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After climbing out of an 0-2 hole last week in Arizona, The Carolina Panthers travel west once again to take on the formidable Houston Texans. This marks the first meeting between the two teams since early 2015, when Carolina put together a win behind the arm and legs of Cam Newton. 

Here are a few game notes to get you prepped and ready for Panthers at Texans:

The Quarterback Story

In Kyle Allen, Carolina may have found a diamond in the rough. The second year undrafted product—from, ironically enough, Houston—makes his third career start this afternoon. Last week, Allen threw for four touchdowns and no interceptions. Over his first two starts, he’s put up seven total touchdowns without throwing a pick. Allen’s pocket mobility and quick release have served Norv Turner’s offense well. So far, we have seen tremendous accuracy and ball placement on most of his throws.

Defensively, the Panthers face their toughest quarterback test in quite some time via-Deshaun Watson. The Clemson product has accumulated 778 passing yards, tossing six touchdowns and only one interception in 2019. Watson has also rushed for a pair of touchdowns this year.

Last week against San Diego, he overcame an early 10-0 road deficit to lead the Texans to a crucial conference win. In doing so, Watson averaged over 10 yards per pass attempt.

Watson can make all the throws. Rolling to his left, or to his right. Standing in a crowded pocket under duress. He can also throw from multiple angles, a rare trait among quarterbacks, and many of his throws are placed with pinpoint accuracy, particularly the deep ball. In fact, he may have the most accurate deep ball in the game right now.

Pound That Rock

For one of the few times in the Turner administration, the Panthers had more rushing attempts than passing attempts last week in their win against the Cardinals. Such a strategy may prove beneficial today against the Texans. Houston has a formidable group of pass rushers, including JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus and D.J. Reader.

While that group is also strong in their own right against the run, Houston on the whole does struggle against the run. They fared better against the rush last week at San Diego, but that was without Chargers starting running back Melvin Gordon.

On the season, the Texans allow 5.4 rushing yards per attempt, 3rd worst in the NFL. They struggle particularly against 12 personnel—one back, two TE. Carolina loves to run from “12”, with Chris Manhertz as a second tight end. Many times, he’s essentially a sixth offensive lineman. He’s not as explosive in the passing game as Ian Thomas, but he is a tough, hard-nosed blocker in the run game.

With Christian McCaffrey coming off a record day in Arizona, staying the course with the run is essential on the road in Houston today.

The Kicking Game

Houston kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn has seen limited action in 2019. He also struggled last week in Los Angeles, missing an extra point and failing on his only field goal attempt. He has only three field goal attempts for the entire season.

Meanwhile, out-of-nowhere sensation Joey Slye has been nothing short of rock-solid for Carolina. He’s connected on 7-of-8 attempts, with a long of 54. Slye is also perfect on extra points, connecting on eight consecutive PAT’s.

If this game comes down to the wire, which many believe it will, my money is on Joey Slye to bang one home.

Deshaun Watson is simply overwhelmingly impressive.

We could use a lot of superlatives and words here, but we’re just going to let the film do most of the talking.

I will say this: the Carolina Panthers face their toughest quarterback test in quite some time this Sunday when they take on the Houston Texans. Watson has accumulated 778 passing yards, tossing six touchdowns and only one interception in 2019. The Clemson product has also rushed for a pair of touchdowns this year.

Last week against San Diego, he overcame an early 10-0 road deficit to lead the Texans to a crucial conference win. In doing so, Watson averaged over 10 yards per pass attempt.

Let’s take a closer look at what makes him such a special player:

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We will take a closer look at the rest of Houston’s offense in Friday’s edition of film room.

Panthers rookie EDGE Christian Miller brought home a pair of sacks on Sunday against Arizona.

Panthers DT Dontari Poe once again made his under-appreciated impact felt.

Let’s check the film:

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Football is a funny game.

Once upon a time, Kyle Allen was considered one of the best quarterbacks in the country.

He never got drafted.

Panthers head coach Ron Rivera has been on record regarding Allen’s mental toughness. He likes the fact that Allen doesn’t get freaked out by the moment. It’s the same thing we saw in our analysis from last season’s action against New Orleans, a game in which many of the Saints’ defensive starters played, and played hard.

Today was a coronation of sorts for the second-year grinder. Four touchdowns. No interceptions. Highly efficient.

Allen was the victim of one early lost fumble, but how he handled that adversity says more about him than the fumble itself: Allen orchestrated an 11-play, 75 yard scoring march, capped off by a beautiful touchdown strike to Curtis Samuel in the corner of the end zone. The pressure Allen felt off the backside, and how he handled it, perfectly summarizes how he’s handled such pressure throughout his career.

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The rest of the game, as you can see below, fell right in line. Our assessment of Allen has always been positive, and today’s win in the desert underscores the value of good film study and adequate preparation.

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All week, the narrative in Carolina has revolved around the quarterback situation. Specifically, the short-term health of Cam Newton, clouded by acres of speculation regarding his long-term status as the team’s franchise quarterback.

To quote the great Warner Wolf: “nobody knows nothing.” It’s all speculation. Long-term? Who knows?

From our end, it’s time to lay down the speculation and focus in on what we do know. There’s a football game today, and Kyle Allen is the quarterback. On the other side, there’s a very game opponent in the Arizona Cardinals, who went five quarters deep against Detroit in an eventual tie, followed by a narrow loss on the road against Baltimore’s supremely balanced operation.

Here are a few notes to get you ready for this afternoon’s contest:

Zona’s Air-Raid Offense

Arizona’s rookie head coach Kliff Kingsbury has installed his version of the famed “Air Raid” offense from his Texas Tech days. It has opened up the field for his rookie quarterback, Kyler Murray, who has thrown for 300 yards in each of his first two starts.

So what exactly is the “Air Raid”? Well, several notable coaches have employed it (and continue to use it) in the past: Mike Leach, Lavell Edwards, Kevin Sumlin, Art Briles. Detect a theme? Yes, it’s primarily a college offense with an emphasis on 10 personnel. You’re seeing more and more of this sprinkled into the NFL game, but nothing like what the Cardinals are doing.

Basically, you’ll see very little TE action, typically 4 WR, often in a 2 x 2 set. Occasionally, you’ll see a trips look on one side with an iso on the other.

This is precisely what Arizona has been doing all season. David Johnson, their all-world running back, has not been heavily involved to this point. Johnson has less than 100 yards rushing on the season, and has not been an active part of their passing game. I would expect that to change, possibly today. You’ll see Johnson lined up in the slot, and I would expect to see more rushing attempts out of that 4WR look. It will be interesting to see how Carolina plans to defend that.

Dime For Your Thoughts 

Speaking of which, look for Carolina to run a good bit of dime coverage today. The 3-4 front that was much discussed in the off-season? Forget about it. You won’t be seeing it. If you do, it’ll be sparse.

Now, you could still see a three-man front, with up to seven defensive backs in the game at a time. I would suspect plenty of 4-DL dime looks. Defensive back Ross Cockrell played a key part in Ron Rivera’s dime package against the Rams in week one. This is a real opportunity for Cockrell to shine today, as he will likely see plenty of reps with defensive back for Rashaan Gaulden still out.

Kyle and Kyler

There’s a history here.

Flashback to 2015: Allen and Murray engaged in a heated competition for the starting quarterback job at Texas A&M. Murray, who was a true freshman at the time, lost out to Allen.

It didn’t last, as Murray eventually replaced Allen in the lineup, and led the Aggies to an 8-5 record.

In the end, both Allen and Murray ended up transferring to Houston and Oklahoma, respectively. Several years later, Allen worked his way into the league as an undrafted free agent, while his counterpart landed the Heisman Trophy last season and became this year’s number one overall pick in the NFL.

It’s a fascinating battle between two familiar foes.