QB Bridgewater among new arrivals
Panthers undergo many changes
Twelfth in a 13-part series on the opponents the Green Bay Packers are scheduled to face during the 2020 regular season.
GREEN BAY - After winning only five games last season, the Carolina
Panthers didn't need to search long to find areas that needed improvement.
Their offense was middling at best in 2019. Their defense was worse. Both need to be better if the Panthers are going to compete.
In hiring Baylor's Matt Rhule to be their next head coach, the Panthers prioritized scoring points, not defending them. Rhule is a departure from longtime coach Ron Rivera, who came from a defensive background and didn't need long to land a head-coaching job in Washington.
The Panthers plucked Rhule from the college game, making him the latest coach to make the transition from amateur to pro football. Rhule's offensive credentials are clear. Baylor's offense improved in each of Rhule's three seasons, from ninth in the Big 12 in scoring (24.3 points per game) in 2017, to sixth in 2018 (29.5) to third in 2019 (33.6). He guided a prolific offense without the NFL
prospects of many competitors around the conference.
The Panthers are hoping Rhule’s scheme will translate into a high-octane offense in the NFL.
Here’s a look at what the new head coach will have to work with.
Big opportunity for Bridgewater
No more Cam Newton. No more Kyle Allen, either. If it looked like the plan was to transition from the first overall draft pick in 2011 and former league MVP to the undrafted Allen, that changed when the Panthers traded Allen to Washington in March. They signed Teddy Bridgewater a day later, giving the former first-round pick another chance to start. Bridgewater, the 32nd overall pick in 2014, was a Pro Bowler in Minnesota before a devastating knee injury cost him all of the 2016 season. He played in only one game with the Vikings in 2017 before moving on to New Orleans, where he was Drew Brees’ backup the past two seasons. Bridgewater played well after Brees needed thumb surgery early last season, winning all five of his starts with a 99.1 rating. Now the job of lifting the Panthers’ troubled offense will fall on him — with
Former Saints quarterback Teddy Bridgewater is now with the Carolina Panthers.
a little bit of help in the backfield.
Best in the business?
With apologies to Tennessee Titans
months of discussions between the Big Ten Council of Presidents and Chancellors, directors of athletics, conference office staff and medical experts that included the league’s task force on emerging infectious diseases and sports medicine committee.
The announcement came as cases of the coronavirus continued to rise in most states across the country, including Wisconsin.
The news marked the second straight day the Wisconsin football schedule has been affected by uncertainly caused by the coronavirus pandemic. On Wednesday, Northwestern and the Chicago Cubs announced that the Wildcats’ game with Wisconsin, scheduled for Nov. 7 at Wrigley Field, would be played at Ryan Field on Northwestern’s campus in Evanston, Illinois, because of the pandemic.
The news Thursday eliminates another UW football game that was slated running back Derrick Henry, there wasn’t a better playmaker out of the backfield last season than Christian McCaffrey. The son of longtime NFL receiver Ed McCaffrey, Christian McCaffrey has more than justified his top-10 status from the 2017 draft. McCaffrey became the third player in NFL history to gain 1,000 yards both rushing and receiving last season, joining the 49ers’ Roger Craig (1985) and the Rams’ Marshall Faulk (1999). Of the three, McCaffrey could claim to have had the best season. His 2,392 yards from scrimmage were 37 fewer than Faulk’s, but McCaffrey scored seven more touchdowns. He also ranked second in the league with 116 catches, 29 more than Faulk had in his historic season.
Early retirement
After the Panthers finished near the NFL’s bottom in points allowed, the last thing they needed was the surprise they got after the season when five-time AllPro linebacker Luke Kuechly retired. Kuechly, citing concerns about future health because of brain injury, had just concluded his age-28 season, still in the prime of a Hall of Fame-caliber career. The seven-time Pro Bowler tied a career high with 12 defended passes last season, along with two interceptions and 144 tackles. He was a longtime rock in the middle of the Panthers’ defense, someone the team will have a hard time
for a historic stadium: the Badgers’ game against Notre Dame at Lambeau Field in Green Bay on Oct. 3.
In his letter, Alvarez looked ahead to the Badgers’ game with Notre Dame next year at Solider Field in Chicago and said both programs are committed to rescheduling the game at Lambeau.
The announcement means UW will drop home games against Southern Illinois on Sept. 12 and Appalachian State on Sept. 19.
Losing those games cut the Badgers’ schedule to nine games, though as Alvarez noted, that could change.
The Big Ten’s statement said it will announce more details for the affected sports at a later date.
The Big Ten was the first of the Power 5 conferences to move to a conferenceonly schedule. Wednesday the Ivy League announced it would not play fall sports.
Sports that weren’t listed will continue
replacing.
Packers schedule glimpse
Dec. 19 or Dec. 20, Panthers, TBD Week before: at Detroit, Dec. 13. Week after: vs. Titans, Dec. 27.
On the horizon: at Chicago, Jan. 3. Carolina Panthers
Coach: Matt Rhule (first season). 2019 record: 5-11, fourth in NFC South.
Scoring offense: game (20th in NFL).
Total offense: 341.8 yards per game (19th).
Scoring defense: game (31st).
Total defense: 374.5 yards per game (23rd).
Series: 9-6, 1-0 playoffs.
Last meeting: Stopped at the goal line. That’s how the Packers and Panthers ended last season’s matchup, with McCaffrey stuffed 1 yard short of the goal line, preserving a 24-16 win for the Packers. The game was a duel between two of the NFL’s top running backs. McCaffrey rushed for 108 yards on 20 carries, punching in one touchdown from 3 yards in the fourth quarter. Aaron Jones, drafted five rounds later in 2017, had 93 yards on 13 carries and ran for three touchdowns. Both running backs were great, but Jones’ scores were the difference.
21.3
points
per
29.4 points per to be evaluated, the Big Ten’s statement said.
There were a couple of other nuggets in the Big Ten’s announcement.
* Summer athletic activities will continue to be voluntary for all sports currently permitted to have such activities.
* Student-athletes who choose not to participate at any time during the summer and/or the 2020-21 academic year due to concerns about COVID-19 will continue to have their scholarship honored by their institution and will remain in good standing with their team.
“Today’s announcement, and all the circumstances we are trying to work through together, are done so with one thing in mind: the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff and fans,” Alvarez wrote. “With our partners around the Big Ten, we are committed to exploring every option to provide safe competitive opportunities for our student-athletes.”