Every time that Curtis Samuel scores a touchdown, has a big play or even looks fast on a reception, there are calls for the second-year wide receiver to get more snaps. He’s now scored five touchdowns on 112 snaps in 2018 and it’s no surprise that fans are starting to clamor for more Samuel – especially after he racked up five catches on seven targets, 55 yards and a score on only 16 snaps.
Ron Rivera says he likes what he sees from Samuel – obviously – but it’s not just a matter of just throwing him out there for more snaps.
“He’s explosive, he’s really continued to develop and grow and he’ll continue to get opportunities,” Rivera said Monday about the shifty wideout, but warned that more snaps for Samuel wouldn’t necessarily mean more production. “Now you’ve got two guys you’ve got to figure out who’s going to get the ball – the problem being is that if they’re out there, doesn’t mean they’re going to get it.”
Samuel (16) and DJ Moore (45) combined for 12 catches, 212 yards and two scores; Jarius Wright (41) and Devin Funchess (48) had five for 94.
With Torrey Smith still out – although he did work out ahead of the game and may be ready to return on Sunday – Moore continued to get the bulk of the second wide receiver snaps as he had a career day with 157 yards on seven catches. Cam Newton missed only a single snap after having Ziggy Ansah hit his legs in the fourth quarter, and after releasing CJ Anderson in order to get an “honest look” at Cameron Artis-Payne, the backup running back saw three snaps while Christian McCaffrey continued his huge workload by not missing a single snap.
The amount of 3WR sets that the Panthers ran meant less of a second tight end, so Chris Manhertz (12), Alex Armah (1) and Ian Thomas (2) were used sparingly in Detroit.
On the defensive side of the ball, Shaq Thompson (41) outsnapped Captain Munnerlyn (29) for only the second time since Thomas Davis (65) returned; the Panthers stayed in their big nickel for much of the first half to counteract the Lions personnel. Eric Washington continues to mix up his defensive line rotation, with Addison (44), Short (42) and Peppers (36) getting the majority of the work, but the team had Marquis Haynes (15) active for only the second time this season as the Panthers try to evaluate he, Bryan Cox (21) and Efe Obada, who was inactive.
“It was in an effort to find out what the young man can do,” said Rivera on the decision to activate Haynes. “We’ve got three young guys that we’ve got to find out if they can play in this league and they’ve got to be able to develop. The only way they can is if you play young guys; we had an extra spot – I wanted to see a little bit more of Bryan Cox, and I also wanted to give Marquis a chance to play, especially on the turf.”
Check out the rest of the snap counts here:
| Name | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percentage | Defensive Snaps | Percentage | Special Teams Snaps | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C Clark | T | 58 | 100% | 3 | 11% | ||
| T Moton | T | 58 | 100% | 3 | 11% | ||
| G Van Roten | G | 58 | 100% | 3 | 11% | ||
| T Turner | G | 58 | 100% | 3 | 11% | ||
| C McCaffrey | RB | 58 | 100% | ||||
| R Kalil | C | 58 | 100% | ||||
| C Newton | QB | 57 | 98% | ||||
| G Olsen | TE | 56 | 97% | ||||
| D Funchess | WR | 48 | 83% | ||||
| D Moore | WR | 45 | 78% | 1 | 4% | ||
| J Wright | WR | 41 | 71% | 1 | 4% | ||
| C Samuel | WR | 16 | 28% | 8 | 30% | ||
| C Manhertz | TE | 12 | 21% | 8 | 30% | ||
| D Byrd | WR | 6 | 10% | 20 | 74% | ||
| C Artis-Payne | RB | 3 | 5% | 16 | 59% | ||
| I Thomas | TE | 2 | 3% | 5 | 19% | ||
| M Newhouse | T | 2 | 3% | 3 | 11% | ||
| A Armah | RB | 1 | 2% | 17 | 63% | ||
| T Heinicke | QB | 1 | 2% | ||||
| J Bradberry | CB | 65 | 100% | 11 | 41% | ||
| M Adams | FS | 65 | 100% | 7 | 26% | ||
| L Kuechly | LB | 65 | 100% | 7 | 26% | ||
| T Davis | LB | 65 | 100% | 4 | 15% | ||
| E Reid | SS | 65 | 100% | ||||
| D Jackson | CB | 59 | 91% | 7 | 26% | ||
| M Addison | DE | 44 | 68% | 2 | 7% | ||
| K Short | DT | 42 | 65% | 7 | 26% | ||
| S Thompson | LB | 41 | 63% | 18 | 67% | ||
| J Peppers | DE | 36 | 55% | 7 | 26% | ||
| W Horton | DE | 29 | 45% | 4 | 15% | ||
| C Munnerlyn | CB | 29 | 45% | ||||
| D Poe | NT | 27 | 42% | ||||
| V Butler | DT | 23 | 35% | 7 | 26% | ||
| K Love | NT | 23 | 35% | ||||
| B Cox | DE | 21 | 32% | 9 | 33% | ||
| M Haynes | DE | 15 | 23% | ||||
| C Elder | CB | 1 | 2% | 11 | 41% | ||
| C Jones | SS | 24 | 89% | ||||
| B Jacobs | LB | 17 | 63% | ||||
| J Carter | LB | 17 | 63% | ||||
| D Mayo | LB | 17 | 63% | ||||
| M Palardy | P | 8 | 30% | ||||
| J Jansen | LS | 8 | 30% | ||||
| G Gano | K | 7 | 26% | ||||
| T Larsen | G | 3 | 11% | ||||
| R Gaulden | FS | 3 | 11% |
