Dolphins vs. Panthers: Postgame Grades, Notes and Quotes for Carolina
The Carolina Panthers staged a second-half comeback to beat the Miami Dolphins 31-30 in their home preseason opener Saturday night, though it was far from pretty.
If you had predicted the Panthers would come back to win after the first half, people would have looked at you strangely. While they clawed their way to a 14-9 deficit by halftime, neither the starting offense nor defense looked particularly solid. The Panthers went three-and-out on each of their first two offensive drives and threw an interception on their third, while Ryan Tannehill and the Dolphins moved the ball much more effectively, taking a 14-0 lead by the time most of the starters had left the game. Three field goals were all the Panthers offense could muster.
Then Joe Webb entered the game.
Webb was 12-of-17 for 131 yards and a touchdown with 16 more yards on the ground. Cameron Artis-Payne, Jordan Todman and Brandon Wegher combined for 82 yards on the ground, and the Panthers found the end zone three times to steal the victory in the closing minutes.
Despite the win, the coaching staff can’t be too pleased with what happened Saturday night. The starters generally looked overmatched and outplayed by their Miami counterparts, until a questionable challenge by the Dolphins turned a touchdown into a touchback and gave the team some momentum. Injuries to Frank Alexander, Ryan Kalil and Richie Brockel—as well as a noticeable limp from Cam Newton—further dampen the spirits.
Still, a win is a win, as Webb bounced back from a poor game in Week 1 to provide the late-game heroics in what became a shootout in the closing seconds, with 21 points being scored in the final five minutes of the game. Let’s take a deeper look at some of the highlights and lowlights of the game.
Grades
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In general, the starters looked disappointing, and the backups looked solid. That averages out to a lot of average or slightly above-average grades this week.
Position | Grade |
QB | C |
RB | B+ |
WR | C |
TE | B+ |
OL | A- |
DL | B |
LB | B- |
DB | B- |
Special Teams | D |
Coaching | B |
Quarterbacks: For the second straight week, Cam Newton started off badly, but we add in an interception and take away the touchdown drive from him this week. He finished the day with just 42 passing yards and a 13.3 QB rating. Derek Anderson looked solid if uninspiring, but Joe Webb won the day, leading both teams in passing yards and spearheading three second-half touchdown drives. It wasn’t always pretty, but he’s a large reason why the team won.
Running Backs: Jonathan Stewart did nothing, but the backups played well. Cameron Artis-Payne, Jordan Todman and Brandon Wegher all had success on the ground, and the team as a whole averaged 4.1 yards per carry. It was a solid showing all around, and Fozzy Whittaker has to start worrying about his job security.
Wide Receivers: No one stepped up to replace Kelvin Benjamin (still the only first-stringer with a touchdown this preseason) or Devin Funchess. The starters, Corey Brown and Ted Ginn, had one reception on four targets. Instead, it was the backups who had good days. Jarrett Boykin might have made the team on the back of a six-reception, 53-yard performance. Damiere Byrd had a pair of 18-yard receptions including a touchdown, while Mike Brown threw his hat into the ring with 58 yards of his own.
Tight Ends: The only Panthers’ starting offensive skill position player to come out with his reputation more or less intact was Greg Olsen, who had three receptions for 27 yards when the team was struggling in the first quarter, though Newton’s interception was on a play intended for Olsen. Scott Simonson had four receptions for 35 yards.
Offensive Line: What offensive line problems? While the team struggled a little early on containing Ndamukong Suh, it had a second consecutive impressive week against a second consecutive tough defensive line. Michael Oher had his second consecutive solid game. Is it too soon to start thinking he could have a bounce-back season? It is only preseason, and Oher looked decent-to-solid last preseason as well before having a bad regular season, but it’s better than his looking terrible out there.
Defensive Line: The Frank Alexander injury puts a damper on things, but the defensive line as a unit performed better. Both Kony Ealy and Wes Horton had a sack, and Rakim Cox and Arthur Miley played well as the game wound down. The Panthers limited Miami to 88 yards rushing, for an average of 3.5 yards per carry.
Linebackers: Shaq Thompson had an impressive debut, showing off his range and speed. A.J. Klein led the team in tackles and nearly had an interception that he would have returned for a touchdown, while Thomas Davis looked sharp as well. Luke Kuechly had an uncharacteristic missed tackle early on.
Defensive Backs: Teddy Williams intercepted a Matt Moore pass late in the second quarter, setting up the Panthers’ third field goal of the night. Kurt Coleman got another start and looked solid in run defense. The secondary had issues dealing with Ryan Tannehill and McLeod Bethel-Thompson and gave up seven passes of 10 yards or more.
Special Teams: Graham Gano looked solid, kicking three field goals, including one from 52 yards out. The rest of the special teams disappointed. The Dolphins averaged 17.7 yards per punt return and 28.8 yards per kickoff return, with Christion Jones and LaMichael James both burning the Panthers multiple times. Jordan Todman had a 21-yard kickoff return, but that was about the only other highlight.
Coaching: There were no big decisions for Ron Rivera and crew this week, though they lost a challenge on a spot in the fourth quarter—challenges for first downs almost never work. They also decided to go for two to tie the game up late in the fourth quarter, nearly giving us the dreaded preseason overtime.
Frank Alexander Tears His Achilles
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The Panthers have had an open battle for the starting defensive end spot across from Charles Johnson, but that competition may have just taken a turn for the worse.
Frank Alexander came up hobbled in the first quarter without being touched, planting awkwardly and crashing to the ground. He was helped to the sideline without putting weight on his right ankle and was later carted off the field.
The Panthers at first called it a “right ankle” injury and ruled him out for the remainder of the preseason contest.
We learned after the game, however, that it was a bit more severe than that. According to Ron Rivera, Alexander has torn his Achilles tendon. That means he’ll miss the entire 2015 season, a year after missing 14 games because of suspension.
This is a huge blow to the team. Carolina was counting on Alexander to help replace the departed Greg Hardy, and he had been looking good in training camp, if not during the first preseason game. It’s also crippling for Alexander’s career; he’s a free agent after this season and now has essentially missed two years in a row.
Wes Horton was the next man up when Alexander went down, and he did pick up a sack, as did Kony Ealy. Still, the team is better with Alexander in the rotation than without him. The last thing the Panthers need is another major injury after losing Kelvin Benjamin earlier this week.
Starting Offense Sputters Again
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Last week, the Panthers’ first-string offense had two disappointing drives before recovering to score a touchdown at the beginning of the second quarter. Anyone hoping that momentum would continue into this week’s matchup, however, was sorely disappointed.
The Panthers repeated last week’s opening performance, only doing a little bit worse. The first two drives were both three-and-outs, and then their final, more successful drive ended up turning the ball over on downs at the goal line, as they were unable to punch it into the end zone. Throw in an interception that nearly was returned for a touchdown, and it was a night to forget for the first-string offense.
The first quarter saw the Panthers gain a whopping eight offensive yards. Cam Newton ended the day 4-of-10 for just 42 yards and the interception. Not all of that was his fault, though—there were several drops mixed in among those incompletions, with both Corey Brown and Jonathan Stewart unable to get their hands on the ball. Stewart received two carries and earned two yards. Ryan Kalil limped off the field with a left knee injury—likely a sprain.
That’s not to say there were no first-team offensive highlights. The final drive was a 14-play, 79-yard drive that might have resulted in a touchdown in the regular season, if the team wanted to risk Newton on a quarterback sneak or dive. Nevertheless, two straight weeks with a slow start has to raise concern in Carolina’s locker room.
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Rookie Report
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The rookies, on the whole, had a much better day against the Dolphins than they did against the Buffalo Bills last week.
Shaq Thompson had a solid debut. On the stat sheet, he only had one tackle and a pass deflection, but he was more active on the field. He ended up running with and providing blanket coverage of tight end Jordan Cameron down the field, saved a touchdown with a big tackle and generally looked like the stud the team drafted in the first round.
Cameron Artis-Payne was the Panthers’ leading rusher for the second straight week, and this time, it wasn’t by default. He had four carries for 33 yards, though most of them came on a 29-yard scamper. Perhaps most importantly, he moved up the depth chart to be the second back to get handoffs after Jonathan Stewart, giving him a better shot at being the primary backup come September.
Daryl Williams had another solid day as the backup right tackle, although he nothing particularly noteworthy. For a rookie offensive tackle, it’s best not to be noticed—offensive linemen don’t show up much unless they make mistakes. It’s worse for a linebacker to go mostly unnoticed, but David Mayo did pick up a tackle.
Perhaps the most impressive rookies, however, were the undrafted ones. Arthur Miley had a couple of tackles for loss. Damiere Byrd caught two passes including a touchdown, and Brandon Wegher punched a couple of touchdowns in himself to lead the Panthers to their comeback victory. It was not a bad night for the bottom of the roster.
Ron Rivera Disappointed in Performance
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"Disappointed" was a common word in Ron Rivera’s postgame press conference.
He was disappointed that no one stepped up at wide receiver, at least in the first grouping, to replace the injured Kelvin Benjamin and Devin Funchess.
He was disappointed in the number of penalties, as the Panthers drew nine flags for 46 yards, giving the Dolphins a pair of first downs and prolonging their plays. That includes three offside penalities that wiped out solid Panthers plays.
They also had four chances to make a turnover—two forced fumbles and two balls in and out of the hands of defenders—and didn’t come away with the ball.
He was disappointed the team couldn’t punch it into the end zone, despite facing 1st-and-goal from just two yards out.
“I am disappointed, because we had opportunities to make plays, and we didn’t do it,” he summarized.
It was definitely a lackluster first half from the starters. Admittedly, part of the offensive struggles might come from the fact that the team is running vanilla packages—Rivera confirmed that the team didn’t use everything in the playbook on offense in a goal-line situation, for example. Still, despite the win, there was plenty for him to criticize after an unimpressive first half for the team.
Ron Rivera: Brandon Wegher Will Make Things Tough
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Rivera wasn't all negative, though. When the topic turned to undrafted rookie running back Brandon Wegher, he had lots of positive things to say.
Wegher “is most certainly going to make it tough on us” when it comes down to final cutdowns, the coach said, per Black and Blue Review. With three touchdowns in two preseason games, if Wegher doesn’t make the main roster, another team is likely to scoop him up before he can reach the Panthers’ practice squad.
The Panthers have a few running back slots that are locks. Jonathan Stewart obviously isn’t going anywhere, nor is fifth-round pick Cameron Artis-Payne. Mike Tolbert is also locked in as the starting fullback.
That likely leaves just two slots for the trio of Fozzy Whittaker, Jordan Todman and Wegher. Whittaker made some solid plays down the wire last season, but Todman and Wegher have outplayed him this preseason. Todman also has value as a kick returner, which Whittaker can’t really handle.
Could Whittaker see his spot taken from him? That’ll be something to watch over the last two preseason games.
Cam Newton: “We Need to Start Faster”
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Cam Newton spoke to the media and voiced what must be a common complaint among Panthers fans now—the need for a faster start.
“We’ve got to get on a roll,” he said in his postgame press conference. “We need to start faster.”
In the first quarter of the two preseason games, the offense has gained 24 yards, which will not cut it. The Panthers have had four drives end in punts, and only one drive went for more than three plays.
“There’s no need to sulk over a win, because we did win,” Newton added, though he admitted that “when you get inside the 10, you gotta get it in the end zone.”
While in the regular season, a win is a win, that’s not really the case in preseason. The Dolphins lost, but they’ll go home pleased with the performance of their starters and raving over Ryan Tannehill’s night. They’ll point to how they shut down Carolina’s starting offense and only surrendered the lead when bottom-of-the-roster players and camp cuts were in the game.
The Panthers may have won, but the important part of preseason is playing well—the scoreboard doesn’t matter.
So far, the Carolina starting offense has not played well, scoring just one touchdown on six drives. That touchdown was caught by Kelvin Benjamin as well, and now he’s out for the season. The team needs to have a better performance against the New England Patriots next week.
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the Carolina Panthers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.
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