Panthers Name Starting QB For Thursday Night Football

The Carolina Panthers were absolutely blown away by the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 9, and at one point they were down 35-0, which led to the team handing the reigns to Baker Mayfield to start the second half. Mayfield was solid, and led several scoring drives, and while many assumed that the former No. 1 overall pick would continue as the starter, the Panthers have today announced that won't be the case, as PJ Walker will get his third straight start on Thursday Night Football as Carolina take on the division rival Atlanta Falcons.

The #Panthers will start QB PJ Walker again Thursday night against the #Falcons, per source.

Baker Mayfield replaced Walker at halftime of Sunday’s blowout loss to the #Bengals and Sam Darnold was just activated from IR. But on a short week, Walker gets another shot.

— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) November 7, 2022

Perhaps the biggest reason for this is the short week, as Walker has been running with the starters in practice for weeks, but following Week 9, if the team can't find their offensive rhythm again, there's a good chance that either Mayfield or Sam Darnold, who today was reinstated from Injured Reserve could compete for that job.

The Panthers season looks all but over at this point, with no chance of an NFC Wild Card spot and very little chance at a division title, so it's going to be a very interesting situation to keep an eye on going forward, as the team have three solid QB's, and none who stand out as the potential future of this organization.

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