Panthers win second straight
The Carolina Panthers defeated the Arizona Cardinals on Sunday 31-21 for their second straight victory. Teddy Bridgewater was exceptional leading the offense. He threw for 276 yards and two scores. After dealing with red-zone issues last week, the Panthers remedied that by scoring touchdowns on their first four trips inside the Arizona twenty.
Most of Bridgewater’s yards came from hooking up with Robby Anderson and Curtis Samuel for most of the afternoon. Anderson had another good showing tallying 99 yards on eight catches. Samuel garnered 51 yards on three catches. Teddy had a blemish here and there overshooting receivers at times, one of those instances resulting in an interception by Patrick Peterson. Troubling is the non-factor that D.J. Moore was once again. There were high hopes coming into the season for the former Terrapin. Mike Davis followed up his performance in L.A. with another strong showing. Davis reached pay-dirt again while rushing for 84 yards on 16 carries. Backup Reggie Bonnafon got in on the fun with an 18-yard touchdown run. Bonnafon finished with 53 yards on 10 carries.
With cornerbacks, Donte Jackson and Eli Apple out with injuries, Carolina’s passing defense held their own. Kyler Murray did throw for three touchdowns, but he did not throw for a lot of yards. Murray finished the day with 133 yards. The pass rush was on point all afternoon. Rookie Yetur Gross-Matos had a strip-sack, which Tre Boston recovered, and DeAndre Hopkins was limited to just 41 yards on seven catches. The Panthers did not allow a rushing touchdown after giving up seven through the first three games.
Defensive coordinator Phil Snow drew up a good game plan to contain Murray. The Cardinals’ offensive line was getting pushed back all day, giving Murray little time to do anything. Offensive coordinator Joe Brady has to be pleased with the improvement shown in the red zone. The Panthers will look to go for a third straight victory next week when they visit the Falcons. The schedule continues to look favorable the following week when the Panthers face the Bears.
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