CHARLOTTE — It's officially the midway point of the season for the Carolina Panthers, and they'll spend it at home for a Week 9 matchup (and the eighth game for the Panthers) against the Denver Broncos.

It may be an AFC matchup for Carolina, but in a tight divisional race, every win can count towards the end of the season.

The Broncos enter at 6-2 and lead their division after a Week 8 win over the Kansas City Chiefs. This will be Denver's first East Coast game of the season. Previously, the farthest east they'd traveled was to Kansas City in Week 1. As such, the team actually arrived in Charlotte earlier than their normal travel schedule would allow.

"We'll go out Friday night, get up on their time zone, get a workout, get a little practice in," Broncos coach Sean Payton told reporters in Denver this week. "We were hoping to maybe get a couple back-to-back out there, stay out there. It didn'twork out that way, but we're not going to Europe. We're going to Charlotte."

In Charlotte, a 3-4 Panthers team will be waiting, looking to get back to .500 and spark after coaching changes on the defensive side of the ball this week. While coach Dave Canales and interim defensive coordinator Todd Wash ensured there wouldn't be wholesale changes this week (if for no other reason than that it's impossible to do in the span of three practices), Wash did promise an attack mentality.

That leads the five things to watch for this Sunday as the Panthers take on the Broncos.

What does the defense look like?

This will be the biggest question on Sunday. As mentioned, it's impossible to completely change a defensive scheme and playbook in such a short amount of time. As Wash explained in his first press conference this week, he doesn't want to turn everything on its head, but rather find the best way to highlight who is here.

"Obviously we are based out of a 3-4. That is what our bodies tell us, that's what our scheme tells us, and we're going to put them in position to be successful. That's about the only thing that's important," Wash said.

In his past, such as his stint as defensive coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Wash ran more of a 4-3 front. But the two schemes aren't incredibly different and can, in fact, be run interchangeably if the defense features versatile linebackers.

The most important factor is gap responsibility. For the Panthers and Todd Wash, that means letting his defensive line attack.

"If you look at how our roster is built, Turk ( Tershawn Wharton) did that in Kansas City. Lee Hunter did that at Texas Tech, Aaron Hall did that at Duke. So they have that skill set. We were playing them a little bit different, right, wrong or indifferent — I don't think there's any answer to that. But this is what their skill set tells us, and that's the most important thing," said Wash.

"If you don't have the skill set to play an attack front, if you don't have the skill set to play a read-and-react front, then let's not put them in those positions. So, I believe in an attack front. I want to reestablish a line of scrimmage. I want to knock people back, and we've got to be able to get after the quarterback, and you can't sit on the line of scrimmage and do that."

Ideally, this will also open things up for Derrick Brown, who has seen a disproportionate amount of double teams this season as opponents focused on stopping the Pro Bowler.

"We got to get blockers off of him," said Wash. "So, whatever scheme-wise and all that kind of stuff, but we got to get it where he's not facing double teams."

Can the defense get after Bo Nix?

The Panthers will be without pass-rusher Jaelan Phillips on Sunday, but there could still be opportunities to get after Broncos QB Bo Nix.

Nix has completed 41.6 percent of pass attempts against the blitz this season, the lowest rate by any NFL quarterback since 2018, averaging 4.3 yards per attempt (also the lowest of any qualified quarterback since 2018).

The Panthers, albeit before a coaching change, have blitzed on 42.6 percent of opposing drop backs this season, the second-highest rate in the NFL. When blitzing, the Panthers have allowed the fifth-lowest completion rate (57.6 percent) and the eighth-fewest yards per attempt (6.2).

Nix also prefers to stay around the line of scrimmage, sometimes to avoid those blitzes. He's tied for the third-most attempts on throws behind the line of scrimmage this season. Those average attempts per game around the LOS have stayed steady all season, despite switching play callers after Week 4, when Payton took the duties back from first-time play caller, Davis Webb.

Nix can afford to play the short game thanks to receivers and pass-catching running backs that work well in space and create yards after the catch. Running back RJ Harvey, in particular, accounts for 15 percent of the Broncos' receiving yards this season. Going into Denver's Week 8 game against Kansas City, 75.0 percent of Harvey's targets were thrown behind the LOS, the highest rate among players with at least 25 targets. As a result, he gained 303 yards after the catch, the third-most in the NFL.

"You just got to be on point," said corner Marco Wilson on how to defend that style of play. Canales indicated Wilson, on the practice squad, would be up again this weekend after an impressive starting performance against the Packers in Week 8.

Continued Wilson, "I feel like your instincts just got to be up a little bit more, and through film study, we'll know exactly how to play (Nix) because I know he's a real mobile guy, and he can make some off-center throws, which is interesting.

"So we'll be ready for that, especially as a corner, plaster; his receivers get to running around when he tries to improvise."

Can Chuba Hubbard take advantage of the Broncos' front?

This could feasibly be a thing to watch every week. The Panthers are not shy about the fact that so much of what they want to do on offense is predicated on the run game getting going. And the weeks it has operated at its best have been when Chuba Hubbard has been given time and space to create efficient runs.

The Broncos are 25th in the league in rushing defense, allowing an average of 127.9 yards per game on the ground. But the biggest factor in the run game this week might be identifying where linebacker Alex Singleton is on any given play. Singleton currently leads the NFL with 101 tackles.

"Alex does a great job of pulling his trigger and trusting his eyes," offensive coordinator Brad Idzik noted. "When you give him a nice, clean, static look that he might have carded up all week, that guy triggers downhill, and he tries to beat you to the gap.

"So what you try to do with these guys is make sure that you're keeping them on their heels with both the balance of what you're presenting to them and certain looks: the run pass — this looks like run, it's pass. This looks like pass; it's run.

"But then also just if you are going to have a core scheme where they might kind of know what you're trying to get at in a certain run game, you got to have the complement, (and) the same thing goes with the pass game."

Hubbard could run away from the middle of the field, and presumably, Singleton. The running back has averaged a career-high 6.1 yards per carry on rushes outside the tackles this season, the second-most among running backs (min. 20 such carries).

He has totaled 304 yards on 50 outside rushes through eight games, a career high for the first eight games of a season, with 220 yards coming after contact. Hubbard has also recorded 10 explosive runs (10-plus yards) on outside rushes, tied for fifth-most among running backs.

Can Bryce lean on mobility again?

The NFL season is long and carries a near guarantee of injury at some point, even if it's just bumps and bruises. As such, quarterback Bryce Young hasn't been able to use his mobility as much in the last two weeks as he did at the beginning of the season.

The Panthers checked in on Young's ankle soreness at the beginning of the week, and the QB was listed on the injury report all week with an ankle (he was a full participant all week), but after everything came back clear, they saw their quarterback re-emerge in practice.

"He looked great this week," Canales said Friday of Young. "He had a phenomenal week of practice. He was moving around doing all the things we know he can do. Had some soreness on Monday. We did our due diligence, and everything's fine, but you know that's information that we have to be aware of and also that we have to report.

"But even with that being said, you know, that was early in the week. He looked great (Friday). Yesterday was a fantastic day for him, moving around third down and doing some of the other things we were doing. So, he's ready to go."

That could be great news for the Panthers offense, which operated at a high level the first six weeks of the season on the back of a mobile Young.

Young has used play-action on 32.6 percent of his dropbacks this season, the fourth-highest rate among NFL quarterbacks and a career-high. He has averaged 7.5 yards per attempt on play-action, below the league average (7.8), but has totaled 686 passing yards (second-most in the NFL) and five touchdowns (tied for third-most) on those plays.

The Broncos have allowed just 5.3 yards per attempt against play-action, the lowest in the NFL, but have conceded six touchdowns on those plays, the second-most of any defense.

Young will be without his left guard, Damien Lewis, for another week as Lewis recovers from a knee injury. This while facing a Broncos defense that pressures the quarterback more than any other defense in the NFL; Denver has pressured opposing passers 144 times this season.

But when Young can tap back into a mobility that lends itself to a second play, Idzik sees an offense come alive.

"I think in general that's a big piece that we want Bryce to tap into, and he does a great job of understanding I'm going to extend these plays when it breaks down," said Idzik. "I think all offseason talked about the second play mentality. When does that click in?

"He did a great job of trying to hang in there and let concepts develop. I give him a lot of that credit. And then he found Chuba on a couple of broken plays (against the Packers). He found Darren (Waller) on one where the rushing yards might not be there, but he's still doing a great job of trying to extend as long as possible to be able to get that ball in the hands of our playmakers.

"I commend him. He's trying to extend those plays and make sure that we give our guys downfield every opportunity to get the ball in their hands."

Who wins the red zone battle?

The Broncos defense might be in the bottom half of the league in most major categories, but they jump to the top half on the ones that can make a difference in a win or a loss: they are 11th in scoring defense (20.6) and tied for eighth in red zone defense, with opponents only converting points in that area of the field 48 percent of the time.

The red zone is an area the Panthers have found success this season. Carolina has scored a touchdown on 64 percent of red zone trips (12th in the league) and has scored (including field goals) on 88 percent of red zone trips (tied for 14th in the NFL, but the top 5 of that ranking includes teams who have been in the red zone less than five times).

"The windows are going to be tighter because they're working together, they're communicating;  hitting our blocks in the run game in our combos, we got to stay attached to that first level before we come off," said Canales. "It's about being connected. They keep it pretty simple, and they rush you, get after you."