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It was a big Sunday for the Panthers, who beat the Falcons 20-17 and stayed a half-game back of the Saints for the NFC South lead. It was also the first game without WR Kelvin Benjamin, who was surprisingly shipped to the Bills last week. Cam Newton rolled with it, and compared it to something like rearranging deck chairs on some sort of unsinkable ocean liner that definitely didn’t ever sink, as far as he knows.


A relatively quiet afternoon in the air, Devin Funchess made his debut as Newton’s No. 1 target with five catches on seven targets for 86 yards. Newton said Funchess is “growing into the role,” and said they’ll just have to move on from Benjamin. Like some sort of boat that is on a timetable, which is definitely the most common metaphor involving the Titanic.


The 2017 Carolina Panthers: A lot like the Titanic, so far.