The Carolina Panthers have been a complete mess during the Matt Rhule era, yet have continued their dominance over the Cardinals.
Last season, the Panthers killed the Cards 34-10 at State Farm Stadium. The previous year, the Panthers beat the Cards 31-21 in Carolina.
This offseason, the Panthers acquired former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield from the Browns with hopes to finally end their quarterback carousel.
To this point, Mayfield has been shaky outside of a near-comeback against his former team in Week 1. His highest passing yardage total is 234, although he has limited the interceptions, only throwing one to this point.
The Panthers did not make many splash moves in free agency outside of Mayfield, but made an effort to re-sign many of their own and bring in solid starters.
One of the few they let go, surprisingly, was former Cardinal Haason Reddick. Reddick had 11 sacks for the Panthers last season, yet Carolina opted to let him walk.
They also allowed Stephon Gilmore to walk in free agency after trading for him before the deadline in October. Gilmore, who had been connected to the Cardinals on numerous occasions, eventually signed with the Indianapolis Colts.
The Panthers added a few starters in Xavier Woods, Austin Corbett, Matt Ioannidis and Johnny Hekker. All are solid contributors and certainly make the team better.
The Panthers’ clear goal of the offseason was a belief in their core players to be elevated by quarterback stability. They have a solid offensive core running back Christian McCaffrey and receivers D.J. Moore and Robbie Anderson, but they have yet to put up tons of points.
Defensively, their young group continues to improve, highlighted by Jeremy Chinn, Brian Burns, Jaycee Horn and Yetur Gross-Matos. That unit will be facing a decimated Cardinals offense this Sunday.
Here’s a more detailed list of the Panthers’ offseason moves:
Panthers’ key offseason additions
- G Austin Corbett
- DL Matt Ioannidis
- S Xavier Woods
- P Johnny Hekker
- LB Corey Littleton
- LB Damien Wilson
Panthers’ key offseason losses
- CB Stephon Gilmore
- QB Cam Newton
- OLB Haason Reddick
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