Panthers in a Nutshell
Newton on offense / Kuechly on defense. ...McCaffery and Olsen also dangerous.

Panther Offense
rDerek Anderson replaced the injured Cam Newton and had waht FOX Sports called a "horrendous" outing, He completed 18 of 28 passes but was picked off twice and couldn't punch it into the end zone.Newton will be out Sunday...In two contests, he completed 25 for 51 qwith zero interceptions. He was sacked 3 times...No statistical data for his backup available....DJ Moore was targeted 14 times/completions 9...Greg Olsen went 6 for 9 (181 yds) ...Samuel for 13...Panthers were without Jonathon Stewart (again!) but their RB by Committee wotked out pretty well with 136 yards on 25 attempts...Keep an eye on Artis-Payne (85 yds on 18 carries)....Kelvin Benjamin is emerging as an important target fr the Pantera QB (whomever he might be)...Don't know much about their OL - other than that Ron Rivera was inclined to run the ball after Newton got injured

Quarterbacks
QB ..1 Newton...07 Allen...03 Grier...xx D Anderson

Running Backs
RB....22 McCaffery...39 Bonnafon......20 Scarlett
FB....40 Armah

Wide Receivers
LWR...12 .Moore...15 Hogan,,,
RWR ..10 Samuel...13 Wright

Tight Ends
TE.....88 Olsen...80 Thomas

Offensive Line
LT.....60 D Williams...74 Little
LG..73 Van Roten74 ...65 Daley
OC....61 Paradis...69 Larsen..
RG....70.Turner...65 Daley
RT...72 Moten...75 Green

Cardinal Defense

Defensive Interior Line
DE - 97 Z Allen...90 Bullard...91 Dogbe
NT - 98 Peters, 72 M Brown
DE - 95 Gunter, 93 McDonald

Linebackers
SAM - 55 C Jones, 50 Reed
ILB - 43 Reddick, 59 Walker
MLB - 58 Hicks, 42 Gardeck...47 Z Turner
WILL - 56 Suggs, 54 Marsh

Defensive Backs
LCB - 33 Murphy...27 K Peterson
RCB - 20 Brock...25 C Jones,
SS - 36 Swearinger...35 D Thompson,,
FS - 32 Baker...38 J Thompson... 28 C Washington... 40 Tillman*

Matchup: Panthers Passing Attack vs. Cardinal Pass Defensese
Anderson is a mixed bag. A year or two back, he replaced Newton and played lights out. But his ouiting vs. Tampa Bay was underwhelming to say the least. The Pantera QB will, no doubt be throwing to (Cardinal killer) Greg Olsen and McCafffery a good target out of the backfield. They'll try to get Moore and Samuels more involved in the passing game. We don'tknow much about theirOL - except that Coach Rivera was reluctant to expose Anderson to a pass rush and relied more on a ground attack.

Key Matchuups - Panther QB vs. Cardinal corners...Panther OL vs. Suggs and C Jones...OLsen and McCaffery vs Reddick and Baker

Matchup: PanthersRushing Attack vs. Cardinal Run Defense
Panthers are pretty stingy with the points they give up..Expect the Panthers to return to old time rock 'em sock 'em football - shorten the game with a ground attack while stopping the Cardinal running game. Cards have not been stellar in these two depts. We don't like this matchup

Key Matchuups - McCaffery vs. Hicks. Cardinal Front 3 vs. Panther OL...J

Quarterbacks
01 Murray, 07 Hundley

Running Back
31 D Johnson, 29 Edmonds, 37 Foster

Wide Receivers
WR - 11 Fitzgerald...14 Byrd..., 89 Isabella,
WR - 13 Kirk...19 KS Johnson
WR - 15 Crabtree...16 Sherfield

Tight Ends
TE - 85 Clay, 87 M Williams

Offensive Line
LT- ...74 Humphries...66 Miles,
LG - 67 Pugh
OC- 53 Shipley, 52 Cole
RG- 64 Sweezy, 65 Gailliard...68 Vujnovich
RT - 71 J Murray...79 J Mills...78 Toth

Panthers Defenns
Kuechley led the Panthers with 17 tackles, followed by SHq Thompson (8) and D Jackson (6). Burns and Poe had one sack apiece, (Addison and Carter were credited with a half a sack....TB converted 6 of 15 third downs and was able to control timr of possession and keep Anderson off the field. They also struggled to create turnovers (a hallmark of previous Carolina teams).

Defensive Line
LDE....93 McCoy...94 Obada
NT..95 Poe...77 Love
RDE...99 .Short...92 Butler

Linebackers
LOLB.....97 Addison...53 Burns
LILB....54 Sh Thompson...56 Carter
RILB....59 Kuechley....57 A Smith
ROLB...55 Irvin...98 Haynes

Defensive Backs
LCB....26 D Jackson...23 Elliottt
SS....25 Reid...28 Gaulden...30 Jamerson
FS.....33 Boston...47 Cockrell
RCB...24 Bradberry

Matchup: Cardinal Passing Attack vs. Panther Pass Defense
Kiler Murray is still a somehwhat unknown entity. Sure, we know he can beat you with both his arm and feet, but each Sunday, he brings new surprises. Since Pantera's defense went up against the Cam Newton RPO during practice each week, he figures to have a pretty good handle defending against "Air Cardinal."

Key Matchups:
K Murray and the Cardinal OL vs. Kuechley, Irvin and other pass rushers

Matchup: Cardinal Running Attack vs. _Panther Run Defense
Panthers are gritty vs. the run. Cards haven't shown much from David Johnson and their runniing attack. In addition to Kuechlie (aka "Superman"), Irvin and Reid are some of the most notable names on the Panther defensive roster.

Key Matchups
The two OLs...D Johnson vs Reid. Kuechely vs. Everyone

Special Teams
Slye kicked 4 FGs vs. TB...Palardi is their punter. Don't know much about McCloud except that his first name is "Ray=Ray", he returns punts and kicks but isn't noted in the 2-deep Panther depth chart. (Memo to Coach Kingsbury - Ignore special teams at yur peril. Just blink for a second, and you'll see some enemy dude breaking a long one, forcing a fumble or blocking a kick

\Panthers Special Teams

K      .04 Slye 
P ..... 05 Palardi   
H      05 Palardi
LS     44 Jansen
KR   14  McCloud
PR    14 McCloud

Cardinals Special Teams
P - ...02 Lee
K- ....05 Gonzalez
H - ...02 Lee
LS - 46 Brewer
KR - 89 Isabella
PR - 13 Kirk

Matchup Panthers Special Teams vs. Cardinal Special Teams
Slye showed some consistecy by booting 4 FG's vs. Tampa Bay {Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to beat the Buccos (since Carolina was unable put any TD points on the board). Any return guy named "Ray-Ray" has got to be a home run hitter. Cards seem to have found a "keeper" in Gonzalez..Lee is our Pro Bowl gamer.. Card returners are not known for striking fear in the hearts of opposing coverage folks...Cards placed a higher value on ST personnel regarding bottom of roster decisions at cutdown time. Cardinal coverage and punt/kick blocking skills are going to win us a couple of football games.

Key Matchups:
Slye va.Gonzalez...Palardi vs. Lee...McCloud vs. Kirk or Isabella...Cardinal Coverage units vs. Panther return teams

Coaching / Intangibles
HC Ron Rivera...OC Norv Turner...ST: Chase Blackburn...DCEric Washington...Rivera was cited by (I think it was) USA Today as being one of a handful of head coaches sitting on the hot seat...Turner brings a wealth of experience as a OL.

How to Beat the Panthers
If you're playing a team without its star QB and who has shown the inclination to grind things up on the ground, your principles for survival would include: (1) Protect the gootball...(2) Stop the run and probably mix in run blitzes with an aggressive pass rusn...If Rivera goes with his ball control strategy, expect the game to due battle beteen the two teams' 35 yd lines (where the threat of the field goal is most omnipresent. One way to control Kuechley is to tire him out with roll-outs, waggles and sweeps to make him chase tto the perimeter