Panthers 24-10 home loss against the Atlanta Falcons James Bradberry Jersey 2019 , putting Carolina’s record at 6-9."Plays to Love, Plays to Hate (aka “P2L, P2H”) looks at the most significant plays in swinging momentum and impacting the eventual outcome of the game. There is always plenty to hate about NFL officiating, so we will only focus on the plays on the field, not the refs.Three plays to love1st Quarter 10:47 – Panthers 0, Falcons 0. Panthers ball 3rd-and-9 at ATL 34The Situation: Taylor Heinicke started for Cam Newton and began the game by leading a nice drive to the Atlanta 34. The Play: On 3rd-and-9 Heinicke started in shotgun and darted up the middle on a designed quarterback draw. The blocking was excellent and Carolina’s fresh-faced quarterback picked up 11 yards to the Atlanta 23, picking up the first down. Heinicke capped the drive with a touchdown pass to Ian Thomas for an early 7-0 Panthers lead.2nd Quarter 13:08 – Panthers 7, Falcons 7. Falcons ball 1st-and-10 at CAR 13The Situation: Disaster seemed to strike when Jarius Wright lost a fumble at the Carolina 13, setting Atlanta up with perfect starting field position.The Play: On the very next play after Atlanta recovered Wright’s fumble, Kyle Love flew through the line and strip-sacked Matt Ryan. Love then recovered the fumble himself for a stellar momentum-shifting play. 2nd Quarter 11:18 – Panthers 7, Falcons 7. Panthers ball 3rd-and-9 at CAR 23The Situation: After taking possession following Kyle Love’s strip-sack, the Panthers faced a three-and-out and needed to convert on 3rd-and-9.The Play: Ian Thomas ran a deep route down the sideline and Taylor Heinicke hit him with a perfect back shoulder pass. Thomas timed his turn perfectly and reeled in a 27-yard gain for a first down. Thanks to this third down conversion the Panthers were able to end this drive with a field goal to take a 10-7 lead.Three plays to hateDisclaimer: Yes, Taylor Heinicke threw two damaging interceptions that took points off the board but that’s going to happen in a player’s first NFL start playing behind a shoddy offensive line. Rather than killing Heinicke here, I’m going to focus on three terrible defensive plays given up by a healthy defensive unit coached by Ron Rivera himself.1st Quarter 2:08 – Panthers 7, Falcons 0. Falcons ball 3rd-and-8 at CAR 14The Situation: The Falcons had driven into the red zone on their first offensive possession and faced 3rd-and-8.The Play: Ron Rivera dialed up a soft zone and somehow left Julio Jones completely uncovered coming over the middle. No Panthers defender was anywhere near the NFL’s leading receiver. Julio gained an easy 11 yards to the Carolina 3 yard line, setting up a Falcons touchdown for a 7-7 tie. Note to Ron Rivera: In key situations you might want to cover the league’s most productive wide receiver.3rd Quarter 15:00 – Panthers 10, Falcons 10. Falcons ball 1st-and-10 at ATL 25The Situation: Minus Cam Newton, the Panthers had still managed a 10-10 tie at the half. The Falcons received the kickoff to start the second half and fireworks happened on their first play from scrimmage. The Play: Matt Ryan went play action and Mike Adams bit harder than a pit bull on a turkey leg on the fake. Adams sprinted from his safety spot toward the line of scrimmage as Donte Jackson released Calvin Ridley into open space where Adams should’ve been. Ridley was wide open for an easy 75-yard touchdown and a 17-10 Falcons lead. You can watch the entire debacle in 360-degrees here. 3rd Quarter 4:45 – Panthers 10, Falcons 17. Falcons ball 1st-and-10 at CAR 44The Situation: The Falcons had pieced together a decent drive into Carolina territory as they looked to build on their 17-10 lead.The Play: On a pathetic sequence, Captain Munnerlyn dropped into zone and simply decided to not cover Mohamed Sanu as he came across the field into Captain’s area. Meanwhile, James Bradberry stumbled in man coverage against Julio Jones on a streak and never looked back to see Sanu sprinting toward the end zone. The score put the Falcons up 24-10. Game over. Closing it out and summing it upThat makes seven losses in a row now to fall to 6-9. What an awful season. On the bright side, Christian McCaffrey set the all-time record for receptions by a running back after his 12 reception outing. CMC is basically a one-man offense at this point. His 1,925 yards from scrimmage are second in the NFL behind Ezekiel Elliott’s 2,001 yards. Ian Thomas has been a revelation at tight end. In his two college seasons at Indiana he registered a total of just 28 receptions. Over his last four weeks he’s hauled in 20 receptions for the Panthers and scored his first NFL touchdown this week. Curtis Samuel is also coming into his own. Over the Panthers last six outings he has averaged just over four receptions and nearly 50 yards per game. James Bradberry had a great day in coverage with four passes broken up Stitched Da’Norris Searcy Jersey , including a spectacular deflection on a deep bomb and jumping a route on 3rd-and-2 to force a punt. The Panthers’ 6-2 start to the season seems like a fraud now. While I both like and respect Ron Rivera, perhaps it’s time for a new voice in the locker room. But in fairness to Ron, there are just so many weak spots across the roster that any coach would struggle to make the 2018 Panthers a top echelon team.Plays to love season leaders6 - Christian McCaffrey, D.J. Moore3 - Cam Newton, Greg Olsen, James Bradberry, Kyle Love2 - Chris Clark, Devin Funchess, Efe Obada, Ian Thomas, Luke Kuechly, Ryan Kalil, Taylor Heinicke, Torrey Smith 1 - Ben Jacobs, Chris Manhertz, Colin Jones, Curtis Samuel, David Mayo, Donte Jackson, Eric Reid, Graham Gano, Greg Van Roten, Jarius Wright, Julius Peppers Youth Jarius Wright Jersey , Kawann Short, Mario Addison, Michael Palardy, Norv Turner, Ron Rivera, Thomas Davis, Wes HortonPlays to hate season leaders6 - Cam Newton 5 - Eric Reid, Mike Adams4 - James Bradberry3 - Captain Munnerlyn, D.J. Moore2 - Christian McCaffrey, Devin Funchess, Dontari Poe, Donte Jackson, Eric Washington, Graham Gano, Norv Turner, Ron Rivera1 - Amini Silatolu, C.J. Anderson, Chris Clark, Colin Jones, Corn Elder, Ian Thomas, Luke Kuechly, Taylor Moton, Thomas Davis Stitched Jarius Wright Jersey , Trai Turner, Special Teams - Kick Coverage The Panthers are going to end their season with three straight divisional contests. In a different year this might have been a high stakes finish to the season with risk and reward available at the end of each game in equal measure. Instead, the Panthers are hanging on by the skin of teeth to playoff chances that only the most optimistic of fans are still talking about. Five straight losses is one thing, but to have two of their last three games against the juggernaut that is the 2018 New Orleans Saints will likely be too much for these Panthers.It’s always telling when a fan base thinks they might be able to sneak away with a win in a series if the opposing team rests their starters for one of the games. That’s where the Panthers are as a fanbase. Still, every game is a chance to right the ship and the Panthers have shown nothing if not flashes of talent. To that end, I spoke with Chris Dunnells of Canal Street Chronicles about this year’sSaints and how the Panthers might match up against them.Cat Scratch Reader: The Saints lost to the Cowboys in a surprisingly low-scoring game and then let the Bucs carry a lead into the fourth quarter. Are they starting to stumble towards the end of the season or were those just two weird games?Canal Street Chronicles: It was a combination of things, but the biggest culprit was that Drew Brees was just “off” for the majority of that Dallas game. He wasn’t able to get back to his usual form until the second half of the Tampa game. The Saints then quickly scored 25 unanswered points in the second half of that game, showing again that they can turn it on on offense.But I would say there were two other contributing factors as well: for one, Terron Armstead missed both games due to an injury. It’s not a coincidence that in the two games where Armstead missed, the Saints run game and pass protection struggled. And second, the Saints wide receiver corps outside of Michael Thomas struggled to get open in those two weeks. The receivers not named “Michael Thomas” are all young, so ups and downs are to be expected. Those two games were “downs.” Hopefully more “ups” are on the way.CSR: The Saints offense gets all the press but the defense has come a long way in recent years from being one of the worst in the league. What’s the story behind their newfound competence?CSC: The Saints had a recent history of missing on early draft picks and expensive free agents. That trend has changed since the 2016 offseason. In 2016, the Saints were able to draft Sheldon Rankins (who has been a world-beater at DT this year), David Onyemata (a key role player in the middle of the Saints defensive line), and Vonn Bell (a young Safety taking more and more reps away from former Panther Kurt Coleman). The 2017 NFL Draft yielded reigning Defensive Rookie of the Year Marshon Lattimore, standout Safety Marcus Williams, and the ever-improving LB Alex Anzalone. The 2017 offseason also brought in role players on defense like LB Manti Te’o and another former Panther in AJ Klein. But really it was the 2018 offseason that put the Saints over the age. The Saints traded up to draft Marcus Davenport to rush the passer opposite Cameron Jordan, and they signed LB Demario Davis, formerly of the New York Jets, who is having a Pro Bowl-caliber season. Along with the trade for Eli Apple from the Giants midseason, there has been a huge personnel overhaul on the defensive side of the ball in New Orleans the last three years.CSR: The Saints have struggled to find a true second receiver to pair with Michael Thomas this year. Is that because of a glut of middling talent on the depth chart or because Alvin Kamara demands that much attention in their offense?CSC: For one, Ted Ginn Jr (wow, we sure do have a lot of former Panthers, don’t we?) has been missed on IR. His emergence last year helped the Saints feel comfortable letting Willie Snead go to Baltimore in free agency. If or when Ginn is able to return to the active roster Youth Dontari Poe Jersey , I expect that to help the entire Saints receiving corps, including Michael Thomas. The Saints lack a legitimate deep threat that opposing defenses have to respect. That allows defenses to key in on the short and intermediate routes and stick tight to the Saints receivers. For someone with the ball skills of Michael Thomas, this isn’t too much of an issue. But when the rest of the receivers are mostly a group of UDFAs, they can have trouble getting separation.CSR: When is Drew Brees going to retire?CSC: That’s the rub, isn’t it? I’ve gone on record saying that if Drew is able to win a second Super Bowl this year, I think he calls it a career this year. At the same time, if the Saints fall just short (like they did last year), but he believes that second Super Bowl to be within sight, he might stick around just a little longer. Betting money says Brees calls it quits by the end of the 2019 season, but there’s a non-zero chance 2018 is his last run. CSR: The Saints offense has scored 40 points or more six times this season. The best offense the Panthers have faced this year hung 52 points on them. What is your prediction for the score on Sunday?CSC: Well, that 52-point affair came when the Steelers were playing at home. Talk to me again in three weeks and we’ll see what number I throw out there. But this week, playing in Carolina, outdoors, likely in the cold, I’d be utterly shocked if the Saints hung a 50 burger (or even scored 40+). Instead, I’d look for the Saints to still have a solid bounce-back performance on offense from the previous two weeks, scoring 35ish points, covering the spread, holding the Panthers to under 20
