young career – the 25-year old held Julio Jones to under 70 yards this week, he’ll have his hands full with the NFL’s touchdown leader this week and after the bye will face off with Odell Beckham; the Panthers have been asking him to follow the opposition’s #1 wide receiver for almost his entire career, and he’s been up to the task thus far. Green wasn’t active for the teams’ last matchup, but Mohammed Sanu torched the Panthers for 10 receptions and 120 yards as the Bengals racked up over 500 yards of offense, but Green is fully healthy and off to the best start of his career this time around – keeping Green under wraps is an unenviable task, but Bradberry may well be up to the task.
Carlos Dunlap vs. Taylor Moton
Taylor Moton has played three positions across the offensive line since the spring – he began fighting for the left guard slot, moved to right tackle when Daryl Williams was hurt, then kicked over to left tackle to sub for Matt Kalil to start the season – when Chris Clark signed with the team last week, Moton kicked back over to right tackle – but all that movement doesn’t bother Moton.
“I don’t think of myself as a right tackle or a left tackle or even an offensive lineman,” said Moton. “I’m a football player.”
He certainly was the first two weeks, showing his versatility on both sides of the line as he excelled on the outside, only allowing one pressure on the left side and looking even more at home on the right – he’ll face a tough test this week when Carlos Dunlap, who seems to have a knack for making big plays at exactly the right time, is lined up opposite from him. Dunlap says that this is the best defensive line he’s ever been a part of from a pass rushing perspective, and he’s a big part of that – if Moton can keep Dunlap away from Cam Newton, it will make a huge difference.
Nick Vigil vs. Christian McCaffrey
We’ve all heard the stats from last week – 14 catches on 15 targets for the running back, the most receptions in one game in Panthers’ franchise history; whether or not you think he’s getting the ball too much or not enough, McCaffrey is clearly a huge part of this game plan – Norv Turner said that about half of the passes the second-year star caught were actually designed to get him the ball in space; the other half were checkdowns.
When Vigil was a rookie, fellow linebacker Vontaze Burfict actually called him “Luke” because he reminded him so much of the Panthers star linebacker – he’ll need to channel his inner Kuechly to keep the ball out of McCaffrey’s hands on Sunday.
“Stop No. 1. Find No. 22. [He] is a dynamic guy,” Vigil told his team website. “He lines up all over the place, not just in the slot, but wide and in the backfield. Cam does what he can to get the ball to him. It’s going to take a big effort to stop him.”
Bill Lazor vs. Eric Washington
Last year after two games, the Bengals were ranked last in the NFL in scoring and had yet to score a touchdown – that led to the firing of Ken Zampese and the promotion of then-quarterbacks coach Bill Lazor. After an improved 2017 and a full offseason to implement his scheme, and the Bengals have scored 68 points in two games and are rolling offensively.
“We’re really trying to continue to do a good job of combining our run and our pass, and I think that’s important,” said Marvin Lewis about their new and improved offense. “I think you have to be married to both to win in the NFL and we’re trying to do a nice job of building it from there, building it from scratch starting with our run game and I think our coaches have done a good job of that.”
It will be the task of defensive coordinator Washington, the third man to helm the defense in three years, to match wits and plays with Lazor – how the Panthers defense bounces back from one of their worst performances of the past few years will be indicative of how Washington’s reign as a coordinator will be.
Three Fun Facts
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This season, Bengals head coach Marvin Lewis welcomed six new coaches to his staff. It marks the highest coaching turnover of Lewis’ 16-year tenure at the helm in Cincinnati; Ron Rivera also welcomed six new coaches of his own.
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With his next tackle, Luke Kuechly will move into sole possession of second place in Panthers’ franchise history, trailing only Thomas Davis.
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Last week against the Falcons, Cam Newton set a career high with 32 completions as he went 32-of-45 for 335 yards and three passing touchdowns. It marked his career-best completion percentage (71.1%) when he had more than 35 passing attempts. It also marked Newton’s 17th 300-yard passing game and 18th three-touchdown passing game.
Two Quotable Quotes
“We’re trying to clone guys like Luke Kuechly here.”
-Marvin Lewis
“Mother Nature threw us a curveball and those are the things we can’t prepare for. I know for me, I take extreme pride in knowing that doing what I do is not necessarily about me. I bring so much joy, not only to myself, but to other people. Each and every time I touch the field, I know my responsibility is to do his (God’s) will and try to spread as much joy as possible. We just have to make sure we put a lot of smiles on peoples’ faces.”
–Cam Newton
One Bold Prediction
Both Ron Rivera and Norv Turner have said multiple times this week that DJ Moore is going to get more involved, and I think it’s actually on the ground as he takes a reverse for a touchdown.
