Three Up, Three Down is a post game recap noting the things that went well and not so well for the Carolina Panthers. This week, we look at the Panthers 31-30 preseason victory against the Miami Dolphins. 

3 Up

Brandon Wegher-

This is a great story. Wegher will have his story told on the NFL Network’s Undrafted. Looking at the on field story this preseason Panther fans have to like what they see. Wegher has speed, strength, and quickness teams look for in their running backs. He has more power than Fozzy and is just as fast. The way Wegher has play this preseason he will make this team and Fozzy will not.

1st team offensive line-

This is the second week in a row the first team offensive line has played well. The Dolphins have a talented front four, with names like Suh, and Cameron Wake, they could dominate. But Carolina was up to the task and kept Cam from being sacked. Granted it is the preseason and teams are keeping things simple, Panthers fans have to like what they are seeing from this group.

Kony Ealy-

Head Coach Ron Rivera has wanted someone to step up and take the DE position opposite of Charles Johnson. In week one no one was up to the task. This past week Kony Ealy broke out from the rest of the Pack. A second round pick two years ago, Ealy had no really lived up to the hype so far this season. Saturday night he showed up and that has to get Panther fans excited. If he can play to his potential it would help put this defense in the top three in the league.  

3 Down

1st team defense-

Miami was able to move the ball with surprising ease. Yes I know it was not our starting defensive line that played as the first unit, but it does make Panther fans question the quality of depth on this roster. If a team lacks good depth it will suffer in games late in the fourth quarter. It would be nice to have a rotation of six or seven guys that coaches can shuffle in and out during the game. This would help the starters to be fresher for the final quarter. Carolina needs a better effort out of the group of lineman that played Saturday.  

Cam Newton-

For the second week in a row, Cam has started the game out cold. He has yet to come out firing on all cylinders. The running game has been non existent this preseason so we need Cam to come out being accurate and on point. I will admit the receivers in this game, Philly Brown, did nothing to help him with two critical drops, one of which would have been for a touchdown.

Wide Receivers-

Let’s be honest. There is only one player on this roster, as it is now, that will even come close to replacing Kelvin Benjamin. The pressure and expectations that will fall on the young shoulders of Devin Funchess are tremendous. I hope he is up to the challenge. The main reason Funchess “can” fill Benjamins role is his size. 6’ 4” 225 lbs he has a similar build. If he can put up similar numbers to Benjamin’s rookie season Carolina has a chance to make a deep playoff run. Without this production, Carolina will be watching the postseason from the couch I fear. The way Cam has started this season and the way his receivers have failed to hang on to the ball is not a mixture that leads to success in this league.

We are going into week 3 of the preseason. This is generally regarded as the game teams work up to as if it was a regular season match up. Carolina is hosting the world champion Patriots, the team most hated by Panther fans. If Carolina expects to make some noise during the regular season, this is the preseason game to show the rest of the NFL what to watch out for.

By that Freak'n Puerto Rican, aka Joe Riollano
Follow me on Twitter @Joe_Riollano