How long do you allow yourself to celebrate a damaging win? For the Carolina Panthers, any good vibes from Week 3 probably vanished by the time they landed back in Charlotte early Friday morning — injuries have reared their ugly head.
The Panthers are 3-0 for the first time since their 2015 Super Bowl season after beating the Houston Texans in a 24-9 nationally televised eyesore.
McCaffrey, Horn injured in Panthers’ Thursday night win
Nevertheless, the standings had barely been updated when all thoughts turned to the carnage that came with the win. Two of the Panthers’ most essential players — running back Christian McCaffrey and rookie cornerback Jaycee Horn — got hurt, left the game, and did not return.
Horn’s issue was the most alarming. The No. 8 overall pick of the 2021 NFL Draft left the field on a cart and went to the locker room for X-rays after suffering a non-contact injury in the second half.
Panthers coach Matt Rhule told reporters postgame that it appears as though Horn “broke bones” — as in multiple — in his foot. But it appears as though he avoided a dreaded Lisfranc injury. Still, he’ll be out weeks, months, or perhaps even until 2022.
McCaffrey, meanwhile, pulled up lame with a hamstring strain in the first half, derailing both Carolina’s offense and countless fantasy lineups from coast to coast. Rhule didn’t know the severity postgame and probably won’t until McCaffrey goes for imaging Friday. Still, it’s safe to assume McCaffrey’s availability for the Panthers’ Week 4 showdown with the Cowboys is very much in doubt.
So yes, the Panthers woke up Friday atop the NFC South — but with an asterisk, not a bullet.
Carolina’s soft upcoming schedule
They’ve beaten three teams of underwhelming quality. But the schedule isn’t exactly daunting for the next month.
After a trip to Dallas, Carolina then hosts the Eagles and Vikings before road games against the Giants and Falcons. Their next five opponents have two wins between them.
If the defense and QB Sam Darnold (23-of-34, 304 yards) play like they did Thursday, that should be enough to keep the Panthers competitive until they get their key players back.
“Sam’s a gamer. The guy’s flat out balling right now,” said Panthers pass rusher Haason Reddick.
He is. Darnold has played efficient, turnover-free football for the first time in his career — and that’s enough for this team, at least at this point.
Barring something totally crazy showing up on his MRI, McCaffrey will be back in the next few weeks. And there seems to be some hope that Horn’s injury isn’t season-ending.
Plus, reinforcements are on the way for Carolina’s secondary. A.J. Bouye is back from a PED suspension. Even though he was a healthy scratch Thursday, he should be ready to play by the Cowboys game.
Additionally, the Panthers don’t exactly need Deion Sanders in their defensive backfield with the way their front seven has played this season. Carolina hit rookie Davis Mills 9 times Thursday and limited the overmatched Texans to 193 yards of offense. The Panthers have allowed just 30 points in 12 quarters this fall.
Chuba Hubbard time in Carolina
So really, the only thing that could stop the Panthers from a 6-2 start (or better) is their running game. But Chuba Hubbard looked pretty good as McCaffrey’s understudy, going for 79 yards from scrimmage on just 10 touches. Darnold hinted at the Panthers’ confidence in their running back depth by saying that, while he of course wants McCaffrey back ASAP, “we’ll be all right without him.”
That’s a show of faith in Hubbard, who was on the field for nearly four times the number of snaps of Carolina’s RB3, Royce Freeman. The Panthers wisely snagged Hubbard in the fourth round of April’s NFL Draft as an insurance policy.
“I told Chuba at halftime, this is why we drafted you,” Rhule said.
On Thursday night, they made a claim on that policy sooner than they had ever imagined.