After the Panthers traded running back Christian McCaffrey to the 49ers on Friday, their General Manager Scott Fitterer said the team still expects to win games this season.
The Panthers had not been winning and their poor start to the year already led to the firing of head coach Matt Rhule, so Fitterer’s comment was met with some ridicule from those who think all eyes in Carolina are already on 2023. Oddsmakers seemed to agree because they made the Buccaneers 13-point favorites heading into Sunday’s game.
As it turns out, though, the Panthers had a few tricks up their sleeve. P.J. Walker started at quarterback in place of the injured Baker Mayfield and went 16-of-22 for 177 yards and two touchdowns in a 21-3 victory, which led interim head coach Steve Wilks to say that it will be tough to pull Walker out of the lineup once Mayfield or Sam Darnold are deemed healthy enough to play.
Walker didn’t weigh in on if he feels he did enough to remain the starter, but said he will be prepared for anything the Panthers ask of him in Week Eight or beyond.
“No, I just went out there and played my game, executed what we called, moved the ball down the field efficiently,” Walker said, via Augusta Stone of the team’s website. “That’s not my call. My call is to get ready to work Monday. . . . Whether it’s to start, back up, whatever it is, I’ll be ready.”
Sunday’s performance was the best of the year for the Panthers offense an we’ll learn in the coming days if that’s enough to earn Walker another turn in the starting lineup against the Falcons.