Grading the Carolina Panthers in their 32-27 Week 14 loss to the Denver Broncos
The Panthers just can’t win tight games.
It happened two weeks ago in a 28-27 loss to the Vikings. And again in Sunday’s 32-27 loss to the Denver Broncos. The Panthers got the ball back with about three minutes remaining in the game at their own 27-yard line.
But they had four consecutive plays go for minus-6 yards, 8 yards, 0 yards and 1 yard before turning it over on downs. The Panthers are 2-7 in games decided by one possession.
Here is this week’s report card:
Passing offense
D: There’s no way to spin quarterback Teddy Bridgewater’s performance Sunday. Sure, not having receiver DJ Moore or running back Christian McCaffrey hurt. But Bridgwater made poor decisions early in Sunday’s game, and it was a huge reason the Panthers’ offense couldn’t get anything going.
On the Panthers final drive of the first half, Bridgewater made two crucial mistakes — one that he got away with.
On first-and-10 from the Panthers’ 25-yard line, Bridgewater threw a deep pass to wide receiver Brandon Zylstra into double coverage. The pass was nearly intercepted, but the two Broncos defenders in the area ran into each other.
A few plays later, the Panthers managed to get the ball to the Broncos’ 49-yard line with 1:09 remaining. But on first-and-10 Bridgewater took a 16-yard sack instead of throwing the ball away. That sack pushed the Panthers out of field-goal range, preventing the Panthers from adding any points before the end of the half. Bridgewater had 62 yards passing in the first half.
Bridgewater played much better in the second half. But he was not good on the team’s final drive that did not achieve a first down.
He finished Sunday’s game having completed 30-of-40 passes for 283 yards and one rushing touchdown.
He was sacked four times.
Rushing offense
C: Without McCaffrey, the Panthers haven’t been able to establish their running game. In Sunday’s game, the Panthers struggled to get anything going. But Mike Davis, who started for McCaffrey, again was productive.
He had a 10-yard touchdown run with 3:26 left in the fourth that cut the Broncos’ lead 32-27. It was his second touchdown of the day. Davis finished with 51 yards and the two touchdowns.
Bridgewater also had a rushing touchdown.
This was the 10th game McCaffrey has missed this season for three different injuries (thigh, shoulder, ankle). He’s expected to return at some point this season.
Passing defense
F: Before Sunday’s game, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock had been a turnover machine. He had thrown an interception in seven of the nine games he played in this season. But he had success against the Panthers secondary, which entered Sunday’s game as healthy as it had ever been.
Cornerback Donte Jackson was back after missing the past two games with a toe injury. And Rasul Douglas, who missed two practices for personal reasons this week, was available.
But the Broncos took advantage of the Panthers’ blitz attempts by throwing screen plays that gained huge yardage. And Douglas was beat multiple times, including on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Lock to KJ Hamler with 11:10 left in the third quarter, and a 49-yard touchdown pass from Lock to Hamler with 3:54 left.
It was not Douglas’ day.
Lock completed 21-of-27 passes for 280 yards and a season-high four touchdowns. Hamler caught two passes for 86 yards and two touchdowns, both on Douglas.
Rushing defense
D-plus: One of the biggest reasons that the Broncos had success passing was because they did a good job of establishing the run early.
The Panthers were without one of their best run stuffers in Zach Kerr, who like Moore is on the COVID-19/reserve list and wasn’t available this week. It showed. Melvin Gordon rushed for 68 yards on 13 carries. Phillip Lindsay added 24 yards rushing on 11 carries.
The Panthers were able to come up with a huge stop with 11:08 left in the game. The Panthers trailed 25-17, and the Broncos had the ball on third-and-1 from the Denver 45.
The Broncos ran it with Lindsay, who was stopped in the backfield by Donte Jackson for a 1-yard loss.
The stop gave the Panthers the ball back with a chance to tie the score.
Special teams
F-plus: The Broncos’ first touchdown was a punt return by Dionte Spencer, who likely should have been tackled by Trenton Cannon. Cannon appeared to hesitate before attempting the tackle and missed. That allowed Spencer to take off.
After that, he was never touched as he found an open hole and ran 83 yards for a touchdown.
Kicker Joey Slye made both of his field-goal attempts — from 35 yards and 26 yards.
Coaching
D: After struggling in the fourth quarter of most games this season, including two weeks ago in a 28-27 loss to the Vikings, the Panthers’ offense played well in the fourth quarter. It outscored the Broncos 17-7 to make it a manageable game.
But late in the game when it mattered, and the Panthers had the ball, they could not muster a game-winning drive. The Panthers didn’t even pick up a first down.
The Panthers continue to have a issues with costly penalties. They had seven penalties for 48 yards on Sunday.
This story was originally published December 13, 2020 at 4:14 PM with the headline "Grading the Carolina Panthers in their 32-27 Week 14 loss to the Denver Broncos."
