Chubba Hubbard’s ascension among 3 reasons for Cowboys to hate facing Panthers in Week 15
The Week 15 matchup between the Dallas Cowboys and the Carolina Panthers is set to be a real barnburner. It doesn’t get any bigger than having a 5-8 team go on the road for the first time in three weeks to play a 3-10 team looking for just their second win at home.
Looks can be deceiving, though, as both teams are playing some of their best ball. Despite their record, there are things for the Cowboys to hate about playing the Panthers in Week 15. It hasn’t been an easy first season under head coach Dave Canales, but things are looking up for his team. Saying they’ve turned a corner might be a bit too much, but the Cowboys’ opponent aren’t the pushovers their record suggests.
This game felt like a reprieve for the Cowboys when the schedule was released, yet it’s now just another contest to play out the season. Here are three things to hate about the Week 15 opponent.
Improving team
Dec 8, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Panthers head coach Dave Canales against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lincoln Financial Field. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images
The Panthers have just three wins this season, but they have shown improvement as the year has gone on. In the first eight weeks of the season, the Panthers were 1-7 and losing by an average of 23 points.
It was a team that couldn’t score and had trouble stopping offenses from putting points on the board. Over the first half of the year, the Panthers replaced their starting quarterback in the lineup and had given up at least 28 points in six of their seven losses.
This was a bad team on both sides of the ball.
In the last five weeks, however, Carolina has turned things around. They’ve won two games, taken some of the best teams in the league down to the wire, and their average margin of defeat is just four points. There are no participation trophies in the NFL, but it shows how well the team is currently playing.
Canales’ team lost by only three points to the Kansas City Chiefs in a contest just before Thanksgiving, then took the NFC South leading Tampa Bay Buccaneers to overtime before losing that game, and then had the Philadelphia Eagles beat late but a dropped touchdown cost them the chance to close out a win.
The Panthers don’t look like a three-win team right now, and they are playing their best football late in the season. It won’t be easy to beat a solid team that appears to be peaking.
Chuba Hubbard
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The Panthers might have ruined a few Cowboys draft dreams when they selected Texas running back Jonathan Brooks in the second round of last year’s draft, but that move hasn’t worked out yet. Luckily for their offense, they have another outstanding RB option to carry the load without Brooks in Chuba Hubbard.
The former Oklahoma St. running back is one of just six ball carriers to already have over 1,000 yards rushing with 1,011, a new career high. Hubbard is averaging 4.7 yards a carry, has rushed for eight scores, and has six games with over 92 yards rushing. The fourth-year runner has been one of the best RBs in the league this season and the Cowboys with their 30th ranked rushing defense won’t like trying to stop Hubbard.
It has been a career year for Hubbard, who most thought would have been phased out of the offense. He’s just too good to keep off the field and will be tough to slow down in Week 15.
Bryce Young’s resurgence
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It didn’t start off as a banner year for the first overall pick in the 2023 draft, but the young signal caller has been playing much better since the Panthers inserted him back into the starting lineup. In the first four weeks, Young averaged less than 75 yards passing per game, and hadn’t thrown for a touchdown.
Just two weeks into the season and the Panthers made the decision to bench Young for veteran QB Andy Dalton, who immediately guided the team to a win. Dalton kept the job from Young for five weeks, during which the second-year QB watched and learned.
Since he’s been back, Young has transformed his game. Young’s now passing for over 212 ypg and thrown all seven of his touchdowns. Young’s completion percentage has also risen and he’s cutdown on his interceptions, throwing just one in his last four weeks. The processing and play making that made Young the first pick overall is starting to manifest as the QB is looking more comfortable.
Young’s a good prospect who needed some time to develop, and he looks like a different QB from earlier in the season. Many thought the benching of Young wasn’t the right move, but his resurgence is proving the Panthers made the correct call. The Cowboys will hate facing a QB who’s playing his best football and giving his team a chance to win games.
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