The Little Things: Falcons Down Panthers To A New Low

Another week.

Another squandered opportunity.

Another loss.

The Carolina Panthers suffered yet another devastating loss as they fell to NFC South rival Atlanta Falcons 29-21 at Bank Of America Stadium. The quarterback carousel continues for the Panthers while their offense, as a whole, has been disjointed and out of sync. Here are more observations from the week 14 loss.

The Little Things

After the game, wide receiver Robby Anderson alluded to the teams not honing in on the little things that can determine wins. In the presser, Anderson didn’t want to point fingers at anybody or throw anyone under the bus, however, the blame has to go somewhere and is it really “pointing fingers” when the collective is responsible?

Anderson was alluding to miscues on the offensive line and the excessive penalties. How can an offensive line trip the quarterback? These miscues may seem petty or a small pixel in the bigger picture of the game, but the little things matter. They matter because those little things snowball into bigger problems.

Janky Substituons at QB

As expected, the narrative is Cam Newton was benched for bad play. While Newton could have done better, he wasn’t horrendous. On the day, Newton completed 15 of his 23 throws for 178 yards and a pick. He made up for that interception with his feet for 47 yards on the ground and a touchdown. For whatever reason, Rhule and Nixon thought PJ Walker could give the Panthers the spark that they needed on offense in a two-minute situation that Newton has had limited time to get acclimated to. So, there’s a weird substitution. Walker throws an ill-advised pick of his own, yet follows it up with a 75 yard scoring drive. While Newton is rusty, Walker’s high variance play isn’t the answer either.

M.I.A. Defense

Carolina’s defense couldn’t buy a stop against the Falcons. Despite only recording 318 total yards, Atlanta was still able to get what they wanted and capitalize. They converted 7 of 14 third down attempts – keeping drives alive down the stretch. Carolina’s defense couldn’t even get a hit on Matt Ryan. Granted, injuries decimated the core, it doesn’t excuse missed assignments and penalties. The Panthers go as the defense goes. When this unit is locked in and playing well, Carolina is competitive and they can steal a win or two. If this unit isn’t playing up to their ability, games like this one are too common.