Biggest takeaways from Panthers' Week 16 win over Cardinals

In a wild, high-scoring affair, it was Hubbard who led the way with 152 rushing yards and two touchdowns—including the walk-off 21-yard score in overtime.

This season been quite the story for the former fifth-round draft selection. His growth from his rookie campaign to now has been astonishing, and a core example of developing homegrown talent on the roster. Now, Hubbard has become a beloved fan-favorite on the roster and one of the better running backs in the league.

Hubbard is not only proving to be worth that four-year, $33.2 million extension he signed earlier in the year, but is also solidifying himself as a cornerstone piece and Carolina’s workhorse back for seasons to come.

Coming off a four-turnover game against the Dallas Cowboys, Young needed a rebound outing to ease the minds of Panthers fans. He did just that with a three-touchdown performance against the Cardinals.

The 23-year-old completed 17 of his 26 throws for 158 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for another 68 yards and a score.

Young continued to make incredible throws against the blitz and displayed incredible ball placement. He did miss some critical throws in the second half, but his day overall was about as solid as it gets.

The conversation may be here: Young might be the Panthers franchise quarterback and has turned into the player the team has been waiting for since making him the No. 1 overall pick almost two years ago.

This season has shown some of the warts of first-year head coach Dave Canales as both a game manager and decision-maker. It showed up again today on some critical down and distance decisions.

The third-and-3 and fourth-and-3 situations following the two-minute warning were spots where he could’ve handed the ball off to a productive Hubbard. Instead, he called an empty set passing concept where Young ended up being wide of the mark.

While it all worked out in the end, Canales will have plenty of time in the offseason to work on his flaws as a play-caller and decision-maker. If he can even decrease these blunders, or rid of them all together, Carolina becomes a much better offense overall.

There were plenty of factors as to why Carolina blew a 20-3 lead and allowed Arizona to send the game into overtime. One of the biggest reasons was the lackluster defense that has plagued this team all season long.

Cardinals running back James Conner pummeled the Panthers for 117 rushing yards and 49 receiving yards. The only thing that stopped him from more was a knee injury that took him out of the game.

Does defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero hold some of the blame? Yes, but there is also the aspect that he can’t do much with what he has, from a personnel and talent aspect.

I wrote this past week about Carolina’s tricky situation with Ever—and as of this moment, it is still fluid. No one knows if he’ll be back or not—and right now, there’s no clear answer.

In general, Piñeiro has been quite reliable during his time with the team. He’s also the third-most accurate field goal kicker in NFL history.

However, he has developed a bad trend in the last few weeks of missing critical extra points and field goals—some of which have altered Carolina’s approach in winnable games.

For where the franchise is as a whole, Pineiro is a fine kicker. But for what and where the Panthers want to go as a potentially successful organization, he isn’t the kicker to help them do that.

Look for Piñeiro, a free agent at season’s end, to find a new home in 2025.