The Carolina Panthers had injury added to insult on Sunday, as a handful of key players exited the noisy Week 3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks. So, it’ll be a bit foggy while trying to get a gauge on the game’s snap counts.
But, here’s what we can deduce from the outing:
Do you smell what the Throck is cookin'?
After running both Cade Mays and Calvin Throckmorton at right guard last week, the Panthers gave the starting nod to the latter on Sunday—and he wasn’t too shabby.
The third-year veteran appeared in every one of the 79 offensive snaps on the afternoon, allowing three pressures over 64 pass-blocking opportunities. That, in part, was good enough to help get Throckmorton the highest overall Pro Football Focus grade of the entire starting line.
What Brown is doing for you
Carolina is really making Derrick Brown the anchor of their defense.
The fourth-year defensive lineman played in 83 percent (62) of the defensive snaps—which is, somehow, still his lowest concentration of the campaign. He played in 96 percent of the snaps in Week 1 and 94 in Week 2.
Brown, over his previous three seasons, had never registered more than a 75-percent presence. He’s currently at a 90-percent mark.
Oh, and he’s making use of those looks. Brown recorded four pressures and was the team’s highest-graded defender by PFF.
Prime time
We really didn’t get a full look into how the inside backers will be used sans Shaq Thompson—and that’s because they were sans Frankie Luvu in the middle of the game. Nonetheless, Deion Jones got himself plenty of time.
The former Pro Bowler played 52 snaps—two more than starter Kamu Grugier-Hill. He turned those chances into two stops and an interception.
