Panthers vs. Cowboys: Carolina Grades, Notes and Quotes
Some people enjoy having pumpkin pie as their Thanksgiving Day dessert. It’s clear that the Carolina Panthers, on the other hand, prefer turnovers.
Despite somehow being listed as an underdog leading into their first Thanksgiving game in franchise history, Carolina jumped out to an early lead and blew out the Dallas Cowboys 33-14.
Tony Romo threw three first-half interceptions, and the Panthers returned two of them for touchdowns, with the third setting up a field goal to put the game away early. Dallas was held to 210 total yards, including just 31 rushing yards, as the defense throttled the Cowboys early and often.
When you put it like that, the Carolina offense barely had to do anything.
With the game under control for most of the way, the offense threw for only 165 passing yards—a far cry from its recent offensive explosions—but ran for 129 yards, controlling the ball for 35 minutes. It was the standard Carolina blueprint, as opposed to what it did the past couple of weeks—stifle the opponent’s offense with the best defense in football, and then control the ball and capitalize on the opponent’s mistakes. They ran it to perfection against Dallas.
The Panthers continued to extend their streaks. They picked up their 15th consecutive regular-season win, tying the 1989-90 San Francisco 49ers and the 2010-11 Green Bay Packers for the longest streaks in the NFC in the Super Bowl era—it will have been over a year since their last regular-season loss when they take on the New Orleans Saints next week.
They rushed for over 100 yards for the 22nd consecutive game, extending their league-longest streak and the longest NFL streak since the Houston Oilers had a 23-game streak in 1977-78. They broke a five-game losing streak against the Dallas Cowboys and won in Dallas for the first time since 1997.
Most importantly, they continued their 2015 streak. They sit at 11-0, joining only 15 teams that managed to reach that mark before. They’re quickly moving beyond being a great team in the NFL at the moment and joining the ranks of the best NFL teams of all time.
There’s still plenty more to do this season, and at this point, anything other than a deep playoff run and a Super Bowl victory would be at least somewhat disappointing.
However, the Panthers could hardly have done better to this point in the season. They continue to overcome every obstacle that gets put in their path, be it considered a lesser team thanks to their soft schedule to begin the season, controversies about Cam Newton’s on-field exuberance or being somehow named underdogs to a team with seven fewer wins.
The Carolina Panthers are the best team in the NFC, and that’s something to be thankful for.
Grades
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Position | Grade |
QB | B |
RB | B |
WR | B+ |
TE | A |
OL | B |
DL | A |
LB | A |
DB | A |
Special Teams | D |
Coaching | B |
Quarterback
Cam, Newton didn’t have the same kind of explosive passing day as he did the past couple weeks, but he was efficient and effective, completing several key third-down passes to keep Carolina’s long, clock-killing drive alive. He was 16-of-27 on the day for 183 yards and ran for 45 more yards and a touchdown.
Running Back
It was a workmanlike day for Jonathan Stewart, picking up 68 yards on 21 carries. Mike Tolbert picked up 16 more yards, as the Panthers totaled 129 yards on the ground. There were no huge running plays breaking into the secondary, and the Cowboys defense played stronger than I expected, but the Panthers still topped that 100-yard barrier yet again.
Wide Receivers
Jerricho Cotchery had himself a heck of a day, catching five passes for 73 yards, including several key pickups on third down. Most of the other receivers had quieter days. Devin Funchess had two receptions, lunging for an important first down on one of them, and Brenton Bersin had a rare catch as well. Otherwise, the receivers were shut out.
Tight Ends
Greg Olsen had five receptions on nine targets for 70 yards—a very productive day, even if he didn’t lead the team in receiving yards as he normally does. He also had a couple of key blocks on running plays to spring Jonathan Stewart.
Offensive Line
Dallas had only one sack on the day—Tyrone Crawford picked one up in the first half to set up a 4th-and-40. For most of the day, however, Dallas was unsuccessful at getting any pressure on Newton—Greg Hardy was kept off the stat sheet entirely as Michael Oher shut him down. The Panthers only averaged 3.5 yards per carry, but that was enough on the day.
Defensive Line
Dallas was held to just 31 yards rushing, one week after Washington was held to just 14. The Panthers are now on a four-game streak of holding opposing rushers under 100 yards, after a worrisome stretch in the middle of the season. Kony Ealy added a sack, and Kawann Short got some pressure as well. It was a quiet day for Charles Johnson in his return from the injured list, but they didn’t need much from him.
Linebackers
Luke Kuechly is your player of the game, picking Tony Romo off on back-to-back plays and returning one for a touchdown. He also led the team with seven tackles, though only two of them were solo. Thomas Davis picked up a sack and now has more sacks this season than any other year in his career. A.J. Klein had five tackles as well.
Defensive Backs
Roman Harper set the tone for the game with an interception returned for a touchdown in the first minute of the game, and Josh Norman won his battle with Dez Bryant rather decisively, holding him to just two receptions. On the whole, the Cowboys were held to just 179 yards passing—more than the Panthers, but most came in desperation situations toward the end of the game when Carolina was happy to back off the pressure.
Special Teams
The one sour note from the game. Graham Gano had a field goal blocked late, and Brad Nortman had one of his two punts bounce off the side of his foot. Carolina had three total return yards on punts and kicks all game, as well. Nothing to see, here.
Coaching
You can question the decision to punt on 4th-and-3 from the Cowboys’ 38 in the second quarter in what was still a one-score game, but it ended up not mattering as the Panthers dominated both the field-position battle and the turnover battle.
Early Turnovers Set the Scene
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Dallas coach Jason Garrett put it succinctly at halftime—"turnovers are the story of this game."
One week after forcing five turnovers against Washington, the Panthers’ defense made life difficult for Tony Romo and the Cowboys. In the first half alone, it had three interceptions. Two of them—one each by Kurt Coleman and Luke Kuechly—were returned immediately for touchdowns, and the third set up the Panthers to tack on another field goal to take a 23-3 lead going into the half.
In the first half, the Cowboys had just 82 yards passing, while the Panthers had 85 yards worth of interception returns. That’s not a statistic that particularly bodes well if you’re the Dallas Cowboys. They didn’t turn the ball over in the second half, but the Panthers defense continued to stifle them—in the second and third quarters combined, Dallas had just 21 total yards and two first downs as Carolina moved the game out of reach.
Tony Romo hadn’t thrown three interceptions since Week 1 of 2014, when the San Francisco 49ers got to him three times in a 28-17 win. He matched that total in the first half of this one before leaving in the third quarter with an injury.
The last time the Panthers forced three or more turnovers in consecutive games was in the season finale of 2014 and the season opener of 2015, when they pulled the trick against the Atlanta Falcons and Jacksonville Jaguars.
During a first half in which the offense didn’t quite live up to the standards it had set in the previous two weeks, Carolina showed that it still has the best defense in the league and that Tony Romo by himself wasn’t enough to justify the Cowboys being pregame favorites.
Cam Newton Joins an Elite Group
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Before Thursday, only two players in NFL history had 100 touchdown passes and 40 touchdown runs. One is a Hall of Famer—Steve Young, who up to this point was the best rushing quarterback in modern football history—and the other is seven-time Pro Bowler and former Representative from New York Jack Kemp. Otto Graham, another Hall of Famer, also crossed those marks when you include his AAFC career. That’s two Hall of Famers and a franchise legend—not a bad group to be associated with.
At the end of the third quarter, Newton tumbled and rolled into the end zone for the 40th rushing touchdown in his career, one week after throwing for his 100th passing touchdown. It’s a rare breed that can throw and run with such efficiency; only 32 quarterbacks have even reached the 50/20 mark, and 10 of them are in the Hall of Fame.
Newton celebrated with a medley of dances—the twist, the hit 'dem folks and then the Superman—as the Panthers pushed the game out of reach.
The fact that Newton has done this so quickly is very impressive. Only seven players hit the 50/20 mark in their first five seasons—Frankie Albert in the AAFC, and then Jack Kemp, Steve Grogan, Steve McNair, Daunte Culpepper, Jeff Garcia and Newton.
Newton’s MVP candidacy is based equally on his legs as it is on his arms, and he’s up there with a very elite group when it comes to using both of them.
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Carolina Primed to Reach the Playoffs
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With the win against Dallas, the Panthers can clinch a playoff berth this weekend while they’re sitting at home and trying to sleep off tryptophan-induced turkey naps.
They can’t quite clinch the division on Sunday—the Atlanta Falcons’ hot start keeps that just out of their reach—but there are three scenarios in which they clinch a playoff berth:
- Minnesota d. Atlanta and Pittsburgh d. Seattle
- Indianapolis d. Tampa Bay and Pittsburgh d. Seattle
- Atlanta d. Minnesota, Indianapolis d. Tampa Bay and San Francisco d. Arizona
It doesn’t look particularly likely that any of the three will occur—Arizona is a massive favorite over San Francisco, and both Seattle and Atlanta are favored as well—but it’s a tremendous spot to be in before December has even rolled around.
Of course, if they fail to get a playoff berth this week, a win next week against New Orleans will be enough to at least clinch their third consecutive playoff appearance and possibly their third straight division title as well. At this point, it’s only a matter of time before they’re officially in the postseason.
Ron Rivera: Still Much to Accomplish
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Ron Rivera must be running out of ways to downplay the Panthers’ 11-0 start, and he admitted that “it’s nice to be in our position. It really is,” according to Jonathan Jones of the Charlotte Observer.
However, he did say that there was still more to accomplish, noting that he would have liked to see some of those field goals turn into touchdowns, according to ESPN’s David Newton. The Panthers kicked four field goals and had a fifth attempt blocked; one of those field goals came inside the red zone, which is never how you want to finish off a drive.
That red-zone field goal was a bit odd—the Panthers had the ball at the 2-yard line with two time outs and 16 seconds left in the half, and didn’t call a single running play. That’s their bread-and-butter, so it was odd to see them attempt three passes and not at least a single quarterback option.
It didn’t end up mattering in what quickly became a blowout, but in a closer game, not punching the ball into the end zone could hurt the Panthers.
Thomas Davis: Being an Underdog Was “Very Disrespectful”
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The Panthers mostly kept quiet about oddsmakers deciding to favor the Dallas Cowboys during the week, but make no mistake—they noticed, and they weren’t happy.
With the game over, Thomas Davis let out some frustration.
"We felt like it was very disrespectful for us to be underdogs, being a 10-0 team and playing a team that's only won 3 games,” he said, according to Joe Person of the Charlotte Observer. Josh Norman, on the other hand, thanked the oddsmakers and ESPN’s Skip Bayless for making them underdogs, hoping they were at home “eating crow.”
Suffice it to say, this should be the last time the Panthers are an underdog for quite some time. The only other game that seems to be a possible spot in which the Panthers would not be favored is the road trip to Atlanta, and with the way the Falcons have been playing, that’s far from a sure thing, either.
Could the Panthers lose a game from here on out? Of course; anything’s possible. But to favor the 3-7 Cowboys to beat them was an odd choice, likely driven more by fans wanting to bet on Dallas on Thanksgiving than a logical look at the team’s strengths and weaknesses.
Luke Kuechly: Getting Consecutive Picks “Freaky”
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Kuechly’s consecutive picks to end the second quarter was the turning point that turned a solid Carolina lead into a blowout, and he was as surprised as anyone that he was able to do that.
According to David Newton, Kuechly referred to his picks as “freaky,” pointing out that it had been a while since he had gotten into the end zone. It was his first touchdown since he was at Boston College, and he was the first player to get interceptions on back-to-back plays from scrimmage since 1997.
The first interception came after Kuechly checked the defense into a new play after Tony Romo audibled.
“Thomas kind of looked at me and asked if we wanted to check it. He made a great check. We echoed it out and everybody got on the same page,” Kuechly said, per Joseph Person of the Charlotte Observer. “It went from one thing to the other and I was able to sneak in there and grab one.”
It was a perfect change and sparked the stampede that put this game well out of hand.
Bryan Knowles is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report, covering the Carolina Panthers. Follow him @BryKno on twitter.
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