Carolina's offensive line came through with yet another high-level performance in the team's Week 10 win.
The Carolina Panthers may be one of the weakest teams in the NFL on paper, but they have at least one thing that almost every other team must envy. Whatever else has gone wrong for the Panthers this season (it's a very long list), their offensive line has consistently performed at a high level in practically every game, both in run blocking and pass protection.
Sunday's upset win over the New York Giants in Germany was no exception to the rule, as Carolina's offensive line held up against New York's NFL sack-leading pass rush coming in, only allowing one sack on Bryce Young by Brian Burns early on. Otherwise, this unit was nearly flawless and the team's Pro Football Focus grades for this week reflect that.
Panthers OL dominates PFF grades on offense
The highest-graded player on offense this week was of course Robert Hunt, who's making a pretty decent All-Pro case for himself at right guard for the Panthers. Hunt came in at 84.9 overall this week, with a respectable-enough 69.7 in pass blocking an a ludicrous 88.7 in run blocking. Right tackle Taylor Moton came in second, posting a 73.8 in run blocking, 83.5 in pass blocking and 78.8 overall. Next up was left guard Damien Lewis, who got a bad pass blocking grade (40.6) but made up for it with an 87.8 in run blocking and earned a 77.3 overall grade. Backup center Cade Mays also earned a solid 67.7 grade for his efforts.
Bryce Young gets second straight decent PFF grade
Second-year quarterback Bryce Young came in fourth among starters with a 71.4 overall grade on the strength of 68.5 in passing. Young missed a few throws but he also made a good number of impressive ones, including multiple 20+ yard completions, one each for rookie wide receivers Xavier Legette and Jalen Coker. Young's 71.4 grade was his second-highest this season as a starter.
Ian Thomas, Brady Christensen at the bottom
At the end of the list for PFF"s offensive grades this week are tight end Ian Thomas (52.7 overall) and left tackle Brady Christensen (53.4 overall), who's playing for an injured Ikem Ekwonu. While this wasn't his finest outing, Christensen balled out last week and the Panthers have to be very pleased with their depth up front, which seems as good as any team's right now.
Josey Jewell leads Panthers defense
The highest grade on defense this week went to inside linebacker Josey Jewell, who made several high-impact plays, including a late interception against Daniel Jones. For his efforts Jewell earned an 84.1 overall grade, with an especially high mark for coverage (85.1). His previous season-high grade came in Week 3 against the Raiders (73.6 overall). A pair of outside linebackers earned the second and third-highest grades on defense, with DJ Johnson and DJ Wonnum tying for a 74.7 overall grade.
Among defensive starters the lowest grade went to slot corner Dane Jackson, who came in at just 39.9 overall. Jackson earned grades under 50.0 in every category, including a 36.3 in tackling. Defensive tackles Shy Tuttle, DeShawn Williams and Jonathan Harris were also near the bottom.
