Top 3 Reasons The Panthers Lost Today

[Jeremy Igo]

Top three contributing factors in the Panthers losing to the Atlanta Falcons. 

 

1. Poor performance from the Panthers defensive front 4 (not named KK Short.) 

Johnson, Ealy, Allen, Lotulelei, Edwards combined had 4 tackles and 0 sacks. That is just awful. 

KK Short alone had 7 tackles and two sacks. Thank goodness for KK. 

Those other guys.... they need to pick up their game in a big way. If the Panthers need to use linebacker and safety blitzes constantly to get quarterback pressure, it won't be a good time. 

This is my biggest concern going forward, espescially If the Panthers face Seattle or Arizona in the playoffs.

2. Poor QB protection, particularly Mike Remmers.

Cam Newton was pressured too much for him to get in a rhythm on offense. The Falcons defense is one of the worst in the league. To score only 13 points against them is inexcusable. 

The good news? This may be an aberration. The Panthers have had excellent protection most of this season. Let us hope this is a one week phenomenon. 

3. The Panthers have only one Josh Norman. 

It appears the loss of Bene Benwikere is worse than we first thought. Last week, the Giants provided a blue print for offenses going forward. 

Step 1 - Identify your best receiver.

Step 2 - Keep him away from Josh Norman. 

Step 3 - Score. 

Peanut Tillman is a savvy veteran player, but he is not 100% healthy and not the fastest guy on the field to begin with. At nickel the Panthers are not left with a real solid answer. While Shaq Thompson is great in some instances, he cannot cover the speedier wide outs. Finnegan has been serviceable until now, but how much can we really expect from a guy that was sitting on his couch a few weeks ago? 

Overall, this was a poor performance from the Panthers, the worst of the year. So much so that Cam Newton's heroics were not enough to overcome their mistakes. 

 

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[Bozarden]

Seattle abused Remmers last year in the playoffs with speedy defensive ends. We saw the exact same thing today, where Vic Beasley beat him like a drum the whole game.

[Kevin Greene]

Piss poor tackling, couldn't get off the field on 3rd down.

[CarolinaSunday]

This was definitely not the team I've been watching all season. I hope they got it out of their systems. I feel like everyone not named KK Short or Cameron Artis-Payne failed today. 

[Paa Langfart]

"So much so that Cam Newton's heroics were not enough to overcome their mistakes. "

 

 

Sorry but I saw few Cam heroics today.

 

Not that he should need to carry the whole damn team on his back every week.  I think we may have overacheived thus far this season with the bodies we have.  I think we will be a better team next year regardless of what plays out this season.

Edited December 27, 2015 by Paa Langfart

[mc52beast]

No urgency anywhere on the field today for Carolina, looked like they were playing in slo-mo. I'm not sure that a perfect game plan would have changed the outcome today, guys acted like they had better things to do than play a football game.

[scpanther22]

Ive watched Allen on plays and he comes off the ball incredibility slow. That fast first step really isn't there anymore.

[DamnItJake!]

One word: Coaching!!

[Pantera_Negro_Mateo]

6 minutes ago, 15 said:

1. Refs

Not at all an excuse. Yes, that one questionable call on Peanut led to a touchdown, but they should have been stopped anyways.

[PantherPhann89]

We made very poor adjustments to Atlanta's offense. They constantly beat us with quick slants backing us off then popping a good run. Atlanta studied our zone defense and beat it all day.

[imminent rogaine]

Agree on DE play and maybe play design. Almost every play has CJ and Allen shooting up the outside. This might be a good call against a speedier QB but at some point you just have to let them do whatever they can to get to the QB. If they can't do it, give more snaps to Ealy, Addison, and Delaire.

[Jimmy]

I have to disagree slightly on the J_No assessment. He plays the outside technique arguably better than anyone in the NFL but he got gashed a few times on slant/inside moves. That was the Achilles heel for the entire secondary though. Slants killed us today. 

[SOJA]

we forced them into third and long so many times I lost count and then generated zero pass rush and left guys wide open on slants- if you're going to blitz heavy you have to expect quick throws 

[SportsCrazie4172]

If it makes anyone feel better about losing today as this does for me..Falcons will need a LOT of things to happen in order to make playoffs..beating an undefeated team doesn't come on a trophy anywhere..