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Carolina Panthers midseason report card

By Luke Tucker

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 03: Teammates Kyle Allen #7 and Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 03: Teammates Kyle Allen #7 and Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers during their game at Bank of America Stadium on November 03, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /
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Defensive Line: A

CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 12: Brian Burns #53 of the Carolina Panthers after sacking Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images)
CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA – SEPTEMBER 12: Brian Burns #53 of the Carolina Panthers after sacking Jameis Winston #3 of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second quarter during their game at Bank of America Stadium on September 12, 2019 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Jacob Kupferman/Getty Images) /

Through the first eight weeks, the Panthers have six defensive linemen/edge rushers with at least 2.5 sacks. Rookie Brian Burns has been dominant at times and has shown enormous flashes of potential en route to posting 4.5 sacks through the first half of the season. Newcomers Bruce Irvin and Gerald McCoy have been important contributors as well, and Mario Addison is on pace to set a career-high in sacks. Vernon Butler and Dontari Poe have also stepped up and performed well in the absence of Kawann Short.

The lone problem for the Panthers’ defensive front is that they rank 26th in the league in rushing yards allowed per game. However, it’s no coincidence that Carolina leads the league in sacks–this group is one of the best in football.

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