The Carolina Panthers were able to move to 5-3 on the season after defeating the Tennessee Titans 30-20 in Charlotte.
As the Titans fall under .500 on the year at 4-5, they didn't do themselves any favors to start Sunday's contest. They were blanked in the first half, while being flagged for a number of penalties, committing multiple turnovers, and allowing the Panthers to put up 17 points.
The Titans did try to make a game of it with a 20-point second half, but the Panthers' offense continued to roll behind Christian McCaffrey, who exploded for three touchdowns on the day. Kyle Allen also turned in a bounce-back performance after a mediocre showing in Week 8 by completing 17 of his 32 passes for 232 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
To get a more in-depth look as to how this game turned out, check out our takeaways below.
Why the Panthers won
Carolina was pretty consistent throughout the entire game, especially on defense. Both clubs were slow to start and that resulted in a scoreless first quarter, but the Panthers quickly found their footing and dropped 17 points in the second quarter. That was thanks to Donte Jackson picking off Ryan Tannehill to put the Panthers' offense deep in Tennessee territory, later resulting in a Christian McCaffrey touchdown. The Panthers were able to go for 90 yards and another touchdown on their next possession and gave themselves a nice cushion going into the second half.
To no one's surprise, McCaffrey was once again a stud, totaling 166 total yards from scrimmage to go along with three touchdowns. Per Will Bryan of the Panthers stats team, this is McCaffrey's sixth game this season with at least 150 yards from scrimmage, which ties Jim Brown (1963) and Matt Forte (2011) as the only players with 150 scrimmage yards in six of the first eight games of a season.
Thanks to that effort by McCaffrey and the strong play by Allen, the Panthers offense had the stability to come up with some clutch play, particularly in the second half when the Titans offense started to gain momentum. Tennessee had two touchdowns in its first three offensive possessions in the second half and the Panthers were able to counter with a touchdown each time.
Why the Titans lost
Tennessee simply shot themselves in the foot too many times in this game. They had no continuity on offense in the first half and turned the ball over twice, and one of those turnovers almost immediately went for seven points.
The Titans went into the locker room down 17-0 and it proved to be too much to overcome, even with a 20-point second half effort. Part of that was due to Tennessee's lack of ability to get the Panthers off the field, as they had a near seven-minute edge in time of possession.
Mike Vrabel's team was also flagged for 11 penalties for 99 yards in this game and some of those infractions were at critical moments. One came at the 6:05 mark in the third quarter. The Titans offense just scored its first points of the game and it looked like they were going to have Carolina in a long field goal attempt with third-and-inches coming up. They were able to stop the Panthers offense on that play, but an offsides penalty gave Carolina the first down. Two plays later, they walked into the end zone and went up by 17.
When you're turning the ball over multiple times, committing needless penalties like that, and not finding any semblance of offense until late in the game, you're most likely going to lose.
Turning point
The back breaker of the afternoon came on Carolina's first possession of the second half. After Tennessee was able to put together its first scoring drive of the game, the Panthers marched 70 yards down the field to extend their lead to 24-7. That drive also included a fourth-and-4 fake punt call by Ron Rivera from his own 36-yard line to help kill any sort of momentum the Titans were building. From there, the Titans were never really able to sniff the Panthers lead.
Play of the Game
At the 5:45 mark of the third quarter, Allen tossed up a prayer from around his own 40 yard line and was able to thread the needle to D.J. Moore. Moore displayed amazing concentration not only to haul in the pass, but get both feet in bounds to complete the catch just outside the end zone. Officials originally ruled this play incomplete, but got together and reversed their own decision and called it a catch. One play later, McCaffrey scampered into the end zone on a 1-yard carry to put the Panthers up 24-7.
Speaking of McCaffrey, his 58-yard touchdown run up the gut is an honorable mention.
Quotable
The Panthers were coming into this game after an embarrassing 51-13 loss to the 49ers. Allen threw three picks in that game as the defense allowed the Niners to roll over them on the ground. The fact that they were able to come back and look as sharp as they did is a huge momentum builder for them going forward. The win also still has them in the hunt for playoff contention.
What's next
From here, the Panthers will head to Lambeau Field to take on Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers. The Titans will head back to Tennessee and await the Kansas City Chiefs, who are fresh off a walk-off win over the Minnesota Vikings. K.C. also may see the return of Patrick Mahomes next week, making it an even tougher challenge for the Titans.
To see how all the action went down in real time, check out our live blog below.