Panthers vs. Falcons: Carolina Grades, Notes and Quotes
Mercury Morris and the rest of the ’72 Miami Dolphins can pop the champagne. The last undefeated team in the NFL has fallen.
For the first time in the regular season since November 30, 2014, the Carolina Panthers lost a football game. After two consecutive blowout losses against the Panthers, the Atlanta Falcons got some degree of revenge, beating Carolina 20-13 and ending its run at perfection.
It didn’t look like it was going to be that way after the first drive. Carolina methodically marched down the field with an 11-play drive that ended up with a Cam Newton rushing touchdown. You would have gotten some long odds if you had predicted then that would be Carolina’s only touchdown of the day.
Instead, only Atlanta found the end zone after that, after being held without a touchdown in the previous two matchups with Carolina. Devonta Freeman punched the ball into an end zone on a 16-play counter drive immediately after Newton’s touchdown, and Julio Jones scored on a 70-yard bomb.
All Carolina could manage was a couple of field goals.
The Panthers twice had a chance to win the game in the final two minutes but came up short. The fact that they couldn’t force Atlanta to punt even once in the second half and only once all game hurt. Atlanta didn’t always score on its drives, but it kept the ball and the clock moving. The Falcons were 9-of-15 on third downs and ended the game with more than 35 minutes of possession.
When playing what had been the top offense in football, keeping the ball out of its hands is the best strategy. Carolina simply couldn’t force Atlanta to hand the ball back to Newton and company, and the offense couldn’t score touchdowns when it did get the ball.
It’s not all doom and gloom—the Panthers still have the best record in football and have a bye week to look forward to in two weeks. However, their history of close games has finally come back to bite them. They had been 7-0 in one-score games this season, and that was likely unsustainable going forward.
This may not even be the last road game they have to face this season. The Cardinals continue to play well in Arizona and could pip Carolina to the line if the Panthers lose to Tampa Bay next week.
It’s the worst day of the season so far for the Panthers. The goal now is to put dreams of a perfect season aside and ensure that this remains the worst day of the season at the end of Super Bowl 50.
Grades
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Quarterbacks: B-
It was not a horrible day from Cam Newton, who finished 17-of-30 for 142 yards. With his first-quarter rushing touchdown, he became the first player in NFL history to have 30 passing touchdowns and eight rushing touchdowns in the same season, as he continues to chase down Steve Young’s record for rushing touchdowns by a quarterback.
He had at least one pass that should have been intercepted dropped, however, and took a sack that knocked the Panthers out of field-goal range. He did more good than bad, but it wasn’t quite good enough this week.
Running Backs: B+
Both Cameron Artis-Payne and Fozzy Whittaker ran well—at least, before Whittaker got hurt. Artis-Payne averaged 9.8 yards per carry, picking up 49 yards on five totes. Whittaker notched a more sedate 6.4 yards per carry as the two teamed up to replace Jonathan Stewart. Mike Tolbert had some key catches on one of Carolina’s two game-winning attempts, as well.
Wide Receivers: D
The top wideout this week was Philly Brown, who had three receptions for 39 yards but also a key drop. Everyone else was held mainly in check—Ted Ginn Jr. had just one reception, and Jerricho Cotchery was held under 25 yards on his four catches.
Tight Ends: C-
Greg Olsen led all Panthers receivers but with just 40 yards receiving. He had some clutch catches late but couldn’t get open enough to provide a deep threat.
Offensive Line: B+
It was not a bad day from the offensive line. Newton was sacked twice, but one was a coverage sack where he should have thrown the ball away, and the other was on the final play of the game when Atlanta just blitzed everyone. The running game also picked up 7.8 yards per carry as the Panthers went over 100 rushing yards yet again.
Defensive Line: C+
Kawann Short had a couple of sacks on Matt Ryan, though Short was the only lineman to record so much as a quarterback hit in this one. The Panthers held Atlanta to just 2.6 yards per carry but were worn down by the end of the game, with Devonta Freeman finding room to run and extend drives when it mattered most.
Linebackers: C
Thomas Davis hit Ryan a couple of times, and Luke Kuechly added one of his own, but they weren’t the same kind of sideline-to-sideline threats we’re used to seeing. Kuechly got caught in coverage against Jones on a deep bomb, which just isn’t a fair matchup for the star linebacker.
Defensive Backs: D
This will be discussed more on the next slide, but Ryan had 306 yards passing, as both Jones and Roddy White regularly made deep receptions almost at will. It’s not the most passing yards the Panthers have given up all season—both Green Bay and New Orleans had more—but most of those yards came in situations when the opposing team was desperately trying to catch up and the Panthers were playing prevent, not when the game was still close.
Special Teams: B
Graham Gano made both of his field-goal attempts, and Brad Nortman pinned two of his three punts inside the 20-yard line.
Coaching: B
Ron Rivera successfully challenged a spot in the first half, and it wasn’t like the Panthers got outcoached—the Falcons simply made more plays. It didn’t seem to be a schematic weakness on Carolina’s part or anything.
The one possible questionable decision in retrospect was opting to punt down by four points at the beginning of the fourth quarter—the Panthers faced 4th-and-4 from their own 37-yard line. It would have been a significant risk, and there was plenty of time left on the clock, so it’s easy to see why Rivera opted to punt, but the math indicates it would have been a good opportunity for Riverboat Ron to make an appearance.
Secondary Issues Haunt Panthers
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If there is a single culprit for this week’s loss—and stating that only one position is to blame is oversimplifying the situation—it’s the shaky depth at cornerback for the Panthers.
Josh Norman is great, but he had a bad game against Atlanta, one week after allowing Odell Beckham Jr. to score the game-tying touchdown late in the fourth quarter. Bad weeks happen, even to great players, but the Panthers are suddenly short of players to back up Norman.
They lost Bene Benwikere for the season two weeks ago against Atlanta, which forced Cortland Finnegan, a street free agent, into the regular lineup. Finnegan is 31 years old and hasn’t started a full season since 2012. Charles Tillman is back after missing time with injuries, but he’s 34 and hasn’t played in a full season since 2012.
Whether it was age, rust or just a series of bad games, Carolina didn’t really have an answer for Atlanta’s passing attack this game. Julio Jones had nine receptions for 178 yards, and Roddy White had five more for 67 yards. Some of that—like Jones’ amazing leaping catch—were just great plays by great players, but the Panthers had issues in coverage this week. The fact that the game was close also didn’t help, as the Panthers couldn’t sell out against the pass from a team struggling to catch up.
Falcons Are Giant-Killers
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The last time the Panthers and Falcons played a competitive game was November 16, 2014, when Atlanta won 17-19. Since that point, the Panthers had gone 20-2, including the playoffs, and had clobbered the Falcons twice in a row. The Falcons hadn’t even managed to score a touchdown in the last two meetings, much less mount a decent challenge.
That streak is over. After Carolina drove down the field on its first drive, the game tightened up. Atlanta found a way to convert seven of its first eight third downs, including on an unnecessary roughness penalty. The Falcons punched the ball into the end zone on a Devonta Freeman run and managed to enter halftime tied at 7-7—far from the 28-0 deficit they held at halftime last week.
On defense, Atlanta did a better job of containing Carolina’s explosive plays. Yes, the Panthers had more than 100 yards rushing in the first half, but they didn’t have the same kind of explosive bombs they did early in the game against Atlanta last time out.
When you’re playing an opponent that is, on paper, better than you are, you want to limit the number of opportunities for both teams to score; you want fewer possessions and a higher variance to pull off the upset. In the first half, that’s precisely what Atlanta did—it moved the ball on long, time-consuming drives, keeping the ball out of the hands of Carolina’s top-rated offense. Add in a couple of big plays in the second half and shutting down the deep ball from Newton to Ginn, and you have a formula for beating the Panthers.
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Home Field Has to Wait
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The loss means Carolina has not clinched home-field advantage yet, despite being 14-1. The Arizona Cardinals still have an outside shot of passing the Panthers for home field—they would need to win both of their remaining games and have Carolina lose to Tampa Bay in Week 17.
This is a worst-case scenario for the Panthers. They were talking about potentially resting their starters, but they might not even have that option this week. If Arizona beats Green Bay, then the Panthers are going to have to go all-out next week, and they’ve already taken a pounding over the last three weeks. Players are getting banged up and could use a couple of weeks to heal before the playoffs, but the Panthers might not get that luxury even if they wanted to.
Of course, Arizona could slip up at home against Green Bay, which would give Carolina home-field advantage. That, coupled with the loss of the perfect season, would essentially guarantee that Cam Newton and the rest of the starters get an extended rest next week, whether they sit the entire game or simply play the first half. That would be an upset, however—Arizona has been far more consistent than Green Bay this season.
It looks like the Panthers will have to play to win next week. That, more than the loss of the undefeated season, is the worst outcome of this game. A 16-0 season is historic but ultimately a novelty. You play to win Super Bowls, and rested players help you do that. The loss in the Georgia Dome forces the team's hand.
Ron Rivera: Have to Bounce Back
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After the loss, Rivera went on about the missed opportunities the Panthers had in the game, whether it was penalties extending Falcons drives or sacks taking the team out of field-goal range.
“We didn’t coach to our abilities, we didn’t play to our abilities,” Rivera said, per Max Henson of the team website.
Rivera’s one-game-at-a-time mentality meant that he was more focused on how the team would react to the loss rather than the implications of losing the undefeated season or not clinching home-field advantage.
“This is part of the journey. We have to refocus. But we've accomplished a lot. Let's not lose sight of that," Rivera said, per Henson. "This is not the end of the world, obviously. It's not even the end of the season,” he added, per Black & Blue Review.
Rivera is correct—the team is still 14-1 and in great position. It’s just hard to remember the 14 wins after the first loss. The team will have to learn from this loss and try to use that to fuel it the rest of the way.
Cam Newton: We’re Going to Play
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If the Green Bay Packers upset the Arizona Cardinals, the Panthers will have clinched home-field advantage and could opt to rest their players. Cam Newton isn’t having any of that.
“We got a game next week right? We're going to play,” Newton said when asked about the possibility of the starters resting next week, per the Charlotte Observer's Joe Person.
That’s the attitude you want from your players, especially after they “got [their] asses kicked today," as Newton put it, per the Black & Blue Review. No one wants to end the season on a low note, and fully resting the starters would mean it would have been three weeks since their last victory—a sour note before potentially facing a dangerous team like the Seattle Seahawks.
The loss may make the decision academic, but while you want your players fired up to play, it would also be smarter for Rivera to sit them down if and only if home field has been clinched, especially now that there’s no history to play for. Whether the team finishes at 14-2 or 15-1 will be forgotten in time, while banners fly forever. The risk of someone like Newton getting hurt—and he took a lot of big hits in the running game Sunday—outweighs the benefits of momentum or lack of rust that would happen if the starters played next week.
Again, the loss makes this something of an academic discussion, and Newton is ready to play regardless. It’s just too bad the Panthers won’t get the chance to keep their starters rested and healthy.
Panthers Locker Room: Time to Move on
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It was a quiet locker room after the Panthers’ loss, but there was also an air of moving forward.
Greg Olsen said “the world isn't ending. There are 31 other teams that would love to be 14-1,” per the Black & Blue Review. Thomas Davis affirmed that while it was the end of the streak, “it’s not the end of our season,” per David Newton of ESPN.com. Charles Tillman said that the important thing was “when you lose, don’t lose the lesson,” per Max Henson of the team website.
That’s the right attitude to take. The Panthers, despite their undefeated record to this point, had had a number of close calls. Now, with the pressure of that zero out of the loss column, they may be able to take a look back and better identify some of the flaws they still have.
They are at least saying all the right things about learning and improving and moving forward. Time will tell if they can apply those lessons to the remainder of the season.
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the Carolina Panthers. It’s been a great season—hope to see you all next year! Follow him @BryKno on Twitter.
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