Well damn...
Rough start for the Carolina Panthers this season. Their 1st game was a close loss against the Denver Broncos; so acceptable for a team that made it to the Super Bowl last year & exceeded expectations. Then, in their 2nd outing, they had a sloppy win against a bad 49ers team. Last week, in their 3rd game, they laid a giant egg by breaking their 14 home-game winning streak, getting dominated by a depleted Vikings squad.
This week against a division rival, the Atlanta Falcons, wasn't pretty either.
The Panthers spent 3 quarters being manhandled. At the start of the 4th quarter the score was 34-10, favoring Atlanta. The only Panthers touchdown scored at that point was by safety Kurt Coleman on an interception return. Then when the defense for Atlanta was playing prevent, our offense finally got a touchdown. Following our 1st offensive touchdown our franchise quarterback, team captain & the reigning league MVP Cam Newton was injured on a 2 point conversion. He was hit with an unnecessary & illegal helmet-to-helmet collision at the goal line when it was clear he was going to score. Newton was left concussed while the entire Panthers offense erupted on the referees who threw only one flag: an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty against the Panthers.
After Cam was hit by the opposing player's helmet he was taken back to the locker room for the league's concussion protocol. So at least the Panthers' staff was taking care of our quarterback. The referees, as usual, did not throw a flag for the hit against Newton which marks the 3rd game this season he has been hit illegally (and dangerously) without repercussion to the opposing team. I honestly fear that Cam's career will be shortened if these referees don't start protecting him.
Nevertheless, backup quarterback Derek Anderson came in & did more in 11 minutes than Cam Newton did the entire game. He threw two touchdowns getting us back into the game. Anderson led the team to almost double their score when he came into the game in just 11 minutes of play. We kept fighting until various plays, both offensive & defensive, left us defeated by a final score of 48-33. But we stood by our motto of "Keep Pounding". We never gave up & it could ignite a fire inside this sleeping giant of a team.
If the clock weren't against us, if Anderson hadn't been "pressing" due to the lack of time, we could have won the game. But down by 16 points with 11 minutes to go leaves a team in a position where there is a serious sense of urgency to make a play happen. When you are left with limited choices as far as playcalling & personnel in football, you become one-dimensional & vulnerable. Big plays happened for both teams, unfortunately, which left us at a stalemate going tit-for-tat on offense & defense. It was just too little, too late. But it could give us momentum moving forward in the season.
What To Take Away:
Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan looked rejuvenated throwing for 503 yards, 4TD's & 1 INT. His counterpart, All-Pro wide-receiver Julio Jones had 12 catches for 300 yards & 1TD. Both set franchise/career records & flirted with the NFL record books as well. All I could wonder throughout their tandem assault on our defense was why someone on the Panthers coaching staff didn't think to stop having a man coverage scheme on Jones. Most of the game he was in single-man coverage with a safety over the top. Obviously, this has to change when we meet them again in Charlotte.
Even though the offense was stagnate throughout the game, I have to blame Cam Newton. When he was in, he was making errant throws, holding the ball too long in the pocket, & generally making bad decisions. When his backup Derek Anderson came in, he went 17-23 with 172 yds, 2TD's & 2INT's doubling Newton's touchdowns & surpassing his throwing yards in just 11 minutes. Anderson's throws were accurate (aside from the last minute interceptions obviously). The entire game it looked like the Falcons' defense had great coverage. But accurate throws from Derek Anderson blew that "great" coverage statement out of the water. If Cam would have been as accurate as Anderson throughout the game, using proper footwork & trusting the pocket, we could have seen a very different game altogether. But, that will have to wait until we see them later in the season.
Let me make one thing clear: I'm not trashing Cam Newton. I LOVE Cam. I think Cam is incredible & a one of a kind talent. You don't just bench someone like him because he's having a bad game. However, he may have injured his shoulder significantly right before halftime. He was visibly wincing & even called a timeout after taking a big hit with less than 2 minutes to go in the 2nd quarter. Yet he refused to come out of the game. I know he's tough & doesn't want to quit. But, with the abuse he takes, he has to realize that he's actually
hurting the team if he's not capable of playing to his full potential. Accepting a situation is not the same as quitting. If you're hurt, you suck it up. But, if you're injured, take a seat for God's sake! Anderson is more than capable as Cam's backup. Someone on that coaching staff (*cough* Rivera) needs to tell the kid there's no shame in sitting down for a few plays or even the rest of a game if he needs to.
Now, the defense. We are in serious trouble with these young corners.
AND I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT JOSH NORMAN! If you take the time & look at what happened 6 months ago, you will see we placed the franchise tag on him. He didn't sign the franchise tender because his agent told him not to. His agent & Panthers General Manager Dave Gettleman got into it & Gettleman was forced to release Norman. Norman IMMEDIATELY fired that agent following his release, hired a new one & signed with the Redskins. He didn't want to leave & we wanted him to stay. But, what can you do?!
WITH THAT SAID, these young guys (our secondary) better be learning on the fly or it's going to be a LOOOONG season. The Panthers' secondary let up 503 yards of passing to 8 different receivers & 300 yards to one guy named Julio Jones who is arguably the best receiver in the league! It wasn't a surprise that Julio Jones was the guy to watch! But, as a whole, we let the falcons score touchdowns at will. Most notably on 3 separate 90, 92, & 99 yard drives. That should NEVER happen. Especially to a 3rd ranked defense. But our All-Pro linebackers were lost at times as well. Plus the front four didn't get nearly enough pressure on a statuesque quarterback like Matt Ryan which would have at least made him shuffle around in the pocket causing him to make bad throws. But, again, I have a feeling that will change when we see the Falcons again in Charlotte on Christmas Eve.
The Closer:
One last thing that I have to say about Cam Newton: If these referees & the NFL as a whole don't start to protect Cam from these illegal helmet-to-helmet hits, his career could end this season. When one team gets away with it, the next team will do it too because they know they can & will get away with it! And that's exactly what we're seeing. No flags on the field, no fines or suspensions off the field. Something has to be done to correct this or Cam (and I'm not joking) could have serious brain damage, paralysis, etc. before too long. In the Falcons game, he was clearly across the goal-line when the defender hit him, full speed leading with his helmet. He just can't keep taking helmet-to-helmet shots like this:
THAT ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THIS:
THE DEFENDER KNOCKED HIMSELF BACKWARD!!!
All I know is that the season is far from over. We could win 8 straight games & be 9-3 with this team. I mean, who saw them winning 14 in a row last year?! I'm not giving up hope. But we have to get it together. If we can bring that sense of urgency we showed in the last 11 minutes of play against Atlanta during a 60 minute game, we will win more games than we lose....hell, maybe we'll win the rest of our games with that kind of tenacity.
But, as I said in my blog in July, BEWARE! Every team in the NFL has us circled on their calendar! Nobody is fooled by the read-option, they're looking for it. Nobody thinks Cam Newton is overrated, they know he's the reigning MVP for a reason: he's that damn good! But they also have a license to kill (right now at least) & they sure as hell don't want him dancing in the endzone!
Our next game is at home in a primetime, Monday Night Football match-up against a storied division rival: the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. So we have to come correct. If the Panthers can take this week's 4th quarter effort into the 1st quarter of every game from here on out, they are all but guaranteed to win.
But, hey, that's just my 2cents....
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