The Carolina Panthers have scored more points through four games than any team in franchise history, and they are 2-2. They reached their bye week with 121 points scored and 109 allowed, tied with Atlanta for first place in the NFC South. The defense has allowed 59 points in one game and 3 in another.
Where they stand
No team in the NFC South has a winning record. Carolina and Atlanta are 2-2, New Orleans is 1-3 and Tampa Bay is 0-4, according to the league's standings. Carolina's only division game so far was the 34-3 win at Atlanta. The other win was 32-26 over Detroit at Bank of America Stadium on Oct. 4.
The offense
The old franchise mark for the first four games, set in 2016, was 109 points, according to the team. Carolina scored more than 30 points in three of the four games, which the team says it had never done to open a season.
Quarterback Bryce Young has thrown for 1,268 yards, nine touchdowns and two interceptions. The nine touchdown passes are a team record for the first four games of a season, and Young is the first Panthers quarterback with at least 250 passing yards and a touchdown pass in each of the first four games, the team says.
The production has not come from one receiver. Jalen Coker caught eight passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns in the home opener against Chicago. Tight end Darren Waller caught two touchdown passes at Atlanta. Receiver Brycen Tremayne set career highs with 83 yards at Cleveland. Receiver Tetairoa McMillan caught 14 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns against Detroit and was named the NFC's Offensive Player of the Week.
Near the goal line it has been less productive. At Atlanta and Cleveland combined, Carolina scored touchdowns on four of nine trips inside the 20. Kicker Ryan Fitzgerald has made all nine of his field goal attempts this season, including four at Cleveland. The running game has varied from week to week: 125 yards against Chicago, 68 at Atlanta, 98 at Cleveland and 127 against Detroit, when Chuba Hubbard carried 20 times for 122 yards and two touchdowns.
The defense
Between the 59 and the 3 were 21 points at Cleveland and 26 against Detroit.
The rushing yards Carolina allowed fell every week, from 291 against Chicago to 157, 132 and then 46 against Detroit, and so did the yards per carry, from 7.5 to 4.9, 4.4 and 3.1. Those were four different opponents, so the numbers describe four games rather than a settled run defense. Against the pass, the latest game went the other way: Detroit's Jared Goff threw for 412 yards.
The takeaways have come in one burst. Carolina forced five turnovers at Atlanta, and linebacker Devin Lloyd intercepted two passes, returned one for a touchdown and was named the NFC's Defensive Player of the Week. The Falcons started Cooper Rush at quarterback that day, with Tua Tagovailoa and Michael Penix Jr. both inactive. Against Detroit, neither team threw an interception or lost a fumble.
The losses
The opener was a 59-37 home loss in which the two teams combined for 96 points, the most in an NFL season opener, according to The Associated Press. At Cleveland, Carolina led 18-13 with 2:36 left when cornerback Akayleb Evans intercepted Deshaun Watson in the end zone. A roughing-the-passer penalty on Carolina linebacker Bobby Okereke wiped it out, and the Browns scored three plays later to win 21-18. Carolina went 0 for 3 on fourth down that day.
Who is missing
Cornerbacks Jaycee Horn and Mike Jackson went on injured reserve after the Cleveland game, and receiver Xavier Legette followed before the Detroit game. Coker, guard Damien Lewis, tight end Ja'Tavion Sanders and tackle Austin Reese did not play against Detroit. Right tackle Monroe Freeling, the team's first-round pick in April, and outside linebacker Jaelan Phillips both left that game.
The bye
Head coach Dave Canales said the timing helps. "It certainly is a great time for us with the amount of guys that we have that we're trying to get back from injuries," he said after the Detroit game. "It allows us to take the first quarter of the season, take a snapshot of the things that are working well, and what's not working well."
The Panthers play next at Philadelphia, also 2-2, on Oct. 18.