When cornerback Jamar Taylor jumped in front of a pass intended for tight end Greg Olsen on the first play of the Panthers’ third series, it seemed like the wheels had completely come off. And the pick was on quarterback Cam Newton, right? Not according to Olsen.
“That interception was my fault,” he said. “I can’t let the guy jump that like that. I have to come across there and protect that throw. Cam’s counting on me to be there, so that’s totally on me.”
The broadcast never focused on Olsen during replays, but you can sort of see what he’s talking about on this fuzzy screenshot:
As the ball’s arriving, the 5-foot-10, 195-pound Taylor slips past the 6-foot-5, 253-pound tight end.
While some fault does lie with Olsen, there’s more to this play than just the one route.
“Going into this game, we knew what we could expose, or we felt that there was something to exploit. The defense on the backside with Greg was pretty much a mismatch, but they got the best of us and knew we were showing our hand a little bit too much in practice,” Newton said.
“I wouldn’t necessarily say it was Greg’s fault because we do have free range to change that particular play. I have to have the wherewithal to get off Greg when I know the look is not good and get to Ted [Ginn] because Ted was wide open on a curl route.”
Alas, at the bottom of the screen, there’s Ginn:
It’s just another reminder that in the NFL, mistakes are often on more than one player or coach. And sometimes, the other team makes good plays, too.[line]