Win streak earns Carolina Panthers surprising high grade for 2025 NFL season so far

Jul 23, 2025; Charlotte, NC, USA; A Carolina Panthers helmet sits on the ground at training camp. Scott Kinser-Imagn Images

Win streak earns Carolina Panthers surprising high grade for 2025 NFL season so far

Originally posted on Carolina Panthers on SI
By Tim Weaver | Last updated Oct 17, 2025 9:00 AM ET

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After six games we can safely say that the Carolina Panthers are a much diffrent animal than they were last year. At the end of the 2024 season Carolina had allowed more yards and more points than any team in NFL history.

At first it looked like they were just as bad defensively and had taken a step backward on offense when this season began. However, the Panthers have rebounded in a big way the last couple of weeks.

Just two weeks after earning a D+ grade for the season, Carolina has upgrade two full letter grades to a B+ for the year from Andrew Buller-Russ at Sportsnaut.

"When we did this exercise two weeks ago, we had the Carolina Panthers with a D+. But after rattling off two more wins, evening their record at 3-3, we’re pretty impressed with their progress. After winning just five games all of last season, the Panthers are not only scoring roughly two more points per game, but the defense is allowing over seven points fewer than last season too. It’s an impressive effort for a team that hasn’t won more than five games since 2022, but this year looks like it will be different."

\Matt Kartozian-Imagn Images

The Panthers are still the worst pass-rushing team in the league by a good margin, and their passing attack is lagging behind last year's in the absence of Adam Thielen.

However, Carolina has taken huge strides in the run game, both offensively and defensively. The substitution of Rico Dowdle for an injured Chuba Hubbard has given their rushing attack new life - in a history-making way. Over the last two games Dowdle has been on a Jim Brown kind of pace, bringing the Panthers up into the league leaders in this department.

On defense the change is even more stark. After finishing the 2024 season ranked 32nd against the run, the Panthers are now in the top 10, giving up just 94.5 rushing yards per game compared to 179.8 last season.

The return of Jalen Coker to the lineup should help Bryce Young bring the passing game back online, but odds are they're going to need some serious pass rush help if they're going to compete against any team that has a real chance of making the playoffs.

This article first appeared on Carolina Panthers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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