The Carolina Panthers’ improbable quest for an NFC South title continues on Sunday, when the scorching Detroit Lions come to town. And there’s more than meets the eye in this matchup between a 5-9 team and a 7-7 one.
Here are the top storylines lines for this Week 16 Christmas Eve clash.
Let Sam cook?
Everyone and their grandmother knows the Panthers are willing to live and die hard by the run. But how many more deaths can they endure?
Their most recent one came last Sunday, when the Pittsburgh Steelers froze them for 21 rushing yards on 16 carries. That helped give way to a largely stagnant performance, with Carolina totaling all of 209 yards and only four successful third-down tries over 11 attempts.
While the ground game has proven to be mostly effective for this group, as they averaged 204 yards and 46 carries in the two games prior, it’s made them a one-dimensional offense. So, with the league’s third-worst passing defense coming into Bank of America Stadium on Saturday, is it time for the Panthers to unleash quarterback Sam Darnold a bit more?
The fifth-year passer hasn’t proven to be anything special in 2022, as he’s completed 59.1 percent of his throws for 509 yards and three touchdowns through his three starts. But he has, in a noticeable step forward, steered completely clear of the turnover—which may give offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo some confidence in potentially letting Sam cook.
Take a stand
Another fatal wound suffered by the Panthers in Week 15 came via their third-down defense.
Mitchell Trubisky’s offense managed to convert on 12 of their 16 tries on third down—a 75-percent success rate they hadn’t achieved since 2018. Heck, they even bullied Carolina for a 21-play, 91-yard touchdown drive that bled almost 12 minutes of clock coming out of the break.
The Panthers defense, obviously, can’t be bullied again in Week 16. And if they are, it’ll be a lot uglier than what we saw last weekend.
Detroit comes in with one of the more potent offenses in football, one that has averaged the fourth-most yards per contest (375.1). They’ve been getting a relatively steady campaign from quarterback Jared Goff and have a handful of lethal weapons in running backs D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams and wideouts Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams.
Al Holcomb’s defense must get their groove back to slow down this hot Lions squad.
Hello, destiny (again)
For the second time in as many weeks, Steve Wilks’ Panthers control their own destiny in the NFC South race. If they win out, they’ll be taking their division title—which would be their first since 2015—straight to a playoff appearance.
That three-game stretch, of course, begins on Christmas Eve. And while the scenario is simple, the road to get there probably won’t be.
Can the Panthers rekindle some of that 2014 magic by starting with a win over Dan Campbell’s Lions—who have won six of their last seven contests?
