BY Cory Spiers
coryspiers@gmail.com
The Panthers were embarrassed by the visiting Saints in Week 3.
Behind a putrid offense and an uncharacteristically leaky defense, Carolina fell to 2-1 after a 34-13 loss to its NFC South rival.
Position report cards are a fun way to analyze where things went wrong. Who is going to be seeking some extra enrichment before Carolina's Week 4 game against the Patriots?
More than a couple positions.
Quarterback: F: Panthers fans will surely remember when former quarterback Jake Delhomme would have a bad game and folks would remind each other that it was a case of "bad Jake" showing himself.
Sunday's game was a shining example of "bad Cam".
Cam Newton was awful. Horrendous. Atrocious. Putrid. And the stat sheet doesn't tell the whole story.
The box score shows a line of 17-of-26 for 167 yards. Consider though, most of those completions were easy check downs to running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jonathon Stewart (the two combined for 10 receptions).
Maybe Newton is still hurting from his March shoulder surgery but we can only go off what we are seeing on the field and right now, it isn't good.
Newton was sacked four times and his offensive line wasn't stellar for the second straight week but at some point, the excuses have to stop.
Newton tossed three interceptions and didn't throw a touchdown pass. He did account for the team's lone touchdown by running for a score in the third quarter.
Newton had a paltry 43.8 quarterback rating which is the third worst of his career.
Here's a dose of harsh reality-- the difference Sunday was the Saints have Drew Brees and the Panthers don't. Brees outclassed, outplayed and embarrassed Newton by comparison-- he threw three touchdowns with no interceptions to go along with a scorching 131.4 quarterback rating.
Newton did lose wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a knee injury early against the Saints, but again, in a results-based business, the excuses for Newton grow mighty stale. Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil or not, a franchise quarterback simply can't be this bad. Not against one of the NFL's worst defenses.
If he's physically ailing, this becomes a different conversation. But if he's considered medically 100 percent, a display like this-- particularly at home-- is simply embarrassing and unacceptable.
Of note, backup Derek Anderson entered the game late and drew scattered applause from the few fans who stuck around. He did his best Newton impression and completed just 2-of-7 passes for 17 yards.
Running backs: C+: The running game becomes much tougher to lean on when you fall behind by more than two scores.
That's what happened to the Panthers Sunday, making things tougher for Stewart and McCaffrey.
Stewart ran 12 times for 57 yards and McCaffrey carried four times for 16 yards.
McCaffrey's bigger contribution was as a receiver. He caught a team-high nine passes for 101 yards.
Rookie wide receiver Curtis Samuel helped Carolina's rush totals look a little bit better with a run for 31 yards on a gadget play.
Wide receivers: D-: For Panthers receivers not named Devin Funchess, it was a mighty quiet day.
Especially considering Benjamin left the game early and never returned.
Surely, someone stepped up in his place, right? No, not really.
Funchess was fine. He caught four passes for 58 yards and was targeted 10 times. Behind him, though, it was tough sledding.
Samuel caught two passes for five yards and Russell Shepard and Damiere Byrd were targeted once each and have zero to show for it.
We'll throw tight ends in here, too. They weren't stellar either.
Olsen's backup Ed Dickson was targeted just once and caught the pass for eight yards. He wasn't super as a blocker, either. I watched him get spun around like a Scarowinds turnstile more than once.
Offensive line: D-: There's a lot of money tied up in Matt Kalil and Trai Turner and right now, this line is not good.
After a good showing in the opener at San Francisco in which the line kept Newton clean, the group has given up 10 sacks over the past two games.
The line played without starting center Ryan Kalil for a second straight week.
Matt Kalil in particular has been dreadful. Tackle Daryl Williams was horrendous against the Bills but wasn't as noticeably poor against the Saints.
Still, one has to wonder if rookie Taylor Moton will ever become part of the equation at tackle. It certainly couldn't be much worse.
Defensive line: D-: Mario Addison's sack, which was Carolina's only one, is the highlight for this group.
A week after racking up two sacks in a gritty performance against the Bills, veteran Julius Peppers was as absent during the game as he was during the national anthem-- he didn't appear on the stat sheet.
Defensive tackles Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei were both swallowed up and pushed aside consistently and rarely got into the back field to bother Brees.
Carolina's entire front seven actually had a very rough day. Addison's sack at least leaves one plus point for the group.
Linebackers: D+: Luke Kuechly dropped an easy interception in Saints territory that could have completely flipped momentum in the second half and very few of the linebacker blitzes did much to rattle Brees.
Thomas Davis missed some snaps with a rib injury but returned. As I said before, the front seven was actually pretty bad.
Of course, so was the next group.
Secondary: D-: Carolina's linebackers were probably the best part of the defense against the Saints and that's certainly saying something.
The secondary was not good. Carolina's lack of pressure did nothing to help this group, but they allowed Brees to toss three touchdown passes and forced no interceptions.
Brees threw just seven incompletions in 29 attempts. Nine Saints tallied at least one catch and three of them had three or more receptions.
Michael Thomas scorched the secondary for 87 yards and a touchdown on seven catches and former Panther Ted Ginn Jr. racked up 44 yards and a touchdown on two receptions.
Next up for this group? Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola in New England. Your move, fantasy owners.
Special teams: B+: Special teams didn't get in the way against the Saints.
Graham Gano continued his solid start to the season by making both of his field goals. He is 8-for-8 this season.
Michael Palardy had a chance to pin the Saints deep on a second half punt but instead sailed the ball into the end zone for a touch back. He averaged 43 yards per punt in three attempts.
Samuel returned a kickoff for 30 yards and McCaffrey continues to be a non-factor on punt returns. He had a fair catch and one return for three yards.
Byrd had one punt return for nine yards.
Carolina's coverage team did keep Ginn from earning a big return-- something that certainly would not have felt out of place in this game. They held him to one return for 12 yards and a fair catch.
Coaching: F: Trailing by 18 points in the second half with the ball on the Saints 35 yard line, Ron Rivera docked his riverboat and waved a giant, ugly white flag by choosing to punt on a 4th and five.
No long field goal attempt, no gamble to try to gain momentum. Instead, a Palardy punt that sailed out of the back of the end zone for a field position difference of less than 20 yards-- in other words, one Brees pass.
Carolina's defense seemed to resist any adjustments and after mixing in some creative looks early in the game, the offense seemed to get more vanilla and predictable as the game went on.
_____________________________________________________________________
That's all, folks.
I'll get deeper into the Week 4 match-up with the Patriots when I have time later this week.
I'll leave you with this, though-- yes, the season is far from over and yes, the team is 2-1. But ask yourself, where is the scoring going to come from if this team is going to win games against teams like the Patriots and Falcons?
coryspiers@gmail.com
The Panthers were embarrassed by the visiting Saints in Week 3.
Behind a putrid offense and an uncharacteristically leaky defense, Carolina fell to 2-1 after a 34-13 loss to its NFC South rival.
Position report cards are a fun way to analyze where things went wrong. Who is going to be seeking some extra enrichment before Carolina's Week 4 game against the Patriots?
More than a couple positions.
Quarterback: F: Panthers fans will surely remember when former quarterback Jake Delhomme would have a bad game and folks would remind each other that it was a case of "bad Jake" showing himself.
Sunday's game was a shining example of "bad Cam".
Cam Newton was awful. Horrendous. Atrocious. Putrid. And the stat sheet doesn't tell the whole story.
The box score shows a line of 17-of-26 for 167 yards. Consider though, most of those completions were easy check downs to running backs Christian McCaffrey and Jonathon Stewart (the two combined for 10 receptions).
Maybe Newton is still hurting from his March shoulder surgery but we can only go off what we are seeing on the field and right now, it isn't good.
Newton was sacked four times and his offensive line wasn't stellar for the second straight week but at some point, the excuses have to stop.
Newton tossed three interceptions and didn't throw a touchdown pass. He did account for the team's lone touchdown by running for a score in the third quarter.
Newton had a paltry 43.8 quarterback rating which is the third worst of his career.
Here's a dose of harsh reality-- the difference Sunday was the Saints have Drew Brees and the Panthers don't. Brees outclassed, outplayed and embarrassed Newton by comparison-- he threw three touchdowns with no interceptions to go along with a scorching 131.4 quarterback rating.
Newton did lose wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin to a knee injury early against the Saints, but again, in a results-based business, the excuses for Newton grow mighty stale. Greg Olsen and Ryan Kalil or not, a franchise quarterback simply can't be this bad. Not against one of the NFL's worst defenses.
If he's physically ailing, this becomes a different conversation. But if he's considered medically 100 percent, a display like this-- particularly at home-- is simply embarrassing and unacceptable.
Of note, backup Derek Anderson entered the game late and drew scattered applause from the few fans who stuck around. He did his best Newton impression and completed just 2-of-7 passes for 17 yards.
Running backs: C+: The running game becomes much tougher to lean on when you fall behind by more than two scores.
That's what happened to the Panthers Sunday, making things tougher for Stewart and McCaffrey.
Stewart ran 12 times for 57 yards and McCaffrey carried four times for 16 yards.
McCaffrey's bigger contribution was as a receiver. He caught a team-high nine passes for 101 yards.
Rookie wide receiver Curtis Samuel helped Carolina's rush totals look a little bit better with a run for 31 yards on a gadget play.
Wide receivers: D-: For Panthers receivers not named Devin Funchess, it was a mighty quiet day.
Especially considering Benjamin left the game early and never returned.
Surely, someone stepped up in his place, right? No, not really.
Funchess was fine. He caught four passes for 58 yards and was targeted 10 times. Behind him, though, it was tough sledding.
Samuel caught two passes for five yards and Russell Shepard and Damiere Byrd were targeted once each and have zero to show for it.
We'll throw tight ends in here, too. They weren't stellar either.
Olsen's backup Ed Dickson was targeted just once and caught the pass for eight yards. He wasn't super as a blocker, either. I watched him get spun around like a Scarowinds turnstile more than once.
Offensive line: D-: There's a lot of money tied up in Matt Kalil and Trai Turner and right now, this line is not good.
After a good showing in the opener at San Francisco in which the line kept Newton clean, the group has given up 10 sacks over the past two games.
The line played without starting center Ryan Kalil for a second straight week.
Matt Kalil in particular has been dreadful. Tackle Daryl Williams was horrendous against the Bills but wasn't as noticeably poor against the Saints.
Still, one has to wonder if rookie Taylor Moton will ever become part of the equation at tackle. It certainly couldn't be much worse.
Defensive line: D-: Mario Addison's sack, which was Carolina's only one, is the highlight for this group.
A week after racking up two sacks in a gritty performance against the Bills, veteran Julius Peppers was as absent during the game as he was during the national anthem-- he didn't appear on the stat sheet.
Defensive tackles Kawann Short and Star Lotulelei were both swallowed up and pushed aside consistently and rarely got into the back field to bother Brees.
Carolina's entire front seven actually had a very rough day. Addison's sack at least leaves one plus point for the group.
Linebackers: D+: Luke Kuechly dropped an easy interception in Saints territory that could have completely flipped momentum in the second half and very few of the linebacker blitzes did much to rattle Brees.
Thomas Davis missed some snaps with a rib injury but returned. As I said before, the front seven was actually pretty bad.
Of course, so was the next group.
Secondary: D-: Carolina's linebackers were probably the best part of the defense against the Saints and that's certainly saying something.
The secondary was not good. Carolina's lack of pressure did nothing to help this group, but they allowed Brees to toss three touchdown passes and forced no interceptions.
Brees threw just seven incompletions in 29 attempts. Nine Saints tallied at least one catch and three of them had three or more receptions.
Michael Thomas scorched the secondary for 87 yards and a touchdown on seven catches and former Panther Ted Ginn Jr. racked up 44 yards and a touchdown on two receptions.
Next up for this group? Brandin Cooks, Chris Hogan and Danny Amendola in New England. Your move, fantasy owners.
Special teams: B+: Special teams didn't get in the way against the Saints.
Graham Gano continued his solid start to the season by making both of his field goals. He is 8-for-8 this season.
Michael Palardy had a chance to pin the Saints deep on a second half punt but instead sailed the ball into the end zone for a touch back. He averaged 43 yards per punt in three attempts.
Samuel returned a kickoff for 30 yards and McCaffrey continues to be a non-factor on punt returns. He had a fair catch and one return for three yards.
Byrd had one punt return for nine yards.
Carolina's coverage team did keep Ginn from earning a big return-- something that certainly would not have felt out of place in this game. They held him to one return for 12 yards and a fair catch.
Coaching: F: Trailing by 18 points in the second half with the ball on the Saints 35 yard line, Ron Rivera docked his riverboat and waved a giant, ugly white flag by choosing to punt on a 4th and five.
No long field goal attempt, no gamble to try to gain momentum. Instead, a Palardy punt that sailed out of the back of the end zone for a field position difference of less than 20 yards-- in other words, one Brees pass.
Carolina's defense seemed to resist any adjustments and after mixing in some creative looks early in the game, the offense seemed to get more vanilla and predictable as the game went on.
_____________________________________________________________________
That's all, folks.
I'll get deeper into the Week 4 match-up with the Patriots when I have time later this week.
I'll leave you with this, though-- yes, the season is far from over and yes, the team is 2-1. But ask yourself, where is the scoring going to come from if this team is going to win games against teams like the Patriots and Falcons?
Comments
Post a Comment