It wasn't pretty by any means, but Kyle Allen is 3-0 as the Carolina Panthers starting quarterback.
Despite three lost fumbles from Allen, a strong Carolina (2-2) defensive performance, and a career-high amount of touches for Christian McCaffrey helped Allen overcome his struggles to pull out a 16-10 victory at the Houston Texans (2-2.)
"It was a game of ups and downs and sloppy plays, especially by me, but we continued to fight," Allen said. "I'm really proud of this team and how we kept coming back and didn't give up."
In what Rivera described as being "slippery," Allen was sacked by Whitney Mercilus, JJ Watt and Brennan Scarlett. Allen lost the ball each time and fumbled away the ball each time.
Thus far, fumbling seems to be Allen’s main problem. He’s fumbled five times in the last two weeks, having lost four of them.
The last time a Panthers quarterback had three fumbles in a game was by Jimmy Clausen against the Chicago Bears on Oct. 10, 2010.
"Having three turnovers by one player is not going to win you games," Allen said.
Despite the mistake, the Panthers and Allen kept their composure and responded when they need it the most.
"I think over the last two weeks, we found a way to respond and a way to win," Allen said. "We're trending upwards and I'm proud of the way we played and the way we fought."
A week removed from compiling eight sacks, Carolina's defense sacked Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson six times and helped seal the win late when defensive tackle Vernon Butler strip-sacked Watson and safety Eric Reid recovered the ball.
“I thought the guys were very resilient,” Carolina head coach Ron Rivera said. “We came out on top of a good football team. If you can keep stride with them, you’ve got a chance to win and that’s what we were looking for.”
Defensive end Mario Addison had two sacks, linebacker Shaq Thompson and defensive end Bruce Irvin each had one.
In total, the defense held Watson to 4.84 yards per attempt, the lowest since Week 1 of his rookie season in 2017.
Even while missing defensive tackle Kawann Short to injury, the strong performance proved the Panthers defensive-line, which entered the game ranked fourth in the league in overall defense and second in sacks, is the real thing.
"Our whole mentality is, 'next man up,'" Thomspon said. "We're not going to skip a beat. We might lose a starter, but the next one is also a starter. We just gotta keep it going."
Carolina now has 18 sacks this season, which is tied for first in the NFL.
"This is a very good pass-rushing defense. They really do get after the quarterback and I thought we held our own," Rivera said. "I think this is a reaffirmation that we can do things well and that's a huge plus that we have that ability and hopefully we can feed off of that."
Cornerback Ross Cockrell added a pivotal interception in the second quarter that prevented the Texans from scoring. The interception came deep in Carolina territory after Allen had one of his fumbles.
"Our entire defense, they did a great job today. Tre (Boston) and Eric (Reid) did a great job communicating with me all day, and I was able to make a play," Cockrell said.Overall, Allen went 24-for-34 for 232 yards with no touchdowns, but he made some impressive throws that included a 27-yard pass to receiver Jarius Wright. One of his completions was to McCaffrey, who made one of the best catches that will happen from anyone all season.
McCaffrey also carried the ball 27 times for 93 yards. He also had 10 receptions for 86 yards.
"Noise, you can't let it get to you," McCaffrey said. "The most important thing is this locker room and how we handle the wins and how we handle the losses."
The all-around team performance gave the Panthers a chance for the win, even when there were mistakes from the quarterback.
That's something Carolina wasn't able to fully make up for during the first two weeks with Cam Newton as quarterback.
"I thought we could hold it together just because of the mere fact that we were close," Rivera said. "We had a chance to beat the Rams and Tampa Bay, and unfortunately we didn't, but we were close enough to win those games and it's just a matter of working to get things to go our direction, which we have and we just have to continue to work."