The Carolina Panthers have weathered the storm quite nicely during star running back Christian McCaffrey’s absence. In their first five games without McCaffrey, the Panthers posted a record of three wins and two losses, with wins over the Los Angeles Chargers, Arizona Cardinals, and Atlanta Falcons. In that time, McCaffrey’s replacement, Mike Davis has been efficient as he has 350 yards rushing and 244 yards receiving in the blue and black along with four touchdowns.
McCaffrey, who is out with a high ankle sprain, had practiced earlier in the week with the Panthers. However he needed more time before he was declared game ready, and Davis got his sixth consecutive start Thursday night in a NFC South divisional battle home game against the Falcons.
The Panthers offense was ok, but did not play with the same tempo as the Falcons in a 25-17 defeat. Atlanta quarterback Matt Ryan clearly outplayed Carolina quarterback Teddy Bridgewater, and the Falcons had a marvelous game from Julio Jones, who had seven catches for 137 yards.
Carolina meanwhile lacked a whole bunch of energy. What they desperately seemed to need was a dynamic playmaker or a difference maker when they had the football. There is no doubt that they were missing McCaffrey. Davis had 13 rushes for 66 yards and one catch for 11 yards, but was unable to reach the end zone.
McCaffrey meanwhile is the game’s best back for a reason. Last year, he led the NFL with 2392 yards from scrimmage and is explosive as a running back and as a receiver in short-yardage situations. The next game McCaffrey could return to the 3-5 Carolina lineup is next Sunday against the high-octane Kansas City Chiefs. Atlanta meanwhile improved to 2-6.
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