Playing football with a young and talent-deficient team is pretty hard. Playing dumb football with a young and talent-deficient team is even harder. That’s no string theory, but the Carolina Panthers proved it correct on Sunday in their 31-17 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Carolina’s mental miscues began early, on Tampa’s second offensive drive of the game, when first-round pick Derrick Brown was flagged for unnecessary roughness on a short third-down completion. The rookie defensive tackle flew in and dropped all 320 pounds of himself on the already downed ball–carrier, turning a fourth and three and likely field goal try into an eventual touchdown stroll for Ronald Jones. Brown picked up another ill-advised foul in the third quarter, which also extended a Tampa possession off a failed third-down conversion.
The most egregious blunder came courtesy of the coaching staff six minutes before the half. Down 14-0 on fourth and two, the Panthers elected to fake a punt, calling up rookie safety Jeremy on a direct snap up the middle. He was stopped for a turnover on downs.
Why not just run your regular offense out there? Why not let Teddy Bridgewater, who is lauded for his short-field accuracy – to try throwing for two yards? Or maybe hand the ball off to the highest-paid running back in the history of the NFL.
That questionable play-calling was a sore spot last week when offensive coordinator Joe Brady opted for fullback Alex Armah to convert on a fourth and one run to try and keep the Panthers’ hopes alive against Las Vegas. In case you forgot, he did not succeed.
Additionally, another late-game choice by coach Matt Rhule is worth questioning. While facing a 10-point deficit and a fourth and goal on the Tampa Bay five-yard line at the two-minute mark of the fourth quarter, Rhule trotted out kicker Joey Slye for a chip-shot field goal instead of going for the touchdown.
Mistakes like that are even more difficult to overcome with underwhelming quarterback play. That’s precisely what Carolina from Bridgewater today.
Teddy missed big on his two interceptions, one on a screen pass for McCaffrey in the first quarter and the other on a throw behind an open DJ Moore early in the fourth. The second pick halted a potential game-tying drive that started with a 39-yard reception by Robby Anderson. Bridgewater, to be fair, didn’t see an optimal amount of help from his offensive line, eating five sacks thanks to sloppy protection.
Unfortunately for Carolina, that was five more sacks than their defense had. With zero sacks from last week and zero sacks this week, that brings the Panthers’ grand sack total up to . . . zero through two games! Despite being relatively tight throughout, the unit’s failure to come up with game-changing stops and plays compounded earlier shortcomings.
On the bright side, the team’s young defensive studs showed out rather nicely. Chinn, defensive end Brian Burns and cornerback Donte Jackson all played fast and effective football. Chinn was all over the field with a team-high seven tackles, Burns consistently disrupted the backfield and Jackson chalked up his first interception of the year and ate up 44 yards on the return.
This performance was more of what most expected out of Carolina in 2020. We saw the growing pains, almost from start to finish, from each side of the ball and from the sidelines. But to their credit, they’re now two-for-two in putting together competitive outings. If they’re trying to tank, at least they’re disguising it well.
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