Plays to Love, Plays to Hate (aka “P2L, P2H”) looks at the most significant plays in swinging momentum and impacting the eventual outcome of the game. There is always plenty to hate about NFL officiating, so we will only focus on the plays on the field, not the refs.
Three Plays to Love
1st Quarter 1:50 – Panthers 3, Redskins 3. CAR ball 3rd-and-4 on WAS 30
The Situation: After a field goal on their first series, Carolina’s offense faced 3rd-and-4 from the Washington 30, looking to score on their second drive.
The Play: Cam Newton dropped back to pass and was given a perfect pocket, including a nice double team block by Greg Olsen and Jonathan Stewart on Trent Murphy. Ted Ginn ran a deep skinny post right down the seam between corner back Josh Norman and safety Donte Whitner. Whitner blew his coverage and let Ginn get behind him for a wide-open 30-yard touchdown reception. The Panthers now led 10-3.
1st Quarter 0:39 – Panthers 10, Redskins 3. WAS ball 1st-and-10 on WAS 38
The Situation: The Redskins defense had given up 10 points on the Panthers first two possessions. Washington’s offense was beginning a drive to cut into Carolina’s lead.
The Play: Kirk Cousins dropped to pass and threw a deep pass to Vernon Davis. Safety Kurt Coleman made a savvy play to bait Cousins into making the throw by shading away from Davis, then undercutting the route as soon as Cousins released the ball. Coleman intercepted the pass and returned it 37 yards down to the Washington 24, thanks in large part to lead blocker Thomas Davis who de-cleated two Redskins then engaged a third with another block. Coleman’s interception set up a Panthers field goal for an early 13-3 lead.
3rd Quarter 14:56 – Panthers 13, Redskins 9. WAS ball 1st-and-10 on WAS 14
The Situation: The Redskins cut the Panthers lead to 13-9 at the half, then Washington received the kickoff to begin the third quarter. On Washington’s first play from scrimmage, some magic happened.
The Play: Wes Horton beat Vernon Davis and strip-sacked Kirk Cousins at the six yard line. Horton then scooped up the fumble and advanced the ball to the one yard line before getting tackled. Horton set up a Mike Tolbert touchdown two plays later for a sudden and unexpected 20-9 Panthers lead.
Three Plays to Hate
2nd Quarter 4:30 – Panthers 13, Redskins 3. WAS ball 3rd-and-7 on CAR 22
The Situation: Washington was driving. If the Panthers defense could hold on 3rd-and-7, they would force the Redskins shaky field goal unit to attempt to put points on the board.
The Play: DeSean Jackson caught a short pass in the left flat several yards short of the first down. Both Kurt Coleman and Thomas Davis immediately converged and seemed to have the angles to drop Jackson before he could pick up the first down. But Jackson made a quick cut toward the left sideline, and both Coleman and Davis whiffed. The missed tackles allowed Jackson to sprint 17 yards down to the Carolina five yard line. Washington scored a touchdown on the next play, but missed the extra point, cutting Carolina’s lead to 13-9. Poor tackling gave the Redskins at least an additional three points on this drive.
4th Quarter 12:44 – Panthers 23, Redskins 12. CAR ball 2nd-and-14 at CAR 35
The Situation: Carolina had a fourth quarter lead and was trying not to choke late as they have done so many times this year.
The Play: Ted Ginn’s defender slipped coming out of his stance and Ginn sprinted wide open toward the end zone. Ginn was so open he waved his arm in the air as he ran to get Cam’s attention. Newton threw a bomb to Ginn all the way down to the Washington 20. The pass was a bit underthrown and Ginn was able to adjust to make what should have been a sliding catch, but Ginn dropped it. Carolina’s drive stalled and they were forced to punt. This play could have been a knock-out blow, but Ted Ginn let a huge play slip through his fingers.
4th Quarter 5:37 – Panthers 23, Redskins 12. CAR ball 4th-and-4 at WAS 20
The Situation: Carolina had a fourth quarter lead and was trying not to choke late as they have done so many times this year as Graham Gano set up for a 38-yard field goal attempt. A make here would put Carolina up 14 late in the game.
The Play: Gano shanked it left. Because, of course.
Closing It Out & Summing It Up
The “Too Little, Too Late” 2016 Carolina Panthers are now 5-3 over their last eight games, 6-8 on the season, and looking pretty good. Too bad it took so dang long to figure things out this year.
Great game by Jonathan Stewart who put up 132 yards on 25 carries and also blocked well. My favorite run came in the second quarter when he got a handoff deep in the backfield and got hit immediately. Stewart stepped through the tackle, cut back to the right, leaped over Josh Norman, then pushed the pile past the first down marker. Stewart converted a five yard loss into an 11-yard gain. What a stallion.
Props need to go to Carolina’s makeshift offensive line, including fill-in center Tyler Larsen, right guard Chris Scott, and Trai Turner for making the difficult move from guard to right tackle. Many of J-Stew’s big runs came through holes these three guys opened up, including his 34-yard scamper late in the fourth to ice the game.
It’s so frustrating watching the 2016 Panthers fail to put games away when leading in the fourth quarter. I visibly age when Carolina is up 10 points late and then start playing “not to lose.” You just know they are going to blow it. Fortunately, it didn’t happen against Washington, despite Ginn and Gano’s fourth quarter puppet show.
I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED hearing the chorus of “Keeeeeep…Pounding!” coming from Panthers fans on the road in Washington late in the game. Boys, you did us proud.
“P2L, P2H” Season Leaders
Plays to Love Year-to-Date:
9 “PTL” – Cam Newton
5 “PTL” – Kelvin Benjamin, Thomas Davis
4 “PTL” – Kurt Coleman, Ted Ginn
2 “PTL” – A.J. Klein, Andy Lee, Charles Johnson, Kawann Short, Star Lotulelei, Tre Boston, Vernon Butler
1 “PTL” –Bene Benwikere, Cameron Artis-Payne, Corey Brown, Daryl Worley, Devin Funchess, Greg Olsen, Jonathan Stewart, Kony Ealy, Kyle Love, Lavar Edwards, Luke Kuechly, Shaq Thompson, Robert McClain, Wes Horton
Plays to Hate Year-to-Date:
6 “PTH” – Cam Newton
4 “PTH” – Kelvin Benjamin, Kurt Coleman
3 “PTH” – Daryl Worley, Derek Anderson, Graham Gano, James Bradberry
2 “PTH” – Bene Benwikere, Jonathan Stewart, Ted Ginn, Tre Boston
1 “PTH” – Colin Jones, Ed Dickson, Kony Ealy, Leonard Johnson, Luke Kuechly, Michael Griffin, Michael Oher, Mike Remmers, Mike Tolbert, Ryan Kalil, Thomas Davis, Trai Turner, Zack Sanchez