Eric Reid took a knee during the national anthem ceremony at Bank of America stadium before the game today. No other players joined him. He was not protesting the anthem and he was not violating NFL rules. He won’t be taking a knee on the field during the game.Reid is protesting inequality and racial injustice in the United States. He is doing so in a way that he believes shows respect for the military. He is doing so nonviolently. He is not protesting in a way or at a time that affects his responsibilities to the Carolina Panthers. Reid’s own words from last year are incredibly clear on this:This is a place where you can talk about his protest. Please https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Mario-Addison-Jersey , do so. Please also keep in mind his own words and not words anybody else has put in his mouth. Read his op-ed in the New York Times linked above. Read his twitter feed. We will update this story after the game to reflect any new statements Reid makes on the subject. And please, most of all, try to be as respectful here as Reid is trying to be with his actions.Update: Eric Reid spoke to the media after the game about his decision to continue his protests this season. Head coach Ron Rivera was also asked about Reid’s choice and Rivera declined to say anything more than that he was not there “to discuss a guy exercising his first amendment right.” The Carolina Panthers played well yesterday in their 30-20 win over the Tennessee Titans that improved their 2019 record to 5-3 and kept them in the NFC playoff hunt. There are a lot of positives — and a few negatives — to talk about from yesterday’s win, so let’s jump right into it, shall we? Stock upKyle Allen: Allen responded well after a bad game against the San Francisco 49ers last week. Statistically he had a pretty decent game, going 17-of-32 for 232 yards, two touchdowns and an interception (that was tipped at the line and bobbled by Jarius Wright), but more importantly was how well he moved around in the pocket. There were some times when he made the wrong decision — as young quarterbacks are wont to to from time to time — but he rolled out to avoid pressure, he stepped into the pocket, he took a few big hits while throwing to receivers and he showed that last week’s debacle didn’t define him. I liked what I saw from him yesterday and I think he played as well as you can hope for a young quarterback to play. I want to see more of that.Christian McCaffrey: Run CMC was a beast yesterday with 24 carries for 146 yards and two touchdowns, as well as three catches for 20 yards and another touchdown. He ended his day with 166 total yards and three touchdowns. You can’t ask for much more than that from your star running back. There was a small scare towards the end of the game when he landed weird on his final touchdown of the day — an impressive 58-yard scamper straight to the end zone — and the coaching staff (smartly) kept him on the sideline for the rest of the game as an ‘overabundance of caution’ Marquis Haynes Jersey , but he should be ready to go next week against the Green Bay Packers. There were loud chants of ‘MVP! MVP! MVP!’ at Bank of America Stadium yesterday, and if McCaffrey keeps playing the way he has been playing all year, those chants will only get louder (and they might even be answered if the folks who vote on the NFL’s awards notice the impact McCaffrey has had on the Panthers’ offense this year).DJ Moore & Curtis Samuel: Moore and Samuel responded to comments from former Panthers great Steve Smith about their inability to get open by combining for 10 catches, 165 yards and a touchdown. Moore had seven of those catches for 101 yards (including a brilliant sideline grab at the Titans’ one yard line that set up a touchdown), and Samuel had three catches for 64 yards and one of the most impressive touchdown catches I’ve seen from a Panthers receiver since... well, since Steve Smith. I’m not saying Smitty was wrong about Samuel and Moore, but I am saying that I loved what I saw from them yesterday and I hope Smith’s comment was the spark they needed to set the world on fire. From the looks of it, that could be the case.Shaq Thompson: Shaq is playing for his next contract and it shows. He was everywhere yesterday, and he racked up 11 tackles (10 solo), a sack and three tackles for loss. His sack was quite impressive as he exploded through the line and took Ryan Tannehill down before he even had a chance to make a decision of what to do. Thompson was in Tannehill’s face so quickly that if he tried to hand the ball off to the running back, there’s a chance that Shaq would have taken it from him and scored a touchdown. I want to see more of that Shaq Thompson... but at the same time I don’t because the more he plays like https://www.carolinapanthersfanshop.com/Torrey-Smith-Jersey , the less likely we are to see him stay in Carolina after this year.Donte Jackson: Action Jackson came back in a big way this week with two turnovers — one fumble recovery and one interception. The secondary is much better with him out there so I’m glad to see him back on the field, and even more glad to see him on the field creating turnovers. Stock downJarius Wright: Wright was targeted four times yesterday and he came away with zero catches for zero yards and caused Allen’s lone interception when he tried to bat the ball back to himself after it was tipped and knocked it right into the hands of the defender. I don’t know what’s wrong with Wright at the moment (you loved the pun, don’t lie) but I think it’s time for the Panthers to start phasing him out of the lineup and giving other guys a chance. DeAndrew White is on the 52-man roster, so let’s see what he can do instead.Joey Slye: The magic is starting to run out for Slye. He had a nice tackle on a kick return and he made one field goal and three extra points, but he missed a field goal and had an extra point blocked. On the bright side, he costs a lot less than Graham Gano and is younger. On the not-so-bright side, he’s not that much of an upgrade when you ignore the cost savings. (Note: I know you can’t ignore the cost savings because it’s a real thing, but there are plenty of cheap kickers we could bring in if Slye continues to struggle.)Honorable mentionsThere were quite a few players who played well yesterday but didn’t quite make it into the stock up section of the column, so let’s give them the recognition they deserve.Greg Olsen was his usual, reliable self with three receptions for 40 yards on five targets. He didn’t find the end zone yesterday but he played well and caught most of the passes that were thrown to him. On defense, I thought Eric Reid played well. He had 11 tackles (nine solo) Dontari Poe Color Rush Jersey , a quarterback hit and a sack. Tre Boston came up big with two pass defenses and an interception. Luke Kuechly did the usual Luke Kuechly things, and he also made an impressive diving play to break up a pass. The defensive line played well without Mario Addison. Dontari Poe, Gerald McCoy, Kyle Love and Marquis Haynes all did a good job applying pressure on Tannehill. The run defense wasn’t as great as I wanted it to be and they struggled to contain Derrick Henry at times, but overall they did okay. The Panthers won, so I’m not going to spend too much time complaining today about minor things that happened.Greg Dortch looked good returning kicks, so hopefully we finally have an answer there. Colin Jones is still The Ace Who Runs The Place and he showed exactly why on that beautifully executed fake punt. I don’t remember the Panthers ever running a fake punt so it’s hard to say when the last time that even happened. And I have to give credit to Ron Rivera here — running a fake punt from your own 36 yard line takes guts. Hopefully we’ll see Ron take more risks going forward since the one he took yesterday paid off.Overall I liked what I saw from the Panthers yesterday. They shook off the bad game they had a week ago in San Francisco, came out in front of the home crowd and won a football game. They’re currently 5-3 and have a big game coming up next week against the Packers. Hopefully we see more of what we saw yesterday next week so I can spend more time talking about the good things instead of the bad things. I like writing this column more after a win, so hopefully the Panthers help me out with that next week.Who stood out to you, Panthers fans? Share your thoughts with us!
