Holy Sh*t. What a game.
The Panthers managed to hold on despite a 28 point rally from the New York Giants, their season on the line and all. The game started off looking to be a good one, as the Panthers and Giants matched each other with scores from Ted Ginn and Reuben Randle. Odell Beckham Jr. appeared to get shaken up early on by Josh Norman's mind games, as he dropped what would have been an easy touchdown in the first quarter and proceeded to spend nearly the entire game trying to get back at Norman, who admittedly started off being a little chippy but didn't retaliate until Beckham decided to take a cheap shot at Norman's head. With Beckham struggling to keep his cool, the Panthers went up on the Giants 35-7 with touchdown passes from Cam to Greg Olsen, Devin Funchess, Philly Brown, and another one to Ted Ginn. It appeared to be the same story we've seen many times this season; offense rolls and defense shuts the other team down en route to a blowout. But that wasn't the end of the story, which is nothing new for the New York Giants. What happened exactly? Eli Manning happened, as Eli often does.
As the announcers continued to point out the conduct of Odell Beckham, who had dealt with some jawing and chippy-ness from Norman and Cortland Finnegan, Manning tossed a touchdown to Will Tye. Though it seemed even the announcers didn't seem to care about this, Eli had ignited a spark for this Giants team to feed off of. The Panthers were forced to punt on the following drive that ended right as the fourth quarter had started, and the Giants scored again off the back of Rashad Jennings. Suddenly, it was only a 14 point game and the Giants were surging. The offense responded with a drive riding on Cameron Artis-Payne and Cam Newton's legs, setting Graham Gano up for a 34 yard field goal, very make-able and likely would shut down the Giants comeback hopes. Instead, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie blocked the kick, and the Giants were in position to make it a one score game. The defense finally buckled down in the redzone, as Charles Tillman intercepted an Eli Manning pass resulting from a Kawann Short pressure. The Panthers appeared to have locked this one up.
Then the Giants caught another break, as rookie Cameron Artis-Payne and Cam Newton botched the mesh for a read option and the ball hit the turf for a Giants recovery. This time, Eli found Shane Vereen for another touchdown, making it a one score game. The Panthers came out on the ensuing drive looking to burn off some time, but Cam threw two incompletions and did not get the first down, so Eli got the ball back with 4:17 on the clock. Plenty of time.
Eli found a revitalized Odell Beckham Jr, who seemed to find his rhythm and cool off, for a 40 yard catch and run. Four plays later on fourth and 5, Eli found Beckham again for a touchdown to tie the game. Suddenly, the 35-7 lead had evaporated and the Panthers were staring their first loss right in the face. That is, until Cam Newton took the field. Cam lead a where he completed three crucial passes, and facing 2nd and 10 with 32 second left Cam scrambled for a first down and stopped the clock at :06, where Graham Gano drilled the field goal for the Panthers 14th win.
14-0.
The Good
- The stats won't reflect it, but Norman had Beckham's number nearly all day got him flustered and frustrated, as many of the greats often do. Beckham threw a tantrum for three quarters after Norman's first extra curricular chip on him, and Beckham was next to useless. You like or hate the strategy, there's no arguing that getting in your opponents head isn't effective. Norman didn't retaliate or do anything crazy until Beckham took a cheap shot at his head after the whistle. It'll be interesting to see how the media spins this story this week.
- Cam Newton threw 5 touchdowns AGAIN and orchestrated a game winning drive after some mistakes on the previous drives. Oh, and did I mention he rushed for 100 yards on only EIGHT carries? At 14-0 with the flashy stats everybody wants, I'd say Cam has all but won the MVP award. If the Cardinals lose any of their last three games the Panthers will clinch home field advantage. What a season for Cam.
- Ted Ginn delivered another multi touchdown performance, and despite a couple of tough drops he looked the part of a number one receiver this week.
- Cameron Artis-Payne rushed 14 times for 59 yards and caught two passes for 34 yards. Not half bad for a 5th round rookie, he averaged over 4 yards per carry. The Panthers should continue to rest Stewart and get looks at CAP and Fozzy Whittaker over the next two weeks.
- Luke Kuechly made 15 combined tackles today. He should definitely be in the conversation for best defensive player this year.
The Bad
Really my biggest issue is that after going up 35-7 the coaching staff took their foot off the gas and it took the Panthers surrendering 14 more points to get them out of it. Never count out a team who is playing for their season. Also, the special teams unit once again surrendered a blocked kick and that almost turned the tide entirely.
Really the bad this week was mental mistakes by players and coaches. They demonstrated early who the superior team is, and yet they allowed the Giants to tie the game in the 4th quarter. I know the Panthers need to look out for injuries and such, but Cam was still taking hits even with the game all but out of reach. Also, Josh Norman really needs to watch some of the extra curricular activities. Obviously after the start of the game Beckham was MOSTLY the aggressor, but had Norman been ejected this game could have gotten much worse.
Other than that, a wins a win. The Panthers are 14-0, they face the Falcons again next week and are that much closer to 16-0. The Cardiac Cats again scared the daylights out of their fans, but found a way to win. Keep Pounding, and enjoy the ride.