CHARLOTTE — The Panthers beat the Falcons 30-0 in Week 3, improving to 1-2 on the season. Take a look inside the numbers at some big performances, and a breakdown of the snap counts below.

• Running back Rico Dowdle posted his first touchdown as a Panther on a 1-yard carry in the fourth quarter.
• This was Dowdle's best performance in his first three weeks with the Panthers. He finished the game with 30 yards on 10 carries.
• Running back Chuba Hubbard moved into fifth place in team history with 3,343 rushing yards. Hubbard surpassed DeShaun Foster (2002-2007) with 3,336 rushing yards on a 7-yard run in the fourth quarter versus Atlanta.
• Quarterback Bryce Young completed 16-of-24 passes for 121 yards while also rushing twice for 8 yards and one touchdown, scoring on a 4-yard run in the first quarter – the Panthers first rushing touchdown of the season.

• Young negated the Falcons' blitz-heavy scheme (63 percent blitz rate) by getting rid of the ball in under 2.5 seconds against extra pass rushers (2.46 seconds).
• Young finished 9-of-14 for 72 yards against the blitz; he was pressured only seven times (25.9 percent pressure rate) and was sacked only once, against a defense that generated six sacks last week against the Vikings.
• Rookie wide receiver Tetairoa McMillan (3 receptions for 48 yards) led the Panthers receiving corps for the third consecutive week.
• Wide receiver Brycen Tremayne served as the rotating fourth captain along with permanent captains Derrick Brown, JJ Jansen, and Young.

• The Panthers recorded their eighth shutout in franchise history with a 30-0 victory against the Falcons.
• It was the Panthers' first shutout since 2020 vs Detroit (Nov. 22, 2020).
• This was the first shutout pitched in the NFL this season (47 games and counting through three weeks, with Monday Night Football to be played).
• The Panthers' 30-point margin of victory marked the team's largest since a 34-point win over the Arizona Cardinals in the 2015 NFC Championship game (Jan. 24, 2016).
• It was the largest regular-season margin of victory since a 38-point win over the Falcons in Atlanta (Dec. 13, 2015).
• Carolina notched its 12th home-opening victory at Bank of America Stadium.

• The Panthers forced three turnovers on interceptions by corners Chau Smith-Wade and Mike Jackson and a fumble that was recovered by safety Demani Richardson and forced by safety Lathan Ransom.
• Carolina turned the ball over once on a fumble to finish with a plus-two turnover ratio. The three takeaways resulted in 14 points for Carolina. Through three games, the Panthers have a negative-one turnover ratio and are 1-0 when being positive in turnover margin and 0-2 when being negative in turnover margin.

• Jackson picked off Falcons quarterback Michael Penix Jr. and returned it a career-long 54 yards. It was his fourth career interception. His last was at Atlanta in the 2024 season finale.
• Smith-Wade intercepted a pass by Penix in the third quarter and returned it 11 yards for a touchdown. It marked his second career interception after posting one as a rookie versus Tampa Bay (12/1/24).
• It also represented the Panthers' first defensive score of the 2025 season and first pick-six since cornerback Troy Hill scored on a 61-yard interception return at Miami (Oct. 15, 2023).

SNAP COUNTS

Take a look at the snap counts and playtime percentage for the Panthers in Week 3 of the regular season against the Falcons.

• With Xavier Legette inactive due to a hamstring injury, David Moore stepped into the starting lineup and barely left the field. He played all but two snaps during the game, only one fewer than Bryce Young, who yielded for the final play to let Andy Dalton take a knee and run out the clock. Moore is a trusted agent, and Dave Canales keeps him around for a reason.
• After playing a career-high 69 snaps last week, 29-year-old Hunter Renfrow played 17 (29 percent). The game plan dictated at least part of that, as they loaded up on tight ends and went heavy more often, with even third tight end Mitchell Evans (20 snaps) getting more work.
• Other than the linemen, Young, and Moore, only Tetairoa McMillan played more than two-thirds of the snaps, as they rotated Rico Dowdle (40 percent) in more with Chuba Hubbard (62 percent). Having both backs on the field at the same time creates something for opposing defenses to puzzle over.

• The kids got a lot more snaps this week, part of it because of injury and part of it organic. Nic Scourton went from 22 snaps last week (40 percent) to 58 (85 percent) with the injury to Patrick Jones II. And Princely Umanmielen went from 24 percent to 52 percent. But neither had the jump safety Lathan Ransom did, as he went from 22 percent to 52 percent, as they played a lot of three-safety looks.
• Derrick Brown doesn't mind playing a lot of snaps, but he didn't have to this week, as they've added talent around him and allowed him to rotate in. He played just 34 snaps, or 52 percent of the game, the most of any of the down linemen.
• They were able to let the backups finish the game since they had a comfortable lead, which meant only signal-caller Christian Rozeboom played every snap. Otherwise, everyone else got to drink Gatorade on the sidelines for at least a series.

• With those backups getting time on defense, a lot of the special teams regulars pulled double duty this week. But newcomer Maema Njongmeta learned enough of the playbook in five days to play more than half the special teams snaps (12), and rookie wideout Dalevon Campbell appeared in his first NFL game.

• Seeing a big snap-count number for Ryan Fitzgerald means good things, since that points to a lot of points being scored. He was also a weapon on kickoffs.