Carolina offense continues muted production despite Bryce Young bounceback
The Panthers hit the under on their 22.5 implied total Sunday versus the Cowboys. For the second straight game, Carolina failed to top 20 points. They have scored two touchdowns in each of the last two contests, Bryce Young accounting for both against the Cowboys. He threw an 83-yard TD pass to rookie receiver Jalen Coker, who caught four total passes for 110 yards and the touchdown. Young also ran for one score, totaling 12 yards on the ground. He was 19-for-28 passing for 219 yards and one TD.
With Jonathon Brooks out the remainder of the season, Chuba Hubbard owned the majority of the backfield work. The running backs rushed just 12 times, however, in a low-volume game for the Carolina offense. Hubbard rushed 10 times for 32 yards and caught all four of his targets for 17 yards. The Panthers offense is having more success as of late, but is not one to target for fantasy.
– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb
Panthers face Chiefs, Jonathon Brooks makes NFL debut
The Carolina Panthers are coming off their Week 11 Bye to face the Chiefs. Kansas City just fell to the Bills, marking the defending champs’ first loss of the season. The Panthers downed the Giants in their last game (Week 10), but the Panthers are scoring just 16.7 points per game on the season – the 4th lowest in the NFL. The Chiefs defense has allowed just 19.4 PPG to opposing offenses, eighth-fewest in the league, and the fifth-fewest yards (297.5).
Bryce Young, who is getting his fourth straight start, threw for 224 yards and two TDs versus a tough Broncos D in Week 8, but threw for 171 yards and 126 yards, respectively, in his last two starts – one pass TD in each. It’s a low-volume pass attack with Young at the helm. No Panthers pass catcher has earned more than eight targets in any of Young’s starts. Jalen Coker drew eight against the Giants, but caught only three. Coker is tied with Xavier Legette for the team lead in targets over the last three with 17.
We could see an uptick in the Carolina passing volume against a middle of the road Kansas City pass defense, as the Chiefs’ run defense is a top-five unit. Adam Thielen is back in the mix this week, which could water down the pass volume, but Thielen will likely ramp up to game action slowly after missing the team’s last seven games. The bottom line is without a touchdown, none of the Panthers’ WRs or TEs is worth much more than a Bye week spot start. Legette is the most likely to get in the end zone, having caught four TDs on 45 targets and 69.8-percent (No. 72) Route Participation.
Miles Sanders is out with a lower leg injury and Jonathon Brooks is slated to make his NFL debut this week. That said, Brooks will merely spell Chuba Hubbard. Hubbard has been getting bell cow work this season – No. 9 with 151.6 Weighted Opportunities. Temper expectations against a stingy Chiefs run D, however, that has not allowed a single running back to gain more 69 total yards in a game this season.
– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb
Fourth-year back gets bell cow usage and adds to impressive rushing season
Chuba Hubbard owned the Panthers’ backfield Sunday with Miles Sanders (knee/foot) playing only six snaps and Jonathon Brooks a healthy scratch. Hubbard ran the ball 28 times for 153 yards and a score versus the Giants in Munich. He is now No. 3 in the NFL with 818 rushing yards, trailing only Derrick Henry and Saquon Barkley. With Sanders banged up and Brooks ramping up slowly, Hubbard is getting bell cow usage and careening toward league winner status.
With the Panthers leaning into the run game and not much resistance from the Giants on the other side of the ball, Bryce Young threw only 25 passes, his lowest pass attempt total on the season. Young is a last resort QB start. He does not add much on the ground, although he did add 30 yards on the ground Sunday on two rush attempts.
In a low volume passing attack, Jalen Coker was the target leader with eight, catching just three for 41 yards. Xavier Legette caught three of his four targets for 40 yards and Ja’Tavion Sanders had the lone receiving touchdown on one of his two targets. Sanders caught his other target, but went down on the one-yard line. Otherwise, he would have had a two-catch, two-touchdown day.
– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb
Bryce Young Named Starter As Panthers Put Young Weapons to the Test
The Panthers match up against division rival Saints in Week 9. It will be a battle of basement dwellers in the NFC South. The Panthers have struggled with consistency at QB. Bryce Young will be the Panthers’ starting QB for Week 9 while Andy Dalton continues to recover from a thumb injury.
Young went 24-for-37 passing in Week 8 versus a tough Broncos’ secondary. The second-year QB accounted for the Panthers’ two TDs passing, just the third time in his career throwing for multiple TDs in a game. The recipients of those touchdown passes were Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. They will be the likely target leaders rest of season as they were in Week 8 (Legette 7, Coker 6). Don’t sleep on David Moore in deeper leagues. Moore quietly ran the most routes on the team and was the recipient of five targets. Temper expectations for the Carolina passing offense, however. Young has only thrown for more than 300 yards once in his career as starter.
Another storyline to watch is in the Panthers’ backfield. Jonathon Brooks is slated to make his debut soon as he comes off the ACL tear he suffered late in his final college season at Texas. The second round rookie is unlikely to be activated for Week 9, however, so Chuba Hubbard will continue to lead the Panthers backfield. Hubbard has been serviceable on decent volume. He is No. 9 with 111.6 Weighted Opportunities and No. 5 with 593 rush yards on the season. He has four rushing TDs, and faces a Saints D that ranks in the bottom quarter of the league stopping the run.
– Joel Ybarra, @metaffb
