Panthers predictions: How’d we do in the Week 3 win?

Through the thick and thin of Thursday night, the Carolina Panthers moved to 3-0 on the 2021 campaign. But, more importantly (but not really), what did we move to in our prediction series after the 24-9 win?

Let’s run it down.

Panthers’ past pursuit of Deshaun Watson is mentioned

As usual, we’ll start with a gimme. You can’t tell the story about this game without the Panthers’ past interest in Houston’s possibly troubled superstar quarterback.

Outcome:  Incorrect. Dang, we bungled the apparent gimme. Watson was mentioned, but the Panthers’ previous interest in him was not.

Sam Darnold doesn’t lead the offense to an opening-drive touchdown this time

Darnold marched his soldiers straight over the Saints last week for a quick five-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on their first touch. The Texans’ defense, which may be a lot better than most think, denies a successful encore into their end zone.

Outcome:  Correct. The first drive for the Panthers offense ended on a three-and-out after a questionable no-call for wideout DJ Moore.

But he does get them into that end zone later in the first quarter

The first halves have been better than the second halves thus far for Darnold. He finds a groove early on and also finds wideout DJ Moore for their second end-zone connection of the season.

Outcome: Correct. He didn’t need Moore’s help, though. Darnold found the end zone with his feet on some slick read option action.

Davis Mills doesn’t get his offense into any end zone in the first half

Carolina’s stingy defense hadn’t allowed any first-half points, let alone touchdowns, to either the Jets or the Saints. That won’t change with the rookie Mills under center, who won’t locate his groove as suddenly as Darnold does.

Outcome:  Incorrect. If only the second quarter had 25 fewer seconds in it. Mills hit receiver Anthony Miller to close out the first half on a seven-play, 64-yard drive to the end zone.

Joey Slye gets his points, though

The former Panther gets his new team on the board in the first half with a 41-yard field goal. Revenge!

Outcome: Correct. Technically, Slye did get his points. It wasn’t as predicted, but he did nail a 53-yarder.

In fact, Syle goes perfect on the night

This would be Carolina’s luck, wouldn’t it? Slye won’t turn into Harrison Butker or the reincarnated New York Giants version of Graham Gano, but he’ll make the Panthers (sorta) pay by converting on a field goal and two extra points.

Outcome: Incorrect. Oh, Joey. Slye missed his first attempt on the night, an extra point try.

Robby Anderson finishes with more yards than DJ Moore

Despite the past connection between Darnold and Anderson, Moore has been the top target amongst all Panthers wideouts. He’s reeled in 14 catches on 19 targets to Anderson’s four and nine. Darnold, however, makes it a point to get to Robby under the bright lights.

Outcome: Incorrect. Big incorrect energy here. Moore went for 126 yards on eight grabs. Anderson had one for eight yards. So, yes, DJ had as many receptions as Robby did yards.

Christian McCaffrey sees under 25 touches

McCaffrey, of course, has been awfully busy thus far, with 30 total touches in Week 1 and 29 in Week 2. But the NFL season is a marathon, especially with an added 17th game. Head coach Matt Rhule dials down the workload on the short turnaround for his superstar back.

Outcome:  Correct. Ugh. McCaffrey exited the game with a hamstring injury early on, finishing with seven carries and two receptions.

The Panthers defense totals at least four sacks and three takeaways

The last guy we just talked about may be the biggest star of the game, but the biggest story could be this Carolina unit. Maestro Phil Snow conducts another masterpiece at the expense of a rookie quarterback, making his starting debut a rough one.

Outcome: Incorrect. If we stopped that prediction at just the sacks part, we would’ve chalked this one up in green. But Carolina’s four sacks were accompanied by zero takeaways.

Panthers win (comfortably)

Carolina won’t play with their food on Thursday night. They’ll only win by a touchdown, but it’ll be a relatively smooth dinner.

Outcome:  Correct. The win wasn’t comfortable after those injuries to McCaffrey and cornerback Jaycee Horn. But the 15-point margin was.

Week 3 prediction tally: 5-of-10 correct

2021 prediction tally: 16-of-30 correct (53.3 percent)

Results record: 2-1