Carolina Panthers Week 4 Report Card: Grading Every Unit

It was another disappointing loss for the Panthers as they fell 34-29 to the Chicago Bears. The Panthers were not without opportunities.

The Panthers had a 22-yard touchdown by Jeremy Shockey called back due to a questionable offensive pass interference call. Then, they had what should have been the go-ahead field goal get blocked by Julius Peppers.

Overall they stayed competitive, but here is a breakdown of where the Panthers excelled and where vast improvement needs to be made.

Quarterback

Cam Newton defied the experts once again as he torched the Bears’ defense for 374 yards and three touchdowns.

He was poised, set his feet, and was accurate, except when it came to Legedu Naanee. He also had 35 yards rushing.

The problems with Newton’s performance were his inability to convert third down and his lone turnover.

He went 2/12 on third down, and his lone interception was on a pass to a guy in triple coverage and the interception was returned for a touchdown.

Both of these can be fixed, luckily, but only when Newton learns to win in the fourth quarter will the Panthers be good.

He has had numerous opportunities this season, including one against Chicago, to score a game-winning drive and this time he went four and done.

He is exceeding all expectations and it is Week 4, but it would be good to see him finish a couple of these game-winning drives.

Grade: B+    

Running Back

Double Trouble had its coming out party as DeAngelo Williams and Jonathan Stewart rushed for 134 yards on 18 attempts.

The attempts number is still low, but it was great to finally see Carolina’s run game take over.

Williams had 82 yards on 10 carries and took advantage of holes provided by the offensive line. Stewart had 52 yards on eight carries as he plowed through the Bears’ line.

The running game had been building up to this week and now that they have had success against a solid defense, it is time to unleash Double Trouble on the rest of their schedule.

Grade: A

Wide Receiver/ Tight End

Steve Smith once again proves he is still an elite receiver as he had 181 yards receiving, his third game going over 150 yards this season.

Greg Olsen and Jeremy Shockey also continued to be favorite targets of Newton as they combined for 91 yards and Shockey had a 22-yard touchdown called back.

The rest of the group is tanking. Brandon LaFell did a nice job with 41 yards on four catches, but Naanee needs to go.

He and Newton just are not on the same page and something needs to change. He drops passes, passes are always off when thrown to him, it might be time to see Armanti Edwards at receiver.

Steve Smith Grade: A+

Tight Ends Grade: A-

The Rest: D+

Offensive Line

Happy New Year!!!

The offensive line would have gotten the game ball if the Panthers won. When the line puts up a big 0 in the sack column, it is a good week.

Jordan Gross handled Julius Peppers and kept Newton relatively clean allowing him to set his feet and launch. Jeff Otah also looked very good until he came out due to injury.

What was really impressive was how the line moved the Bears off the line of scrimmage. They opened up holes and just did an overall good job of blocking.

The line needed to show up this week and it did. Next week will be where they can start to get their mean streak back as they play a Saints team that still has problems stopping the run.

Grade: A

Defense

The good news is the defense held Jay Cutler to 102 yards and one interception. Also, Charles Johnson added another sack to his total as he is getting one per game.

The bad news is the defense needed about five more players on the field to stop Matt Forte.

Their tackling was bad, but most of the time there was no one there to even make the play. There is no wonder as to how Forte rushed for 205 yards.

I do not know if it is the absence of Jon Beason and Thomas Davis, but there needs to be more penetration. There is also no pressure from the interior, but that is business as usual.

What really bothered me was how the panthers only tallied one sack. I understand the Bears just ran the ball most of the time, but the Bears’ line is beat-up and I wonder why a coach like Ron Rivera isn’t blitzing.

Other than the third quarter, nothing went well for the Panthers and improvements must be made if they expect to compete with the Saints.

Grade: C-

Special Teams

There is only one word that can describe Sunday, bad.

Grade: F