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 1:02 – Panthers 0, Falcons 7. Panthers ball 3rd-and-23 at ATL 31
The Situation: The Panthers woeful offense was scoreless with the first half winding down. After yielding a sack to push Carolina to the Atlanta 31 and force a 3rd-and-23, it appeared the Panthers would need to settle for a field goal.
The Play: Brenton Bersin ran a great hesitation route, lollygagging off the line to lure corner back Brian Poole into a false sense of security. Bersin then sprinted on a deep post-corner route and Cam Newton hit him with a perfect pass. Sunshine picked up 27 yards to the Atlanta 4 for a first down. Devin Funchess scored on the next play, tying the game at 7-7 at the half.
4th Quarter 12:45 – Panthers 7, Falcons 16. Panthers ball 3rd-and-7 at CAR 28
The Situation: The Panthers had fallen behind 16-7 early in the fourth quarter. Carolina’s offense continued to look terrible and now faced a potentially soul-crushing three-and-out.
The Play: Devin Funchess ran an out-and-up against Desmond Trufant and sprinted down the right sideline. Even though Trufant was still blanketing Funchess, Cam Newton hit No. 17 with a perfect pass. Funch came down with a 44-yard gain to the Atlanta 28, setting up a field goal to cut the deficit to 16-10.
4th Quarter 7:25 – Panthers 10, Falcons 16. Falcons ball 3rd-and-8 at CAR 32
The Situation: Atlanta’s offense was churning out another long drive midway through the fourth quarter and had reached the Carolina 32. Giving up a first down, then a potential touchdown, would virtually end the game
The Play: Mario Addison and Luke Kuechly both came on wide rushes and combined to sack the elusive Matt Ryan for a six-yard loss, pushing Atlanta back to the Carolina 38. While it was a clutch sack to put an end to the drive, Matt Bryant still nailed a 56-yard field goal to increase Atlanta’s lead to 19-10.
Three plays to hate
3rd Quarter 5:51 – Panthers 7, Falcons 10. Panthers ball 2nd-and-7 at CAR 28
The Situation: The Panthers gave up a field goal after a long Falcons drive to fall behind 10-7 in the third quarter. Two plays after the field goal, Cam Newton dropped to pass.
The Play: Cam threw an awful pass somewhere in between Devin Funchess and Brenton Bersin and about 10 feet too high. The errant pass hit safety Ricardo Allen in the chest for an easy interception and it was returned to the Carolina 39. The Falcons turned the interception into a field goal to extend their lead to 13-7. Cam gift-wrapped these three points to Atlanta.
4th Quarter 11:20 – Panthers 7, Falcons 16. Panthers ball 2nd-and-2 at ATL 20
The Situation: Despite their offensive ineptitude, the Panthers only trailed by nine points early in the fourth quarter and had driven down to the Atlanta 20. They faced 2nd-and-2 and desperately needed this possession to end with a touchdown.
The Play: Not for the first time in this game, but Amini Silatolu (filling in for Trai Turner) got worked by Grady Jarrett. The Falcons defensive lineman easily evaded the foundering Silatolu and dropped Christian McCaffrey in the backfield for a four-yard loss. A very convertible 2nd-and-2 in the red zone was now 3rd-and-6. The drive stalled from there and Carolina had to settle for a field goal to trim Atlanta’s lead to 16-10. It would prove to be the Panthers last points of the day.
4th Quarter 4:20 – Panthers 10, Falcons 19. Panthers ball 1st-and-10 at CAR 25
The Situation: The Panthers defense came up with a huge three-and-out to give the ball back to Cam Newton & Co. with 4:20 remaining, trailing by nine. The Panthers had to get points on this drive to have any hope of a late comeback, but the drive ended before it could even start.
The Play: On the first play following the Falcons punt, Cam threw an errant pass that was high and behind Greg Olsen. Olsen extended his arm to try to bring in the pass, but ended up tipping the ball up and it was intercepted by Keanu Neal. Game. Over.
Closing it out and summing it up
What a terrible way to close out the regular season. The Panthers could’ve won the NFC South by virtue of the Saints losing to the Buccaneers, but they instead served up this pile of steaming mediocrity. Carolina fell to the No. 5 seed and will now have to travel to New Orleans to face a Saints team they just can’t seem to figure out.
Cam was awful in this one. The two interceptions listed in the “Plays to Hate” were just brutal. But it’s not all Cam’s fault. His receivers seem to never be clearly open, which strangely now includes Greg Olsen. Newton seems to have to force bullets into tight coverage for almost all of his completions. Christian McCaffrey is about the only Panthers receiver who can get separation, and even he dropped passes in this one. Trai Turner also needs to get healthy because Amini Silatolu got worked.
I will restate this week what I said after last week’s ugly win against Tampa Bay: The Panthers wide receivers and defensive secondary are nowhere near ready for the playoffs. With those two groups in mind, here is the two-step process to beat the 2017 Carolina Panthers:
Step #1 – When facing the Panthers defense, just dink-and-dunk their secondary to death before the pass rush can get to your quarterback. Most underneath routes with even a little creativity will yield somewhere between six and 11 yards per play because of the huge cushion Carolina’s corners normally give, combined with the general lack of speed and talent across the secondary.
Step #2 – When facing the Panthers offense, play physical press coverage on their unproven wide receivers, chip a seemingly slowed Greg Olsen, and keep a linebacker at home to limit Cam’s running ability.
That’s it. That’s all it takes to beat this Panthers team. Throw underneath against their defense and press their wide receivers. But the Saints already knows this.
While there is always reason to celebrate an 11-5 season and making the playoffs, the Panthers dreadful last two games give this team a “dead man walking” feel as they trudge to New Orleans with their impotent offense.
Unless the Panthers can somehow magically flip a switch they haven’t been able to locate for the last two weeks, Carolina’s 2017 playoff experience has “one and done” written all over it.
I hope they prove me wrong.
“P2L, P2H” season leaders
Plays to Love:
10 PTL – Cam Newton
9 PTL – Devin Funchess
5 PTlL – Luke Kuechly
4 PTL – Mario Addison,
3 PTL – Christian McCaffrey, Julius Peppers, Kawann Short, Mike Adams, Mike Shula
2 PTL – Captain Munnerlyn, Damiere Byrd, Daryl Williams, Kyle Love, Thomas Davis, Trai Turner, Wes Horton
1 PTL – Andrew Norwell, Brenton Bersin, Charles Johnson, Curtis Samuel, Daryl Worley, Ed Dickson, Fozzy Whittaker, Graham Gano, James Bradberry, Jonathan Stewart, JULIO JONES (ATL), Kaelin Clay, Matt Kalil, Russell Shepard, Shaq Thompson, Star Lotulelei, Taylor Moton, Tyler Larsen
Plays to Hate:
9 PTH – Cam Newton
4 PTH – Jonathan Stewart, Kevon Seymour, Luke Kuechly, Mike Adams
3 PTH – Captain Munnerlyn, Ron Rivera
2 PTH – Christian McCaffrey, Curtis Samuel, Devin Funchess, Kurt Coleman, Shaq Thompson
1 PTH – Amini Silatolu, Andrew Gachkar, Brenton Bersin, Daryl Williams, Daryl Worley, Graham Gano, James Bradberry, Kaelin Clay, Matt Kalil, Michael Palardy, Mike Shula, Russell Shepard, Star Lotulelei, Steve Wilks, Thomas Davis, Trai Turner, Tyler Larsen
Poll
Which Play to Hate had the biggest impact on the Panthers loss?
This poll is closed
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44%
3rd Quarter - Cam’s interception leads to ATL FG and 13-7 lead.
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22%
4th Quarter - Amini Silatolu gives up four-yard loss, stalling the Panthers drive with a FG.
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32%
4th Quarter - Cam’s interception with 4:20 remaining.