Panthers could be without Teddy Bridgewater, Christian McCaffrey on Sunday

Matt Rhule’s struggling Panthers could be down a pair of important pieces.

There was a 0-2 start followed by three straight wins. The Carolina Panthers appeared to be making strides under their new sideline leader and their latest starting quarterback.

But that was then and now isn’t so great. The club has now lost five straight games and tumbled to the bottom of the NFC South standings. The Panthers have allowed a whopping 79 points the past two Sundays in setbacks to the Chiefs and Buccaneers. And that sobering number is being followed by this latest news

In Sunday’s 46-23 home loss to Tampa Bay, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater hit on 18-of-24 throws for 136 yards and two touchdowns (1 interception) plus ran three times for 16 yards and another score. But he would not finish the game, knocked out of action by an apparent knee injury. The good news, courtesy of ESPN’s David Newton via Chris Mortensen, is that an MRI revealed “no structural damage” to his right knee.

And as ESPN’s Adam Schefter points out, that means Rhule’s club could be without both Bridgewater and running back Christian McCaffrey. The latter returned a week ago and had a big outing at Arrowhead Stadium but injured his shoulder and did not play against the Bucs. While Mike Davis has done his best CMC imitation this season – totaling 675 total yards from scrimmage and four touchdowns – it’s a different story altogether when it comes to quarterback.

On Sunday, P.J. Walker took over for Bridgewater and connected on two of his four throws for 12 yards while being sacked once. It was the second appearance of the season for the XFL standout, who played for Rhule at Temple. His season totals read 3-of-18 for 15 yards, as well as the aforementioned sack.

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Next up are the visiting Detroit Lions for a Panthers’ team that has dropped its last three home games, including Sunday’s 23-point setback. A year ago, Carolina opened at 5-3 and lost their final eight contests. The team is struggling to stop the bleeding and obviously, things may have now gotten a lot more difficult for this reeling club.