The Carolina Panthers have not been at full strength at any point this season. With quarterback Cam Newton recovering from offseason shoulder surgery for much of the first month and Pro Bowlers Ryan Kalil and Greg Olsen being absent for seven games save for one quarter; with captains Luke Kuechly and Kurt Coleman, along with second-round pick Curtis Samuel being held out of games while wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin seems to be constantly battling with his surgically repaired knee, the injury report has seemingly bulged at times. As Newton asserts that he is 70% healthier than he was at the beginning of the season and Samuel, Coleman and Kuechly back on the field, the Panthers are almost back to the team they hoped they would be before the season began.
While the defense has returned to full strength as they welcomed back two of their captains against Tampa Bay, with Kuechly and Coleman returning to the lineup just in time to limit what had been the best passing offense in the NFL through seven weeks to only 194 yards and three points, with much of the yardage coming in the fourth quarter once the game was already in hand, the offense has left much to be desired in the past two weeks, having turned the ball over 12 times in the past six games with their top two running backs averaging less than three yards per carry on the season. Many factors have contributed to the struggles of the offensive line, but realistically, the Panthers offensive woes may come down to five words.
Ryan Kalil and Greg Olsen.
But there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Olsen, who broke his foot in the first half of a Week 2 win against the Bills, is eligible to return to practice on Wednesday after being placed on injured reserve and appears to be on pace to return for the Week 11 game against the New York Jets after the Panthers’ bye week. With backup Ed Dickson stepping into the #1 tight end role on the team, that leaves former college basketball forward Chris Manhertz as a primary blocking piece of the running game; Ron Rivera described Dickson as “splitting roles” in the current situation, and with rookie fullback Alex Armah inactive in Tampa Bay, the running backs again struggled this week as they were only able to amass 45 yards on 19 carries, 11 of which came on a Cameron Artis-Payne carry in the red zone.
With Dickson running routes instead of acting as a blocker or even lining up in an h-back role as it appeared he would when the Panthers decided to open the season without a traditional fullback on the roster, it’s no surprise the running game has struggled. If Olsen returns in New York, he comes in the form of not just Cam Newton’s favorite target but as a calming presence in the huddle for Christian McCaffrey and Curtis Samuel, two rookies whom the Panthers hope will contribute even more than they already have. If Olsen can draw the linebackers from the line of scrimmage, that should help on the delayed runs that have produced such little yardage thus far in addition to shuttling Dickson back to the blocking role the Panthers had earmarked for him before the season started.
More help will come for the running game when six-time Pro Bowl center Ryan Kalil returns from a neck injury he suffered before the Week 2 win over Buffalo, although the timeline appears to be a bit more cloudy. It appeared he was ready to return after practicing in full two weeks ago and starting in Chicago before removing himself from the game after the first quarter, saying afterwards that he was “frustrated with the whole thing” and didn’t have details on his injury. Ron Rivera said on Friday, though, that Kalil could have played this week in an emergency; the Panthers clearly have faith in backup Tyler Larsen and feel comfortable with him patrolling the middle until Kalil is back to 100%, if Kalil suffered a setback in Chicago, we may not see him until at least after the bye week.
The only game in which the Panthers have had both Kalil and Olsen in the lineup for sixty minutes, running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jonathan Stewart combined to rush for 112 yards and Cam Newton was not sacked. In the seven games since, Panthers running backs have averaged 50.1 yards per game and Newton has been sacked 22 times. The Panthers have gone 3-3 since Olsen was placed on injured reserve and have a huge divisional matchup with Atlanta upcoming; they’ll need to weather the storm until Kalil and Olsen return.
