Cole Schultz takes a look at this week's game in the ReFo and takes a look at more poor play at LT, Kelvin Benjamin's battle with Richard Sherman, and Thomas Davis's solid day.
- LG Andrew Norwell, Ryan Kalil, and Greg Olsen were the 3 green graded players.
- The pass block grade was ugly once again (-5.7) with the run blocking being pretty good (+2.9).
- Jonathan Stewart with 57 snaps, Darrin Reaves 4, and Chris Ogbonnaya with 2.
Look at that, the rookie UDFA OG Norwell had a good game. I hope he keeps up the good work.
The ugly:
Byron Bell, LT, -5.4
Breakdown: I can only assume that the recently retired Jordan Gross has had to change his phone number to stop a barrage calls from the Panthers’ front office, so bad has been Bell’s play this year. Not allowing a ton of pressure as far as quantity goes, only a few quick throws from Newton prevented Bell from surrendering more than just a sack and a hurry.
Signature Play: On the near safety at 9:33 in the fourth quarter, Bell allows Michael Bennett inside with such speed that Newton barely reaches the top of his drop before having to shrug him off and throw the ball away.
- Newton only completed 12/22 passes on the day, with 51 of his 171 yards coming on the throw to Benjamin.
- Ineffective under pressure: 1/7 for 16 yards, throwing an INT, and taking 3 sacks.
- When not blitzed Newton went 10/17 for 104 yards and taking 2 sacks.
- The Seahawks sent the blitz on only 6 of 27 dropbacks. He went 2/5 for 67 yards with an INT and a sack.
If only we could protect Newton he might actually pass better. What a novel idea right?
- This week the Panthers run game graded out green when running off of the LG (+2.4) and the Center (+1.5).
- RBs accounted for 18 carries going for 89 yards. Stewart with the bulk of the production averaging 4.9 yards per carry and forcing 5 missed tackles.
- Newton rushed 12 times on the day, for a meager 22 yards while fumbling once.
This week's Jekyll and Hyde perform was the sudden effectiveness of the running game while the passing game went in the ditch.
- Stewart and Benjamin each recorded a drop.
- Cotchery (+0.5) and Benjamin (+0.1) were the only players with a positive receiving grade.
- Benjamin caught 4 of his 6 targets for 94 yards to lead the team, finishing with a WR Rating of 109.7.
- Olsen was shut down: held to 1 catch on 3 targets for 16 yards. Newton threw his pick targeting Olsen.
We only targeted Olsen three times the whole game? What is with that?
- This week 5 players graded out green and 5 players also graded out in the red.
- Thomas Davis and Thomas DeCoud lead the team each with (+2.2) overall grades.
- Star Lotulelei solid on the d-line, all 4 of his tackles went for stops along with a QB hurry and a batted pass.
- Lone sack of the day was by Kony Ealy, the team as a whole garnered 2 more hits and 9 hurries.
- Johnson played 49 snaps, Mario Addison 33, Kony Ealy 22, and Wes Horton played 22 snaps.
- Antoine Cason and Josh Norman with 63 snaps, James Dockery 33, Colin Jones 14.
Take away the TD drive and the defense had a good day. Giving up only 13 points should be good enough to win.
- Davis, Kuechly, and DeCoud were the green players in coverage.
- Despite a negative grade from Norman (-0.6) he surrendered only 3 catches for 14 yards on 6 targets and his QB Rating when targeted was 16.7, registering an INT and a pass break up.
- Dockery and Jones combined to surrender 4 catches on all 4 targets for 50 yards
Again, it was a good day until that final drive by the Seahawks.
Signature Stats
- Antoine Cason graded out as the 5th best CB in coverage in Week 8 with Josh Norman coming in at 19th.
- Davis had one of the best performances of any 4-3 OLB this week: ranked 3rd in Pass Rush Productivity, 5th in Run Stop %, and did not miss a tackle
- Cotchery 52 snaps, Benjamin 46, Avant 33, Brenton Bersin 9.
If only the offense had done its part.