The Carolina Panthers reverted to their substandard level of play and were blown out by the New England Patriots, 42-13.
First Quarter
Bryce Young completed a pass to David Moore in the flat to get the game started, and Moore was tackled awkwardly and immediately forced to leave the game. The offense was still able to keep its rhythm though, as Young completed all four of his pass attempts to four different receivers. The last of those was a ball over the top to Tommy Tremble from just inside the ten for a Panthers
touchdown. Ryan Fitzgerald shtoinked the extra point off the left upright to keep the score 60
The defense carried their momentum from last week and stifled the Patriots on the first drive. They forced a three and out to get the ball back for the offense. Young kept up his completion streak for a few more passes before the drive stalled out around midfield. The Panthers punted and seemed to be caught off guard by the lack of a fair catch at the ten yard line. The first tackler missed and everyone else was scattered, leaving no one near the returner and let him run 87 yards for the touchdown. Their kicker made his extra point to put the Patriots on top.
Rico Dowdle responded with a slashing kickoff return out to the 40 yard line and then picked up a first down on a toss a few plays later. The Panthers crossed midfield, but again stalled out there. Young threw behind an open Tetairoa McMillan on third down that would have at least moved the Panthers into field goal range, so they had to settle for a punt that bounced into the end zone.
The defense no longer had the momentum from the week prior on the ensuing drive. They let the Patriots pick up huge chunks of yardage on three plays that were all either handoffs or screen passes. The quarter ended with the Patriots inside the five.
Second Quarter
Drake Maye rolled out off play action on the first play of the second quarter and had no resistance running into the end zone. The Panthers took over on offense needing to make something happen. They once again moved over midfield but couldn’t make anything happen from there. Young fell down trying to escape pressure which took the Panthers out of field goal range. They tried a field goal anyway, but Fitzgerald’s 55 yard field goal came up short.
Maye hit Diggs on a big pass play to get the Patriots back inside the 10, but a somewhat questionable facemask penalty on the Patriots backed them up to 1st and goal from the 25. The Panthers returned the favor with a Nick Scott tripping penalty to give New England a free first down. They took the extra opportunity and punched in their third touchdown of the game with a handoff to TreVeyon Henderson. The Panthers did nothing on offense again and had to punt back to a now unstoppable Patriots team that got another big return back into the red zone. It took just four plays for the Patriots to go up 28-6.
The Panthers tried to get one more scoring drive before the half, but it again short circuited before it got started. Young had one play where the pocket parted and gave him room to scramble, maybe even for a first down on 2nd and 10, but he inexplicably threw the ball away at his receiver’s feet just as he got to the line of scrimmage. Another incomplete pass forced a Panthers punt, but this time Sam Martin was able to coffin corner it at the one yard line despite almost having the punt blocked.
The defense did stuff the Patriots three times and force a punt, but there were only two seconds left by the time Hunter Renfrow was tackled. The Panthers tried to set up a convoy for Tommy Tremble, but an offensive lineman got downfield too early and the half ended.
Third Quarter
The Panthers needed a stop coming out of the half to get on track, and they did not get one. The Patriots picked up a 3rd and 15 as part of another scoring drive that featured several chunk plays. It was off by a catch and run from Hunter Henry down the sideline. He should’ve been pushed out, but Chau Smith-Wade elected to try a drive-by punch out instead and whiffed.
The offense once again was able to manufacture a drive that crossed midfield with a lot of help from Chub Hubbard, and once again it couldn’t get past that point. McMillan made a highlight catch on a back shoulder fade down the sideline, but that was just about the last good thing to happen on the drive. Carolina ended up in a 4th and 5, but Young overthrew a rather open McMillan down the sideline to turn the ball over on down. The defense held against a conservative Patriots offense to force a punt.
Trevor Etienne, who muffed a punt last week, tried to field the punt inside the five and was brought down immediately at the one. Chuba Hubbard got five yards on a first down carry, but that was the only productive play of the drive. Young threw a quick pass for a couple yards to Brycen Tremayne, and then, after a penalty, threw the ball away seemingly immediately after receiving the snap on third down. The Patriots returned the punt back into Panthers territory and set themselves up inside the 10 with a long pass to Stefon Diggs as the quarter ended.
Fourth Quarter
Why are you still reading this?
The Patriots scored on third down after Mack Hollins beat Christian Rozeboom (who was getting beat pretty consistently on the day) on a slant from the five.
I bet you can’t guess what the offense did. They drove out just past midfield and then stalled out. Young threw the ball to I don’t know who and it landed in wide open space without a receiver near by on fourth down to give the ball back to New England. That essentially ended the game as both teams put in their backup quarterbacks. Mitchell Evans did catch his first career touchdown pass from Andy Dalton in garbage time.
Overview
For as good as last week was, this week was that bad and then some. The offense looked completely incompetent outside of the first drive. Bryce Young looked scattered, unconfident, and flustered. After completing his first six passes, he looked like rookie Bryce that couldn’t push the ball down the field or handle the speed of the game happening around him.
That said, Young, was far from the only problem. The offensive line struggled with a good Patriots front. The defensive line caused absolutely no disruption in either the run or pass game and the second line of defense was overmatched by whoever had the ball in space for New England. The special teams were abysmal between Fitzgerald’s missed kicks, the punt coverage teams lack of discipline and tackling, and Etienne’s fielding of a punt inside the five.
It was a colossal failure in all elements of the game. The Panthers simply have too many weaknesses all across the roster to compete consistently. Next week is a Dolphins game, which at least provides an opportunity for a bounce back.
