After Sunday’s loss, the Carolina Panthers are now 6-18 all-time in Atlanta.
Barring a stretch from 2001-2005 when a certain quarterback who shall not be named tortured them, Carolina’s losses have largely been the result of self-inflicted wounds – this Sunday was no different. The defensive line and the drops of various pass catchers drew immediate attention, but there are several reasons why this game will be filed away in the #missedopportunities folder.
Take the early third-down drop from Jarius Wright that short-circuited the Panthers first drive or the Tevin Coleman 27-yard run on third-and-one when it appeared both Luke Kuechly and Dontari Poe had chances to bring him down at the line of scrimmage – or even the dubious pass interference call that both Donte Jackson and Ron Rivera have decried as incorrect both after the game and after reviewing the tape on Monday.
All those are mistakes that shouldn’t or wouldn’t or can’t – insert your own contraction as you like – happen if the Panthers want to get a win against a playoff team on the road. In reality, the Panthers fall to 1-1 came about from a six minute stretch that began with four minutes remaining in the first half with the score tied and finished with the Panthers reeling and down by two scores: let’s jump in after the Falcons scored their first touchdown – a Calvin Ridley touchdown reception in which he made Donte Jackson look unworthy of the starting job.
The Panthers again immediately started to move the ball, moving out to their own 36-yard line with one of the 14 CMC receptions on the day – this one an 11-yard reception on second-and-10 when a Falcon injury to Derrick Shelby resulted in a timeout. Coming out of the break, the Panthers decided to take back-to-back deep shots.
On the first, Cam heaved the ball up for Torrey Smith, but safety Ricardo Allen was the closest to bringing the ball down; this would be the same play that resulted in the DJ Moore fourth-quarter touchdown – Norv Turner saw how open the rookie was and dialed it up again in the fourth where it resulted in paydirt – the second quarter iteration resulted in an incompletion.
For the second deep shot, newly acquired left tackle Chris Clark and guard Greg Van Roten, both of whom performed admirably all day despite the circumstances, could only jog behind Takkarist McKinley as he made his way to sack Cam. On the ensuing third-and-15, Cam conceded and dumped the ball off to CMC for a modest gain to punt the ball back to the Falcons.
The Panthers had first-and-ten with 2:30 to go and wound up punting the ball to Atlanta with 1:52 left and two timeouts still remaining for the Falcons; Atlanta followed with their most convincing drive of the first half – receivers sailed open and didn’t even need the entire allotted time or their third timeout to take a 17-10 halftime lead. After controlling most of the first half, the Panthers found themselves trailing 17-10 heading into the locker room.
Coming out of halftime, Matt Ryan heaved up a peace offering to Donte Jackson on the Falcons first drive of the second half, but the Panthers were unable to capitalize as again another drop on third-and-short – this one by Devin Funchess – ended a drive. On the Falcons ensuing drive, Calvin Ridley was wide open on a third-and-12 and the Falcons quickly extended their lead to two touchdowns on seven-play, 75-yard drive that took a hair over four minutes.
Within the span of only six minutes of game time, the Panthers went from first-and-ten, with the ball, all their timeouts and the two minute warning in their pocket, looking to take the lead before halftime, to trailing by 14. Instead of managing the clock to finish out the half, they put their young secondary – on a day when their front seven wasn’t playing well – in a two-minute drill against Matt Ryan, Julio Jones, and company.
The Panthers would give chase for the rest of the second half, but the damage was done. The Falcons would only convert one more third down, Matt Ryan’s TD run; instead of making the stop on the run, Luke Kuechly outsmarted himself, running past Ryan to take potential receiver Austin Hooper out of the play. On offense, the Panthers picked up back-to-back chunk plays of more than 25 yards before CJ Anderson had the ball pop off his facemask into the waiting arms of a Falcons defender – not the kind of play you need when you’re attempting a second half rally.
In the end, its early.
The Panthers offense remains in flux, but with Cam and McCaffrey stabilizing the ship, the points should come – 24 should be enough to win if the defense plays as well as Rivera and Washington say they will; the unit played better in the second half and the young secondary got some needed reps against a playoff-caliber offense. If not for the final result, we’d be discussing James Bradberry’s stellar play against Julio for most of the game.
Even though fans dislike when coaches say it, “a play here or a play there” would’ve moved this game from a frustrating loss to a 2-0 start.
Missed Opportunity.
