Carolina Panthers: 3 Lessons from Saints-Titans
The Carolina Panthers have completed the first half of their twentieth season undefeated at 8-0. They begin the second half of the year with a visit to the Tennessee Titans.
The Titans have had some drama of late. They fired Coach Ken Whisenhunt after a 1-5 start despite being in the first year of rookie quarterback Marcus Mariota. Former Bills coach Mike Mularkey took over and their first test was against a healthier New Orleans Saints.
It seemed like the Saints would run away at times, but the Titans kept answering with more points. Sometimes that happened in strange fashion as when tight Delanie Walker poached a would be interception and turned it into a touchdown.
In the end, the Titans prevailed in overtime. So what can be gleaned about the Titans from this 34-28 victory?
1. The Carolina Panthers Schedule is still all about the quarterbacks
After a four game stretch with Russell Wilson, Andrew Luck, and Aaron Rodgers, the Panthers could not really be blamed for sleeping on whoever was the next opponent behind center. Except they probably should not. Mariota played a really good game against the Saints, with 374 yards and four touchdowns. He will be the central focus of the Panthers defense.
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2. The Titans shut down the Saints run game
It is always hard to judge a team with Drew Brees harshly for not running the ball as much as they should. However, the Titans made the Saints virtually one dimensional for most of the game. Mark Ingram had around fifty yards rushing and C.J. Spiller was close to silent. This is important to note with the Panthers and their run first mentality.
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3. Don’t Expect the Titans to Go Away
The main lesson from the Saints-Titans game is that the Titans will hang around if you let them. If they are around then they can still find a way to win. The Panthers have gone through two weeks of games where teams came back on the Panthers to be close at the end before key turnovers. This is not a trend to experiment with against Tennessee.
The Panthers play the Titans on Sunday, November 15, at 1:00 PM.