The Miami Dolphins come to Charlotte for their third straight game under the bright lights of national television night games as one of the few teams in the NFL that the Panthers have not beaten at Bank of America Stadium in their franchise history. Before we delve into the analysis, matchups, and personnel that’s going to affect the game, let’s take a look at some numbers as we head into Monday Night. First, the offense:
| Panthers | Statistic | Dolphins |
|---|---|---|
| 313.1 | Yards/Game | 270.3 |
| 4.81 | Yards/Play | 4.39 |
| 109.1 | Rushing Yards/Game | 77.6 |
| 3.65 | Rushing Yards/Play | 3.34 |
| 204 | Passing Yards/Game | 192.6 |
| 6.24 | Passing Yards/Play | 5.31 |
| 3.74% | Interception Rate | 3.10% |
| 7.82% | Sacks/Pass Attempt | 5.86% |
| 19.8 | First Downs/Game | 17.6 |
| 6.5 | Punt Return Average | 6.4 |
| 21.1 | Kickoff Return Average | 21.9 |
| 95.00% | Field Goal Percentage | 90.00% |
| 43.41% | Third Down Percentage | 31.00% |
| 33% | Fourth Down Percentage | 18.18% |
| 46.43% | Red Zone Percentage | 67% |
| 58.33% | Goal To Go Percentage | 70% |
| 33:29:00 | Average Time Of Possession | 29:35:00 |
| 18.7 | Points/Game | 14.5 |
And the Panthers specialty, the defense:
| Panthers | Statistic | Dolphins |
|---|---|---|
| 274.1 | Yards/Game | 315.4 |
| 4.9 | Yards/Play | 5.38 |
| 78.4 | Rushing Yards/Game | 94 |
| 3.68 | Rushing Yards/Play | 3.69 |
| 195.7 | Passing Yards/Game | 221.4 |
| 6.24 | Passing Yards/Play | 7.11 |
| 1.42% | Interception Rate | 1.20% |
| 10.28% | Sacks/Pass Attempt | 6.43% |
| 15.6 | First Downs/Game | 18.8 |
| 5.9 | Punt Return Average | 7.8 |
| 19.3 | Kickoff Return Average | 19.9 |
| 33% | Third Down Percentage | 36.08% |
| 28.57% | Fourth Down Percentage | 33.33% |
| 64.71% | Red Zone Percentage | 72.22% |
| 72.73% | Goal To Go Percentage | 91.67% |
| 17.7 | Points/Game | 22.4 |
A Good Matchup For Carolina
- Carolina has the number one defense in the NFL from a yardage perspective in 2017, allowing 274.1 yards per game; they’re allowing the fourth-fewest points (17.7). Miami has the worst scoring offense (14.5 points per game) and gains the second-fewest yards (270.3) per game.
- The Panthers have the top defense in the NFL despite facing the top two offenses in Weeks 3 and 4. The Panthers have held every team below their season average in net yards, while holding San Francisco, Buffalo, Detroit and Chicago to season lows.
- The Panthers, specifically Graham Gano, have made 95% of their field goal attempts, the fourth best percentage in the NFL.
- The Panthers have not allowed a 100-yard rusher in a game this season; Dolphins leading rusher is Kenyan Drake, who has 94 yards on the season, after trading away Jay Ajayi last week at the trade deadline.
- Only five players have more rushing touchdowns this season than quarterback Cam Newton; he leads all NFL QBs in rushing attempts and yards. Newton is tied with Lesean McCoy for second-most rushing touchdowns since 2011 when he entered the league.
- Over the past three weeks, Michael Palardy leads the NFL in net punting average and punts inside the 20, while ranking third in gross punting average.
- Panthers are 5-1 in November on Monday Night Football.
- Panthers lead the league in time of possession, keeping the ball for 33:29 per game, the Dolphins average 29:35 per game.
- Panthers are 4-1 in games decided by less than a touchdown this season; last season they were 2-6. They have matched their win total (6) from 2016 with seven games left on the schedule.
Something Has To Change
- The Panthers are 1-4 against the Dolphins in their franchise history; Miami is one of two teams the Panthers have never beaten at Bank of America Stadium.
- The Panthers are 4-2 this year in games they top 100 yards rushing, the Dolphins have only allowed teams to top 100 yards in three of their eight games, in which they’re 1-2.
Just For Fun
- Dolphins backup QB Matt Moore played for the Panthers from 2007-2010; he was 7-6 in games started for the Panthers, he’s 8-8 in games started for Miami. That’s better than Jay Cutler’s career record.
- 40.6% of Cam Newton’s rushes this season have gone for a first down; his 39.9% conversion rate since 2011 is the best in the league during that span.
- Three different Panthers players have recorded 100-yard receiving games this season (Kelvin Benjamin, Christian McCaffrey, Ed Dickson). The Panthers have never had four different receivers hit that mark in the same season. Related: Greg Olsen is eligible to return to the active roster after the bye next week.
- The Panthers are on pace to break their franchise records for both penalties assessed (39 this season, record is 80) and penalty yards (334 this season, record is 637).
- Panthers rookie draft class (Christian McCaffrey, Alex Armah, and Curtis Samuel) have the second-most all-purpose yards of any class in the league, second only to Kansas City, who are led by Kareem Hunt.
Josh Klein is Editor-In-Chief of The Riot Report. His favorite Panther of all time is Chad Cota and he once AIM chatted with Kevin Greene. Follow Josh on Twitter @joshkleinrules.