Panthers at Ravens: Inside the Gamebook

Starting with the offense:

3rd Down Conversions: Panthers 10-15-67% Ravens 10-13-77%

The Panthers actually performed well on 3rd down though not as good as the Ravens.Whereas our defense usually does well on third down that has not been the case the past two weeks. So why didn't the Panthers core more points? Well all of those failed conversations happened in the 1st half when the Panthers were punting while the Ravens were putting up 3 TDs. The Panthers then only got the ball three times in the 2nd half resulting in a FG, a fumble, and then end of the game. Basically the fact is the defense could not get off the field in the second half when they were trying to make a comeback.

Red Zone Efficiency: Panthers 0-3-0% Ravens 2-3-67%

Last season the Panthers were one of the best red zone offenses in the league. That has completely reversed so far in 2014. Convert those three and we might have had an entertaining game to watch.

Time of Possession: Panthers 29:36 Ravens 30:24

Though the Panthers held the ball five minutes more in the first half they couldn't get to the red zone where they had zero red zone opportunities. They one time they got close they had a penalty and a sack push them out of FG range. So in 5 less minutes the Ravens scored 14 more points. The Ravens then held the ball five minutes more in the second half. As we all know this Panthers offense is not designed to come from behind by multiple scores and they showed it the last two weeks.

Average gain per rushing play: Panthers 2.6 ypc, Ravens 4.2 ypc

It seems the more the Panthers try to run the ball the worse they do. This is just a horrible disparity, one we are not used too. Given the offensive line and injuries at RB I can understand the offense having a hard time running the ball. I cannot find a valid excuse for why the defense is suddenly struggling against the run. If this doesn't turn around it's going to be a long season.

Avg gain per pass play (inc.# thrown passing): Panthers 6.9 ypp Ravens 10.5 ypp

Again another huge advantage for the Ravens who literally saw the ball bounce their way in this game.

PENALTIES Number and Yards: Panthers 7-59 Ravens 4-40

This is one area that is totally inexcusable and an area where the Panthers usually perform pretty well. Though the overall number and yardage isn't record setting it was the timing of the penalties, as two of them either extended a Ravens drive or thwarted a Panther drive.

The first drive was a killer of an example. The Panthers chewed 8 minutes off the clock and got the ball down to the Raven 17 yd line but a second penalty on Kelvin Benjamin negated a first down instead created 3rd and long. A sack on the next play knocked the Panthers out of FG range and they ended up punting it into the end zone.

Snap Counts:

Now let's look at some of the snap counts to get a feel for how we were rotating players in and out:

Snaps by the offensive line: Bell, Silatolu 66 snaps (100%), Kalil, Chandler 55 snaps (83%); Turner 34 (52%), Velasco 32 (48%), Foucault, Folkerts 11(17%).

Unlike last week we saw a lot of Velasco at RG as he and Turner split snaps. The big Canadian Foucault saw his first action with the offense as he spelled Nate Chandler.

Snaps by TEs: Olsen 55 (83%), Dickson 37 (56%)

Olsen actually came out of this one a little while Dickson saw some action in the single TE sets.

Snaps by WR: Benjamin 65 (98%), Cotchery 59 (88%), Avant 40 (60%), Brown 12 (18%), Bersin 8 (12%)

It was nice having Cotchery back as he led the team with 80 receiving yards on 5 catches on 7 targets. Let's hope he stays healthy.

98% Snaps on Defense (62): Kuechly, Klein, Harper, Cason, DeCoud

We are working the hell out of our secondary as three of the top 5 played 98% of the snaps. So is the difference the past two weeks the loss of LB Thomas Davis?

Snaps by CB: Cason 62 (98%), Norman 44 (70%), Benwikere 22 for (35%),White 18 (29%)

So though it was announced today that Josh Norman will start going forward he essentially replaced Melvin White halfway through this game after White gave up 2 TDs in the first half. Norma gave up his share of catches too though so don't expect a big jump in performance from the secondary.

Snaps by DL: Johnson 44 (70%), Horton, Lotulelei 38 (60%), Short 37 (59%), Edwards 31 (49%), Addison, Cole 23 (37%), Ealy 21 (33%)

Wes Horton saw a big increase in snaps though I can't tell that he took advantage of the opportunity as he only logged 3 assisted tackles. Kawann Short once again put more stats up that any other defensive lineman though his snap count is rising.