Dallas 36, Carolina 28: Instant analysis as Panthers allow 23 straight in second half

Carolina didn’t look quite ready to face an elite NFC team on Sunday.

The Panthers showed the vulnerability of their overmatched offensive line. Their defense, ranked No. 1 in the NFL in many categories, also got exposed by Dallas’ remarkable quarterback, Dak Prescott. A horrible officiating call cost Carolina six points, which didn’t help.

The bottom line was the Panthers wasted a very good first half and a strong late-game comeback and didn’t get it done, losing 36-28 to Dallas in front of a rowdy crowd at AT&T Stadium.

It was an entertaining game all the way through, and Carolina led 14-13 at halftime behind fine first halves from Sam Darnold and DJ Moore, despite the referees gifting Dallas six points.

The Panthers were overwhelmed early in the second half as Dallas rolled through the Panther defense, which had only allowed 30 points in three total games while starting 3-0. Dallas had surpassed 30 points on its own before the third quarter was over.

Zeke Elliott (143 rushing yards) and Prescott (four passing TDs) were the two best skill players Carolina had faced all year, and it showed. It was a game where Carolina could have used some of the magic of Christian McCaffrey, who was on the sideline missing the first of what will likely be several games with a hamstring injury.

Trevon Diggs, who has had at least one interception in four straight games, picked off Darnold on two straight possessions in the third quarter, and both those interceptions led to points for the Cowboys. Dallas scored 23 straight points at one stretch before Moore scored on a 6-yard TD from Darnold in the fourth quarter. After Darnold played a near-perfect first half, rushing for two scores, he made some big second-half mistakes. He also led a late comeback attempt, with two fourth-quarter TD strikes to Moore.

But the Cowboys ran out the final 4:31 without Carolina’s defense being able to give its offense one more chance. After Carolina head coach Matt Rhule decided against an onside kick, the Cowboys offense made three straight first downs to seal the game.

The only real good news: the Panthers are still guaranteed to at least be tied for first place in the NFC South at 3-1 on Monday morning.

Some quick thoughts on the game:

Panthers lose 6 points due to officiating

I hate to criticize officials, given that is the No. 1 cop-out used by almost every fan when the team they care about loses, and Carolina was going to lose this one regardless.

However, there was a six-point swing in the first half when Panthers safety Jeremy Chinn jarred the ball loose from Dallas tight end Dalton Schultz on contact.

The officials incorrectly ruled that Schultz’s forward progress was first stopped, and forward progress isn’t reviewable in that instance. Rhule was told he couldn’t challenge the play. No matter how many Panther coaches or Fox Sports analysts disagreed with the move — and all of them did — the Cowboys kept the ball. Dallas then scored on a drive it would have lost the ball on otherwise and took a 13-7 lead.

Amazingly, Schultz fumbled three times on the same drive and wasn’t charged with any of them. His first one was overruled, since he was down before the ball came out. The second one was Chinn’s hit. The third one came on the two-point conversion try, in which Chinn hit Schultz again and Schultz lost the ball again trying unsuccessfully to convert.

Sacks pile up the wrong way

Carolina’s defense had gotten an NFL-high 14 sacks entering the game. But it was the Dallas defense that had the clear upper hand on pressures, as the Panthers’ offensive line was too often overmatched. Carolina got after Prescott several times, but he was masterful at avoiding sacks from the game’s first play, when Prescott somehow escaped what should have been a sack by linebacker Jermaine Carter and shoveled the ball left-handed to Elliott for a short gain.

Dallas ended up with five sacks, while Carolina had zero. Bookend rushers Brian Burns and Haason Reddick were quiet all day on a day the Panthers needed them to be loud. Burns termed the defense’s overall performance “disappointing” and “embarrassing.”

Best receiver on field? DJ Moore

Although Dallas has an offense that is more well-recognized nationally and far better as a whole, Moore won some Pro Bowl votes on Sunday. Moore’s 29-yard catch-and-run when he absorbed a huge hit, kept his feet and somehow kept going for another 15 yards was one of the signature plays of the game, and he had another 39-yarder later (as well as those two late TDs).

I’d rather have Moore right now than any of the Cowboys’ many fine receivers. The Panthers are going to have to pay Moore some big money in a contract extension soon; you can’t let talent like that get away. He ended up with eight catches for 113 yards and two TDs, with 74 of the yards coming after the catch.

This story was originally published October 3, 2021 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Dallas 36, Carolina 28: Instant analysis as Panthers allow 23 straight in second half."

Scott Fowler

The Charlotte Observer

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Columnist Scott Fowler has written for The Charlotte Observer since 1994 and has earned 26 APSE awards for his sportswriting. He hosted The Observer’s podcast “Carruth,” which Sports Illustrated once named “Podcast of the Year.” Fowler also conceived and hosted the online series and podcast “Sports Legends of the Carolinas,” which featured 1-on-1 interviews with NC and SC sports icons and was turned into a book. He occasionally writes about non-sports subjects, such as the 5-part series “9/11/74,” which chronicled the forgotten plane crash of Eastern Air Lines Flight 212 in Charlotte on Sept. 11, 1974. Support my work with a digital subscription