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Week 9 Game Preview: Panthers vs. Patriots

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Game Reset

History: Panthers vs. Patriots

  • Carolina is 4-3 all-time against the Patriots, posting a 2-1 record at home
  • Since the Panthers and Patriots faced off in Super Bowl XXXVIII, Carolina is 3-1 over the subsequent 17 years, the best winning percentage of any team against New England in that span
  • Current Streak: Panthers W2
  • Last matchup: Carolina won 33-30 at New England on 10/1/17

Notable Connections

Panthers

  • CB Stephon Gilmore played for New England from 2017-21 before being acquired in a trade last month
  • CB Rashaan Melvin spent time on the Patriots roster in 2015
  • Asst. QB coach Matt Lombardi is brothers with New England asst. Mick Lombardi

Patriots

  • Asst. coach and former player Troy Brown is from Barnwell, S.C.
  • DB Justin Bethel is from Blythewood, S.C.
  • WR Jakobi Meyers went to N.C. State
  • OL Justin Herron went to Wake Forest
Table inside Article
Category Panthers Patriots
Offense
Total Yards/Game 328.5 (25th) 354.6 (15th)
Rushing Yards/Game 114.5 (16th) 101.1 (22nd)
Net Passing Yards/Game 214.0 (28th) 253.5 (13th)
Sacks Allowed 24 (t-28th) 15 (t-13th)
Third Down Efficiency 35.7 (t-24th) 44.9 (6th)
Points/Game 20.6 (22nd) 25.8 (10th)
Defense
Total Yards/Game 295.6 (2nd) 352.9 (13th)
Rushing Yards/Game 106.8 (13th) 112.8 (16th)
Passing Yards/Game 188.9 (2nd) 240.1 (14th)
Sacks 21 (t-4th) 13 (t-12th)
Third Down Efficiency 32.0 (3rd) 40.7 (18th)
Takeaways 8 (t-18th) 13 (t-7th)
Points Allowed/Game 19.9 (5th) 20.5 (8th)

Stat Nuggets To Know

Team

  • The Panthers rank second in the league with 295.6 yards allowed per game. They've had three games where they've allowed just 213 net yards or less (New Orleans, Houston, Atlanta), making them the only team in the NFL with that many games allowing so few yards.
  • Carolina has 44 tackles for loss (t-2nd) and 21 sacks (t-4th) this season. The 65 total tackles behind the line of scrimmage rank fourth-most in Panthers history through eight games since tackles for loss were compiled in 2000.
  • According to Next Gen Stats, six different Panthers defenders had pressure rates of at least 20 percent against Atlanta last week.
  • Carolina's average time of possession is 32:25, third-best in the NFL. Last week, Carolina had three drives of 15+ plays, tied for the most in a game in the NFL since drive stats became available in 2000.
  • After going 2-of-15 on third in New York, the Panthers converted 10 third downs in Atlanta, the most in a game since Week 10 of 2017.
  • In Atlanta, Carolina had 47 rushing attempts for 203 rushing yards. It was the most rushing attempts by any team in the NFL this season and the most rushing yards in the Matt Rhule era.
  • The Panthers had 13 rushing first downs last week. They had just 17 total in the prior three games.
  • Last week, Carolina's offensive line did not allow a sack for the first time this season. It was the sixth different offensive line starting combination as Trent Scott played every snap at right guard.

Individual

  • Wide receiver DJ Moore is tied for fifth in the NFL with 50 receptions and is seventh with 645 receiving yards. Moore has 35 receiving first downs, tied for third in the NFL. Since 2019, he is sixth in the league with 3,013 total receiving yards.
  • Running back Chuba Hubbard is third among NFL rookies with 391 rushing yards and 510 yards from scrimmage. Hubbard's 510 scrimmage yards are second-most by any Panthers rookie through eight games (Kelvin Benjamin, 571, 2014).
  • Linebacker Haason Reddick is tied for the NFL lead with 11 tackles for loss and leads the NFC with 7.5 sacks. Reddick's total 18.5 stops behind the line (sacks + TFL) are third-most by a Panther through eight games since 2000, when TFLs became official.
  • Linebacker Shaq Thompson returned last Sunday to the tune of a team-high 10 tackles, one interception and one tackle for loss. His 4.4 average time to tackle tied for second fastest among all players with at least 10 tackles in Week 8. Last week, Thompson moved into fifth place all-time with 494 career tackles, surpassing Chris Gamble (493).
  • Cornerback Stephon Gilmore recorded his first interception as a Panther. He is tied for fourth with 26 career interceptions since entering the league in 2012, while his 115 passes defended in that span is tied for second.
  • Defensive end Brian Burns has 4.5 sacks this season and just passed Kris Jenkins (20.5) to move into seventh place in career sacks (21.0) by a Panthers defensive lineman.
  • Safety Jeremy Chinn (159) recently passed Will Witherspoon (157) for the most tackles in a Panthers' first two seasons by a non-middle linebacker.

Milestones in Reach

DJ Moore

  • Needs 102 receiving yards to pass Wesley Walls (3,902) for fourth place in Panthers history.
  • Needs 355 receiving yards for his third-straight season with 1,000 receiving yards. Only Steve Smith (2005-08) and Greg Olsen (2014-16) have had three consecutive 1,000-yard receiving seasons in franchise history.

Chuba Hubbard

  • Needs 490 scrimmage yards for 1,000 on the season. He would become just the third Panthers rookie with 1,000 scrimmage yards (Christian McCaffrey, 2017; Kelvin Benjamin, 2014)

Haason Reddick

  • Needs one game with at least 1.5 sacks to tie the franchise record of five games with multiple sacks in a single season (Kevin Greene, 1999; Charles Johnson 2012)
  • Needs 2.5 sacks to reach 10 on the season. He would become just the third Panther to record double-digit sacks in his first season on the team (Kevin Greene 1996, Julius Peppers 2002).

Donte Jackson

  • Needs three interceptions to tie Richard Marshall/Doug Evans (14) for fifth all-time in franchise history

Carolina is 4-4 all-time against the Patriots. The teams faced off in Super Bowl XXXVIII at the end of the 2003 season.