The Carolina Panthers' season isn't over mathematically, but it sure feels like it is logically. Losing to the Falcons ensured this team is out of the conversation at the top of a woeful NFC South. How this team can win another three games is beyond comprehension.
For a fleeting and glorious moment I thought you'd never need to read any of this today. Finger poised over backspace, I was getting ready to delete everything I wrote about the struggles, the ineptitude -- ready to gloriously write about the comeback that was. Then the Panthers got soft, anemic, and lost the game.
There's too much blame to go around to solely blame Ron Rivera or Mike Shula. In truth it was a combination of failures. It's unclear who caused the Panthers to go limp in the fourth quarter when it all counted, but they did, and it was bad. For the first time in a month the passing game was actually working, and Cam Newton had found his stride after a series of struggles for three quarters. He hit Kelvin Benjamin for a touchdown, then Philly Brown -- life was good.
All the Panthers needed to do was get one more touchdown. Inside their territory on second down it was there for the taking. Then Newton ran for a few yards, Jonathan Stewart galloped for a few more. The Panthers couldn't be playing for a field goal, could they? Now of all times? It became clear they were scared of failure, of letting the game slip away. In their nervousness the jitters caused the entire team to fumble the win -- jarred loose from being petrified.
Issues on the offensive line, the secondary and play calling have been long and intricately documented here on CSR. There's nothing more we can say on the topic as it's become completely exhausted. I'm done trying to understand why you call the same pass three times in a row in the red zone, it's impossible to intuit why having Cam Newton throw a back shoulder pass to Greg Olsen on 3rd and 2 is the right idea when your offense just ran for nine. None of it makes sense, at any level.
What we saw on Sunday was a continuation of what we've seen develop over the past month: Normally reliable players are becoming unreliable, up until the final 10 minutes. It's not about what the team did to lose in the last seconds, it's what they did to lose for the prior three quarters. When you pair these factors with the myriad of struggles the Panthers are facing it's impossible to see how this gets better. Yes there's a bye week around the corner and one hopes this team can refocus, but it's also a prime occasion to make changes in the coaching staff. If nothing else it's not going to be a boring week.
Newton got no help from his line when the season began, but for much of the game he didn't get help from his wide receivers. On Sunday he threw two interceptions, both of which are equally attributable to Greg Olsen and Kelvin Benjamin. The first was a tip drill caused by an easily catchable pass that went through Olsen's hands and right to a defender. The second was yet another slant route by Benjamin that he quit on and allowed the pick to happen uncontested.
The first was in no way Newton's fault, the second was 50/50 -- but again he'll get 100 percent of the blame. All while clearly being too hurt to play at a high level and continuing to take his lumps out there. There were flashes of "Old Cam" against Atlanta, but they were few and far between. He's broken right now, and it's unclear if the Panthers have the tools to put him back together.
Look, I totally get that people think (probably accurately) that I have a grudge against Mike Shula's play calling, but what happened against Atlanta was indefensible. When the game announcers are continually asking why Carolina isn't running the ball on third down, or how they keep calling difficult back shoulder throws to unreliable receivers -- you have to wonder. None of it makes sense. It's not good enough to look at the plays in isolation and say "These aren't so different from other teams," but the devil is in the details. In this case it's context -- and the play calling lacks all context.
It's not good enough to gamble when there's nothing on the line. That's not gambling, even though it looks like it. Calling a bold play on 2nd and 8 with 20 minutes left in a game is just doing your job; making that same call with three minutes left is transcending it.
Look no further than those two final hook and ladder plays to set up Graham Gano's mammoth field goal attempt. The offense was bumping into each other, they looked lost -- it became a Turkey Bowl game five days too early. Those weren't players who had a firm understanding of what was happening, they were confused.
Will things change? Yes, they will -- but not as soon as you'd like. While it would be great to see the Panthers get aggressive and make some changes early, it's just not going to happen as far as I see it. This train will pull out of the station just as it started and we can talk about the necessary and wholesale changes needed in February.
What I liked ...
There are plenty of players and moments that deserve recognition, but in the interest of being honest I'm not going to talk about them. It was a case of too little too late, from almost everyone. Instead I'd like to take the time to recognize the Panthers organization outside of football.
Organizing the solider's surprise
Call it overwrought or staged, but there's plenty of evidence this was a legitimate surprise for this soldier's wife. It was a wonderful moment in an otherwise terrible game, and kudos to the organization for letting it happen.
Supporting Savanna
Thank you so much to everyone who has donated so far and helped support Savanna in her fight against cancer. The Panthers organization contacted me on Friday and plan to send her a letter of support and a few other things.
They didn't need to do this, but they did. There are things bigger and more important than football and I'm immensely proud of this organization -- even when the win/loss column is ugly.
Take a breath
We have a bye week now. This is a chance to recharge our batteries as fans and step away from the grind and anguish of this season. It's disappointing to wait six months then have this kind of year, but it's a pain many fanbases are feeling too.
It's a letdown, it hurts -- hopefully it will all get better.