The Carolina Panthers have been one of the best stories in all of football this year. After their win last night against the Houston Texans, they improved to 3-0 on the young season behind another solid performance from Sam Darnold and the defense put it together once again. While they were able to pull off another win, some bad news did come with it. Rookie Jaycee Horn went out with an apparent foot injury. Also, Christian McCaffrey left the game with a hamstring injury and was ruled out for the remainder of the contest. Today, it was announced that he will miss a few weeks with that injury.
When he’s 100 percent healthy, he’s by far one of the best all-around running backs in the NFL. So many teams scout and look for that super athletic guy out the backfield that can do everything and then some. That’s been Christian since his college days at Stanford. His impact on the game speaks volumes because you look up, he’s carried the ball 20 times along with eight or nine catches as a receiver. His skillset is of one of the guys you create on Madden. The speed is remarkable because he comes at a defense in so many angles. Christian comes off as a finesse back but has no issues with running the football up the middle. He finds his lane, then turns on the acceleration for the rest and he’s either got a big chunk of yards added to the stat sheet or he’s in the end zone for six points. Even in the passing game, he can line up in the slot. Covering him with a linebacker is absolutely insulting because he’s too quick for them in the open field.
This is tough news without question. He missed most of the last year with an ankle injury. Just the other night when I was on the radio, I mentioned how much he means to that Panthers offense because he also does the little things without the football such as blocking. He’s been instrumental in protecting Darold’s blindside so far this year. There’s always that saying that the game is better with certain players on the field. I think that saying can apply to CMC. I wish him a speedy recovery.
