The Panthers get a respite from an extremely tough stretch of the schedule.
The Carolina Panthers are coming off a stretch of schedule where they faced three straight current division leaders. They lost all three by one score and had chances to outright win the games. This weekend looks like a significant break from that gauntlet.
They play the Dallas Cowboys, who are not a division leader. They’re not a playoff team. They don’t even have a winning record. They’ve been outright bad for most of the season, even when Dak Prescott was healthy. They had a brief two game winning streak with divisional wins over the Giants and Commanders, but neither of those teams are particularly great either. They came back to Earth on Monday night with a loss to the Bengals. Not only did they lose, the timing also means they’ll be operating on a short week compared to the Panthers.
They haven’t been good on either side of the ball, and the defense just lost one of their burgeoning stars, DeMarvion Overshown, to a catastrophic knee injury. They rank 23rd in defensive DVOA and the 5.9 yards per play they allow is fourth worst in the league. It’s even worse than the Panthers. There’s an opportunity for this offense to have a good day. Here’s how that can happen.
- Make life difficult for Micah Parsons. Lost in the disaster that has been the Cowboys season is the fact that Parsons is still the game wrecker he’s always been despite an early season injury. He has 6.5 sacks in nine game. 5.5 of those have come in the five games since he returned from that injury. He’s not quite as good against the run as he is rushing the passer, so the Panthers can try to wear him out by running at him and sending help his way when they do have to drop back to pass.
- Look for chunks in the passing game. The Cowboys have allowed 8.0 yards per pass attempt this season. Only the Jaguars have been worse. The Cowboys’ duo of outside corners Trevon Diggs and DaRon Bland look intimidating, but they haven’t been able to make a huge impact. Bland has been good, but Diggs hasn’t been nearly the player he used to be. Provided Young can take care of the ball and stay safe from Micah Parsons, there should be room to pick up hefty chunks of yards through the air.
- Take advantage of Bryce Young’s quick little legs. Three of the Cowboys’ last five opponents have had good athletes at quarterback. All three have had big games running the football. Jalen Hurts had seven carries for 56 yards and two touchdowns, Jayden Daniels had seven carries for 74 yards and a touchdown, and Drew Lock had four carries for 57 yards and a touchdown. Young has been more willing to use his legs to extend plays and take open space when he doesn’t have an open target to throw to. This is a good week to build off that.