Three takeaways from Carolina’s win over Chicago
By Daniel Lacy
Grier, offensive line struggle in first half
Third round draft pick Will Grier was easily one of the players who Panthers fans were most excited to see coming into this game. Grier’s first game under center came with growing pains, finishing the night with 77 yards, one touchdown and one interception while completing 9 of 16 passes. Grier looked like he had the jitters coming out, throwing an interception on just his second drive after his first drive ended in Holyfield’s fumble.
However, it’s worth noting that the offensive line also struggled in the first half, giving up pressures on just about every snap and three sacks in the first half: one on Grier and two on Allen. The line looked much improved in the second half, not giving up a sack for the remainder of the game, and Grier’s play improved with that, leading the team to a touchdown drive and even breaking out a 20-yard rush on third down to extend the drive.
So what does this mean? The improvement seen from Grier and the offensive line was a promising sign that the first half wasn’t the norm. For now, Allen looks like he is ahead for the backup quarterback job behind Newton. We still have three weeks of practice and three games left for some of these position battles to start to form, giving time for Grier to improve and overtake Allen, or for Allen to get even better traction on the backup quarterback job.