Carolina Panthers Upset Win SPARKS Playoff Dreams | Will the Panthers Be Buyers at the Deadline?

Carolina Panthers Upset Win SPARKS Playoff Dreams | Will the Panthers Be Buyers at the Deadline?

The Panthers picked up a potentially franchisealtering win on Sunday in Green Bay. And I know, I know it sounds hyperbolic, but y’all, people are daring to dream about a run now that New Orleans and Atlanta’s on the schedule the next two weeks. And it also begs the question, will the Panthers be buyers at the trade deadline? We’ll talk about it right here on Locked on Panthers. You are Locked On Panthers, your daily Carolina Panthers podcast, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. Welcome in to another edition of the Lock Panthers podcast. The part of the Lock Podcast Network. I’m your host as always, Julian Council, talking Carolina Panthers with you every Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and yes, of course, Friday. your team every day. That’s our motto here on the Lockdown Podcast Network. Thanks for watching the show right here on YouTube and listening wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Today’s episode of Lockdown Panthers is brought to you by FanDuel. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 to use in bonus bets across the app. The Carolina Panthers picked up a monster 16-13 walk-off win on Sunday in Green Bay. a win that potentially could push them forward towards a playoff birth here in 2025. Dave Canals, Carolina Panthers head coach spoke to the media on Monday providing some updates. We’ll go over what he had to say later on the show. We always go over the good, the bad, and the ugly here on Tuesdays Unlocked on Panthers. And of course, trade deadline coming up on Tuesday at 400 p.m. Eastern time. Will the Panthers be buyers, potentially sellers? Talk about that here in a moment. But first off, want to start off the show by welcoming all former Meow Mix listeners. Meow Mix, you guys may have heard of them. They said a couple of weeks ago after the Panthers got their doors blown off them, 42 to 13 in New England, that they were done. They were going to go on hiatus and not do a show because this team had just sucked every bit of joy that they had in podcasting and they could no longer do it. They want to spend more time with their families. felt my read from the situation was that here were probably two grown men who love the Panthers, which is great, and love also to talk about the Panthers, which is also great, and they like to do it with each other. But it had become to a point to where these guys were spending a lot of time away from their wives and their kids on Sundays, and probably weren’t in the best mood following the poor performances like the one in New England that caused them to set down their mics aside for the time being. and their wives probably told them, “Hey guys, maybe cut the crap and stop doing this if you’re going to be this miserable.” And I am someone who’s given you that advice. For anyone who is new to the show or old to the show, I’ve called it Farmers Market Sundays. If watching the Panthers is going to upset you to the point where you’re going to be a miserable person to be around, don’t watch. I’ll watch for you. I’m not necessarily doing out of goodness of my heart, I’m getting paid to be here, but I like to be here. I want to be here. There’s not another NFL team that I would like to cover. I’m good doing this and I’m not going away guys. I’m here for you and you’re here for me as well. But if you can’t stand the way they play sometimes, I’ll watch you listen or watch it on YouTube and I’ll keep you up to date. So, I think that’s maybe what happened with Now mix. That’s just my hypothesis. Now, with Carolina having won a lot of games recently, I believe four of their last five since they quit. Of course, 4-0 with Bryce Young as a starting quarterback, even though QB wins is not a stat. They were saying on Sunday that they were going to come back in the vitriol from Panthers Nation. It was really tough to watch because those guys got ripped apart and you had guys like Trey Boston and Jonathan Stewart, former Panthers, saying, “No, no, no. You guys quit on a team. Set aside the mics.” And really, they weren’t saying to never talk about the Panthers again. and they were just saying things are going good. Don’t be a bad jinx and have the team start losing if you turn on the microphones again and start recording. So, Meow Mix, they read all the energy in the room and don’t tell me that bullying doesn’t work and they decided that they’re not going to podcast at least for the rest of the season, which is fine. Now, I actually do feel bad for these guys because they have gotten a lot of publicity uh for what’s happened over the last month and a half and I appreciate their passion for this team and I do hope that when they do come back that everybody will embrace them and welcome open arms because I want to at least throw love their way. Now, I did use their tweet to promote this show which is why you may be watching and listening right now. Um, but yeah, I do appreciate all of the fan podcasts out there who listen to my show, who are out there providing a different perspective on the team than I do. I think there’s room for everybody who wants to cover or loves this team to talk about the team in a respectful, fun manner. So, welcome all former Meow Mix podcast listeners. And Meow Mix, if you guys are ever watching, listening, and if you want me to come on in the spring, whenever you come back, I would love to do it because I want to wrap my arms around you guys and say, “Hey, it’s okay. We all mess up sometimes. Uh you guys got to get a little bit tougher. Maybe don’t quit uh before it’s even halfway through the season uh next time around in 2026.” But let’s not delay. Let’s get into what we’re going to talk about here on the show. Every Tuesday we go over the good, the bad, and the ugly from that past Sunday’s game. And there’s not a lot of ugly things to talk about when the Panthers 13 and a half point underdogs two touchdowns, which is disrespectful as hell in the NFL to be a two touchdown underdog for them to go on the road and to beat the Green Bay Packers who were 5-1 and one. They were the top team in the NFC and do it to where Carolina was the better team. Look at total yardage. just the Packers. They were able to move the ball throughout the day, but still Carolina got the job done. And now at 5-4 with New Orleans on Sunday, who has one win and then Atlanta, who you beat 30 to nothing, I don’t want to get ahead of myself, but seven and four feels like that could be right there for Carolina. And if that’s the case, how can you deny that they are truly a team in the hunt for a playoff in 2025? Starting off with the good. We always start off with the positive, especially after a 1613 walk-off win at Lambeau Field. The Red Zone defense was tremendous yesterday. The Panthers entered the game 13th in the NFL and red zone defense, allowing a touchdown on 58.3% of their opponent’s trips. Meanwhile, Green Bay was seventh in the NFL, scoring a touchdown on 70% of their trips through the first eight weeks of the season. They visited the Red Zone five times on Sunday. Five of their seven drives actually made it to the red zone. They scored one touchdown. One for five in the red zone on Sunday. And that was the difference in the game. Fumble on the first drive. Christian Roseboom knocking it out. Nick Scott recovering. Now apparently it didn’t actually go to Nick Scott. The fumble recovery. Don’t know how that really worked out, but doesn’t matter. Carolina got the ball. Then held him to a field goal. Another field goal. a turnover on downs on a fourth and eight where Matt Laflur maybe buddy just kicked the field goal because had they just kicked the field goal and then they scored a touchdown later Carolina then would have needed I’m pretty sure to have scored a touchdown on that final drive instead of kicking that walk-off field goal because that would have made it then instead of 1313 it would have been 13-9 plus seven so yeah well I guess they still would have needed a field goal so they would have been fine either way it would have put a lot more pressure on the Panthers on that closing drive. So, the defense stood tall once again. They bent, but they did not break and they were a big piece of that win on Sunday up in Green Bay. Leaning on Rico D. That was one of the three keys to victory on Friday. And they did that once again. 130 yards rushing on the ground, 141 total yards from scrimmage on Sunday. Since week five when Rico came in as the starter with the injured Chuba Hubard dealing with calf injury against Miami, he is leading the NFL in rushing with 652 yards and he’s started three of those five games. 652 yards. If you look at his contract, it’s a one-year deal, $2.75 million, could potentially get up to $6 million based off of incentives. So far, he’s already earned $500,000 more dollars because he has 800 yards from scrimmage this season. and he’s 83 yards away from another half a million dollars from 950 yards from scrimmage. And then if he gets a $1,100, it’s 500,000 more. 1350, it’s $1 million. Six total touchdowns. He needs one more to get $250,000. He needs three more touchdowns to get eight total touchdowns for another $250,000. And then a Pro Bowl would be a half a million as well. And I’m looking at the way that he’s played and the way the offensive line, we’ll get to them momentarily, has played as well. I’m guessing that Rico is going to check every single box of that heavily insided laden contract this season. We can have a conversation tomorrow on the mailbag about resigning Rico. It’s really a conversation for February, not for November with eight games left to go when you’re in the hunt for the playoffs. Focus on what’s actually happening on the field than like what’s going to happen at the end of February and the beginning of March. Just enjoy the ride is my advice. We’ll talk more about that tomorrow. He’s been awesome and he’s going to make a boatload of money uh this season that’s available to him and good for Rico. Winning the turnover battle also a part of the good from Sunday. The Panthers right now are 3-0 when they’ve won the turnover battle this season. Won it on Sunday against Green Bay, one against Atlanta, won it against New York as well. If you win the turnover battle more often than not in the game of football in pee-wee, in high school, in college, especially in the NFL, you are going to find a way to win those games. And Green Bay had three turnovers all season heading into the game on Sunday. Jordan Love, terrible interception. And there’s a couple of times where he could have had some of those deep balls that looked to get caught up in the win intercepted. Uh, and then also should have had one that could have been a pick six by Mike Jackson. That would have been an interception there in the end zone. We don’t know what would have happened. I thought maybe a pick six. There was like two offensive linemen that Mike Jackson would have had to beat. So, I’m going to say he does it. Uh, but also does he not run out of breath at the end of that drive. U, so then also there was the fumble on the opening drive for Green Bay. Carolina taking that and scoring off of that as waxy. I think they turned all over after that. Either way, just a great job be able to win a turnover battle. So often Carolina’s put themselves in adverse situations. Turn the football over. They have 13 turnovers so far this season. Not ideal obviously. Uh but winning it, especially against a Packers team, that was vital to their success on Sunday. Another shout out to just limiting Micah Parsons and how the backup offensive line stepped up on Sunday. Yash Nim getting the start once again at right tackle. Had a 75.8 PFF grade. by far his best as a Panther. Austin Corbett had a 60.0 PFF grade. Then Jake Kurhan 57.7. Not great in looking numbers of course, but Corbett and Kurhan at center and Reichar respectively allowed zero pressures on the day. That’s awesome for that to be the case going up against Michael Parsons, Rishan Garry, guys who line up all over the defensive lineup there in Green Bay. Matter of fact, the Panthers offensive line allowed four pressures total on Sunday. Two of them from Icky, another two from Yash Nyman and one pressure, one pressure for Micah Parsons, Iki Auanu. We spoke to him on Monday afternoon. He was tremendous in that game and a guy who is really developed under this offensive line with Joe Gilbert, Harry Goodwin, both guys coming over from Tampa Bay with Dave Canals last year to work on the offensive line. So, bravo to him and the only sack that was allowed was credited to Tavon Sanders and that was the strip sack uh that ended up being recovered. Heads up play there by I believe Chuba Hubard in the first half. So that’s the good. The bad. The only bad thing I really want to point out from this game is the passing game. And this is something I brought up before. Just the numbers have been poulry when looking at it. Bryce Young had a 37.6 passing grade on Sunday. That’s the lowest of the season and his worst since week one uh last year in 2024 against New Orleans where he was just bad. I don’t think he was bad in the game on Sunday, but it wasn’t like he was great. His passer rating in the Panthers five wins is a 78.6 and win against Atlanta, a 90.7 versus Miami, 114.8 against Dallas. And I thought he played really well in that Dallas game, an 88.4 uh against the Jets, and then a 48.3 on Sunday against the Packers. If you look at it too, he had his ninth career game-winning drive on Sunday. 11 of the wins Panthers have had with Bryce Young as starting quarterback, sorry, 11, they have 11 wins with Bryce Young as starting quarterback. Nine of those have required a game-winning drive and he only threw for 102 yards on Sunday and 19 of those the receptions from Coker and McMillan came on the final drive. So, he had 83 yards heading into the final got to have it drive of the game and he got it done. So, his numbers aren’t great. He has not thrown for over 200 yards outside of the game against Arizona, which was largely garbage time. Then it became like, oh wait, this is going to be maybe the greatest comeback in franchise history. And I think that says a lot that it took those circumstances being down that much in the second half of that game to see the passing game explode. And looking at his season numbers of qualified quarterbacks, he’s 30th in EPA per drop back. That’s counting 34 guys. He’s 23rd in success rate. He’s 30th in explosive pass play percentage. He’s 33rd in yards per attempt. So while Bryce when you need him against Miami to make key plays on fourth down to get find T-Mac and to find Xavier later on on that drive to find Xavier to find Chubby Jimmy Horn, find Mitchell Evans on that gamewinning drive and against Dallas to also do the same thing. Put you in position to win those games and then on Sunday finding Coker and finding McMillan. He can get it done when it matters most in the fourth quarter. You can call him clutch if you want because he certainly has been in those situations. He leaves you wanting quarters one, two, and three. And for the Panthers, who are in a position now, they could pick up some wins here the next couple weeks before playing against San Francisco on Monday night, playing against the Rams, playing against the Seahawks, who looked amazing on Sunday, and playing Tampa twice. the run game that definitely travels on the road and it certainly as the weather turns worse. It can still be something you can lean on, but at some point in time, you’re going to need a lot more out of your quarterback if you really want to reach those goals, whether it be this season or in the future. So, that’s just the one thing when you look at if there’s anything negative to take away from a big win on Sunday, it’s the passing game. It’s just still not there and at some point that’s going to bite them in the ass. the ugly. Nothing ugly about the win, but there was an ugly stat that finally can be put to bed after what happened on Sunday. This is from Trey Wingo. Just a massive crybaby on social media, formerly of ESPN. Uh the Panthers entered Sunday 3 and 20 against teams that are over 500 entering games since 2021. That was the worst mark in the NFL. Uh they had lost 14 straight until Sunday. So that ugly stat, throw it out. No more. The Panthers get a win against a team with a record above 500. They get a 1613 walk-off win, a potentially franchise altering win against the Green Bay Packers. And because they got that win, people are now wondering, will the Panthers make a move at the trade deadline? We’ll talk about that here in just a moment on Locked on Panthers. 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Make sure to use that link so they know we sent you. The NFL trade deadline is on Tuesday afternoon at 400 pm Eastern time. The Carolina Panthers now sitting here at 5 and4 the first time since 2019 that the Panthers have been in this position this late into the season. And now people are wondering will they be buyers at the deadline. Ryan. And you guys can hit me up, by the way, at me or DM me over on Twitter and Blue Sky Julian Counsel to get in your questions for tomorrow’s weekly Wednesday mailbag. Something we do every single Wednesday throughout the regular season here on Locked on Panthers. But Ryan hit me up in my DMs asking with the win on Sunday, do you think the Panthers are buyers at the deadline on Wednesday or on Tuesday rather? If so, what positions could you see them adding and who? Today’s win has me feeling delusional. Doesn’t it feel good, Ryan, and everybody else to feel delusional again about this team? Cuz I know I was saying, and I brought this up. It’s a week- toeek league. And that’s what those guys in the locker room said all last week after getting their ass kicked 40 to9 against Buffalo. It’s just one game. The NFL is a week toe league. It happens. We got to move forward. Keep your confidence. All that. And that’s all well and good. You can say whatever you want, but the actions speak louder than words. and the actions on Sunday prove those words to be correct that it was just one game. But also, you got to look at on the other side of things, it was just one game against Green Bay. It does not necessarily prove anything moving forward for Carolina. They beat the Packers, that’s great. But if they lose to the Saints, that wipes away everything. Just like if they after beating Miami and Dallas had a loss to the Jets and well, okay, well cool. You beat Miami, who stinks and is going to fire their coach. You beat the Jets or so you beat the Cowboys. That’s great. But you can’t beat the Jets, man. But they didn’t do that. They took care of business. they won on the road. But I think that this win, especially after what they had been through, losing to New England in that fashion, losing to Buffalo in that fashion, can propel them forward, especially when you have the one win Saints on Sunday, followed by a Falcons team on the road who you blew out. Now, Atlanta, show some pride. I’m sure they will, but that’s a game you’re going to still feel good about on the road. But looking at the trade deadline, which I’m just double checking cuz you said Wednesday. I’ve been saying Tuesday. Pretty sure it’s still Tuesday. NFL trade deadline. It is 400 pm Tuesday. Okay. Didn’t get it wrong. So, um, yeah, this was something I was looking up and there really hasn’t been a lot of info out there. there. I know Mike Kay of the Charlotte Observer. He had talked about on his Twitter account a couple weeks ago just there’s a lot of people who are looking for an edge rusher and that would be the position I’m sure that most of you are interested in Carolina going out there and trying to acquire. Now, we did see on Monday morning Jaylen Phillips from the Dolphins. He was traded to Philadelphia for a third round pick. That’s just letting you know what the price you’re going to have to pay to get somebody who could truly come in and potentially be a differencemaker and most likely a rental, especially knowing that they just drafted Princely Ellen and Nick Scorton on day two back in April the 2025 NFL draft. So, I don’t think they’re going to want to have someone be long-term. Now, Pat Jones second hopefully will be back next year. At least he has a contract for next year, another year on his deal for next year after he was coming along early on this season before suffering a season ending back injury. DJ Wam who has zero sacks so far this season. I’m guessing this is probably his last year in Carolina. So that would be the position to go after. Now I spoke to somebody last week who would know and I asked him anything you’re hearing about the Panthers and they told me unclear of whether the Panthers would be active at the deadline. Dan Graziano of ESPN.com he was writing an article about trade deadline intel that came out on Sunday morning and he had this to say. One problem with the NFL trade deadline is that it’s too early for some teams make a hard and fast decision even though it has been moved back a week. The Panthers for instance enter week four with a or week nine rather with a four and four record. Should they add should they trade players for draft picks? The answer probably depends on their outlook for the rest of the season and whether they’re real contenders now or still at least a year away. As a result, they probably stay in PAT this week. So Dan Graziano, I don’t know if that’s a hypothetical or if that’s really him just telling you Panther fans, hey guys, yeah, probably not going to happen for you. I don’t think they’re going to make a move because I just look around Jaylen Phillips, he’s off the board. Tummaine Johnson from some of the reporting from Dino Rousini of the Athletic. He is slash was reportedly a target for the Eagles because Joe Douglas who was the former Jets general manager, he drafted him. He’s now back in Philadelphia. That could make sense. Now, their asking price is a second round pick. I don’t think that’s what you want to pay right now. Uh Kayon Thibido apparently is not going anywhere. The Giants have at least come out and said Joe Shane, their general manager, we didn’t build this defensive line then just to give it up. And it is funny that Panther fans who didn’t want Brian Burns to be resigned here, they wanted then go trade for Kon Dodto, a lesser player, and then potentially to turn around and sign him. So that does not make any sense. Ardan Key from the Titans would be another guy to look at. I think probably he would be cheaper for Carolina. He’s only has a one and a half sacks so far this season. So that’s the same production you’ve gotten out of princely so far this year. Nick Scorton has two and again DJ Wam has zero. So we’ll see. what they decide to do, but I’m guessing that they stand pat. And you got two young guys, you want to give them opportunities, and I have said throughout the off season and throughout the season, I felt like as time went on that Umami Ellen and Scorton would both progress as the year went on. And I think that’s happened. Now, Princeley didn’t play on Sunday. That’s not ideal, of course, but I think you’re just going to have to roll with those guys, roll with DJ and hope that he comes on in the final eight weeks of the season. They went out there and signed Travis Gibson off of the San Francisco 49ers practice squad last week and he played on Sunday. They just got to have those guys just do their job and step up. Now, Alex also asking me over on Blue Sky Julian Council, uh, will we’ll see if the Panthers are biased to the deadline, but at this point, is safety or inside linebacker a bigger need? You looked at Roseboom, he played his ass off on Sunday. And Trevon Wallace is also only I think he has now played 17 games, started 17 games in the NFL. So he now finally has a full season of starting under his belt. So a little bit too early to try to push him aside, which I don’t think you’re asking. It’d probably be more about Rose Boom. Roseboom I think the last two weeks actually not last week but this week and in the week prior to last I think he actually has played fairly well in those games. So I don’t think that’s going to happen. And as far as like offensive line something people asked about they’ve signed Jake Kirhan off of the Cardinals practice squad in week five and he came out there and played a solid game on Sunday. They signed Nick Sak off the Ravens practice squad and he’s somebody they can go to they need. So I think they’re probably good there on the offensive line. and at safety. I I don’t think they’re going to make a move there either. So, yeah, I think this is what the Panthers going to be this season. Hopefully, they can get back get back some guys who’ve been injured. And other than that, I I think that’s going to be all she wrote as far as if they’re going to be buyers. Maybe sellers, but certainly I don’t think they’re going to be buyers. I think they’re going to stay in path both ways on Tuesday. If they do make a move, of course, we’ll break it all down right here on Locked on Panthers. Dave Canalis. He reviewed the film following the team’s 16-13 walk-off win in Green Bay and gave us his idea on the trade deadline philosopher Carolina and some of the things that stood out from the win against Green Bay. We’ll talk about that here in just a moment on Locked on Panthers. The NBA is back and there is no better place to get in on the action than FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Even if you miss start of the game or want to ride the hot hand, FanDuel has live bets on everything from who will win to score next to the fourth quarter comebacks. Plus, you can even combine your live bets to a same game parlay for a shot at a bigger payout. It keeps every game exciting, especially when your team’s making a late push. Right now, FanDuel is giving new customers, and that can be you, $300 in bonus bets when your first $5 bet wins. So head to fandal.com to sign up and play your game with FanDuel, the official sports betting partner of the NBA. Back here on Locked on Panthers, I said yesterday that Sunday’s win against Green Bay was a signature victory for Dave Canal and really in the David Ter era here in Carolina. cannot think of a bigger win that the Panthers have had during that time than the win they had on Sunday against Green Bay as far as what it could mean for their season moving forward after getting their doors blown off at home really on the road against Buffalo to come back the next week at Lambo against a high scoring high octane Packers offense to shut them down in a red zone to ride Rico offensively get enough from Bryce on the final drive and then Ryan Fitzgerald the rookie doing it again for the second time of his career with a walk-off field goal win. A ton of credit to Dave Canal, his game plan. Tracy Smith, his game plan as well to make sure they were going the correct end of the field for that game-winning kick. Great job all around and just huge for that locker room for the organization as a whole and for of course you the fan who has suffered so much more than even the guys who have been here suffering on the field and in the training room and in little meeting rooms uh the last nine plus weeks because you have been here for a long time hoping to have days like they had on Sunday and hopefully there’ll be more of those moving forward the rest of the season here in 2025. Now we just talked about the trade deadline 4 p.m. on Tuesday. Will the Panthers make a move? Dan Graziano of ESPN.com doesn’t think they’re going to. Someone else I talked to was unsure whether the Panthers will be buyers or sellers. I’m guessing based off of the asking price, especially at edge rusher for some of these top guys that Carolina stands Pat and does not make a move. Now Dave Canal was asked by Mike Cave the Shard Observer on Monday during his press conference about his trade deadline philosophy. This is what he had to say. Philosophically speaking, it’s just, you know, it’s value um need and value. all those things kind of taken into consideration as we look at it and talk about you know who could potentially help us at this point and um I also understand you know there’s a lot more that goes into it but uh it’s got to be fair value and things have to match up you know the need with what you’re willing to give up for that you know understanding that as we put this team together and as we build it all those picks in the draft are really important for us as we continue to build this team um but again you know it’s it’s to me I don’t take in the record into consideration I’m trying to win this game. We’re trying to we’re trying to win. We’re trying to beat the New Orleans Saints this week. And um that’s got to be the focus and mentality, you know, for me as a coach. Um and then of course, you know, Dan has taken all the things, you know, in terms of just the future of the team, weighing that with right now and the challenges that we have in front of us. And I think that’s the right strategy to not be like, “Oh my god, we’re five and four. We just beat Green Bay. We got to make a move to go for it.” Because the reality is when you look at just the playoff predictors, the Athletic has one. They have the Panthers with a 17% chance. And for them to make it to the playoffs right now at five and four, they’re most likely going to need to go five and three the rest of the way. Now, I can see absolutely three wins that they should have against New Orleans starting on Monday or this Sunday and then later on this season. And then you got to find a way to beat Atlanta. That’s three. Then after that, you got to pick off two wins from the road game on Monday night against San Francisco, home game here against the Rams, the road game and the home game against Tampa, and then a home game against the Seahawks. So, it’s possible. Absolutely is. It’s just it’s not going to be easy and it’s never supposed to be easy, but they have a plan. And that’s the one thing about the alignment that they have here. here. I know it’s an overused term, but it’s something that’s important here in Carolina to where they have with Dan Morgan, with Brandt Tillis, with Dave Canal. They have a plan for what they want this team to be. And they have put out there that culture, that toughness, that identity. We saw it play out on Sunday in that winning effort in Green Bay. Do you want to potentially get away from what your plan is? Now, plans change. I understand that, but are they in a position right now at five and fourth where if they trade for Ardan Key or if they trade for Germaine Johnson that he’s going to materially change their season? I don’t think so. I I don’t I don’t see that being the case. It’s like there’s only so much that one guy like that can really do for their pass rush that’s going to take them from the basement of the NFL to somewhere slightly above the basement because they’re just not going to all of a sudden become a great pass rushing team with a brand new edge rusher who their team was willing to part with for likely a day two pick. And looking at their picks uh coming up here in 2026, they do have all their picks now in the first round, the second round, the third round, fourth round. So, they’re they’ve hold they’ve held on to them. They don’t have their own seventh rounder, which whatever. Uh, but other than that, they got their picks and do you want to part ways just for an eightweek rental? I don’t think that makes sense for Carolina. So, I really appreciate Dave saying it’s not about the record. I’m trying to win now. I want to beat New Orleans. We have a plan. Stick to the plan. If the plan is to be aggressive at the deadline, then be aggressive. The plan is to hold on to your picks and keep doing what you’re doing and focus on some of the guys in house you want to take care of. once March and February roll around, then do that, which I’m guessing would be their preference. Now, one of the big plays on Sunday came on that final drive after Bryce was able to find Jaylen Coker for that first down and T-Mac for the first down as well. He was looking as if he was telling guys like Rico Dow and the rest of the offensive line, hey, this is what I need to do pass protection wise, trying to dupe Green Bay. And that led to a really nice play inside as far as the blocking to where Rico rushed for 19 yards to set up that game-winning field goal. and Rico had talked about it on Sunday and it’s possible that maybe he gave us a little bit too much. What I will say is I was glad that he pressed the run the right way. Uh he set it up and then kind of ripped it, you know, um finished, you know, with good ball security right there and uh just loved the way that he hit hit it with speed, you know, and um other than that, third down, try to give a pass formation and uh see if we could have some success on the run, you know, and try to keep teams off balance. Did Did Rico give us a little bit too too much information on it? Probably. Probably. Shout out to Vas I heard of Carolina Blitz there for asking uh that question. So Rico D certainly um very open with the media as far as how that play worked out. So unfortunately I think for Carolina moving forward uh not be able to dupe their opponent like they did with Green Bay, but you did it once and you got the win. And everyone watches film so they were probably not be able to run that again, but great for that to work out. Great job by Bryce and of course Rico in the entirety of the offensive line. Speaking of the offensive line, Micah Parsons, talked about it earlier, one pressure, zero sacks in that game. Panthers held him down. He was not a game record. Dave was asked just about their ability to stop Micah Parsons, what they saw on tape throughout the week that led them to have that game plan and that success. You watch the impact that Micah has on games. um whether it’s chasing the run game down, um slippery at the point of attack, his pass rush moves in different spots, he shows up in every single game. So, we had to take a collection of all of it and try to try to put a game plan together that allowed us to have success, that allowed us to to get the ball gone in the past situations. This is a player that I respect so much. and um running the ball. You know, we could potentially in that in that situation, we could throw some different things at him, but um it was really our guys just coming together, executing the plan um that gave us an opportunity to be successful. All the flowers in the world to Rico D for what he was able, not Rico D, but yes, Rico, he was great, but um Ianu for what he did against Micah Parsons in that game on Sunday. He has been somebody that has uh drawn the eye of a lot of fans over the course of his career in Carolina. Like last week uh the numbers said he actually had a good game. But I had somebody asking is it time to freak out about Icky then the week later against the best pass rusher. Well, probably the second best pass rusher. You got to give it to Miles Garrett who had like five sacks I think a week ago against New England. To have that kind of a day and have grown way he has under this offensive line staff, I give him a ton of credit. And that is a guy who is uh probably headed towards a big old payday once the season is over. But that’s again a conversation for February and for early March. Uh no updates on Chandler Zabala who went out with an elbow injury or for Taylor Motton who oddly was active on Sunday but did not play and I guess if he needed to play as if if someone had got injured that either being Icky or potentially Yash Diamond. Now Jake Herhan is listed on the active roster as a tackle. So he could have potentially filled in for either one of those guys. But considering he had to fill in for Damen Lewis briefly and then for the rest of the game for Chandler Zala had anything happened to Icky or to Yash, I would imagine that Taylor would have gone in on an emergency situation to play. Uh so we’ll find out more about him on Wednesday. Uh same thing with Rico who was dealing with looked like a groin. So, I’m guessing he’ll probably just be limited throughout the week because there’s no reason to push him when he’s going to be touching the ball 27 times pretty much every week. It feels like, especially if you’re getting absolutely nothing out of the passing game. Uh, so yeah, get some injury updates on Wednesday uh from Dave Canal as the Panthers prepare for their week 10 matchup at home against New Orleans Saints. That’s going to wrap up this edition of the Lockdown Panthers podcast, part of Lockdown Podcast Network, hosted by yours, Julie Julian Council. I am a part of the Lockdown Podcast Network. Again, y’all subscribe or follow the show free over on YouTube or wherever you listen to your favorite podcast and be sure to follow me Julian Counsel over on Twitter and Blue Sky Julian Counsel. Tomorrow I’m answering your weekly Wednesday mailbag questions at me or DM me to get those questions in. In the meantime, be safe, be happy, be whole. As always, keep pounding and I’ll talk to you all on Wednesday.

Carolina Panthers stun Green Bay Packers 16-13 at Lambeau Field as 13.5-point underdogs, moving to 5-4 and into legitimate playoff contention for the first time since 2017. Is this the franchise-altering moment that changes everything?

Julian Council breaks down the upset victory that snapped a 14-game losing streak against teams over .500. The analysis covers Rico Dowdle’s dominant 130-yard rushing performance, the defense’s red zone excellence in holding Green Bay to 1-for-5, and Bryce Young’s clutch fourth-quarter execution despite passing struggles. Council examines whether the Panthers should be buyers at the NFL trade deadline, discusses Dave Canales’ trade deadline philosophy, and addresses the offensive line’s impressive containment of Micah Parsons. Key topics include the team’s upcoming matchups against New Orleans and Atlanta, as well as why sticking to the long-term plan matters more than making desperate, win-now moves.

Tune in for expert analysis on whether the Panthers breakthrough win in Green Bay is sustainable or just a temporary hot streak.

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:30 Panthers franchise-altering win in Green Bay
2:01 Welcome former MeowMix podcast listeners!
5:34 The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly
17:10 Will Panthers be buyers at deadline?
25:48 Dave Canales Monday Updates

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