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
2nd Quarter 0:47 – Panthers 10, Dolphins 7. Dolphins ball 1st-and-10 at MIA 20
The Situation: The Panthers two-minute drill sputtered out and they were forced to punt, giving Miami one last shot to get points before the end of the half.
The Play: On the Dolphins first play after the punt, Julius Thomas ran a deep out route. Luke Kuechly seemed to know the route better than Thomas did and put himself in perfect position to make a clutch interception. The Panthers took possession at the Miami 20 and converted with an Ed Dickson touchdown, pushing the lead to 17-7 at the half.
3rd Quarter 11:50 – Panthers 17, Dolphins 7. Panthers ball 3rd-and-10 at MIA 28
The Situation: The Panthers drive to open the third quarter was nearly derailed after Curtis Samuel dropped a sure touchdown. On the next play, Cam surveyed the defense and audibled to a screen pass.
The Play: Cam threw a quick screen left to Devin Funchess. Christian McCaffrey and Matt Kalil threw great blocks to part the Red Sea and allow Funch to sprint untouched for a 28-yard touchdown, pushing Carolina’s lead to 24-7.
3rd Quarter 5:41 – Panthers 31, Dolphins 14. Panthers ball 1st-and-10 at CAR 13
The Situation: The Panthers had gone up 31-7 and the game seemed over. But Miami’s Kenyan Drake shockingly busted a 66-yard touchdown run to keep things interesting. The Panthers needed to answer the Dolphins score.
The Play: Cam called his own number on a zone read and took off through a nice hole opened by Trai Turner and Daryl Williams. Newton sprinted into the open field and motored 69 yards down to the Miami 18. With an electric run from one of the most dynamic quarterbacks in NFL history, the last remnants of Miami’s momentum were suddenly gone. The drive ended with a touchdown pass to Christian McCaffrey for a 38-14 lead. Game over.
Three Plays to Hate
1st Quarter 9:11 – Panthers 0, Dolphins 0. Panthers ball 3rd-and-1 at CAR 47
The Situation: The Panthers needed just one yard to convert on third down on their first offensive possession of the game.
The Play: Russell Shepard ran a simple out route just beyond the first down marker. Cam threw a good pass to Shepard, but Shepard dropped an easy one, forcing a Panthers punt. Then, on Carolina’s second offensive series, Shepard dropped a wide open ball down the left sideline that would have gone for at least 15 yards. After trading away Kelvin Benjamin, Carolina needs Shepard to step up, but he did just the opposite early on in this one.
3rd Quarter 12:07 – Panthers 17, Dolphins 7. Panthers ball 1st-and-10 at MIA 28
The Situation: The Panthers opening drive of the second half was rolling as Mike Shula dialed up a deep pass on 1st-and-10.
The Play: Curtis Samuel ran a deep seam route and got wide open between the corner and the safety. Cam threw a perfect pass to the rookie wide receiver at the goal line that hit Samuel square in the shoulder pad, but Samuel just flat out dropped an easy touchdown.
3rd Quarter 5:47 – Panthers 31, Dolphins 7. Dolphins ball 3rd-and-1 at MIA 34
The Situation: The Dolphins trailed by 24 late in the third quarter and needed a big play to prevent a complete blowout.
The Play: Kenyan Drake took a simple handoff between the left guard and tackle. Kurt Coleman came flying in out of control from the secondary and wiped himself out of the play. Drake hit an open hole and turned on the jets. Mike Adams had a chance to make an open field tackle but got tied up in knots and never even got a hand on Drake as he reeled off a 66-yard touchdown, cutting the Panthers lead to 31-14.
Closing It Out and Summing It Up
This is as fun as football gets! Few regular season games are more enjoyable than a dominating win at home on Monday Night Football. The Panthers simply controlled every aspect of the game.
On offense, Cam reminded the world why he is so special, throwing for an efficient 254 yards and four touchdowns. Oh, and he also ran for 95 yards, too. How many quarterbacks in NFL history can do this? But in addition to Cam, the Panthers running backs showed up for the first time this year. Carolina’s running backs combined for 201 rushing yards on 29 carries, or 6.9 yards per carry.
Defensively, Carolina played a near flawless game with the exception of Drake’s long touchdown run. Take out Drake’s run and the Miami rushed 15 times for 34 yards. Jay Cutler threw for just 213 yards, with a chunk of that coming in garbage time. The one bonus “Play to Love” I just couldn’t fit in among the Top 3 was Luke Kuechly and Kawann Short teaming up to stuff a 4th-and-1 in the third quarter, essentially killing Miami’s hopes of keeping the game close.
The main area to improve is the need for both Russell Shepard and Curtis Samuel to stop making potentially costly mistakes. The two receivers combined for several drops, a near interception on a bad route, and a bad penalty. With Kelvin Benjamin gone, Shepard and Samuel cannot commit negative plays like these.
At 7-3, Carolina is clearly in the hunt for a playoff berth if not winning the NFC South outright.
With a bye week upcoming, this dominant victory can be savored for the next 13 days.
“P2L, P2H” Season Leaders
Plays to Love:
7 PTL - Devin Funchess
6 PTL – Cam Newton
3 PTL – Christian McCaffrey, Julius Peppers, Mike Shula
2 PTL – Captain Munnerlyn, Kawann Short, Luke Kuechly, Mario Addison, Mike Adams
1 PTL – Charles Johnson, Curtis Samuel, Daryl Williams, Daryl Worley, Ed Dickson, Fozzy Whittaker, Graham Gano, JULIO JONES (ATL), Kyle Love, Matt Kalil, Russell Shepard, Shaq Thompson, Thomas Davis, Trai Turner, Tyler Larsen, Wes Horton
Plays to Hate:
6 PTH – Cam Newton
4 PTH – Jonathan Stewart, Luke Kuechly
3 PTH – Ron Rivera
2 PTH - Captain Munnerlyn, Curtis Samuel, Mike Adams, Shaq Thompson,
1 PTH - Andrew Gachkar, Christian McCaffrey, Daryl Williams, Daryl Worley, Devin Funchess, Graham Gano, Kevon Seymour, Kurt Coleman, Matt Kalil, Mike Shula, Russell Shepard, Trail Turner, Tyler Larsen
Poll
Which Play to Love had the biggest impact on the Panthers win?
This poll is closed
-
77%
2nd Quarter - Luke Kuechly interception sets up TD before end of first half
-
11%
3rd Quarter - McCaffrey and Kalil throw blocks to spring Funch for a 28-yard TD
-
11%
3rd Quarter - Cam busts 69-yard run to set up another Panthers TD