There are no moral victories in the NFL. That said, it's definitely better to lose by one score to a contender than to get blown out by a bad team.
The Carolina Panthers have done both this season. Right now, however, they're fresh off doing the former.
In Sunday's 26-21 loss to the Denver Broncos, the Panthers had several chances to take control of the game—but penalties, defensive miscues, bad luck and some questionable officiating ultimately made that impossible.
For their efforts Carolina has gotten a respectable 'B-' grade from John Breech at CBS Sports this week. Breech writes:
The Panthers offense was firing on all cylinders: Chuba Hubbard averaged nearly 5 yards per carry and five different players caught at least four passes. The problem
for the Panthers is that there were just too many mistakes ranging from a soul-crushing fumble by [Bryce] Young in the fourth quarter to a bizarre interception to a missed field goal. The Panthers just kept shooting themselves in the foot. You can't make those mistakes if you want to beat good teams, and the Broncos are a good team.
Carolina finished the day having out-gained Denver 353 yards to 312. Young was also strong against a very formidable defense, completing 28 of his 39 throws for 276 yards, three scores and a pick.
Looking ahead, the Panthers have to consider themselves desperate and hungry—and the next three games on their schedule should be highly-winnable matchups. If they can take care of business against the New Orleans Saints, a Lamar Jackson-less Baltimore Ravens team, and get some revenge on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, they'll be over .500 going into December.
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This article originally appeared on Panthers Wire: Panthers earn decent grade in Week 9 despite crushing loss to Broncos
