A first half so full of incompetence that it was entertaining eventually turned into a total stinker as the Carolina Panthers put out another dud in primetime. They lost to the 49ers, 20-9.
First Quarter
The Christian
McCaffrey revenge game started with five straight touches for the former Panther. He ended up with nine touches on a long, methodical drive to open the game. The Panthers defense did a good job containing most plays to modest gains, but they couldn’t get the stop or force the mistake they needed to upend the drive. It was finally capped off a pass to Juaun Jennings, who broke free from Jaycee Horn and Nick Scott to walk into the endzone for a touchdown.
The Panthers offense quickly made the mistake their counterparts did not. Ikem Ekwonu was absolutely demolished on a second down pass play and was called for a hold as he tried to save himself. That sabotaged the drive and forced a punt from Sam Martin, who masterfully downed the ball inside the 10.
This time, the defense got the big play they needed. Horn undercut a crosser by Jennings and picked off the pass, running it back inside the red zone. The Panthers worked the ball inside the five, but Bryce Young threw the ball right back to the 49ers on a play in which it looked like he could have cruised in for a rushing touchdown. Instead, he tried to loft a ball over traffic to Mitchell Evans, and it was picked off by a leaping Ji’Ayir Brown.
Second Quarter
The 49ers took over on the 20 and again methodically marched down the field with short to intermediate gains. But it turns out it wasn’t so they could go down and score again. In fact, it was just to get close enough for Purdy to return Young’s favor. He lofted a ball deep down the middle of the field, and it was undercut by Mike Jackson in the endzone for the game’s third interception. The Panthers didn’t capitalize though, as Tetairoa McMillan dropped a wide open pass on third down that would’ve extended the drive.
Of course, on the first play of the ensuing 49ers drive, Princely Umanmielen popped the ball out from behind McCaffrey. There were two Panthers around the ball with no 49er in the area, but neither could corral the bouncing ball, and it was recovered by the offense for a 16 yard gain. Two plays later, Brock Purdy threw yet another interception to Horn, who dropped away from his area to undercut a seemingly wide open Pearsall.
A Jimmy Horn swing pass and a Rico Dowdle run gave the Panthers their second and third first downs of the game and took them down to the ten yard line. The offense ran three straight plays that did not score but also did not result in a turnover, which was a win at that point. The last of those plays was a swing pass to Chuba Hubbard with Ja’Tavion Sanders in front, but the tight end simply ran past the two defenders in front of him and let them combine to drag Hubbard down behind the line of scrimmage. Ryan Fitzgerald chipped through the Panthers first points of the game.
The 49ers got a good return to set them up near midfield for their final drive of the first half. George Kittle caught a nicely layered pass in the middle of the field, which put the 49ers in prime position for Brock Purdy to try to throw two more interceptions. Both throws were just out of reach of Panthers defenders, forcing the 49ers to reluctantly kick a field goal and score points.
The Panthers got the ball back with about a minute to play to try to double up around the halftime break, but they went three and out again. The 49ers got the ball back but did not have enough time to get into field goal range.
Third Quarter
If you thought halftime would’ve calmed the shenanigans, well you’d be mistaken. Trevor Etienne was popped on the kickoff and put the ball on the ground. Fortunately, he was able to jump back on the ball to avert disaster. An angry Dowdle run started the Panthers drive with a first down pickup, but it was quickly wiped out by a Mitchell Evans hold on the next play. The Panthers couldn’t pick up the 20 required yards over the next three plays and set up another Sam Martin punt.
The Panthers defense finally started wilting, both in a football sense and in a physical sense. As the 49ers took possession, it was reported that Claudin Cherelus and Jaycee Horn would be out for the game. During the drive, A’Shawn Robinson and Corey Thornton had to leave with injuries on separate plays. The 49ers dinked and dunked down the field. Eventually the Carolina dam broke as Chrisitan McCaffrey took a toss and slalomed through the defense to put the 49ers up 17-3.
Chuba Hubbard broke tackles on a couple of swing passes and picked up much needed first downs to get the Panthers into an offensive rhythm. After a couple of short pickups, Young found McMillan open up the seam for a 29 yard touchdown. The Panthers originally kicked the extra point, but after a 49ers penalty, elected to go for two. Young’s pass was deflected and fell to the turf.
Fourth Quarter
The depleted Panthers defense let up big gains on a Christian McCaffrey handoff and George Kittle catch, and it looked like they were about to throw in the towel. But they bowed up in the red zone, as has been the case many times this season. Bam Martin-Scott and Chau Smith-Wade went back to back hyphenated tackles for a loss on first and second down, which put the 49ers far enough behind the sticks that they’d eventually settle for a field goal.
Young found Jalen Coker for a couple of nice gains as they offense tried to march up the field for a quick score. They got into 49ers territory, but the drive and any hopes of a comeback ended there. Young threw a ball into traffic trying to find McMillan in the middle of the field, and it was picked off by Ji’Ayir Brown for the second time.
The defense held and forced a quick punt to give the offense another chance. Young found Dowdle for a decent pickup on a checkdown then found Legette for a couple nice gains, but the latter didn’t count because Legette inexplicably wandered too close to the sideline and stepped out of bounds before coming back to catch the pass. A sack on the next play set up 3rd and 18. A check down to Dowdle picked up enough yardage to try a 57 yard field goal, but Ryan Fitzgerald sliced it way right and way short, though it may have nicked a hand on the way through.
Overview
The Panthers secondary get gold stars for their performance, and the defensive front did a pretty good job limiting the ground game. The offense was a trainwreck. Young refused to push the ball down field and often didn’t throw the ball at all, often rolling out and scrambling for little to no gain. Legette and McMillan both made one inexcusable mistake apiece that derailed offensive possessions. Nothing was working, and this is against a 49ers defense that is without a couple of their best players and has been struggling to contain opposing passing attacks.
The Panthers sure know how to kill some good vibes after an exciting win in Atlanta next week. They’ll play host to a Rams team next week that just made mince meat out of the Buccaneers on Sunday Night Football. They’ll follow that with a week off to lick their wounds before finishing out the home stretch of the season.
