The Panthers made too many mistakes in their 31-21 loss, from two turnovers on special teams to dropped passes to missed tackles, the issues infiltrated every phase of the game and the result was one of the best teams in the NFC taking advantage to get a victory at home. While the Panthers lost to the Saints to throw them from the best record into the NFC South to fighting for a wild-card spot, Carolina still controls their own destiny and every game on the schedule will be important for the next month; let’s take a look at how the playing time broke down to get a feel for how the game went in New Orleans.
The offensive line continues to build towards continuity with the starting five playing every snap for yet another game and Ryan Kalil declared inactive before the game; Daryl Williams and Tyler Larsen said before the game that the line doesn’t miss a beat without Kalil, and they only allowed two sacks, one of which was a yard behind the line of scrimmage that Cam Newton probably should have thrown away. Two penalties on left tackle Matt Kalil will cloud the narrative of his performance against Pro Bowler Cam Jordan; one of them proved very costly as it wiped out a third-down scramble for a first down by Cam Newton. The Panthers seem to spread the offense more, especially once they were in catch-up mode in the second half. Fullback Alex Armah only had six snaps, one of which was Jonathan Stewart’s touchdown plunge on the first drive; Stewart would only play 39% of the snaps, and while that may seem like it was determined by game script, he’s only average just over 40% of the snaps for the entire season. Damiere Byrd, in his return from injured reserve, was on the field for two snaps less than Kaelin Clay, who saw 68% of the offense last week in New York; it would seem that Byrd will soon overtake Clay as he is able to practice more. Taylor Moton, as part of the jumbo package, only saw three snaps, his lowest output since the Panthers 17-3 loss to the Bears in Chicago.
Thomas Davis, who was battling a tweaked hamstring all week, played less than 40% of the snaps to force David Mayo into action. With Charles Johnson suspended, Mario Addison and Julius Peppers saw an uptick in their snaps, but Wes Horton surprisingly hovered around the same percentage with Bryan Cox, Jr getting 22 as well. The cornerback rotation was truly that this week, with Kevon Seymour on the field for exactly half of the snaps and Daryl Worley seeing only three less; Vernon Butler saw his largest percentage of playing time yet with 26 of the 64 overall snaps.
The table below is sortable, so play around with the numbers and form your own conclusions. Have questions? Let us know in the comments.
| Player | Position | Offensive Snaps | Percentage | Defensive Snaps | Percentage | Special Teams Snaps | Percentage |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| T Turner | G | 57 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| T Larsen | C | 57 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| A Norwell | G | 57 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| M Kalil | T | 57 | 100% | 3 | 10% | ||
| D Williams | T | 57 | 100% | 2 | 7% | ||
| C Newton | QB | 57 | 100% | ||||
| E Dickson | TE | 56 | 98% | 5 | 17% | ||
| D Funchess | WR | 47 | 82% | 1 | 3% | ||
| C McCaffrey | RB | 40 | 70% | ||||
| R Shepard | WR | 32 | 56% | 10 | 34% | ||
| K Clay | WR | 25 | 44% | 6 | 21% | ||
| D Byrd | WR | 23 | 40% | 2 | 7% | ||
| J Stewart | RB | 22 | 39% | ||||
| C Manhertz | TE | 20 | 35% | 6 | 21% | ||
| B Bersin | WR | 10 | 18% | 9 | 31% | ||
| A Armah | RB | 6 | 11% | 14 | 48% | ||
| T Moton | T | 3 | 5% | 3 | 10% | ||
| F Whittaker | RB | 1 | 2% | 15 | 52% | ||
| J Bradberry | CB | 64 | 100% | 11 | 38% | ||
| K Coleman | FS | 64 | 100% | 8 | 28% | ||
| L Kuechly | LB | 64 | 100% | 7 | 24% | ||
| M Adams | SS | 61 | 95% | 7 | 24% | ||
| K Short | DT | 46 | 72% | 7 | 24% | ||
| M Addison | DE | 46 | 72% | 1 | 3% | ||
| S Thompson | LB | 45 | 70% | 11 | 38% | ||
| S Lotulelei | DT | 34 | 53% | 7 | 24% | ||
| J Peppers | DE | 33 | 52% | 8 | 28% | ||
| D Mayo | LB | 32 | 50% | 23 | 79% | ||
| K Seymour | CB | 32 | 50% | 11 | 38% | ||
| K Love | DT | 31 | 48% | ||||
| D Worley | CB | 29 | 45% | 8 | 28% | ||
| V Butler | DT | 26 | 41% | 6 | 21% | ||
| C Munnerlyn | CB | 26 | 41% | ||||
| T Davis | LB | 25 | 39% | 1 | 3% | ||
| W Horton | DE | 24 | 38% | 4 | 14% | ||
| B Cox | DE | 22 | 34% | 2 | 7% | ||
| J Norris | LB | 19 | 66% | ||||
| C Jones | FS | 19 | 66% | ||||
| B Jacobs | LB | 19 | 66% | ||||
| C Artis-Payne | RB | 18 | 62% | ||||
| J Jansen | LS | 9 | 31% | ||||
| G Van Roten | G | 9 | 31% | ||||
| M Palardy | P | 9 | 31% | ||||
| G Gano | K | 7 | 24% | ||||
| J Byrd | FS | 3 | 10% |
