Let’s get the ugly stuff out of the way first: the Carolina Panthers had no business winning. NFL teams cannot count on defensive and special teams touchdowns to win games with any regularity. The now 8-3, playoff-bound Carolina Panthers should have lost to the New York Jets, preseason favorites for the top pick in the 2018 draft. That said, there were still glimpses of the team that has taken turns being dominant on both sides of the ball all season long. At the end of the day, a win is a win and the Panthers are looking good, in spite of their inconsistency, for at least a wild card spot as they now sit tied for the lead in the NFC South.
What I liked. . .
Cam Newton’s age - Extremely optimistic
Carolina’s quarterback is finally old enough to get that call, y’all. Refs flagged Jets defenders twice yesterday for roughing the passer on late hits that, in years past, would not have drawn calls. 28 years, 6 months, and 15 days is the age a quarterback apparently has to be to qualify for consideration under the NFL’s vaunted passer protections.
Devin Funchess - Extremely optimistic
One drop aside, Funchess showed up as Cam’s go-to-guy in the game when Cam’s go-to-guy, Greg Olsen, returned in limited action. With 7 receptions for 108 yards while facing tight coverage for much of the day from Buster Skrine, the 3rd year wide receiver is really coming in to his own. He's definitely not making Panthers fans regret the trade of Kelvin Benjamin.
You’ll still hear concerns raised about Funchess' ability to create separation, but this game isn’t the best place to look to support or refute them. It’s hard to judge a receiver when he is asked to run out routes for half the game against a corner that is jumping them like a toddler with a rope.
Kaelin Clay - Somewhat optimistic
The speed is real. Clay may not be fully integrated into the offense yet, but he has flashed huge potential in his limited opportunities. I won’t call the third year receiver out of Utah the next Steve Smith. Not yet. Let’s just say that you can point to either Luke Keuchly’s fumble return or Clay’s speedy punt return as the margin of victory in this game. That’s good company to keep. You can watch Clay talk about his game changing play here.
Graham Gano - Somewhat optimistic
Everybody misses an extra point from time to time. It's embarrassing, but it happens. Gano didn’t let that get into his head on his way to completing kicks of 40, 33, and 45 yards. Gano has missed only one field goal all year (and two extra points, but who’s counting?). In a year marked by inconsistency, let’s celebrate the most consistent part of our team.
Riverboat Ron - Somewhat optimistic
I have spent an appreciable amount of time complaining about the gutlessness of Ron Rivera’s game management this season. Rivera earned a reputation earlier in his career with being a perceived gambler and playing to his team’s short yardage strengths to string together sometimes improbable wins. This year had been quite different until recently. Rivera now appears to be teasing back into his old ways with such plays as the Panthers’ 4th down conversion in the first quarter of yesterday’s game and the coach has a 4 game winning streak to show for it.
2013 sparked the origin of the Riverboat moniker after a tough loss to the Buffalo Bills. Perhaps 2017’s embarrassing loss to the hibernating Chicago Bears had a similar effect. We’ve long been fed the (admittedly well supported) narrative that the Panthers win in November and December under Ron Rivera, so perhaps that has something to do with it as well. Maybe they are inspired by experience or maybe the Panthers and Rivera, like my dog and I, start to get friskier as the weather turns. Either way, it is a welcome change for a team that seems to thrive on confidence inducing plays like 4th down conversions.
What I didn’t like. . .
Cam Newton’s thumb - Somewhat pessimistic
Sticking with my habit of not picking too many nits after a loss, let’s focus our concern on Cam’s most recent injury. Newton showed up on the injury report after the bye week with an unexplained thumb issue. Reports prior to the game were that the team wasn’t terribly concerned about that injury’s effect on Cam’s game but the quarterback was uncharacteristically erratic throughout the game. I’m going to attribute his uninspiring stat line, 11-28 for 168 yards, to that injury and hope he is more fully recovered for his date with the New Orleans Saints this Sunday.
What’s next. . .
Defense and special teams picked up the slack left by Cam’s injury and the Panthers stumbled on to another win. Next week could be a division deciding contest between Carolina and New Orleans. The two teams currently sit tied for the lead in the NFC South. With such an important game coming up, we have to face an uncomfortable truth: the Carolina Panthers are as likely to win this game as they are to miss the playoffs entirely.
Injury, adjustments in offensive philosophy, and downright bad luck have all combined to curse the 2017 Panthers as a maddeningly inconsistent team with whom any game is winnable and no lead is safe. It’s not that the Cardiac Cats are back, because even they would have pulled out a win against the Bears. Those Cats also wouldn’t have seen so many tipped balls returned for game-clinching touchdowns against them. This team is something else, defined as much by their flashes of brilliance as they are their near-idolatrous, yet somehow only occasional, adherence to Murphy’s law.
Chicago proved that these Panthers can lose to any team in the league. However, as this is ‘the Optimist’, let’s pay attention to the Patriots game that proved these Panthers can hang with any team in the league. There’s no telling what is actually next; which team will show up in New Orleans is as much a mystery as where the Saint’s defense came from. All we do know is that the Panthers can win and that winning could mean everything in a tight NFC playoff picture. It could be the difference between scrambling for a wild card spot and talking about home field advantage.