There’s a lot of reasons not to be optimistic about the Panthers’ season – they’re 0-2, Cam Newton looks to be out for a least the short term with a foot injury and, quite frankly, they haven’t been hugely impressive in their two losses – certainly not in Week 2 against the Bucs.

However, despite all this, there is reason for optimism – this weekend they get to visit a fellow winless team with a rookie quarterback and head coach. If there was a game to go into without your starting quarterback….well, it would probably have been Thursday’s game against the Bucs – but this is another very winnable game, and the focus at this point really should be about going to Houston in a week’s time at 1-2 and not 0-3. So what are the things that Panther fans should be watching for this Sunday?

Big Test For Kyle Allen

While Cam Newton hasn’t been ruled out officially as of Friday morning – Ron Rivera wasn’t ready to name a starter on Thursday – it certainly seems as if it’s trending towards Kyle Allen.

Allen has played one game in the NFL, and that was last year’s Week 17 affair against what was essentially the Saints minus all their key starters as they rested for the postseason. While the Cardinals are not one of the NFL’s best teams based on what we’ve seen over the past couple of seasons, this will be his first game going against a full-strength NFL defense and his play on Sunday will be important not just for the Panthers’ chances of winning the game, but also in terms of their options going forwards.

The question, at this stage at least, really isn’t about whether Kyle Allen looks like an NFL franchise quarterback, but really about whether he looks like he belongs at the NFL level. While he did play quite well against the Saints last season, given the fact that they were resting a large number of key starters, he didn’t exactly star, and how he plays both on Sunday and in any other games he gets to start this season will go a long way to determining whether he is somebody the Panthers will view as part of their plans going forward or just the best they have right now.

There are two real parts to this problem, as the Panthers will want to see both his ability to make the throws expected of an NFL quarterback and his ability to operate as a part of the offense. For the former, he doesn’t need to be dropping forty yard bombs over the shoulders of receivers every few plays – though that would be nice – but he does need to show the ability to push the ball downfield at times as well as making the easy throws needed to keep the Panthers on track offensively.

However, for most NFL quarterbacks, the real issue is the second question, as far too many are either unable to recognize where the ball needs to go or are far too keen to try and get it somewhere it really shouldn’t be. As much as anything, it would be really nice to see Allen have a couple of drives where he is able to lead the team down the field and finish in the end zone, something the Panthers have really struggled with so far this season.

The Panthers have scored two touchdowns on 26 possessions this season.

If Allen looks good on Sunday, and Newton is out for any length of time, then look for him to continue to get chances to perform until he either regresses to the mean or proves himself to be a capable NFL quarterback. If he struggles, however, the Panthers will only have so much patience before they give Will Grier a chance to show what he can do.

Take Advantage Of Inexperience

Kyle Allen might only be playing in his second NFL game on Sunday, but Kyler Murray is only playing in his third – and the Panthers’ defense should absolutely look to take advantage of that inexperience.

This is particularly relevant when it comes to the Panthers’ new 3-4 look, as while they will likely have only six people in the box against the Cardinals four-wide looks, that should still allow them to disguise pressures effectively and give Murray a range of different looks to make him diagnose pressure post-snap and consistently react to coverages rather than working proactively. If the Panthers can make him hold the ball for a second longer on every snap, that should make it much easier for them to scheme pressures, which in turn should make it easier for the players in coverage.

The other way the Panthers need to take advantage is that younger players tend to make mistakes – Murray has made some already so far this season – and the Panthers need to be able to capitalize. James Bradberry did get one interception against the Rams but the Panthers haven’t really created as many chances at interceptions as they would have liked to have done through two games and not only should they hope for force Murray into some mistakes on Sunday but they will also hope to take advantage of the mistakes he does make.

The Panthers defense under Ron Rivera has been one that has focused on generating pressure and getting turnovers, and while they have actually played pretty well through two weeks, they have struggled to consistently generate pressure and have just the one interception. Given the struggles the Panthers have had offensively through two games, they need the defense to be better than just good, and that has to start against a Cardinals team with a rookie under center – even if he always works out of the shotgun.