Coming off two straight horrendous losses, the Carolina Panthers are back home and face their toughest test yet. The Denver Broncos visit Bank of America Stadium for the first time since 2022. Denver is currently tied for the most wins in the AFC, with a 6-2 record entering Week 9.

Carolina is 3-4 and is on the verge of an all-out freefall, with major issues on this roster. The offensive line has been the main issue, with Bryce Young being heavily pressured through the first seven games.

The Panthers are, and deserve to be, underdogs, entering Sunday, and they could pull off one of the weekend's bigger upsets with a win. If Carolina is to do so, three key things need to happen.

Make Offensive Line Changes

If the Panthers roll out the same starting offensive line, that's bad news for Bryce Young. Carolina has allowed the fourth-most pressures, 23 sacks in seven games, and is missing one of its best pieces, Taylor Moton.

The Broncos can take advantage of the poor pass blocking, as they rank eighth in team pressure rate. Denver also has one of the league's best pass rushers in football, Nik Bonitto, who ranks sixth in the league in pass-rush win rate.

Against a team that does so well in pass rush, there's no better time to make a change. Rasheed Walker and Luke Fortner have been especially awful; both lead their positions in pressures allowed. Walker has surrendered 31 pressures; Fortner has surrendered 18.

Carolina needs to see what they have at left tackle in Monroe Freeling. He's been a right tackle all season, but they drafted him for how well he played at left tackle at Georgia.

At center, the Panthers drafted Sam Hecht in the fifth round of the NFL Draft. At Kansas State, Hecht posted over 850 pass-blocking snaps; he allowed zero sacks in those snaps. Yes, the NFL is a different level, but Fortner is already the worst pass-blocking center in the NFL, so it can't get worse.

Pressure Bo Nix

The last thing Carolina needs is Bo Nix getting outside of the pocket and creating plays with his legs or off-schedule throws. Stopping the run has been an uphill climb for the Panthers overall; adding Nix's scramble ability and him catching a rhythm early would be a death sentence.

Carolina will once again be without Jaelan Phillips, but still needs to find a way to fluster Nix. Inside linebackers Devin Lloyd and Bobby Okereke have both shown the ability to be disruptive blitzers, that could be a path to disrupting Nix in the pocket.

Bryce Young Exploits Denver's Pass Defense

It may sound weird at first, because Denver has Patrick Surtain II, one of the best corners in football, but this passing defense can be vulnerable.

Denver ranks 20th in passing yards allowed per game, surrendering 227, and 25th in total pass yards allowed this season. Before Week 7, Bryce Young led the league in passing yards per game; if there are any clean pockets, he has to take advantage of them and find his playmakers.

This all hinges on the offensive line, but Young has shown with clean pockets that he can dice up defenses, and that shouldn't change against Denver.