Carolina Panthers: 3 takeaways from Sunday’s loss

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NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA – NOVEMBER 24: Christian McCaffrey #22 of the Carolina Panthers scores a 1 yard touchdown against the New Orleans Saints during the second quarter in the game at Mercedes Benz Superdome on November 24, 2019 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Christian McCaffrey is the best running back in the league

The four-straight dynamite performances by DJ Moore should clearly be given attention, and rightfully so. Over his last four outings, Moore has 30 catches for 442 yards–the most in the league during that span–punctuated by his first career two-touchdown game on Sunday. There’s no questioning he has been great as of late, however, it’s his teammate Christian McCaffrey that stole the show in New Orleans.

In the Panthers-Saints matchup, there was a bit of a game-within-the-game that wasn’t talked about much, but was important nonetheless. That secondary battle was McCaffrey versus the Saints’ Alvin Kamara, both of whom are among the best running backs in the NFL. On Sunday, McCaffrey showed the world who is the best. CMC outgained Kamara 133-102, and added two touchdowns to Kamara’s none.

No disrespect to Kamara, but he gained his yards against a defense that has been annihilated by opposing backs, while McCaffrey put up superior numbers against a team that’s among the best at stopping the run, and one of the best at shutting down running backs in the receiving game. Through 11 games, McCaffrey has a league-high 1,709 yards from scrimmage, and leads the NFL with 16 total touchdowns. He needs exactly 800 yards in the last five games to tie Chris Johnson’s single-season yards from scrimmage record.

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