Top Buster: CB Lamarcus Joyner

It wasn’t until the third quarter that the Panthers punter even took the field. Before that, the Panthers would drive into the Raiders territory every time and come away with a score. One of those was for a touchdown. That drive was kept alive thanks to Joyner giving up a 9-yard catch on third and five. He was also blocked on a four-yard run to set up third and one.

Late in the second quarter, Joyner had was looked like an interception go through his hands. Two plays later he gave up an 11-yard catch to set up a short field goal just before the half.

After the Panthers’ two punts early in the third quarter, they went on a long drive. Joyner was in position twice early on, but was easily blocked to allow runs of seven, 13, and eight yards and gave up a 6-yard catch. The eight-yard run set the Panthers up at the 5-yard line and they scored the touchdown a few plays later.

Buster: S Erik Harris

On the fourth play of the Panthers’ first possession, they lined up in third and eight. Harris was in coverage on Curtis Samuel and gave up a 16-yard catch to put the Panthers in field goal range. They would convert to take their first lead of the game.

The following drive, Harris gave up another 16-yard catch, again putting the Panthers in field goal range. Only this time they would finish it off with a touchdown to re-take the lead 9-7.

The two teams would go back and forth throughout the first half before the Raiders would take the lead just before the half and hold it throughout the third quarter.

Come the start of the fourth quarter, the Panthers would score two straight touchdowns. The second one took one play. Still behind 27-22, Teddy Bridgewater dropped back and saw Robby Anderson had beat Damon Arnette with a double move and he threw it for him. Harris had a bead on it, but took a bad angle and not only missed the ball, but missed Anderson as well. The result was a 75-yard touchdown and a 30-27 Panthers lead.

Buster: Nicholas Morrow

When you give up the lead as often as the Raiders did in this game, you’re going to have a lot of Busters from the defense. Morrow saw a lot more snaps than he otherwise would have because middle linebacker Nick Kwiatkoski was lost to injury early in the third quarter.

Midway through the second quarter, the Panthers lined up in third and five and Morrow was flagged for pass interference. He had a tough assignment but never turned to look for the ball leading to a 25-yard spot foul. It would lead to a field goal and the Panthers retaking the lead 12-10.

The next Panthers possession saw Morrow leave Christian McCaffrey wide open for an 11-yard catch. Two plays later he gave up a five-yard catch on third and three. That drive would also lead to a field goal just before half time.

Morrow could have wiped away all his transgressions in the third quarter. He had both hands on a pass over the middle only to have it slip through and it was caught anyway for an 18-yard gain. Even a proper deflection would have been enough as it was third and eight. Instead, the drive kept going and eventually resulted in a touchdown.

I would be remiss to not mention that Morrow made two tackles on the Panthers final drive, both stopping runs at three yards. The second one set up the stop on 4th and 1. Good play by Morrow, but not enough considering the whole body of work.

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