CHARLOTTE — The Panthers are back on the road this week, heading to the desert for a matchup with the Arizona Cardinals. These two teams have faced off frequently, considering they aren't in the same division, with the Panthers leading the series 15-6. The latest win came just nine months ago when Carolina won in overtime with a walk-off touchdown courtesy of Chuba Hubbard.

That sort of familiarity benefits both teams, though, said head coach Dave Canales.

"It goes both ways, you know, they have their schemes. Coach Gannon has done a great job going into the third season of developing their schemes, in all phases, and so there's a lot of information there," he said. "But again, we have to look at the most recent information that we have and try to use that, and they're also looking at us and seeing our schemes and looking at last week's game and saying, 'Hey, some of these things are similar here, and here's a couple of wrinkles.' So it goes both ways, really, for both teams, and certainly in terms of preparation, you know, you can try to anticipate in different situations what they might do."

There is still plenty the Panthers can focus on with themselves, though, so with that in mind, here are five things to watch as the Panthers take on the Cardinals this Sunday.

Can the defense get to Kyler Murray?

We've talked about this all week, and will inevitably talk about it even more leading up to and during game time. Why? Because it's that vital to a win. Kyler Murray is the linchpin for this entire Arizona team. He can extend plays in such a way that Panthers defenders called him "a magician" this week.

Because Murray scrambles often, though, even behind the line as he looks for more plays downfield, he is susceptible to sacks. The quarterback was sacked five times last week by the Saints. Even last season, when the Panthers' defense was struggling to get push up front with the pass-rush, they were able to get to Murray three times for a sack.

The key Sunday is to anticipate Murray making those off-schedule plays and react accordingly.

"He does well to evade pressure, has a sense for getting out of that and escaping that, and still getting the ball down the field," explained defensive end A'Shawn Robinson. "So just got to be on our stuff and communicate everything we're doing up front and have everything down."

Murray will also still get the ball out quickly. According to Next Gen Stats, he completed 8 of 10 passes for 71 yards against the blitz on the day, recording a passer rating of 135.8 in Week 1. The Cardinals' offense allowed a 28.0 percent pressure rate in 2024, the sixth-lowest rate in the league. Murray averaged 5.5 yards per attempt under pressure last season, the 9th-lowest in the NFL.

A second chance for the run defense

The Panthers know the run defense against the Jaguars, giving up 200 yards with a 71-yard explosive, will not be up to snuff. And despite coaches and players all promising they aren't looking backwards and comparing to last season's historically bad numbers, it's hard not to draw initial parallels.

But Derrick Brown, who missed 16 games last season and admitted he had a moment of gratitude walking off the field Sunday to be back, is confident their Week 1 performance can be an anomaly, not the standard.

"I watched the tape unlike most people, so you know seeing the tape on the plane and getting back to it, biggest thing—like I said earlier—to be able to come out here and have a chance this year to be able to go play a second game, you know, that's where my faith lies," said Brown this week.

"To be able to come out here and be able to go out here with these guys that I watched work 6 to 6 this offseason, you know, that's where my faith lies in these guys, and you know I'm willing to put that on the line for them.

"I mean, it was bad last week. I mean, four plays, we gave up big runs, but I mean, it's just limit the mistakes, hustle, and cover when people make mistakes. I mean, that's what football is. It ain't always going to be perfect, but for us to be able to go out here this week and execute the game plan, and you know everybody does their job. That's all it takes."

Admittedly, it will take a lot this week. The Cardinals already had a stout running back in James Connor, then added Trey Benson last year.

"Connor is a big physical back. He's hard to tackle," noted defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero this week. "Benson is showing some really good explosion and speed, and so it's going to be a good challenge and obviously what Kyler brings in terms of his ability to keep plays alive."

Getting him down is easier said than done. In last season's matchup between these two teams, Conner forced six missed tackles, all of which came in the first half. It was Conner's sixth time forcing five or more missed tackles in a half that season. In two seasons with the Cardinals, Connor has ranked in the top-five across that time in missed tackles forced (124).

The Cardinals split carries between Conner and Benson against the Saints in Week 1, with Conner getting 12 rushes and Benson eight. Each forced four missed tackles, and Benson hit the second-highest speed in his career of 18.43 mph on his 52-yard rush in the third quarter.

"I think just doing what we control, what we control is making them tackles," said safety Lathan Ransom as to their approach. "I think making open field tackles; we had an emphasis on tackling drills, making them open field tackles, and then just doing our jobs. We do our jobs and don't shoot ourselves in the leg."

A big part of the run defense will be Robinson and safety Tre'von Moehrig.

According to Next Gen Stats, last season with the Raiders, Moehrig had the sixth-highest run stop rate (13.6 percent) when aligned in the box among safeties. Last season, with Robinson on the field, offenses averaged 1.4 fewer yards before contact per carry and were stopped behind the line of scrimmage 6.7 percent more often compared to when Robinson was on the sideline.

Negating Budda

Dave Canales opened his Wednesday press conference this week, before even being asked a question, by calling out how vital Budda Baker is to the Cardinals' defense and, therefore, how important it is to take him out of the game.

"It all starts with Budda Baker," Canales said. "He stirs the drink, and he makes all those guys play to that standard and that level. So, looking forward to that challenge and that opportunity."

Receiver Xavier Legette did the same when he spoke to the media on Wednesday.

"We know the key stop on defense is gonna be number 3," said Legette, referring to Baker's jersey number.

Baker is a unique safety, though, who loves to throw himself into run defense. He led all safeties in 2024 in run tackle percentage and posted the second-highest run stop percentage (9.4 percent) and stuff percentage (3.9). This season, the Cardinals moved him even closer to the ball. He lined up in the box on 23.2 percent of his snaps against the Saints and led the team in tackles (11). All of those tackles were made within 10 yards of the line of scrimmage, including one for a loss.

"That's obviously a big factor of, you know, what they do defensively," Bryce Young said. "Budda is a great player, does a great job in the run and pass game, and is able to do a lot of unorthodox things when you compare him to the rest of the league, so you know, obviously, it's something that we talk about. We know that we have to have a plan. And again, we have a ton of respect for him, for the rest of the defense, so we're excited for that challenge."

Perhaps the best way to take him out of the game is throw around him.

Young has shaved time off his throw, if Week 1 is any indicator. Young averaged 2.66 seconds to throw against the Jaguars, 0.20 seconds less than his average in his first two years in the league. On throws under 2.5 seconds, Young completed 11-of-15 passes for 92 yards and one touchdown.

Can TMac continue his trajectory?

In Week 1, receiver Tetairoa McMillan had one of the better rookie debuts for a Top 10 receiver in a decade. He was able to make contested catches look routine and finished with five receptions for 68 yards. He accounted for 47.5 percent of the Panthers' air yards in Week 1.

"He did a great job, great job of being precise with a lot of things. That's something for someone's first NFL game, it's easy to see for a young guy, oh, their technique goes out the way or things speed up," bragged Young on his receiver.

"For him, he was playing it at the same pace that he's always played at. He was doing all the little things right, the details that we had talked about, that we worked on in practice and camp, which translated over to the field. So, he did a great job."

McMillan credited corners Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson with pushing him with a lot of press coverage during the offseason and training camp, better preparing him for the step up in physicality in the league. Horn saw that progression up close and doesn't see it slowing down.

"Even towards the end of the camp, it grew so much from the first day or even from OTAs, just his release package and you know his physicality," said Horn. "He got way more physical at the top of his routes.

"But yeah, we always knew TMac had all the tools. It's just NFL, a different game. I went through the same adjustment, and Mike went through the same adjustment. We've got to get up to speed with the pros because that's what it is. So yeah, it was definitely fun to see him last week."

How does the dome affect special teams?

Ryan Fitzgerald only got the chance to kick one field goal in his rookie debut, a 48-yarder in the first quarter that was good. There was an opportunity to get a long 57-yarder two drives later, but the Panthers elected to play defense given the game situation at that time. Special teams coordinator Tracy Smith said this week he still had confidence in his rookie kicker from that distance.

And now, heading into Arizona, there could be even more chances to test Fitzgerald's leg, given the Cardinals play in a dome.

"Domes are different. They're mostly different in preparation," Smith explained.

"So you kind of go into it where you can predetermine more of the stuff beforehand. If you're going to play an outdoor game—unless you're very sure about that place or the wind's always this way, like Kansas City, or unless it's very consistent, you are going to go ahead and say, like you can decide today that we only want to punt backwards or something that we would actually do," joked Smith.

"But, an indoor game you can kind of go with your best ball and and try to make plays on that or if they know what your best ball is you can go with the other one, you know, etc., that kind of thing, but, yeah, totally different preparation indoors and outdoors because the conditions are already set for us."