Carolina Panthers reach new high in NFL power rankings after winning 3 of 4

It took a while for the Carolina Panthers to find their footing this season. Their schedule began with two pretty ugly losses, bringing on a lot of speculation that they hadn't made any real progress since last season ended.

However, over the last month the Panthers have managed to grow their game in several ways, resulting in three wins in their last four games.

As expected, Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys has given Carolina a nice jump in the latest NFL power rankings from Matt Johnson at Sportsnaut. They're up three more spots from last week, now coming in at No. 20 in the league.

Panthers 20th in power rankings

"Rico Dowdle now has 473 scrimmage yards in two starts as the Carolina Panthers' featured back, clearly taking the job away from Chuba Hubbard. While there are still very real limitations on the passing game with Bryce Young under center, he’s at least limiting the negative plays. It’s been enough to push Carolina to a 3-1 record over the last month, with a viable shot at a three-game winning streak thanks to a Week 7 matchup against the Jets at MetLife."

There's still plenty of room to improve, for sure.

Offensively, the Panthers are running the ball really well but they still need to find another reliable receiving weapon for Bryce Young outside of Tetairoa McMillan - and reliable is probably a stretch given the rookie's high drop rate. Still, McMillan has over 250 more receiving yards than any other player on the roster.

Defensively, Carolina has made massive strides against the run but this is still the worst pass-rushing team in the NFL right now. After six games the Panthers have totaled a league-worst five sacks and they rank just 29th in ESPN's pass rush win rate.

As far as solutions go, Jalen Coker's imminent return to the lineup should provide some relief for the passin game. In the absence of Adam Thielen he may have the best chemistry with Young of any receiver on the team.

When it comes to the pass rush it's pretty unlikely that Carolina has a hidden star waiting to break out on their depth chart. Most likely the Panthers will have to make a move for an outside edge rusher, either in free agency or at the trade deadline.

If they can fix these two issues, this team should be able to compete with all but the best contenders in the league this year.

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