In a game where the Panthers may have lost their defensive leader as linebacker and captain Luke Kuechly may have suffered his third concussion in as many years in the second quarter, they needed someone to step up in his absence. Not surprisingly, that responsibility would fall to the only captain left healthy on the roster. And just when it looked like Cam Newton was up for the challenge, he wasn’t.
After throwing an interception to Jalen Mills with just over three minutes left that appeared to seal the game, Newton and the Panthers would get the ball back after the defense forced a stop that took just a minute of game time, and Newton’s final fourth down attempt would fall short of Christian McCaffrey’s outstretched arms. These mistakes would ultimately keep Newton and the Panthers from completing their comeback as a team that had lost four captains in the last four games was unable to withstand the latest injury, falling 28-23 to the Philadelphia Eagles on Thursday night in Charlotte. The storylines were similar to their Week 3 loss to the New Orleans Saints, with self-inflicted wounds in the form of turnovers, drops, and coverage breakdowns that kept them on the field on third down dooming them to a loss that felt almost pre-ordained once Kuechly left the field even as Newton led his furious comeback.
“Turning the ball over as many times as we did, giving them layups for scores, in order to win a game like that, you have to protect the football better, and I’m mostly talking to myself with that,” Newton said after the game. “We can’t put our defense in that type of position.”
Kuechly, who entered the concussion protocol after a collision in the second quarter, did not return to the sidelines in the second half and quarterback Carson Wentz, who would finish 16-of-30 for 222 yards and three scores, would take advantage with all three scores coming after Kuechly left the game.
The Eagles offense came in hot after compiling over 400 yards in their 34-7 victory over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, and although the Panthers were able to get after Wentz, he began the game 5-for-7 for 62 yards and led the Eagles to a field goal on their second drive. Wentz had them moving on their first drive as well, but it was derailed by a Julius Peppers’ strip sack after the Eagles had broached Panthers territory.
The Panthers would answer right back with a nine-play, 54-yard drive of their own highlighted by a 21-yard pass interference penalty on cornerback Jalen Mills working against rookie Curtis Samuel; the Panthers could not convert a third-and-2, getting stuffed on a Jonathan Stewart run up the middle to force a Graham Gano field goal from 39 yards out to tie the game at 3. It would not be the last time Stewart was stuffed, as the Panthers found it impossible to run the entire night, their running backs finishing with thirteen carries for only one yard. Their only threat on the ground was, of course, Newton, who would rush eleven times for 71 yards.
And then, as last week, Cam Newton would take it from there for awhile.
After a 25-yard punt return from rookie Christian McCaffrey gave the Panthers great field position, Newton, who finished 28-of-52 for 239 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions, would lead the Panthers downfield in four plays for the touchdown, accounting for every one of the forty three and finishing by scampering sixteen yards for a rushing touchdown, the 51st of his career. On the option run, which was similar to the one in the red zone that finished with a McCaffrey touchdown last week in Detroit, Newton decided to keep himself this time and put a juke move worthy of Madden ’18 on cornerback Rasul Douglas en route to the endzone.
Douglas would exact revenge later in the quarter as defensive tackle Fletcher Cox, who had not been active the past two weeks, blew past guard Trai Turner and made contact with Cam Newton, forcing a floating pass that was intercepted by Douglas. The Eagles would take advantage of the short field by scoring a one-yard touchdown on a pass from Wentz to Ertz. Although the Eagles would convert the touchdown, the Panthers defense actually played well, forcing the Eagles to use seven plays to go the 12 yards needed for the score to tie the game at 10 heading into the half. It was during this series that Kuechly left for the sidelines and eventually the locker room. Cornerback James Bradberry said the air went out of the building when Kuechly left for the locker room.
Jonathan Stewart would continue his nightmare performance on the Panthers first possession of the second half as a screen pass bounced off his hands and directly into the hands of a prone Patrick Robinson lying on the ground. The Eagles would use the second turnover of the game to get Ertz his second touchdown of the game, this time being easily boxing out safety Mike Adams for the score; a penalty on Star Lotulelei during the extra point gave Philadelphia the opportunity it needed to go for two on a LeGarrette Blount run up the gut to make it 18-10 early in the third quarter.
After another long pass interference penalty committed against Curtis Samuel, the Panthers faltered in the red zone and settled for three points. They would then give those three points right back to the Eagles, allowing a long drive as the Eagles would keep their lead at one full possession, 21-13. The Eagles, who were able to move the ball throughout the night but only get into the endzone when they started with short fields, finally broke that streak with a six-play, 84 yard drive that was capped off with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Nelson Agholor as he beat Shaq Thompson in coverage extended the Eagles lead to 28-16.
Newton would get the ball back and storm down the field on a 13-play, 64-yard drive that featured Newton accounting for every yard but nine of them and a dive towards the endzone that would take a replay from the referees before it was decided that he did not cross the plane. The next play would be a quick throw to Christian McCaffrey for his second touchdown of the season, McCaffrey would finish with ten catches for 56 yards to cut it to 28-23, but the Panthers would get no closer.
“We had our opportunities to win, and we didn’t make the most of them.”
Additional Notes:
- The teams wore their “color rush” uniforms, the Panthers decked in blue from head to toe and the Eagles in all-white; the Panthers came into Thursday night 2-0 in the monochromatic uniforms, defeating the Cowboys and the Saints over the past two seasons.
- Julius Peppers didn’t wait long to record his 150th career sack, a strip-sack on the first drive of the game which was recovered by Kawann Short. He is the first player in NFL history to have 150 sacks and 10 interceptions in his career.
- Running back Fozzy Whittaker was injured in the first quarter when his right ankle was rolled on during a toss play near the right sideline. He was carted to the locker room and did not return.
- Graham Gano was 3-for-3 on the night, but the Panthers passed up a 58-yard field goal at the end of the first half, eschewing the try for a long pass to Ed Dickson that fell harmlessly incomplete. When asked if he felt like he would have made the kick, Gano said after the game: “We didn’t try it, so…..”
