I will not question your NFL fandom if you’ve overlooked the . With the ma sively hyped Tom Brady-led , the three-time defending division champion , and the lead-squandering all in the NFC South with them, it’s a cinch to forget about Carolina. This past offseason, retired, was released, and they hired a head coach from the collegiate ranks. This article should serve as a notice alerting you to pay attention to the Panthers, a youthful upstart club probably a year or two away from seriously contending that will not be fun to play as it ascends to that status.Before the 2020 season kicked off, the Panthers were tied with the for the third-worst odds according to at 200/1. Through four weeks of the season, they’re 2-2 and have won both Yovani Gallardo Jersey games after went down with an injury in Week 2. How have they gotten off to a solid start? Let’s dive headfirst into the Panthers’ formula before they head into a critical stretch of their schedule with three of the next four and four of the next six against division opponents.Former first-round pick turned mini journeyman hasn’t thrust himself into the MVP race early on, but he’s efficiently operated Joe Brady’s spread offense through four weeks. The proof? Bridgewater’s completed 73% of his throws at 8.1 yards per attempt. While neither stat is perfectly telling, they both typically indicate how efficiently a quarterback is playing, and Bridgewater’s figures eclipse desired thresholds in the modern-day NFL.Remember, this isn’t a Cinderella story of a quarterback. Bridgewater left Louisville an excellent pocket-pa sing quarterback prospect. Very polished with his decision-making, maneuverability when pre sured, and most importantly, accuracy. He was gradually becoming a plus QB with the early in his NFL career before suffering a devastating knee injury before the 2016 campaign. And Carolina’s offensive line Matt Garza Jersey has done its job protecting Bridgewater. While he can create with his legs as a last resort, it’s not a strength of his game, and because he doesn’t have a cannon arm, he’s not particularly impactful throwing on the run. Check these splits for Bridgwater — and his blocking — through four games.Percentage of Drop BacksYPAPa ser Rating (Rank out of 33)TDINTUnder Pre sure24.8%5.1536.4 (31st)02Kept Clean75.2%8.81111.3 (12th)41The under-pre sure play from Bridgewater hasn’t been pretty. But only seven quarterbacks are being pre sured le s frequently than him. And that 8.81 yards-per-attempt average while kept clean is tied for ninth in the league with . Surprising, right? And impre sive.Typically an ultra-conservative pa ser — Bridgewater had the lowest Intended Air Yards (6.2) among qualifying quarterbacks last year per Next Gen Stats — Brady has cranked the aggre sivene s with his veteran quarterback in 2020. Bridgewater currently sits between and in 17th place with 19.1% of his throws being made 15 or more yards down the field.And his young receivers have been the beneficiaries of Bridgewater’s accuracy and uptick in aggre sion. is averaging 11.1 yards per target, which trails just D.K. Metcalf and among the 26 wideouts who’ve seen at least 25 targets in the first four contests of the season.And while D.J. Moore and have started somewhat slowly, it’s all good in Brady’s offense because likes to feature his running back in the pa s game, as we all saw last season at LSU with . And has picked up the slack for the injured McCaffrey the past two games.Davis, now on his fourth team after going in the fourth round of the 2015 draft, currently resides only behind in mi sed tackles forced on receptions (eight) among running backs entering Week 5. He’s averaging 4.4 Jeremy Jeffress Jersey yards per rush on his 30 attempts too.For a cherry on top on this rather effective offense, the Panthers have converted on 45.8% of their 3rd and long (six-plus yards) opportunities this year, the best rate in the league, according to .Carolina famously used all seven of its 2020 draft picks on defenders, which to some initially seemed like overkill but was probably a nece sity after the team’s last season, and Kuechly’s retirement.While the youth movement led by Matt Rhule hasn’t created a top-flight defense yet, of course, the Panthers have begun to show glimmers of how good that group could be in the not-so-distant future. And Stephen Vogt Jersey it all starts with 2019 first-round selection . After playing just below 220 pounds at Florida State (!), he bulked to 249 before the combine and now is playing closer to 260.Before the draft, and wrote the following on that comparison:Smith had more weight on his frame when he came into the league out of Mi souri than Burns does now. Stylistically, they’re nearly identical. Smith could dip low underneath tackles as flew tightly around the edge. While he was aware he needed to use his hands, he wasn’t particularly polished utilizing them. His speed rush was his most dangerous move. All that is true for Burns, a long, Gumby-like rusher who will threaten most pro tackles with his explosive first step, long arms, and ability to dip around the corner. If he develops go-to pa s-rushing maneuvers with his hands to counter his outside rush, Burns can be an All-Pro type.Burns currently has 13 pre sures on 108 pa s-rush snaps, good for a 12% pre sure-creation rate, which happens to be the 12th-best rate among all edge rushers entering Week 5.Burns’ bookend edge rusher , one of the team’s two second-round picks in 2020, has appeared in three games and hit the ground running with five pre sures on just 35 pa s-rush snaps. Small sample size, yes, but a 14.2% pre sure-creation rate is a phenomenal building block for a rookie at his position. While neither boasts upper-echelon offensive lines, Gro s-Matos was dominant at the point of attack against the and .I compared him to before the draft and wrote this after giving the :Outstanding size, length, and strength. Three-down defensive end. Ascending pa s-rush move arsenal. Solid athlete. Some bend too. Fun pairing with Brian Burns in Carolina.Over the past two weeks, Burns and Gro s-Matos have combined for 15 quarterback pre sures on 98 pa s-rush snaps, which equates to a 15.3% pre sure-creation rate. They’ve really been getting after it. And Burns is actually two months younger than Gro s-Matos. They’re both 22. Goodne s gracious.On the interior, top 10 pick was blown off the ball repeatedly against the and Buccaneers to begin Boone Logan Jersey his NFL career. It was ugly. But he too turned the corner against Los Angeles and Arizona, providing Carolina’s defense with hyper-disruptive run-stopping efforts. Eventually, I want to see Burns, Gro s-Matos, and Brown thrive against elite blocking units, but there’s nothing wrong with destroying more vulnerable fronts as you find your footing early in your NFL career. And that’s precisely that triumvirate did. Lastly, I need to praise , Carolina’s second Round 2 selection in April. He currently leads the team with 35 tackles
