Game Grades: Panthers at Bears

[Zod]

The Panthers are 1-6 in what now feels like another lame duck season. Sometimes tough losses in close games sting more than a blowout. On with the grades....

Offense:

The offense looked adequate and at times very good. Cam Newton threw for over 300 yards and the Panthers scored enough points that a win was possible.

For those of you blaming Cam for the loss, please start paying attention and learning about the game. Often the quarterback is the convenient scapegoat on the team. Cam Newton has a bright future in this league given adequate coaching. More on that later.

Offensive Grade: B-

Defense:

The execution of the defense was solid. The Panthers front 4 was able to get plenty of pressure on Cutler and dictated the game in the first half. Fans are starting to see a new nucleus develop on this team in Kuechly, Alexander, Hardy, Norman. Those four guys will be making plays for the Panthers for years to come.

Defensive Grade: B

Special Teams:

Aside from a muffed punt, the Special teams was excellent Medlock going 5 for 5 on field goals in a windy stadium will raise his confidence level ten fold. Expect good things from him for years to come.

Special Teams Grade: A-

Coaching

With the grades above, one would think the Panthers won the game. They would have, given adequate coaching when it counted the most.

With under a minute to go and a slim lead, Ron Rivera decided to go against what had been working the entire game, and decided on a soft zone defense that exposed Josh Norman on an island against Brandon Marshall. The Bears called the same play, not once, not twice, not three times, but four times. FOUR TIMES with easy completions to bring the Bears within field goal range.

In his press conference, Rivera stated that was his decision. The reason was Rivera wanted to keep things in front of the team, no big plays. But with only a field goal needed to win, why was there such a concern with a big touchdown play? Had the Bears completed one all game long? The one attempt was intercepted by Josh Norman.

In short, Rivera handed the game to the Bears through dismal decision making. He won't be in Carolina for the 2013 season.

Another lame duck season.

Coaching Grade: F-

[Chaos]

That was Medlock with the FG's. I realize it's early.

[Davidson Deac II]

If the coaching staff gets the blame for the poor ending, then they get credit for having the team prepared to play. The team played well enough to win for 3.5 quarters, but again blew it in crunch time. Shanked punt, stalled drive and failure to stop the other team on the last series caused all four phases to drop.

Offense - B

Defense - B+

Special teams - B+

Coaching - B-

Crunchtime performance in all aspects of the game, F-

[Zod]

If the coaching staff gets the blame for the poor ending, then they get credit for having the team prepared to play. The team played well enough to win for 3.5 quarters, but again blew it in crunch time. Shanked punt, stalled drive and failure to stop the other team on the last series caused all four phases to drop.

Offense - B

Defense - B+

Special teams - B+

Coaching - B-

Crunchtime performance in all aspects of the game, F-

They aced the multiple choice portion of the exam, and wiped their ass with the essay portion.

Thats a 50%.

EFFF

[nctarheel0619]

And McDermott too. I wouldn't mind keeping Chud if he continues to progress with his play calling.

[JawnyBlaze]

I'd wanna break the defensive grade into two parts: the first 50 minutes of the game and the last two Bears drives. The first part: A, almost A+. The last 10 minutes: D.

But I pretty much agree with all 4 grades in the OP.

[TopCat]

I would give the coaching a C, the fact we were even in this game says something to me.

[Guest Tom Cat]

I dont think this one can be attributed soley to poor coaching - there were enough errors made by several people to add up to another failure.

That said - just like you would dump an underperforming player if an upgrade becomes available, you should dump underperforming coaches if an upgrade becomes available. Hopefully some better coaches will arrive shortly. At least in time for the 2013 season.

I see no upgrades prior to season end being made - Rivera is going to be allowed to finish out this year unless the team flat out gives up.

[Matthias]

Team: A+

Coaching: FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF (And that is grading on a curve)

[Guest Tom Cat]

If we had an A + team poor coaching wouldnt make us lose.

[Matthias]

If we had an A + team poor coaching wouldnt make us lose.

Yet terrible coaching would.

[the_philosopher]

But with only a field goal needed to win, why was there such a concern with a big touchdown play? Had the Bears completed one all game long? The one attempt was intercepted by Josh Norman.

Exactly. This was why major beef with that soft coverage. I thought an interception by Cutler was way more likely than a TD.

[CPF4LIFE]

I like Ron Rivera but he has got to go.

[jarhead]

On Rivera I thought the team was prepared but I question three specific coaching decisions.The first was the decision not to attempt the field goal with a few seconds left.I know there was wind.but what did we really have to lose with the exception of having it blocked and returned?.I was also not impressed with the kickoff decisions that gave the Bears excellent field position . The most obvious was the soft defense at the end of the game.