North Charlotte Today

NEW ORLEANS — A look inside the numbers from Sunday's 47-10 road loss against the Saints.

Veteran right tackle Taylor Moton made his 100th consecutive start, extending his franchise record in that category. He also played all 59 offensive snaps and has played 6,566 snaps in a row without missing one since the start of the 2018 season.

Raheem Blackshear handled most of the kickoff return duties. He returned eight times for 204 yards, averaging 25.5 yards per return with a long of 31. It's the first time since Week 10 of the 2023 season that Blackshear has averaged over 25 yards per return.

Linebacker Shaq Thompson had a team and game-leading 10 total tackles. It's the most he has had in a game since Week 16 of the 2022 season when he had 12. Thompson missed 15 games due to injury in 2023.

Outside linebacker Eku Leota had three tackles for loss, marking his first career instance of posting that stat. He also recorded the team's only sack, his first, along with their only quarterback hit.

Rookie receiver Xavier Legette had four catches on seven targets for 35 yards in his debut.

Kicker Eddy Piñeiro first got the Panthers on the board with a 43-yard field goal. It is the 28th time in his Panthers career that Piñeiro has made a field goal of over 40 yards.

The Panthers' offense finished with just eleven first downs, making it their third consecutive game (dating back to last season) with eleven or fewer first downs. The offense totaled only fifty-eight rushing yards; they finished with less than sixty rushing yards four times last season.

Defensively, the Panthers conceded three hundred seventy-nine total net yards to the Saints—the most yardage given up since Week Three of last season against Seattle Seahawks (425 yards).

In terms of snap counts and playtime percentage for Week One:

The top four wide receivers played close to an equal number of snaps: Adam Thielen (41), Diontae Johnson (39), Xavier Legette (35), and Jonathan Mingo (33). Rookie tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders actually played more snaps than all receivers due to positional shortages and rotation at receiver.

Head coach Dave Canales mentioned some injury concerns regarding guard Damien Lewis post-game; however, Lewis did not miss any snaps as the entire offensive line remained intact throughout every snap. Backup Brady Christensen got two snaps as an eligible receiver to add size to formations.

Derrick Brown continued playing significant minutes despite his size—91 percent of total defensive snaps (60 out of sixty-six). Linebacker Shaq Thompson was present for every snap regardless of packages while Josey Jewell missed only four snaps all day.

The rotation at outside linebacker saw DJ Johnson (34) and Eku Leota (30) splitting them fairly evenly while newcomer Jamie Sheriff logged seventeen snaps despite being new to the team—indicative as they seek long-term solutions opposite Jadeveon Clowney's position. They started with nickel personnel featuring Jewell in midfield and Thompson down at scrimmage stance lineups.

Lonnie Johnson Jr., called up from practice squad elevation standards participated extensively across special teams’ plays—27 out ninety percent—as did safety Nick Scott who managed twenty-eight alongside eight defensive ones too! Linebackers Jon Rhattigan & Claudin Cherelus formed core members joined by veteran Mike Boone plus rookie Trevin Wallace getting exclusive action through special teams contributions solely!

In an ideal scenario where kick-return specialist Raheem Blackshear wouldn't require extensive engagement yet nine kickoff returns versus mere two punts resulted otherwise highlighting disproportionate dynamics therein!

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