The Carolina Panthers TopCats Cheerleaders had a winning day as the Panthers got the 2018 season off to a great start with a 16-8 victory over the Dallas Cowboys at Bank of America Stadium.
This was a game of firsts with Panthers quarterback playing in his first game with new offensive coordinator Norv Turner and the Cowboys first game without offensive stalwarts in tight end Jason Witten and wide receiver Dez Bryant as well as kicker Dan Bailey. Witten retired to join the Monday Night Football crew as an analyst while the Cowboys opted to part ways with the team’s all-time leading receiver Bryant and the second-most accurate kicker in NFL history in Bailey.
Bryant roasted his former team and specifically offensive coordinator Scott Linehan on Twitter. Meanwhile, Dan Bailey was trending on Twitter due to his replacement Brett Maher missing a 47-yard field goal as he pushed it wide right and brought the second-guessers out in masses.
“That’s my job,” Maher told the Dallas Morning News. “That’s what I signed up to do. I know what my job is, what my role is on this team. Go out there and when I get a chance, it’s put points on the board. I didn’t do that today.
“It’s all about how you respond from good and bad, so that’s what this week’s focus will be on, sharpen up and get ready to go.”
New Panthers O.C. Turner is known to many as the”Quarterback Whisperer” from his work over the past two-plus decades of working with signal callers (most notably Cowboys Hall of Fame QB Troy Aikman in the early 90s), but Carolina had an effective attack on the ground against Dallas in week one.
Cam Newton, Christian McCaffrey and C.J. Anderson combined for 143 rushing yards and one touchdown on 30 carries according to USA Today.
It wasn’t all wine and roses for the Panthers in their opening week victory as they lost tight end Greg Olsen and right tackle Daryl Williams to injury.
“I’ve told you this, and I’ll tell you again: I have not talked to RV. I usually wait until after this,” Rivera said on panthers.com. “It’s a question I’m not going to answer. I don’t know, to be honest with you. Honestly, I have not talked to RV.”
Enough about the game, check out a few Carolina Panthers TopCats Cheerleaders photos in the slideshow by clicking the arrows below.
