The Carolina Panthers are going into Thursday night’s game without starting left guard Pat Elflein. They are scheduled to play the Houston Texans, who will be without their starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor, due to a hamstring injury.
The Panthers announced Tuesday afternoon that Elflein will be placed on the injured reserve list, sidelining him for at least the next three week. Unfortunately, for the Panthers, they will also be without another lineman, but this time, it is on the defensive side of the football.
Defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos has been inactive in practice for the last couple of days. Coach Matt Rhule mentioned his absence to the media on Monday, stating that he rolled his ankle in Sunday’s 26-7 victory over the New Orleans Saints. Gross-Matos played a limited amount of snaps, 9, in the win.
Also, defensive end Morgan Fox was wearing a red jersey in Tuesday’s practice, meaning he has not been cleared for contact. Fox is dealing with his own ankle injury. He is coming off a great game in Week 2, where he accumulated seven pressures on Saints starting quarterback Jameis Winston.
For a piece of good news for the Panthers, left tackle Cameron Erving was a full participant in practice Tuesday after being limited on Monday. The Panthers also have three additional players who are no longer mentioned on this week’s injury report. The players are right tackle Taylor Moton, left guard Dennis Daley and tight end Tommy Tremble.
Even more good news concerning the Panthers is their significant improvement in the power rankings. Due to their dominant win last week over the Saints, Carolina moved up nine spots from their No. 23 position in USA TODAY’s power rankings, all the way up to No. 14. NFL reporter Nate Davis stated that this is the first time in quite a while that QB Sam Darnold has gotten a team off to this kind of start.
“Hey, Sam Darnold, how does it feel to be 2-0 for the first time since you were at USC? Backed by the league’s top-ranked defense and going into Houston, good bet 3-0 is just around the corner.”
That run came at USC four seasons ago in 2017, Darnold’s final year at the amatuer level. He led the Trojans to blow-out victories over the Western Michigan Broncos and Stanford Cardinal by a combined score of 91-55.
Darnold has not had to do everything for the Panthers to get them to a 2-0 undefeated record this year. He has been able to rely on his defense, who have allowed the least amount of points and yards in the NFL, while registering the most sacks to start the 2021 season.
Question: How far up would a win over the short-handed Houston Texans take the Panthers in the rankings next Tuesday morning?
