With the Panthers down by 18 in the third quarter, the defense desperately needed not just a stop from it’s defense, but a turnover. The unit had struggled all day, not getting the type of pressure needed to keep Drew Brees and the Saints from moving the ball with ease, but on this play, they got to Brees and forced him to make a bad pass, which was aimed squarely at the chest of a waiting Luke Kuechly, the same player who made a spectacular interception two weeks ago in San Francisco. Here was the turnover and spark that the Panthers so desperately needed.
And he dropped it.
“When he throws it right to you, you’ve got to catch it,” Kuechly said after the game.
While a dropped interception may have summed up the game, the first drive of the game in the Panthers 34-13 loss to the Saints appeared to be a microcosm for the season thus far. Hot start, over eight minute drive, ball spread amongst their playmakers for consistent and seemingly easy first downs with interesting and varied play calls. Until they got inside the ten-yard-line, where the microcosm continued with two ineffective Jonathan Stewart rushes followed by a Matt Kalil-allowed sack to force a field goal. Kalil admitted after the game that the sack was a mental error and took the blame on himself, saying that a “stupid” mistake like that has to be fixed. The Panthers red zone struggles continued in the first half on Sunday, with a combination of failing to cash in on two fifty yard drives and a bad Cam Newton interception helping to stake the Saints to an early 17-6 lead and an anemic Panthers offense in their first game without tight end Greg Olsen would never recover.
“We can’t keep letting teams off the hook by having great drives or getting in the red zone and not cashing in,” Newton said. “For me, on my part, I can’t be lackluster with the football. Having three turnovers by myself isn’t the best day at the office.”
“Should you be frustrated as a fan? Absolutely. I’m frustrated.”
Another week, another frustrating injury as the Panthers lost Kelvin Benjamin in the first half to a knee injury after the Panthers #1 wide receiver had his leg buckled underneath him awkwardly on a slant pattern. Benjamin would limp to the sideline and try to work out the leg before heading to the locker room and not returning for the second half. No word from the Panthers as of yet on the severity of the injury.
While Cam Newton, who wasn’t able to practice for most of the week after missing all of the preseason save for two passes against Jacksonville, again struggled with his accuracy and timing with receivers, only throwing for 167 yards with three interceptions, with 88 of those yards coming on the lone touchdown drive of the day for the Panthers, it was the defense, which had looked as good as advertised through two weeks of playing mediocre offenses, which let the Panthers down against Drew Brees and a Saints offense that was missing it’s two starting tackles. A strong showing from a future hall-of-fame quarterback isn’t a surprise, but allowing a struggling Saints’ offense with two pieces missing from their offensive line to average 5.5 yards per carry certainly is. The Panthers run defense, which had only allowed 120 yards rushing through two games, looked downright inept at times, allowing running back Mark Ingram to gash them repeatedly for chunks of yardage. Defensive end Julius Peppers said that the defense executed poorly, saying that a lack of fundamentals and discipline was the cause for such a letdown from the defense. The secondary did not play much better, allowing wide receiver Michael Thomas to haul in seven catches for 87 yards, including five for fifty yards on the opening drive which culminated in a touchdown against Daryl Worley.
The Saints consistently ran screens and misdirection plays to try to diffuse a Panthers pass rush that had been incredibly dominant thus far in the season, and it was successful, keeping the front seven confused and on their toes enough to give Brees enough time to pick apart a secondary that could not stay with receivers when they played man coverage, let alone when they were in a zone. A 40-yard touchdown pass to Ted Ginn made it 24-6 in the third quarter; the former Panther showing the deep speed threat the Panthers seem to be lacking thus far.
While an out-and-up route produced a 37-yard completion to rookie running back Christian McCaffrey on a drive that ended with Newton plunging into the end zone from three yards out, the defense was able to hold the Saints to a 50-yard field goal to extend the lead to 27-13 with 11:57 remaining in the game.
With the Panthers down two scores and the Panthers needing a big play, Cam Newton threw two consecutive interceptions, one a tipped pass to Marcus Williams, the second a jumped route by Kenny Vaccaro. A late touchdown from rookie running back Alvin Kamara would complete the scoring.
“We’ve got to keep pushing,” running back Christian McCaffrey said after the game. “We’ve got to keep our head up, it’s one game. A lot of people will probably be down on us and that’s fine because we’re a brotherhood. What matters is in this locker room.”
“We’re going to do everything we can to get it fixed.”
Additional notes:
- Defensive end Julius Peppers was not on the field for the national anthem as all Panthers players stood.
- The Panthers had trouble in the red zone again this week, with their opening drive faltering at the eight-yard-line after eating up almost eight minutes of the first quarter. Matt Kalil allowed Cameron Jordan to blow by him on the outside for a sack on third down. There appeared to be a miscommunication as Kalil didn’t even attempt to block the Saints’ best pass rusher.
- In an odd turn of events in the third quarter and the Panthers down 24-6, Ron Rivera elected to punt from the Saints’ 35 on fourth-and-five instead of going for it or kicking a 52 yard field goal. Michael Palardy would end up kicking the ball into the endzone for a touchback. In a mirror image of the above situation, New Orleans coach Sean Payton would send Will Lutz out to attempt a 56-yarder, which the kicker promptly missed.
- Graham Gano made two field goals (32, 48) to continue his perfect season as he has now made eight field goals and three extra points on the season. He also has not allowed a kick return.
- Cam Newton was taken out of the game once the Saints were up by 21 points in the fourth quarter, giving way to backup Derek Anderson.
- Rookie running back Christian McCaffrey had nine catches for 101 yards on 11 targets while fellow rookie Curtis Samuel was able to break a reverse for 31 yards in the second quarter.
