A half-dozen notes from the Carolina Panthers’ 48-33 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The Panthers’ offense hasn’t been good, and neither has the NFL’s reigning MVP, but to me, this is the most stunning stat of Carolina’s 1-3 start:
Since holding the Vikings to eight net passing yards in the first half of Week Three, the Panthers have allowed Sam Bradford and Matt Ryan to go 42-of-54 for 648 yards and five touchdowns.
It’s really hard to give up just eight passing yards in a half, so how have the Panthers suddenly morphed into a sieve?
Sure, the inexperienced secondary is taking its lumps, but this defense doesn’t work without a pass rush.
Know how many quarterback hits the Panthers have in those past six quarters? Four.
Through their first three games, a legit excuse for the lack of pressure was quick-hitting passing attacks. That’s no longer valid.
According to Pro Football Focus, Ryan threw further than 10 yards down the field on 16 of his 37 attempts. And after Trevor Siemian, Blaine Gabbert and Bradford combined for just six completions of 20-plus yards, Ryan had seven such completions.
“We could put a little more pressure on the quarterback early on,” said coach Ron Rivera. “There were a couple third-and-longs, second-and-longs where he had a little more time. So there are some things we have to look at. We have to create more pressure and we as coaches have to make sure we’re putting them in position to have success.”
Rivera certainly wasn’t wrong to point to third downs.
The Panthers struggled to get off the field, allowing the Falcons to convert eight of their thirds into firsts. Ryan was particularly deadly, going 7-of-9 for 122 yards and a touchdown on third down.
But wait, there’s more.
On third-and-7 or more, Ryan was 4-of-6 for 114 yards.
“We had them in a lot of third-and-longs, we just didn’t execute,” safety Kurt Coleman said. “We didn’t make the plays when we were in position.”
Despite a lopsided stat sheet, the Panthers faced a doable 17-10 deficit at the half. Things were also looking up when the Falcons began their opening drive of the third quarter on their 1-yard line.
But a 19-yard gain on 2nd-and-19 and a pair of 3rd down conversions led to a defensive breakdown that left rookie tight end Austin Hooper wide-open for a 42-yard touchdown.
“We went in at halftime only down by seven and feeling pretty good about the game,” Rivera said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get the stop we needed coming out.”
Minutes later, the Falcons again converted a pair of third downs on a 92-yard touchdown drive.
While the defense couldn’t get off the field, the offense couldn’t stay on it. Two three-and-outs equaled this:
Falcons — 235
Panthers — 7
You can second-guess general Dave Gettleman for plenty right now, but perhaps his most perplexing move was putting so many eggs into the Jonathan Stewart basket.
As evidenced by last year’s trip to Atlanta and the second half of the Super Bowl, the Panthers’ offense is often too dependent on having a healthy Stewart. And with his injury history, you’d think the Panthers would take out a better insurance policy.
Cameron Artis-Payne isn’t a lead back, at least not the kind a run-first offense needs. In his two starts since Stewart strained his hamstring, Artis-Payne’s managed to gain just 59 yards on 18 carries. To be fair, the Panthers abandoned the run early in each of those games, but opposing defenses aren’t nearly as threatened by Artis-Payne as they are by Stewart.
Carolina’s 49 rushing yards Sunday snapped its NFL-best 30-game streak with 100-plus rushing yards, but it’s not like No. 30 was all that easy. The Panthers needed a late, 11-yard scramble by quarterback Cam Newton to hit the century mark last week.
So blame the defense, Newton, play-calling, whatever. Everything and everyone has a hand in this 1-3 start. But the Panthers can’t be what they need to be if they don’t have a lead back who can help establish a ground game.
“When you play a team like this where (the run game is how) they want to dominate you,” Falcons defensive end Dwight Freeney said, “if you can stop that, then you can have this type of outcome.”
This probably won’t help the NFC South gain back some of the respect it’s been missing over the past few years:
But at least the division’s games are fun to watch, right? Right!?!
Even though there’s no telling how long he’ll be in the protocol, you can expect Cam Concussion Watch to begin in earnest as soon as Monday morning.
Other notable injuries from Sunday: