There’s probably a lot of blame to go around the Panthers locker room after a 20-19 loss to the Detroit Lions – there almost always is when a team, especially one that has Super Bowl aspirations, loses a game to a team that had lost three straight games, given up sixteen sacks over the last two weeks and had just traded away their #1 wide receiver and was missing the next man on the depth chart – the Lions second-leading receiver on Sunday had been signed 12 days prior after being released by the Texans.
A lot of Panthers players made mistakes, and while fans will have their pick of the litter when it comes to mistakes, one thing can’t be ignored – the Panthers can not play at this level if they expect to make the playoffs, let alone make some noise.
“That’s unacceptable with the caliber team that we are, with the caliber team we know we can be, the caliber team that we need to be, it’s just unacceptable,” said Cam Newton after the game, heaping the blame for the loss on himself after missing an open Jarius Wright on the final two-point conversion. “Perfect example, the two-point conversion, I’ve got to make that play.”
“Other times in the game, another person makes a mistake. We’re better than that and it’s just a lack of focus; it was a good opportunity for us to create some cushion in the division and get a much needed road win and we’ve just been so far gone, I feel like, on the road, we just got to be better.”
The Panthers are 1-4 away from Bank of America Stadium – as the Saints open a three-game lead and don’t look to be slowing down anytime soon, any playoff game the Panthers will hope to win will be on the road if the Panthers aren’t able to win the NFC South.
Here’s what cost them the game in Detroit.
Missed Tackles
Last week, the Panthers continually gave up big plays against the Steelers; this week, it wasn’t necessarily any big plays, although there certainly were a couple, but an inability to get off the field – or rather, an inability to put the Lions on the field – that frustrated their team as rookie running back Kerryon Johnson continually broke tackles and found creases all across a Panthers defense that boasts seven former Pro Bowlers in their starting lineup. Until Johnson left in the second half, the Lions were able to pick up yardage consistently on the ground – Johnson was well on his way to breaking the century mark with 15 carries for 87 yards when he exited.
“We had opportunities to keep them backed up and we didn’t do that and that’s unfortunate,” said Ron Rivera. “You get a chance to put them in a tough situation and we missed tackles, and you can’t do that. Can’t do that against teams that run the ball hard. And that’s the tough part about it.”
James Bradberry had a more blunt approach.
“It was just bad football on our end. Missed tackles [and] we didn’t make plays when he needed to – nothing they did,” said Bradberry, who also gave up two huge chunk plays on the Lions final scoring drive – a 36-yard catch in which he was also flagged for holding and a 19-yard touchdown pass that would have been tough for any corner in the league to defend as Matthew Stafford put the ball just where it needed to be for Golladay to make a tremendous catch.
“It’s pretty much all on us.”
Ganoooooooo
Graham Gano was named NFC Special Teams Player of the Month in October, had made 28 consecutive field goals and hadn’t missed a kick in 22 weeks of NFL play – the last kick he missed was a 55-yarder at Ford Field in Week 5 of 2017.
Turns out Ford Field must be the problem.
Gano banged a 34-yarder off the upright in the third quarter that would have tied the game after DJ Moore’s 82-yard catch-and-run set the Panthers up inside the 10-yard line and followed that up by missing an extra point after Curtis Samuel’s score tied the game at 13 – a made extra point would have put the Panthers ahead. After the second miss, Cam Newton went to lift Gano’s spirits on the sidelines.
“A lot of times we can kind of overthink things, and I kind of figured this game was going to come down to a kick,” said Newton. “And I just wanted him to keep his confidence up. Graham, just like any other player on this team has a lot of confidence…And when we go in the tank, personally, as a team, it shows. And I just wanted to tell him, and everybody else – that wasn’t the only conversation that I had, I had it with numerous players – I just wanted to focus in, and just let everyone know that we just need to get our confidence going and create our own type of fate.”
While Newton thought the game was going to come down to a kick, it ultimately didn’t as Rivera elected to go for two when the Panthers scored with 1:07 left; Gano didn’t feel slighted – he’s been through adversity like this before.
“Obviously, it’s a tough one to swallow. You never want to have a game like this, but it happens,” said Gano after the game. “I’ll go out there and work hard this week and bounce back. I’m still fully confident, I’ve been having a great year. It’s not really going to change a lot, just keep kicking.”
“It’s how you bounce back.”
Gano has missed three extra points every season since the NFL moved the line of scrimmage back to the 15-yard line in 2015 – of the kickers who have attempted at least 100 extra points since that season, Gano has missed more than all but two.
Not So Fun
In his return to his hometown – Funchess went to high school in nearby Farmington Hills, less than 30 minutes from Ford Field – Funchess had one of his worst games as a pro, dropping a potential touchdown on the Panthers’ first drive and two more obvious drops in the first half before two other contested ones that Funchess should have brought in – especially if he wants to be considered a #1 wide receiver.
“Anytime the ball is in your catch radius, you have to make it,” said Rivera. “The guy’s a terrific receiver, he’s made a lot of big plays for us. Unfortunately, he had a couple that didn’t go his way.”
Funchess was unhappy in the locker room, taking onus for his own performance, but insisting that even after his poor play, the Panthers were still in the game – while that’s true, a performance more like last season’s return to Ford Field, where he had seven catches, including a touchdown – would have put the Panthers in a position where they may not have needed a two-point conversion to get the victory.
“You take my performance outside that game, we still were in it to win the game. So it wasn’t just solely on me,” said Funchess after the game. “I didn’t play good. We lost. But I’m not the only person on this team. I’m one of 11.”
Funchess would finish with two catches for 39 yards – after starting the season with 374 yards and three touchdowns over the first six games of the season, Funchess hasn’t scored since Week 7 and is averaging 35.5 yards per game over the last four weeks.
