North Charlotte Today

CHARLOTTE — A look inside the numbers from Sunday's 26-3 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.

Running back Chuba Hubbard averaged 6.4 yards per rush against the Chargers (10 rushes for 64 yards). It is his best average yards per run since Week 2 of the 2023 season (two rushes for 16 yards, averaging 8.0 ypc) and his best since Week 15 of the 2022 season when carrying more than twice. In that win against the Detroit Lions, Hubbard averaged 10.42 per carry (12 rushes for 125 yards).

Receiver Adam Thielen reached 400 receiving first downs for his career in the fourth quarter.

Kicker Eddy Piñeiro extended his streak of consecutive field goals made at home to 32, the longest active streak in the NFL and the second-longest streak in Panthers history. His 38-yarder in the third quarter also marked his 60th successful field goal in a Panthers uniform. Only John Kasay (351) and Graham Gano (165) have more.

Corner Jaycee Horn picked off Chargers QB Justin Herbert in the first quarter. This marked Horn's fourth interception of his career and the Panthers' first interception of the season.

Outside linebacker DJ Johnson and defensive tackle Jayden Peevy both got to Chargers QB Justin Herbert to share a strip sack, forcing the Panthers' second turnover of the game. This marked both Johnson's first sack of his career and Peevy's first sack and forced fumble. Linebacker Josey Jewell recovered the fumble, marking his eighth recovery of his career.

Linebacker Shaq Thompson had 14 tackles on Sunday, a career-high now in its tenth year.

Linebacker Josey Jewell finished with 11 tackles, his most since Week 12 of the 2022 season. That season, Jewell played under defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero.

The starting offense only played 48 snaps due to converting just one out of twelve third downs and not being on the field nearly enough. The entire offensive line took all these snaps, creating cohesion among a new group. Receivers Adam Thielen and Diontae Johnson each played 45 snaps.

The limited number of snaps prevented using various personnel groups and formations as planned. There was some either/or with Chuba Hubbard and Miles Sanders, as well as Jonathan Mingo and Xavier Legette.

The Chargers forced them into a base defense game, requiring extensive run defense playtime which kept them in standard formation. Nickel corner Troy Hill played only thirty-nine percent of snaps compared to fifty percent last season.

Derrick Brown’s absence due to a knee injury placed him on IR last week; he was usually counted on for ninety percent of snaps weekly. Nick Thurman started in Brown’s place playing fifty-eight percent instead.

The starting secondary and inside linebackers all played sixty-nine snaps each.

Core special teams units included Lonnie Johnson and Nick Scott each playing over twenty snaps with Trevin Wallace, Jon Rhattigan, Feleipe Franks, and Claudin Cherelus close behind.

Kick returner Raheem Blackshear had three times more snaps than kicker Eddy Piñeiro while extra blockers Chandler Zavala, Brady Christensen, and Yosh Nijman had one snap each due to game dynamics.